Mac mini (PowerPC) Hard Drive Replacement

Power down your Mac mini, disconnect all of the cables, and flip it over.

Insert the Jimmy into the crack between the aluminum top housing and the plastic lower housing.

The Jimmy should reach a stop about 3/8" down.

Gently bend the Jimmy outwards to pry the crack open a little larger and lift the lower housing up a small amount.

Once you have the first side free, rotate the Mac mini and start prying up on the front edge.

Use the same prying motion to both bend the clips inward and lift the lower housing up out of the top housing.

You may need to move the Jimmy along the edge to pry up all of the clips. Be patient and do a little bit at a time.

Keep working around the perimeter, freeing the clips along the final edge.

Flip the Mac mini back over and lift the top housing off of the lower housing.

Grasp the Airport antenna board and lift it off of the two plastic posts holding it in place. You may need to push back the black plastic tab jutting through the lower left corner of the board.

Remove the yellow tape securing the power button cable to the black plastic framework.

Remove the three black Phillips screws securing the plastic framework to the logic board and lower case.

Grasp the optical drive and mass storage unit in one hand and lift up enough so that you can see beneath it.

With your free hand, pull the Bluetooth cable up from Bluetooth board and unplug the Airport antenna cable from the right of the Airport card. Caution: both of these connections are very small. When re-assembling unit after repair, you may want to remove the two screws holding the airport card to the assembly and lift the card up and out to re-attach the cables.

Remove the three long, black Phillips screws from the corners of the fan. These screws are strongly threaded, and will offer significant resistance.

Lift the fan out of the computer.

Peel up the yellow tape securing the speaker and fan cables to the bottom of the hard drive.

Use a #1 Phillips to remove the two screws attaching the right side of the hard drive to the plastic framework. You'll need to angle the screwdriver down to get access to the lower right screw. Be sure to apply steady force to the screws and turn slowly so as not to strip them.

Use the same screwdriver and steady force to remove the two screws attaching the left side of the hard drive to the plastic framework.

Use a spudger to pry the hard drive away from the interface board. Wedge the flat end of the spudger between the interface board and the far right side of hard drive and wiggle back and forth until the hard drive slides out about a sixteenth of an inch. Then move to the other side and repeat the procedure. Go back and forth until the hard drive slides free.

Lift the hard drive out of the assembly.