Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Is any internal access available for any mods to the Mac studio's

C

Chancha

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2014
2,244
2,041
No, think of it as a headless MacBook.

The SSD is socketed but it is not likely to be easily swappable or you won’t be able to find replacement chips to swap with. Everything else are soldered.
 
philipma1957

philipma1957

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 13, 2010
6,396
275
Howell, New Jersey
Figured as much. I like the base model with a 1tb ssd other than a 500gb ssd. Would like to have the ability to swap out the ssd down the road. 1999+200 = 2199. I can get a veteran discount. I may trade in my 2018 model Mac mini to get this unit.
 
StudioMacs

StudioMacs

macrumors 65816
Apr 7, 2022
1,133
2,269
philipma1957 said:
Figured as much. I like the base model with a 1tb ssd other than a 500gb ssd. Would like to have the ability to swap out the ssd down the road. 1999+200 = 2199. I can get a veteran discount. I may trade in my 2018 model Mac mini to get this unit.
Click to expand...
The SSD controller is built into the processor (SoC - ”system on a chip”), so off the shelf SSD modules just won’t work.

Apple’s SSD models are not soldered in, so they can be removed and swapped, but it doesn’t work unless Apple releases an upgrade kit like they did for the Mac Pro. We can physically swap SSDs from one machine to another, but then we need to perform a DFU restore so the machine will recognize the new SSD, and that’s the part Apple would need to make an update for (at least that’s how I understand it).

I upped the storage in mine because I don‘t want to gamble on an upgrade path that hasn’t been promised.
 
L

Lihp8270

macrumors 65816
Dec 31, 2016
1,139
1,601
StudioMacs said:
The SSD controller is built into the processor (SoC - ”system on a chip”), so off the shelf SSD modules just won’t work.

Apple’s SSD models are not soldered in, so they can be removed and swapped, but it doesn’t work unless Apple releases an upgrade kit like they did for the Mac Pro. We can physically swap SSDs from one machine to another, but then we need to perform a DFU restore so the machine will recognize the new SSD, and that’s the part Apple would need to make an update for (at least that’s how I understand it).

I upped the storage in mine because I don‘t want to gamble on an upgrade path that hasn’t been promised.
Click to expand...
The chance of an upgrade kit for studio is slim.

It’s clear that there’s no intention for users to be inside these units from the uncovered power supply.
 
F

F-Train

macrumors 68020
Apr 22, 2015
2,272
1,762
NYC & Newfoundland
Lihp8270 said:
The chance of an upgrade kit for studio is slim.

It’s clear that there’s no intention for users to be inside these units from the uncovered power supply.
Click to expand...

It's entirely possible that Apple and its certified technicians will sell and install SSD upgrades. Apple and Apple technicians will make money, and customers who are willing to pay will get the capacity increase that they want.

If Apple declines to do this for some reason, I imagine that independent Apple technicians will be tempted to do it anyway, treating it as a repair.

In addition to its own profit motive, the prospect of annoyed customers and certified technicians working under the table are a couple of good reasons for Apple to take a positive attitude toward these upgrades. So is the prospect of turning this into a political issue related to right to repair.
 
Last edited:
philipma1957

philipma1957

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 13, 2010
6,396
275
Howell, New Jersey
At times Apple repair and path to upgrades are too restricted.
This would have been a perfect machine if you could swap out the ssd. I have a 2018 mac mini with 32gb ram and a 1tb ssd in it. The ram is still far more than I need. The 1tb ssd in it is still roomy enough for me. By reading the specs and knowing what I need in my mac I know the 32gb ram would be enough. But locking me out of the ssd (not new procedure for apple) is pretty mean spirited. Just think how much better this would be if you could swap in a bigger nvme 2 when needed. I could actually have a dongle free mac.
 
N

now i see it

macrumors G4
Jan 2, 2002
11,239
24,222
Everything is soldered in to speed up device replacement churn. Apple makes money selling computers, not by making them last forever.
 
J

jasoncarle

Suspended
Jan 13, 2006
623
460
Minnesota
now i see it said:
Everything is soldered in to speed up device replacement churn. Apple makes money selling computers, not by making them last forever.
Click to expand...

Jokes on them then, my 2011 Mac mini is still running on a new SSD and 16GB of RAM while running Ubuntu server and acting as a music server.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom