) I remember some enterprising people doing this to upgrade the original Macintosh 128KB to a 'Fat Mac' with 512KB, I even had this done to my own one back in 1985. macOS 10.13 High Sierra (or later macOS) must be installed on the host computer before installing the OWC Aura N-Series or OWC Aura X-Series SSD. These OS versions include an EFI firmware update for your host computer. Joined Messages 10 Reaction score 0 Points 1. However newer logic boards, chips and manufacturing techniques mean that these days an ordinary soldering iron is totally useless for this purpose and you need tools equivalent to those used originally to build the logic boards, as such it is not possible unless you are a major manufacturer and they have no interest in doing this. The latest generation Mac mini has soldered RAM, which means that people who purchase Mac minis are limited to 16 GB RAM and they won’t be able to upgrade it themselves. Any DIY attempt would merely destroy either the logic board or chips or both. I think soldering is the only way to put new ram in the machine, 2. They must upgrade when purchasing the machine from Apple with the priced at 300 for the base model and 200 for the mid and high-end models. Good point thanks The late 2014 Mac Mini is very slow. Im not sure what I can do to speed it up. Louis Rossmann has some interesting YouTube videos showing component soldering on MacBooks.

The RAM is now also soldered to the logic board, and not user-upgradeable.2012 and earlier or the newer 2018 model all have socketed memory and can be upgraded it is only the 2014 model that does not.

The CPU is soldered to the logic board and not user-upgradeable.T6 Torx Security screws are intended to lock you out of your Mini, and make it hard to clean the fan or replace the hard drive.

With the proper tools, disassembly is straight-forward and simple.

There's no glue anywhere inside that needs to be removed while disassembling the Mini.

Mac Mini Late 2014 Repairability: 6 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair).

The RAM is soldered to the logic board.

The computer features a quieter Advanced Hydraulic Bearing fan.

A rare T6 Torx Security screwdriver is required to open it.

There's a solid door where there was once handy access to the RAM and fan.

The Mac Mini Late 2014 retains the model number identifier of A1347, but is distinguished by the EMC number 2840.

The only change is the omission of a FireWire port in favor of an extra Thunderbolt 2 port.

The backside of the Mini remains almost identical to the previous iteration.

IFixit has published a teardown of the new 2014 Mac mini finding soldered RAM and a more difficult to open casing.

A1347 emc 2840 ram upgrade