I was able to swap out a HD to an SSD in a 2012 MacBook Pro 13" without any issue or specialized tool.

Feeling confident, I then moved to my 2011 mini. ARRRRRRRRGH! I need some kind of tool for a torx 11 something tiny screw in order to upgrade the HD in my Mac mini to an SSD. Why does apple use these specialized screws?

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Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]


Phony Stark's Robot



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2020 10:33PM by pRICE cUBE.

So you can't.

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Ed (modelamac)

I think I will just put an OUT OF ORDER
sticker on my head and call it a day.

I guess they have been using them for long enough and I've upgraded enough portable Macs that I've got so many extra Torx screwdrivers sitting around.

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Torx gives better assembly performance and you can get closer torque on them. They are a better screw for putting things together in a factory.

Remember... NOBODY designs products for ease of repair first. Ease of assembly is the higher priority.

So you can't.


This.

And it does help discourage casual shade-tree modifying.

But torx or pentalobe drivers are readily available in security and non-security versions.

Soldering componets, that's well out of most everybody's wheelhouse.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

Ease of assembly is the higher priority.

Fair point.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

There was a time when they used tiny phillips heads on a particular screw in PowerBooks which was occasionally really hard to remove without stripping the head. If you didn't press hard enough and the screwdriver slipped it was pretty much the end for that screw.

You can get kits from our sponsor. Although I did hit a screw once that was not a fit for any driver in my kit. I ended up buying a 30-piece driver set from lowes for just that one.

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

The German word for contraceptive is “Schwangerschaftsverhütungsmittel”. By the time you finished saying that, it’s too late

It's a simple test - if you do not have the magic tools, you likely do not have the knowledge to do the sensitive repairs...

Quote
RAMd®d
shade-tree modifying

That's a new term for me, what does that mean?

Quote
mikebw
There was a time when they used tiny phillips heads on a particular screw in PowerBooks which was occasionally really hard to remove without stripping the head. If you didn't press hard enough and the screwdriver slipped it was pretty much the end for that screw.

The only machine I've ever been thwarted by in an attempt to upgrade it to an SSD was a low budget Dell model with exactly what you describe. Tiny, over tightened Philips-head screws all of which stripped when I tried to remove them. And I'm pretty good at snapping screws loose from excessive age or tightening.

The phillips head screws locking the drives in place on G4 powermacs were a real problem as I recall. Torx screws do not have this problem ever.

Also, anyone remember the odd shaped screw in the Mac Plus case ? Kensington sold a kit - a long handled allen head key and a metal clamp that worked as a 'case cracker'.

A few years ago, I bought the deluxe kit sold by I fix it.com. Quality tools that have never failed me yet.

Quote
SKYLANE

Quote
RAMd®d
shade-tree modifying

That's a new term for me, what does that mean?

ever heard the term shade-tree mechanic? I'm guessing it's a play on that.

Yes, ease of assembly. The power screwdrivers they use have automatic screw feed and that type engages well with the driver tip, especially with smaller size screws.

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Quote
hal
The phillips head screws locking the drives in place on G4 powermacs were a real problem as I recall. Torx screws do not have this problem ever.

Yep. I still have a drive stuck in place with double sided tape where I couldn't get one of those screws to loosen. Always meant to go back in with a remover, never got a round tu'it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2020 04:56PM by JoeH.

Quote
cbelt3
Also, anyone remember the odd shaped screw in the Mac Plus case ? Kensington sold a kit - a long handled allen head key and a metal clamp that worked as a 'case cracker'.

All the ones I ever saw were just Torx. The long shaft tool was just because Torx bits in a socket would not fit down the hole. If I recall the size correctly, a T10 on a 6-7" long shaft.

I've been in my 2011 Mini twice in the last couple of months: once to reattach the SSD connector that had shaken loose and more recently to upgrade the SSD. Had to order a Torx set, but luckily I have Prime this year and an Amazon hub locker near me, so it was only 9 hours of waiting. And mad props to our sponsor for some great how-to videos.

What's funny to me is that Apple has all these complicated parts and curved shrouds that have to be fit just so inside the Mini—all just so the circular bottom cover can twist off without any tools. Once you do that, though, nothing other than the two memory modules can be easily swapped out without further specialized tools and knowledge. Seems like a very odd design decision.

BTW, you can remove Torx screws with the carefully fitted flat head screwdriver. I used a 7" flathead to open the Torx Mac Plusses back in the day because I never saw the torx version until I met my father in law.

You know you've found your wife when your future FIL has a Torx to crack open a Mac Plus and he's already upgraded his to an SE/30.

I just did a 2012 and you need a T6, T8 and small hex/allen.

I have all those, but if you buy a drive from our sponsor (OWC) you can get a kit with those.

I hate Phillips screws. Too easy to strip, too each to confuse with Pozidrive (I think that's what is called, a similar + shaped style screw but different angles so Phillips fits but not very well).

I love torx.

EDIT:





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2020 12:27PM by space-time.

What, no owners of Japanese motorcycles stepping up to defende JIS (Japan Industrial Standard) screws?

Didn't think so. Me neither.

.....Starman.....

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!