Upgrading Memory in a MacMini

I realized last weekend that I had never ordered the memory upgrade for our MacMini that I had intended to get shortly after we purchased it.  Apple charges to much for factory installed and Genius Bar memory upgrades so if  you can, it is better to upgrade it yourself.  This is fairly easy to do in a MacBook/Pro or in an iMac (according to my father) but it is a little more of an undertaking with the MacMini.  Fortunately there are plenty of online tutorials out there to get your through the baby steps.

Getting the aluminum case to separate from the chassis is the most nerve-wracking part.  It seems like you are putting too much force on the contraption and then all of the sudden it separates.

Once inside, everything is just a matter of being delicate and watching what you do in the event something detaches.  this happened to me in two instances.  Both times they were unexpected and were not items covered in the tutorial I was following.  The first was a tiny little flay copper cable.  I was able to see where it connected and after a moment of panic realized it has disconnected and not broken off.  The second I noticed when I was about to put everything back together.  The brass connecter for the AirPort antennae was NOT connected and I could not see where it should connect!  One nervous Google search later and I found out where it was supposed to connect.  It isn't easy getting them back on and for a few minutes I thought that I may have bent part of the tiny grippers on the connector.  Finally [onomatopoeia] 'click' it went back into place.

Lose test (no case) went fine and once put back together I had another moment of "crap I just put it back together" panic when the bluetooth mouse didn't respond.  Did I disconnect that antenna too?  Before checking I reset the mouse (pulled out and reseated the batteries) and all was good.

All-in-all it is not hard, just delicate.  If you are not a tinkerer, I would recommend finding a friend to overwatch and or assist.