// 9TO5MAC — MOBILE & WEB

Apple killed the Mac mini’s best hidden feature [Video]

Published: 06/10/2026, 18:44

With the release of the M6 Mac mini and its more powerful M5 Pro counterpart, Apple quietly killed off one of the machine’s most compelling features. While both new Mac mini models look like their predecessors from the outside, Apple nixed the hidden feature that made the previous-generation Mac mini an incredible value. Jeff Benjamin's favorite screen cleaner for Apple products. When it first launched, the M4 Mac mini provided a huge bang for the buck. Not only did it feature Apple’s M4 SoC, but it also came with a healthy 16GB of unified memory, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, two front-facing USB 3 ports, HDMI, and Ethernet. At just $599 or $499 at the student discount price, the M4 Mac mini was not only the most versatile Mac in Apple’s lineup but also, pound for pound, the best Mac in the lineup. But Apple’s smallest Mac had a secret up its sleeve that made it an even more valuable machine: a slot for upgradable storage. Users could literally pry open the machine’s back cover, unscrew a few screws, and access a removable NAND module that could be easily replaced with a third-party SSD up to 2TB. The benefits were multifaceted. Not only could you upgrade the SSD or easily fix a drive that failed, but you could also save some serious coin by forgoing Apple’s build-to-order upgrade option and do it yourself with a much cheaper third-party SSD. Jeff's favorite screen cleaning cloth that polishes to a shine. At the time, Apple charged $800 for the 2TB upgrade, transforming the “budget” computer into a $1400 computer with the click of an option. By upgrading after purchase with a third-party SSD, users could save nearly $500. Of course, as someone who likes to tinker, I was extremely excited about this and ended up posting a full video tutorial showing, step by step, how to upgrade the stock SSD with a third-party drive. It proved to be quite popular, amassing half a million views. With the launch of this latest generation of Mac mini, Apple has soldered the SSD directly to the logic board, effectively eliminating the ability to upgrade it post-purchase with a third-party NAND module. Apple's budget MacBook, the cheapest way to experience macOS on the go.