Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

18

Time Required

                          30 minutes - 1 hour

Sections

4

  • Top Housing
  • 6 steps
  • Internal Frame
  • 9 steps
  • AirPort Antenna
  • 1 step
  • AirPort Extreme
  • 2 steps

Flags

0

  • BackMac mini Model A1176 Repair (Early 2006 - Mid 2007)

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Top Housing
  • Power down your Mac mini, disconnect all of the cables, and flip it over.
  • Insert the Jimmy into the crack between the aluminum top housing and the plastic lower housing.
  • The Jimmy should reach a stop about 3/8" down.

Power down your Mac mini, disconnect all of the cables, and flip it over.

Insert the Jimmy into the crack between the aluminum top housing and the plastic lower housing.

The Jimmy should reach a stop about 3/8" down.

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Step 2

  • Gently bend the Jimmy outwards to pry the crack open a little larger and lift the lower housing up a small amount.
  • There are several plastic clips on the lower housing that fit into a channel in the aluminum top housing. Your goal is to use the Jimmy to push these clips inward enough to free them from the channel, while gently pulling up on the lower housing.

Gently bend the Jimmy outwards to pry the crack open a little larger and lift the lower housing up a small amount.

There are several plastic clips on the lower housing that fit into a channel in the aluminum top housing. Your goal is to use the Jimmy to push these clips inward enough to free them from the channel, while gently pulling up on the lower housing.

Step 3

  • Once you have the first side free, rotate the Mac mini and start prying up on the front edge.
  • Use the same prying motion to both bend the clips inward and lift the lower housing up out of the top housing.

Once you have the first side free, rotate the Mac mini and start prying up on the front edge.

Use the same prying motion to both bend the clips inward and lift the lower housing up out of the top housing.

Step 4

  • You may need to move the Jimmy along the edge to pry up all of the clips. Be patient and do a little bit at a time.

You may need to move the Jimmy along the edge to pry up all of the clips. Be patient and do a little bit at a time.

Step 5

  • Keep working around the perimeter, freeing the clips along the final edge.

Keep working around the perimeter, freeing the clips along the final edge.

Step 6

  • Flip the Mac mini back over and lift the top housing off of the lower housing.

Flip the Mac mini back over and lift the top housing off of the lower housing.

Step 7

              Internal Frame
  • Later in this guide you will remove several recessed Phillips screws. Bit drivers are generally too large to fit in the recesses, so be sure to have a thin shafted Phillips screwdriver on hand.
  • First remove the AirPort antenna (the larger of the two), located near the power button.
  • Slightly squeeze the two retaining arms toward each other and lift the AirPort antenna off its post.
  • Squeezing the two posts excessively will surely break them off the internal frame. Work delicately.
  • During reinstallation, you will have to slightly squeeze the two posts together so they fit into the openings on the AirPort antenna board.

Later in this guide you will remove several recessed Phillips screws. Bit drivers are generally too large to fit in the recesses, so be sure to have a thin shafted Phillips screwdriver on hand.

First remove the AirPort antenna (the larger of the two), located near the power button.

Slightly squeeze the two retaining arms toward each other and lift the AirPort antenna off its post.

Squeezing the two posts excessively will surely break them off the internal frame. Work delicately.

During reinstallation, you will have to slightly squeeze the two posts together so they fit into the openings on the AirPort antenna board.

Step 8

  • Use the tip of a spudger to slightly lift the left side of the ZIF cable lock up from its socket.
  • The ZIF cable lock will lift about 1 mm and stop. Do not try to completely remove the ZIF cable lock.

Use the tip of a spudger to slightly lift the left side of the ZIF cable lock up from its socket.

The ZIF cable lock will lift about 1 mm and stop. Do not try to completely remove the ZIF cable lock.

Step 9

  • Lift the audio board ribbon cable up out of its socket.
  • If it refuses to lift from its socket, the ZIF cable lock is not fully released. Make sure it is evenly lifted about 1 mm from the socket on the interconnect board.

Lift the audio board ribbon cable up out of its socket.

If it refuses to lift from its socket, the ZIF cable lock is not fully released. Make sure it is evenly lifted about 1 mm from the socket on the interconnect board.

Step 10

  • Rotate the mini so that the SuperDrive slot loading mechanism is facing you.
  • Use a pair of tweezers to lift the hard drive thermal sensor cable connector up off its socket on the logic board.
  • Use tweezers to grab the connector (as seen in the picture), not the wires.
  • The connector is located under the optical drive opening, next to the PRAM battery.

Rotate the mini so that the SuperDrive slot loading mechanism is facing you.

Use a pair of tweezers to lift the hard drive thermal sensor cable connector up off its socket on the logic board.

Use tweezers to grab the connector (as seen in the picture), not the wires.

The connector is located under the optical drive opening, next to the PRAM battery.

Step 11

  • In the next few steps, you will remove the four Phillips screws securing the internal frame to the bottom case. Included in each step is an overview picture showing the general location and a closeup showing the actual screw.
  • Remove the recessed Phillips screw near the power button securing the internal frame to the bottom housing.

In the next few steps, you will remove the four Phillips screws securing the internal frame to the bottom case. Included in each step is an overview picture showing the general location and a closeup showing the actual screw.

Remove the recessed Phillips screw near the power button securing the internal frame to the bottom housing.

Step 12

  • Remove the recessed Phillips screw near the sleep light securing the internal frame to the bottom housing.
  • This screw is the longest of the four screws securing the internal frame to the bottom case.

Remove the recessed Phillips screw near the sleep light securing the internal frame to the bottom housing.

This screw is the longest of the four screws securing the internal frame to the bottom case.

Step 13

  • Remove the Phillips screw from the internal frame near the Bluetooth antenna.

Remove the Phillips screw from the internal frame near the Bluetooth antenna.

Step 14

  • Remove the Phillips screw near the audio ports securing the internal frame to the bottom case.

Remove the Phillips screw near the audio ports securing the internal frame to the bottom case.

Step 15

  • Gently lift the internal frame up from the bottom housing, minding the AirPort antenna and any other cables that may get caught.
  • It may be necessary to pull up near the interconnect board to separate it from the logic board.

Gently lift the internal frame up from the bottom housing, minding the AirPort antenna and any other cables that may get caught.

It may be necessary to pull up near the interconnect board to separate it from the logic board.

Step 16

              AirPort Antenna
  • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the AirPort antenna cable connector up off the AirPort card.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the AirPort antenna cable connector up off the AirPort card.

Step 17

              AirPort Extreme
  • Remove the single Phillips screw securing the AirPort card to the logic board.
  • After removing this screw, the free end of the AirPort card should pop up slightly.

Remove the single Phillips screw securing the AirPort card to the logic board.

After removing this screw, the free end of the AirPort card should pop up slightly.

Step 18

  • Lift the AirPort card up slightly and pull it away from its socket on the logic board.

Lift the AirPort card up slightly and pull it away from its socket on the logic board.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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                    Walter Galan

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Santiago Armendariz - Jan 3, 2021

Reply

What is the port (connector) nearest the wifi card?

William - Dec 28, 2021

Reply

I’ve managed to replace the built-in AirPort card in my Mac Mini with a different card. I bought a Broadcom BCM94321MC (which is natively found in Santa Rosa/Penryn Macs) and I installed it successfully into the Mac. Mac OS X picked it up immediately and I noticed a modest increase in speed compared to the previous AirPort card. My guess is that the single antenna in the Mac Mini is the bottleneck for WiFi speeds. Since it looks like the Mac Mini uses mini PCI-E for its AirPort card, I suppose any mini PCI-E WiFi card can work, assuming that it is compatible with Mac OS X and fits the longer size required by the Mac.