Unfortunately, there are currently no available schematics for the Mac mini Late 2014 (Macmini7,1). This absence makes it challenging to repair or upgrade the RAM on these models. Despite this limitation, the Mac mini is an attractive option due to its affordability, low power consumption, and reliability. I had several of these devices in my office, available in configurations of 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB.
I aimed to upgrade the 4GB models to 16GB. To achieve this, I documented the different resistor configurations on the motherboard, which vary between RAM configurations. With this approach, I successfully upgraded the RAM. The Mac mini uses LPDDR3 BGA 178 RAM, the same type found in MacBook Pro and Air models, making it relatively easy to source replacements from suppliers or salvage parts from non-functional logic boards.
I noted the resistor configurations for different RAM sizes. A green rectangle indicates the presence of a 10k resistor, while a red rectangle denotes its absence. These configurations are located on the upper side of the logic board, diagonally opposite the CPU. If anyone can contribute to this discussion with additional RAM capacity or manufacturer configurations, it would be greatly appreciated.
I was able to upgrade two Mac mini 2014 1.4GHz models from 4GB to 16GB. While it’s not as fast as an M1 Mac, the performance improvement is worthwhile.
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