Chosen Solution
Hello, Would like to check if a Samsung M.2 PCIe SSD (MZHPV256HDGL) might work on my Mini. Have been told that with an adapter for the Flex Cable identified as 821-00010-A and all should work perfectly, but it doesn’t! The Mini doesn’t even detects the drive! Verified thru the System Information tool, Disk Utility, etc. Thanks in advance to the community! Guillermo
Sounds like a great inexpensive deal that just doesn’t work reliably if at all. You’ll need to stick with products that are actually built for Mac. This model uses the same sticks as the MacBook Air late 2013. Here’s what’s available: https://eshop.macsales.com/upgrades/macb… They do not have this listed for the MacMini 2014 and I don’t know why not, lets see if @danj knows. If you get the one with the external enclosure it makes transferring data and formatting easy, do not clone as you will not get the repair partition properly installed. Do a clean install then migration assistant. You can now keep the enclosure with the old stick for a Time Machine User folder backup or sell it on eBay for a profit over what you paid for it (people get them for recovery on original sticks and they are in demand.)
I strongly recommend sticking with the custom Apple SSD’s. We did some testing a while ago and we found these adapters are not that good (lots of CRC errors). You also likely are not getting the throughput you are expecting. Here’s a good source for the correct SSD’s: The Ultimate Guide to Apple’s Proprietary SSDs Or stick with either OWC or Transcend who took the time to reverse engineer the drives.
To do this job, sourcing the SSD screw is the hardest part and it’s a custom Apple part. I got M2 x 4mm T4 flat head screw and the head is too small. So used the head off a stainless steel rivet to make the screw head bigger. Screws for the the clamp plate are M1.4 x 2.5mm (2mm for standoff + thickness of clamp plate). I got a box of assorted small screws for eyeglasses - have philips heads. I had some 0.8 mm aluminium plate to make a custom part 16x14mm. Drill 2 x 1.5mm holes 9mm apart 2mm from the edge. Thin foam rubber pad under the plate. All done.
