1. Mac Mini Mid 2011 Os Upgrade
2. What Is The Latest Os For Mac Mini Mid 2011

Mac Mini – (2006 -2018) On January 10, 2005, the Mac mini was announced at the Macworld Conference & Expo by Steve Jobs. He said at the time the Mac Mini was “the cheapest, most affordable Mac ever”. The Intel Version was announced on February 28, 2006. This new Mac OS X is compatible with any Mac which was previously running the Mac-OS X version 10.8 – Mountain Lion. Other than that, the Mac devices which are capable of running the Mac-OS X Mavericks are:. iMac (the Year 2007 and above). 15 crawl Mac-Book Pro (the Year 2007 and above). 2008 Mac Book Air and above. Mac Pro (the. How do you upgrade the storage in the Aluminum 'Unibody' Mac mini models? What type of hard drive(s) or SSD(s) do they each support? There are five different lines of Aluminum 'Unibody' Mac mini systems - the 'Mid-2010,' 'Mid-2011,' 'Late 2012', 'Late 2014' and 'Late 2018' - with notable differences in supported storage.

This tip replaces version 2126 originally released on the Discussions Feedback forum.

Find the serial number on:

Plug your serial number in at this link:

Do not use third party links as they may not be secure.

Do not post the serial number on this board, as that is your key to any support you may have left.

Use this tip also to help figure out which portion of the Support Community to post in, as this tip explains:

When you have no serial number, use one of these third party sites to find your model, production year, time in year

(early, middle, late, summer, fall, winter, spring):

Note:

PowerMac, PowerPC, eMac, iMac PPC, iBook (Apple recycled the name iBook for its eBook application on new Macs and iOS devices), Powerbook, Classic all refer to Macs that are older than the present series

of Macs. Posting in those forums about a current Mac, shows you have not researched your Mac sufficiently to get a succinct answer to your query. Apple menu -> About This Mac will tell you the Mac OS version or System version you are running. The X in the version is important, and so is the preceding 10 in the version if it exists.

Questions saying X.1 could refer to Mac OS X 10.13.1, 10.1. Don't truncate the version you see.

There are no iOS forums specific to the operating system found on iPads, iPod Touch, AppleTV, Apple Watch, and iPhones. Figure out the type of portable device you are running to ask a question about that device specifically.

Apple has these identifying articles as well:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3255 - MacBook Air

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1635 - MacBook

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4132 - MacBook Pro

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3476 - Mac Mini

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6069 - Mac Pro

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1758 - iMac
http://support.apple.com/kb/sp96 and http://support.apple.com/kb/sp37 - PowerMac G5

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA25585 and http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3082 - PowerMac G4

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA22033 - PowerMac G3

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3065 - Powerbook G4

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2395 - eMac

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2287 - Powerbook G3

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1772 - iBook

Macs generally will not run an older Mac OS X operating system than shipped with them.

The one exception is virtualizing 10.6 Server on 10.7 or later, which is described later.

Also important to note is that the Apple App Store only has 10.7, 10.8, and 10.12, except for those who purchased in between systems, and have a Mac that shipped with in between systems. For all others if you need an in between system, and your Mac is older, contact the App Store tech support.

A quick upgrade guide has been posted on

These dates are important for recognizing what Mac OS X will run on Macs. Macs released on or after (including their model #s or name

where known):

September 30, 2018 will only run 10.14 or later

• MacBook Air 8,x

• Mac Mini 8,x

September 25, 2017 will only run 10.13 or later.

• iMac Pro 1,1
• MacBook Pro 15,x (2018 model)

June 5, 2017 Mac models (all 2017 Models except iMac Pro) will only run 10.12.5 or later

• MacBook Pro 14,x

• MacBook Air 7,2

• iMac 18,x

September 20, 2016 will only run 10.12 or later.

• MacBook Pro with touchbar (instead of physical F keys)
• MacBook Pro 13,x
• iMac 18,x
• MacBook Air 7,2 see this article on which ones could only run 10.12 or later.

September 30, 2015 will only run 10.11 or later. These Macs are the first Macs that can be upgraded directly to

Mac OS 10.14 without installing any other software.

• iMac 16,x and 17,x
• Macbook 9,x (these Macbooks came with the USB-C, instead of the USB 2 or USB 3 connector. USB 3 and 2 look identical on the outside, use System Profiler to determine which you have)

October 16, 2014 will only run 10.10 or later (10.10 is only available for Macs that shipped with it).

• MacBook Air 7,1 and 7,2 (some models could only run 10.12 or later).
• Mac Mini 7,x
• iMac MF885LL/A came with 10.10.2. All other 15,x came with 10.10.0
• MacBook 8,x - the oldest that can run Mac OS 10.14 with this model name after installing 10.11 or later.
• MacBook Pro 11,4 and 11,5

October 22, 2013 will only run 10.9 or later (10.9 is only available for Macs that shipped with it).

• Macbook Pro 11,1 through 11,3
• Mac Pro 6,x
• MacBook Air Early 2014
• Mac Mini 6,x
• iMac 14,4

June 25, 2012 will only run 10.8 or later. 10.8 through 10.11 are supported by these Macs [indicate machine ID found in profiler], and newer models may run some variety of 10.9, 10.10, or 10.11):

• MacBook Pro with Retina EMC 2557 from 2012 and 2013 and later models.
• MacBook Air (2013 or newer) [6,1]
• MacBook Air (Mid 2013 or newer) [6,1]
• Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer) [6,1] - the oldest that can run 10.14 after installing 10.11 or later.
• iMac (Late 2012 or newer) [13,1]
• Mac Pro (Late 2013) [6,1]

These models above are the first models that can be upgraded directly to High Sierra 10.13 without other prior upgrades.

The oldest MacBook Air and iMac that can run Mac OS 10.14 after installing 10.11.

• MacBook Air 5,1

• iMac 12,1

These Macs which are older can also be upgraded to 10.12 by upgrading to 10.7.5 first, and 10.13 by upgrading to 10.8 first:

• MacBook (Late 2009 or newer) 6,1
• MacBook Pro (Mid 2010 or newer) 6,1
• MacBook Air (Late 2010 or newer) 3,1.
• Mac mini (Mid 2010 or newer) 4,1
• iMac (Late 2009 or newer) 10,1
• Mac Pro (Mid 2010 or newer) 5,1

The Macs are compatible with 10.8 and later from prior 10.8's release

• Mac Pro (Early 2008 with AirPort Extreme card, or Mid 2012) [3,1]-[5,1] (Earlier Mac Pros are discussed on the 10.8 upgrade tip).
• MacBook Late 2008 [5,1] to mid 2010 [7,1] with no Pro or Air in the name.
• iMac (Early 2009 to mid-2011) [9,1] to [12,1]
• Mac mini (Mid 2010 to mid 2011) [4,1] to [5.1]
• MacBook Air (Late 2010 to mid-2012 [3,1]-[5,2]
• MacBook Pro Late 2008 [5,1] to Retina 2012 that are not EMC 2557.

July 20, 2011 will only run 10.7 or later. The model IDs (x,x) and EMC that fit this description until June 25, 2012 release of 10.8 (excluding the ones which will run only 10.8 or later earlier mentioned) :

iMac of an EMC of 2496; 13,x and later.

Mac Mini 5,x and later.

Macbook Air 4,x and later.

MacBook 8,x and later (no Pro no Air in the name)

Mac Pro 5,1 with EMC 2629 - the oldest that can be have Mac OS 10.14 installed after installing 10.11 or later, those without that EMC number came with 10.6 and can also be updated to 10.14 the same manner; 6,x and later.

MacBook Pro with EMC 2555, 2563; 9,x and later.

Note all the Macs that can only run 10.7 and later, may be able to run 10.6 Server with Parallels, if you need compatibility with an older operating system:

Beyond this point Macs released during certain date ranges also have a maximum operating system, and/or

minimum retail operating system and system specific operating system requirement (when I say up to 10.9 that includes all incremental updates):

Note: images shown below for retail operating system are those that have no 'Update, Dropin, or OEM' wording on them.

March 15, 2010-July 19, 2011 will only run prebundled 10.6 installer disc, and not retail, but also able to be upgraded to 10.9. Note this tip

if upgrading to 10.7 or later: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6271

August 28, 2009-March 14, 2010 will only 10.6 or later up to 10.9. And will at minimum be able to use

10.6.3 retailto install 10.6. Note this tip if upgrading to 10.7 or later: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6271

During 2000 to 2009, the serial number also made it easier to identify the Macs, as the 3rd, 4th, and 5th character of the serial number referred to the week

and year of the shipment date. Thus for serial numbers where x can be any letter or number, xxABCxxxxx serial numbers would refer to an A which is the last digit of the year, and BC=week of the year. xx905xxxx is the fifth week of 2009. You can then use Wikipedia to figure out what date the release was, and if it was after a specific retail release of an operating system to determine which pre bundled disc it came with, and which later retail discs the Mac could work with.

December 15, 2008-August 28, 2009 will only run prebundled 10.5 installer disc, and 10.6 retail https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/43236040snow.jpg, and if on https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3761

will also run up to Mac OS X 10.11 if you follow this tip: https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6271

October 28, 2007 -December 14, 2008 will at minimum be able to use the 10.5.6 retail, and install up to 10.9 if included on https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-3761 if you follow this tip https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-6271

January 10, 2006-October 27, 2007 will at minimum be able to 10.5 retail, and if

on Which 10.5 systems can upgrade to 10.8 or 10.9?or Are there 10.4 systems that can upgrade to 10.8 or 10.9? are

able to run 10.9. Core2Duo and Xeon can upgrade to a minimum of 10.7.5. Otherwise if they only have a CoreDuo, CoreSolo Intel

processor only be able to upgrade to Mac OS X 10.6.8. G5, G4, and G3 processors are not Intel.

Earlier dates are covered on this tip:Can I download my Mac OS upgrade?

Using the dates from the above documents, and the dates according to Wikipedia when specific retail

operating system systems were released, you can find which retail releases were newer than the Macs and the ones immediately older.

Mac Mini Mid 2011 Os Upgrade

i.e.:

An October 24, 2011 Macbook Pro will only run 10.8 retail, and 10.9 retail downloads, but needs an

AppleCare requested 10.7 installer to install 10.7. An exception exists in 10.6 Server, as indicated here:

A pre-October 26, 2007 MacBook Pro will only run the system specific Mac OS X 10.4 installer

that shipped with it, which can be ordered from AppleCare, or newer retail installer versions

of 10.5, 10.6 compatible with its hardware, and 10.7 if it is at least a Core2Duo.

CoreDuo, nor is CoreSolo is not compatible with 10.7.

For PowerPC Macs, Mac OS X 10.4.11 and earlier offer Classic compatibility, and on certain 2003 and earlier Macs dual booting on Mac OS X 10.5 & Mac OS 9:

No Mac may run an older version of Mac OS 9 than was prebundled with it.

A more precise timeline of Mac OS X follows (in U.S. date notation. Links to relevant articles up to 10.7 are included, as 10.7 drops PowerPC applications on Intel):

4/8/2015 10.10.3 (with supplemental on 4/16/2015)

1/27/2015 10.10.2

11/17/2014 10.10.1

10/16/2014 10.10 Yosemite

9/17/2014 10.9.5

6/30/2014 10.9.4

5/15/2014 10.9.3

2/25/2014 10.9.2

10/22/2013 10.9 (10.9 & 10.9.1 should be skipped due to security issues) Mavericks

10/3/2013 10.8.5 supplemental update

9/25/2013 10.8.4 iMac Late 2013

6/10/2013 10.8.4 MacBook Air mid 2013

6/4/2013 10.8.4

3/14/2013 10.8.3

11/29/2012 10.8.2 Mac MIni Late 2012

10/4/2012 10.8.2 supplemental update

10/4/2012 10.7.5 supplemental update

8/23/2012 10.8.1

7/25/2012 10.8 Mountain Lion

5/9/2012 10.7.4

2/1/2012 10.7.3

10/12/2011 10.7.2

8/16/2011 10.7.1

7/25/2011 10.6.8 v1.1

5/4/2011 10.6.7 Early 2011 MacBook Pro

3/21/2011 10.6.7

1/6/2011 10.6.6

11/10/2010 10.6.5

6/15/2010 10.6.4

4/13/2010 10.6.3 v1.1

4/1/2010 10.6.3 retail installer presently sold at the online Apple Store.

8/28/2009 10.6 retail installer (Snow Leopard)

12/15/2008 10.5.6 retail installer (Last PowerPC installer)

6/30/2008 10.5.4 retail installer

11/15/2007 10.5.1 retail installer

10/26/2007 10.5 retail installer (Leopard)

8/7/2006 Mac Pro (Intel, first Snow Leopard compatible professional desktop) replaces PowerMac G5 (the last PowerPC Mac and Mac capable of running Classic)

5/16/2006 The MacBook replaces the iBook (the last consumer notebook capable of running Classic)

4/3/2006 10.4.6 retail PowerPC only.

2/28/2006 First Intel Mac Mini (not capable of running Classic, first Mac)

1/10/2006 First Intel iMacs, MacBook Pro replaces Powerbook (first Macs not capable of running Classic, first Mac capable of running Snow Leopard)

10/31/2005 10.4.3 retail PowerPC only.

8/9/2004 10.3.5 retail

12/17/2003 10.3.2 retail

12/19/2002 10.2.3

Some hints about operating systems:

- Mac OS X 10.8 or later are required to sync with iOS 9.2 or 9.2.1.

- No PowerPC Mac can run Mac OS X 10.5.8 or higher, or sync with iOS 6 or higher.

- No PowerPC Mac can run Boot Camp

- No Mac can run Classic (side by side Mac OS 9 with Mac OS X without reboot) on the same partition as Mac OS X 10.5 or higher.

- No Intel Mac can run Classic.

- All Intel Macs can run at least Mac OS X 10.6.8 as long as they are older than Mac OS X 10.7's release.

- PowerPC applications need Mac OS X 10.6.8 or earlier to run on Intel Macs.

- Boot Camp needs Mac OS X 10.5 or later on Intel Macs. Note other virtualization tools are available for Mac OS X 10.4.11 or earlier on Intel Macs.

- Mac OS X 10.7.3 is needed for the latest Java and minimum iCloud.

- The same minimum system requirements exist for Mac OS X 10.8, 10.9, 10.10, and 10.11.

- 10.6.6 is the minimum for the Mac App Store, and upgrading to 10.7 without erasing the drive you install 10.7 on if the hardware supports it.

- 10.6.8 is the minimum for 10.8 or later upgrades if the hardware supports it.

- Apple has a 10.6.8 to 10.11 updateon the App Store.

- Some Macs that shipped with 10.6 can install up to 10.12 if they are upgraded to 10.7.5 first.

Aluminum 'Unibody' Mac mini Q&A

Update Published January 27, 2021

All Mac Q&As >>Aluminum Mac mini Q&A (Home)

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How do you upgrade the storage in the Aluminum 'Unibody' Mac mini models? What type of hard drive(s) or SSD(s) do they each support?

There are five different lines of Aluminum 'Unibody' Mac mini systems -- the 'Mid-2010,' 'Mid-2011,' 'Late 2012', 'Late 2014' and 'Late 2018' -- with notable differences in supported storage.

Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Non-Server Mid-2010 - Left, Mid-2011 & Late 2012 - Right)

Identification Help

If you're not sure which Aluminum Mac mini model you have, the optical drive equipped 'Mid-2010' models and current 'Late 2018' 'Space Gray' models should be easy to spot (at least for now), but many models in between these lines are more of a challenge.

All Aluminum Mac mini models can be precisely identified by the Model Identifier in software or externally by EMC Number, and more details about specific identifiers are provided in EveryMac.com's extensive Mac Identification section.

To locate the model identifier in software, select 'About This Mac' under the Apple Menu on your computer and click the 'More Info...' button. If the Mac mini is running OS X 10.7 'Lion' or later, you will need to click the 'System Report' button after clicking 'More Info...' as well.

For the pre-Late 2014 Mac mini models, the EMC number is visible upon removing the bottom 'spin off' panel to the right of the memory slots (when the ports are facing you). It is on the bottom of the 'Late 2014' and 'Late 2018' models toward the ports.

As always, EveryMac.com has hand documented the model identifiers and EMC numbers unique to each model, which are most easily visualized as a chart:

What Is The Latest Os For Mac Mini Mid 2011

EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup feature -- as well as the EveryMac app -- also can identify these models by their Serial Numbers.

Storage Types, Dimensions & Requirements

Regular 'Mid-2010' Aluminum 'Unibody' Mac mini models, which have optical drives, support a single 2.5-inch, 9.5 mm tall, 3 Gb/s Serial ATA (SATA Revision 2.0) hard drive or SSD (or two storage drives if you remove the optical drive). The oddball Mac mini 'Core 2 Duo' 2.66 Server (Mid-2010) supports two storage drives of the same type (and no optical drive).

All 'Mid-2011' and 'Late 2012' models hold two 2.5-inch storage drives with the same 9.5 mm height restriction, but have faster 6 Gb/s Serial ATA (SATA Revision 3.0) support.

The non-server 'Mid-2011' and 'Late 2012' models, which only ship with one hard drive by default, a second hard drive or SSD is supported, but one has to purchase the cable needed to attach the drive to the board before installation is possible.

A user from the MacRumors forums first determined that the needed part is referred to as the 'Bottom Hard Drive Flex Cable' (Apple Part Number 922-9560) and successfully installed a second drive. More recently, site sponsor Other World Computing began offering a 'Data Doubler' upgrade kit for the Aluminum Mac mini models that includes everything needed to perform this upgrade -- the cable, drive bracket, precisely sized screwdrivers and screws -- in one convenient package.

The 'Late 2014' models have a 6 Gb/s Serial ATA (SATA Revision 3.0) connector for a 2.5-Inch hard drive or SSD in addition to a proprietary PCIe connector for a 'blade' SSD. As first noted by site sponsor OWC, the cable to connect this SSD to the PCIe connector is not present unless the system is configured with a 'Fusion Drive' at the time of initial purchase. However, it is possible to buy this cable later. This 'PCIe SSD Cable Connector' is part number 821-00010-A.

The current 'Late 2018' models have onboard storage and it cannot be upgraded at all after the initial system purchase.

These details can be helpfully summarized accordingly:

* By default, one SATA 2.0 connector in these models is occupied by an optical drive.

† These models have onboard PCIe-based storage that cannot be upgraded after the initial system purchase.

Hard Drive Upgrade Official Disclaimer & Cautions

To upgrade the memory in the Aluminum 'Unibody' Mac mini models released before and after the Late 2014 models, Apple has made it straightforward. Replacing the hard drive or hard drives is a more complicated procedure and Apple does not support users performing this upgrade themselves.

In the User Guide, Apple formally states the following:

Except for memory, do not attempt to replace or repair any components inside your Mac mini. If your Mac mini needs service, consult the service and support information that came with your Mac mini for information about how to contact an Apple Authorized Service Provider or Apple for service.

If you install items other than memory, you risk damaging your equipment, and such damage isn't covered by the limited warranty on your Mac mini.

As Apple does not consider the hard drive to be a 'customer installable part,' EveryMac.com cannot recommend that users perform the upgrade themselves. Most likely should instead add a quick and easy external hard drive or alternately hire a professional. Given the small and densely packed nature of the Aluminum Mac mini models this certainly is not a good system to upgrade yourself without substantial experience upgrading the hard drive in similar systems.

Hard Drive Upgrade Instructions

However, for highly experienced users, upgrading the hard drive or hard drives -- or swapping in one or more SSDs -- is difficult, but feasible nevertheless.

These videos from OWC cover the procedure for the optical-drive equipped 'Mid-2010' models and the optical drive-less 'Mid-2010' Server, 'Mid-2011,' 'Late 2012,' and models, in a step-by-step fashion:

'Mid-2010' Mac mini (One Hard Drive, One Optical Drive)

'Mid-2010' Mac mini Server (Dual Hard Drives)

'Mid-2011' & 'Late 2012' Mac mini (Dual Hard Drives)

'Late 2014' Mac mini (Hard Drive or Fusion Drive; PCIe SSD Instructions)

It is hoped that by watching the videos you should be able to determine whether or not you feel comfortable performing the upgrade yourself or if you would rather hire a professional.

Mac mini Hard Drive or SSD Purchase Options

In theory, just about any hard drive or SSD that meets the minimum requirements should work in the Mac mini. However, it always is best to buy from a trusted company with Mac knowledge for the most trouble-free experience.

In addition to the convenient storage upgrade kit for applicable Aluminum Mac mini models, Other World Computing sells compatible hard drives and SSDs and offers an installation service, as well.

In the UK and Ireland, site sponsor Flexx sells Mac mini compatible SSDs with free shipping. The company provides flat rate shipping to France, Germany, and Switzerland and inexpensive shipping for all of Europe, too.

In Australia, site sponsors Macfixit and Upgradeable sell Mac mini compatible hard drives and SSDs with fast shipping, a money-back guarantee and more.

In New Zealand, site sponsor Upgradeable New Zealand sells Mac mini hard drives and SSDs with fast delivery to all corners of the country, precise compatibility, a lifetime warranty, and a money-back guarantee.

Also see:

• How do you upgrade the RAM in the Aluminum 'Unibody' Mac mini models? What type of RAM do they use? How much RAM do they actually support?
• How do you upgrade the hard drive in the Polycarbonate Intel Mac mini models? What type of hard drive do they support? Is it possible to replace the optical drive with a second hard drive?

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