Question :

I have a 2018 Mac mini with a Space Grey housing and I love the color. Now time has come to upgrade to a new Mac mini with an M1 or M2 processor, but for some mysterious reasons Apple doesn’t sell the Mac mini in Space Grey any longer… you can get any color as long as it’s old-fashioned aluminium-white…

Is there any way to get the internals of a M1 or M2 Mac mini into a Space Gray Mac mini housing from 2018 ?

Answer :

Mh… well, yes and no… it can be done, but not in the way you would ideally envision it… there are 3 options that get you close and work :

Option 1 :
Get an M1 or M2 Mac mini’s internals out of it’s housing and build that into a Space Grey 2018 Mac mini housing… this can be done, as the size is nearly identical so it will fit inside, but it will not be perfect as the inner suspension and fixation layout is different, the front LED is extremely hard to swop as it has a different connector… and you will loose your Apple warranty…

If you want a ‘proof of concept’, there are some YouTube videos on this, that you should definitely have a look at before you consider attempting this :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9md09BcQiE

So… if you don’t want to break your Apple warranty, there are 2 alternative options :

Option 2 :
This looks great, if you put a little effort into it (and you probably won’t mind doing so, as you were willing to replace the entire housing yourself). Get yourself a Space Grey vinyl wrapping from Ultra Skins or SlickWraps :
Click here for the M2 Mac mini (2023) skins from Ultra Skins
Click here for the M1 Mac mini (2020) skins from Ultra Skins
>>>> click here to watch te installation video on YouTube <<<<

Click here for the M1 Mac mini (2020) skins from SlickWraps
Click here for the M2 Mac mini (2023) skins form SlickWraps

Note that Amazon offers something similar : the SkinOmi Carbon Fiber TechSkin …but it is officially for the Late 2012 Mac mini, so the outside sizing is the same, but the exact location of the holes for the ports might (and probably will) differ :
Click here to see and buy it from Amazon US
Click here to see and buy it from Amazon UK
Click here to see and buy it from Amazon DE

Option 3 :
This isn’t the most sophisticated option, but it works quick&dirty and is fool-proof : get yourself a Dark Grey bumper skin from Elago for about $20 or €35 :
Click here to see and buy it from Amazon US
Click here to see and buy it from Amazon UK
Click here to see and buy it from Amazon DE

Please note that we get a small kick-back fee from Amazon for referring you to their website, but you will still get their best price so this does not affect you.