Introduction
Use this guide to remove or replace the heat sink, or replace the thermal paste in your Mac mini Late 2014.
Don't forget to apply a new layer of thermal compound before reassembling your Mac mini. Follow our thermal paste guide for instructions on cleaning and preparing the thermal surfaces and applying a new layer of thermal compound.
This guide was made with a Fusion Drive Mac mini, and may have more connectors and components than your model. Don't be alarmed if you're missing a hard drive or SSD connector!
Tools
Parts
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The bottom cover is clipped onto three screw posts.
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Pry near, but not right on the screw posts.
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Remove the following TR6 screws from the antenna plate:
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Three 4.1 mm screws
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Three 1.9 mm screws
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With the I/O ports facing you, flip the antenna plate to the right to allow access to the antenna cable connector.
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Use the point of a spudger to lift the antenna connector straight up off its socket on the airport card.
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Remove the two 12 mm T6 screws from the fan.
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Loosen the 27 mm T6 captive screw–it will get removed with the fan assembly.
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Lift the fan straight up to free the captive screw from its hole in the logic board.
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Pull the fan away from the SSD until you can easily access the fan connector.
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Use the point of a spudger to lift the fan connector straight up out of its socket on the logic board.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to lift the SATA cable connector up off of its socket on the logic board.
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Use the tip of a spudger to disconnect the IR sensor cable connector by prying it straight up from its socket.
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The following three steps only apply to Mac minis equipped with a PCIe SSD. Skip the next three steps if your Mac mini only has a hard drive.
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Remove the two 2.6 mm T6 screws securing the PCIe SSD cable bracket.
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Insert the Mac mini Logic Board Removal Tool into the two holes highlighted in red. Be sure the rods make contact with the case under the logic board before proceeding.
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Carefully pull the tool toward the I/O board. The logic board and I/O board assembly should slightly slide out of the outer case.
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Cease prying when the removal tool makes contact with the opening in the rear case.
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Carefully slide the logic board assembly out of the Mac mini, minding any cables that may get caught.
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Remove the following screws securing the heat sink to the logic board:
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Four 8.6 mm T8 Torx screws
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One 2.9 mm T6 Torx screw
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
Read Me First: I purchased an SSD drive directly from Crucial and, of course, it came uninitialized. After going thru the entire tear down, installing the new drive, and rebuilding the mini, it refused to recognize the new drive. So, of course, I had to re-tear it down, remove the new drive, insert it into an external housing and format it using my Macbook. After that the mini recognized the new drive. A word to the wise: format the new drive before installing it.
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