Not really sure how "not user-maintainable" & Apple doing repairs are related. The fact that a computer might "not be user-maintainable" is exactly why Apple is there...to help with a computer that an end-user may not be able to work on. I really don't agree with what was mentioned about Applecare. Applecare is a warranty. The Applecare warranty on a 2014 Mac-Mini has very possibly expired...thus an upgrade like this would not be covered by Applecare. This would be an upgrade that would need to be paid for by the end user. And since a 2014 Mac-Mini is not super old...I don't see why a local Apple store wouldn't do the upgrade (for a price).
In this case the AppleCare warranty is still in place and will be for another 3-4 months, but that is not the over-riding concern. Apple told me that the local Apple Store would not upgrade the Mini, regardless of who was paying. They just will not do it, and the reason I was given was that it was not designed to be user maintainable. I agree with your comment that just because a user can not upgrade the machine should not mean that Apple can not or will not upgrade it, but that was the response from AppleCare when I asked them.
Phones & tablets are different than computer repair/upgrade services. With mobile devices like phones & tablets...almost anyone can setup a kiosk in the local mall and start doing busines. Not really the same with computer repair/upgrades...simply need more space & tools. And many times the repairs this kiosks do are related to broken glass, battery replacement, and sometimes iOS related stuff. Not really much else you can do with them.
What sort of anti-tampering are you referring to? At this point your Mac-Mini is up to 4 years old...even if there were anti-tampering stuff in place...any Applecare warranty has expired.
The online research that I did commented on the special screws that were used to prevent unauthorized people from being able to disassemble the Mini and the fact that upgrading the drive required removing everything else in the device. The complexity of the procedure was mentioned as a preventative along with the special tools needed to do the work.
From what I read the earlier Minis could be disassembled relatively easily but that change in 2014 and so, presumably, my Mini is one of those that can no longer be easily maintained.
As I mentioned the AppleCare Warranty on my Mini has not expired, but that is not really my concern as it will be soon enough. The computer is working just fine, and I have no plans to actually upgrade it now, but was wondering about perhaps doing so if I do not buy a new one in a couple of years. I could use more ssd space and they have now gotten so reasonably priced that I would not mind adding the extra space.
Here's the ifixit.com procedure on upgrading the storage in a 2014 Mac-Mini. While it may not be super easy...it's not really super hard either...they classify it as a "moderate" project.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac+mini+Late+2014+Hard+Drive+Replacement/32815
But if you really needed to have this done professionally...here are some options:
- A place like Best Buy might do it.
- There are various electronics chains around the country like Micro Center, Fry's, etc.
- You may have a computer repair place locally that may specialize in Mac's.
- Other non-Mac computer repair places locally.
- If you do some searching...there are probably places you could ship your Mini to them for the upgrade.
But...I think after all of these places tell you how much the upgrade is going to cost...you may "revisit" the ifixit.com procedure...and give it a shot yourself.
HTH,
- Nick
Actually I was thinking that there might be some stores that specialize in upgrading Apple stuff. I realize that phones are different from computers, but there are so many phone repair places that I thought there might also be Mac repair places.
I suppose I could ask my local BestBuy if they can do it, as well as Frys, but was looking for a specialized shop that did this sort of thing all the time. As I mentioned, this is more future planning than any need to take care of it now, and perhaps Apple will come out with another desktop that would give me the speed and memory that I would like, and then none of this would need to be done. A lot of this is curiosity as it seems there ought to be places that specialize in this sort of thing.
