Mac mini (Late 2009)

Still upgradeable

Apple confirmed that you can still upgrade your mini without voiding the warranty. However, as in the past, upgraded components--third-party RAM and hard drives--are not covered by the mini's warranty, and if you break anything in the process of upgrading, such damage is not covered.

That said, given that the $599 model now ships with 2GB of memory--what I consider a good starting point for any computer running Mac OS X--and the $799 model ships with 4GB, there's not nearly as much need to perform such surgery as there was with the previous models. And while you might be tempted to upgrade the hard drive to a larger one--or to a faster, 7200rpm model--an external, desktop FireWire 800 drive will offer more storage capacity and better performance than any upgraded internal drive.

Apple has even made it less appealing to max out the mini's RAM on your own: the $799 model is already flush with 4GB, and upgrading the $599 model to 4GB when you order will set you back only another $100--a reasonable price considering current prices on a 4GB RAM kit for the mini. And don't forget that ordering the upgrade from Apple is easier and means the RAM is covered under Apple's warranty. (Granted, with an aftermarket upgrade, you'll end up with the original 2GB of RAM to use elsewhere, but with all current Macs shipping with a minimum of 2GB of RAM, those "leftover" chips won't do you much good unless you've got some other compatible hardware sitting around.)

However, if you're planning on using the Mac mini with RAM-hungry apps, there's a new wrinkle to consider: As with the previous line, both new minis officially support 4GB of memory. However, according to macminicolo.net, 123Macmini.com, and OWC, both the previous and new Mac mini lines can actually handle up to 8GB of RAM when running the latest firmware and Snow Leopard. (Apple says such configurations are officially unsupported.) Of course, you'll have to shell out nearly $500 for such an upgrade, but it's nice to know such an upgrade is an option if the need ever arises--or as RAM inevitably gets cheaper.