- a stock Macmini4,1 (Mid 2010 Mac Mini with P8800 2.66GHz Core2Duo, 320GB HD, SuperDrive) running 10.6 (for Rosetta) and 10.8 on separate partitions
- a stock Macmini5,2 (Mid 2011 Mac Mini with i7-2620M 2.7GHz i7, 750GB) running 10.9
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Following the [guide|3167|iFixit disassembly guide], in the process of swapping motherboards, I removed removed the optical drive tray and made the cuts as described in [http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=206580#206580|the thread]. Two of the cuts aren't as necessary, as they can be shaved off a little and still fit with the 2011 motherboard. I also switched the HDs and swapped the SuperDrive for a Blu-Ray rewritable drive. However, I had later found out that the drive would not accept discs in the Mac Mini due to the [http://www.allpinouts.org/index.php/Serial_ATA_%28SATA,_Serial_Advanced_Technology_Attachment%29#Slimline_connector|Manufacturing Diagnostic pin] in the optical drive power connector, and needed to be removed. While disassembling it again, instead of removing it, I just bent it in so that there would be no contact with the optical drive.
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Following the [guide|3167|iFixit disassembly guide], in the process of swapping motherboards, I removed the optical drive tray and made the cuts as described in [http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=206580#206580|the thread]. Two of the cuts aren't as necessary, as they can be shaved off a little and still fit with the 2011 motherboard. I also switched the HDs and swapped the SuperDrive for a Blu-Ray rewritable drive. However, I had later found out that the drive would not accept discs in the Mac Mini due to the [http://www.allpinouts.org/index.php/Serial_ATA_%28SATA,_Serial_Advanced_Technology_Attachment%29#Slimline_connector|Manufacturing Diagnostic pin] in the optical drive power connector, and needed to be removed. While disassembling it again, instead of removing it, I just bent it in so that there would be no contact with the optical drive.
After this process, I ended with:
- a Mac Mini 2011 with i7-2620M 2.7GHz (and its Radeon HD 6630M), 750GB, UJ-267 Blu-Ray rewriter running 10.9
- a Mac Mini 2010 with P8800 2.66GHz (and its Geforce 320M), 320GB, no optical drive running 10.6 and upgraded 10.8 to 10.9 and sold it
I have done just this very swap. I started with
- a stock Macmini4,1 (Mid 2010 Mac Mini with P8800 2.66GHz Core2Duo, 320GB HD, SuperDrive) running 10.6 (for Rosetta) and 10.8 on separate partitions
- a stock Macmini5,2 (Mid 2011 Mac Mini with i7-2620M 2.7GHz i7, 750GB) running 10.9
Following the [guide|3167|iFixit disassembly guide], in the process of swapping motherboards, I removed removed the optical drive tray and made the cuts as described in [http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=206580#206580|the thread]. Two of the cuts aren't as necessary, as they can be shaved off a little and still fit with the 2011 motherboard. I also switched the HDs and swapped the SuperDrive for a Blu-Ray rewritable drive. However, I had later found out that the drive would not accept discs in the Mac Mini due to the [http://www.allpinouts.org/index.php/Serial_ATA_%28SATA,_Serial_Advanced_Technology_Attachment%29#Slimline_connector|Manufacturing Diagnostic pin] in the optical drive power connector, and needed to be removed. While disassembling it again, instead of removing it, I just bent it in so that there would be no contact with the optical drive.
After this process, I ended with:
- a Mac Mini 2011 with i7-2620M 2.7GHz (and its Radeon HD 6630M), 750GB, UJ-267 Blu-Ray rewriter running 10.9
- a Mac Mini 2010 with P8800 2.66GHz (and its Geforce 320M), 320GB, no optical drive running 10.6 and upgraded 10.8 to 10.9 and sold it