2011 Mac Mini Warranty Question

[Hellotalkie]

Hello,

I purchased my Mac Mini Server in 2011 with Apple Car. I utilized the ifixit guide to installed an ssd in place of one of the hard drives (was pretty easy).

Now I'm having this issue with my display always flickering. Happens when I'm watching a video or just doing general tasks. I have a HP zr30w and another display being driven. Seems this flickering issue just started happening recently.

I do not have the original hard drive anymore, so I can't place it back in but am I screwed with Apple care? I honestly don't believe that my SSD installation affected the GPU for overheating (which is what I'm assuming is happening). It's been working fine for the past 1.5 years.

Also I think when I was researching the installation of an SSD, I read somewhere that it does not void the warranty, but then again, that opinion was easily challenged.

Thanks!

 

[TheStu]

I think that you are OK, the hard drive isn't buried deep within the bowels of the Mini, it isn't like you had to remove the logic board to get to it, did you?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/mac_mini_mid2011_ug.pdf

That's the manual that came with the machine. I looked up the HDD swap procedures on iFixit, and it looked pretty easy to screw up.

IIRC, if the upgrade procedure is outlined in the manual, it's okay to do yourself, and if it's not, it's not. (Macbook manuals include directions on HDD swaps, for comparison's sake.)

You can obviously check for sure if you call Apple. (Or, preferably, an Apple-authorized independent shop that will wink, smile, and answer your of-course-purely-hypothetical question.)

 

[Hellotalkie]

IIRC I had to remove the logic board. It slides right out of the case one all the connections are disconnected. The only way to correctly install a new HD and not forcefully insert the drive would be to remove the logic board.

It was invasive but I took my time and made sure I knew how everything went back in place.