



Unfortunately, Apple has left no room for a second 2.5-inch drive in Mac mini (built in 2014) and protects the contents with TR security screws with a security pin. Therefore, data can be accessed almost without delay. In contrast to a conventional hard disk, an SSD (solid-state drive) does not have magnetic disks with a mechanical read head, but stores the data on chips. If you have a current Mac mini without Fusion Drive, at home, the lame hard drive should be replaced by an SSD. See the article Move Your Mac's Home Folder to a New Location.Apple has been using slow hard drives in Mac mini for years, so replacing them with an SSD is very worthwhile. Samsung's list price for a 1 TB X5 SSD is also $400.Ī user's home folder location can be set from the User & Groups pane of the System Preferences application. I should point out that at the time of purchase you can upgrade the 2020 Mac mini to an internal 1 TB SSD for $400. Note: The Samsung X5 drive has TRIM support when used with macOS. This allowed macOS to operate a maximum speed, while there was sight drop in speed when accessing user files. The Mac was configured so macOS resided on the internal drive while the each user's home folder resided on the Samsung X5 drive.

I quickly learned this was not enough storage. I am using a 2018 Mac mini with a 256 GB internal SSD. So storage can be expanded by adding an external Samsung X5 drive, albeit at a 18% drop in speed. Samsung specifications state the X5 Thunderbolt 3 SSD has speeds up to 2.8 GB/s. Apple specifications state the internal drive has speeds up to 3.4 GB/s. Storage can be expanded by adding an external drive. Both the memory and the SDD are not upgradable.
