If you plan to use the SSD with Sierra, you need a SSD that uses a 4K block size. SATA drives which use the M.2 connector will have two notches - these will not work. If you look at the SSD label-side up, with the connector towards the top, there should be one (and only one) notch in the series of connectors toward the right (you can image-search the Toshiba RD400 for what this looks like). Do not get a SATA SSD, a M.2 2242 SSD or SSD's meant for the pre-2013 MBA.

If you wish to get a different SSD than what's recommended in the big thread (with the risk involved), be sure to get a M.2 2280 (also referred to NGFF, 2280 is the size - 22mm x 80mm) PCIe NVMe (or AHCI) SSD. The Toshiba/OCZ RD400 (also known as the XG3), the one I tested, is one that's recommended. On the other hand, it is kind of geeky to do this so I won't begrudge people who do it for that reason.īefore buying a PCIe SSD for the 2014 Mini, look at the big thread for the recommended SSD's. There are also OS and block-size considerations in using a PCIE SSD that isn't there for SATA3 SSD's.

However, if the 2014 Mini is like the 2013-2015 Macbook Pro, then there's a bit of uncertainty in just what PCIe SSD's and adapters will work. Probably any current 2.5' SATA drive will work in the 2014 Mini. That's about half the current cost of a Crucial MX500 250GB SATA3 SSD. (I have thoughts on benchmarking at the bottom of the post.) The cost of the flex cable and adapter for me was $34. I also have a Crucial M500 (an older-model SSD) in this computer which has 414 MB/s write, 480 MB/s read. So you're not getting the full performance capability of a PCIe x4 SSD. The 2014 Mini has 2 PCIe lanes for it's SSD, the RD400 is a 4-lane SSD.

On the Blackmagic benchmark, I get 688 MB/s write, 780 MB/s read (the one Blackmagic result I saw posted in this forum for the Apple 256GB PCIe SSD in the 2014 Mini was slightly, maybe 10MB/sec faster). There's a thread in the MacBook Pro forum on using standard PCIe SSD's in the 2013-2015 MBP's that will be referenced in this post - I'll refer to it as the 'big thread':īefore proceeding, I should state that my opinion that I don't think a PCIe NVMe SSD in the Mac Mini is the preferable price/performance-wise choice for most people. Before it's used in it's ultimate destination, I decided to try it out in my 2014 Mini, trying out High Sierra for the first time, and share the results. I was going to order a Toshiba/OCZ RD400 for some yet-to-be-defined future use NOT in the 2014 Mini (it's a good PCIe SSD that Toshiba will be discontinuing and the 256GB model was available at a good price). In searching the web a month ago, I wasn't able to find articles on using a standard M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD in the 2014 Mini.

Pcie ssd for mac mini 2014