Which brand is it? Does anyone have the model number and the specifications?
The brand or make of your internal HD varies with Apple's build schedule, and may vary by model, i.e., the PPC-based will have an Ultra/ATA-style drive, while Intel minis use 1.5Gb/sec SATA-type drives. Either way, they are the 2.5-inch form-factor. Brand does not matter if you are looking to replace, however, you can discover the brand you have (if your drive is sill alive) by opening System Profiler and checking the entries under Hardware/ATA and Hardware/Serial-ATA, depending which mini you have. You will see a model number which you can search in Google for the maker. Drives beginning with "ST" are usually Seagate, "WD"-Western Digital, etc. Good luck and...
...Happy Mac'ing!
Dan
So Apple is using Seagate and Western Digital 2.5 disks in the Mini these days?
Amongst others, yes. Perhaps I misunderstand the nature of your query - what is it you are trying to determine?
Happy Mac'ing
Dan
Sorry for not being clearer. I am going to upgrade the disk in a Mac Mini and I'd like to know which brands Apple is using currently. If Apple is using certain brands of hard disk, I will buy one of the those brands. I found a good price for a Fujitsu SATA 2.5" disk but I don't think Apple uses Fujitsu disks.
Both my brother and I have had bad experiences with Fujitsu drives. Now I wouldn't use one, even if it were free.
I just had a look in the System Profiler, and the 40 GB disk that is sounding the Clunk Of Death is in fact a Fujitsu disk. I hope it's under warranty.
Like I said - the brand varies with the "build" plans on the day your mini was built. Fujitsu is a supplier that Apple sometimes uses, amongst others. However, I have seen bad drives from every maker, I have a box full of them - mostly seagate, fujitsu and quantum! It's difficult to predict which drives are "lemons", but every maker has them. AppleCare covers your whole machine, so the hard drive is covered so long as your AppleCare is still active - take it to an Apple dealer and your machine will be fixed gratis! If it is not covered - installing an HD in a mini is a user-doable upgrade.
Don't skimp, don't buy the raw drives that come without proper packaging from PC box-builders - factory drives come with cables, instructions and in a box - and stick with WD, IBM, or Hitachi drives. An important spec to look at is the MTBF - "Mean Time Before Failure", this is the predicted lifespan of the drive and is given in hours, better drives have longer MTBFs. Another spec to watch is the max operating temperature - higher is of course better.
The 2.5-inch drives are particularly prone to heat problems. They are so-called notebook drives, and Apple has used them in the mini to keep the size factor down. They generally are not intended for continuous service like a desktop 3.5-inch drive, and it shows. They also tend to be slower-spinning - 4200-5400 RPM in the notebooks versus 5400-10000 RPM on the desktops. Faster spindles mean more power and heat, something laptops and minis don't like, but also indicate higher quality.
So, yes, you can put any drive that meets the mini's electrical specs in your Mac. You should format the drive with Disk Utility, even though the drive may arrive "formatted", - boot from your minis CD or DVD and run Disk Utility from the installers utility menu, format as HFS Extended, and you're good to go!
Happy Mac'ing!
Dan
Quote from: Dan Millar
Don't skimp, don't buy the raw drives that come without proper packaging from PC box-builders
I'd recommend what you say for people who don't want to do any research. But for those who do research a purchase, "PC box builders" offer good deals. (How much difference there is between Apple and "PC" computing hardware these days is another debate. By industry hardware definitions, today's Apple computers are IBM PCs.)
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- factory drives come with cables, instructions and in a box - and stick with WD, IBM, or Hitachi drives.
IBM is not in the hard-disk business anymore. They sold the business unit to Hitachi several years ago.
That said, Fujitsu offers a 3 to 5 year warranty. The one brand to avoid is Toshiba - they offer no replacement for their failed drives if the drive is not in a Toshiba computer.
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An important spec to look at is the MTBF
A mean is no prediction of what you'll really get -- as your experience has shown. Half the products will fail earlier and half later. I'd rather rely on warranty.
The reason I don't recommend raw drives in general is that the QA process for fixed-storage devices includes a process of winnowing, i.e, drives with the best specs are separated from those merely within tolerance, and, of course those that fail go into the bit bucket. Big customers like Dell, HP, Apple, Lenovo and others, and the manufacturers themselves, get "first pick". I'm not saying that all PC box-builders ever get are the seconds, and the warrantees are the same - but you have better chance of never needing the warrantee if you buy first-pick drives.
I too highly recommend Hitachi drives, and curse Toshiba(making a sign of the cross). I mention IBM because you can still find them collecting dust in some warehouses, and they are also very good.
MTBF by itself tells you nothing - but comparing MTBFs gives you a very good idea of which drives are of better quality. Same with operating temperatures.
What my experience has shown is that ALL drives eventually fail. Backup, backup, backup!
Happy Mac'ing!
Dan