These NANDs use a unique BGA315 packaging. Nobody uses this except Apple. So whatever Apple specs for their NANDs, this is it.
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Upgrading M4 Mac Mini SSD: Pre-Soldered 2TB Chip Options
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These NANDs use a unique BGA315 packaging. Nobody uses this except Apple. So whatever Apple specs for their NANDs, this is it.
As a 20-year mac user, I'd completely disagree!
My first macs allowed for easy user-replacable batteries and memory... And if you opened the case you could easily hack it to replace an HHD/SSD - or even replace a screen with one of a higher resolution.
Regarding this topic - these SSD nands are pure commodity! The boards they're attached to - probably not. It looks like they're available to these vendors - legally or not. It'll be interesting to see if Apple does something to stop this. If not, I would definitely pick up a base model and make this mod for $200...
I cannot refuse this polite request!
It will take me a bit of time to write it up, which I should be able to get to today. Since it's specific to Sequoia I may post it in that forum, when I do post something I'll link it here - I don't want to derail this thread.
So I got the SSD in the mail today. It came with a torx screwdriver and a small plastic wedge to remove the plastic cover on the bottom of the Mac Mini.
First the bad
I paid 1299 RMB for a SSD with Toshiba (Kioxia) nand chips. I noticed right away that they sent me a SSD with Sandisk nands chips. The Sandisk nands are noticeably bigger and the model number starts with SD. I know from a little research that the Kioxia nands start with K6B2. I also watched the Dosdude video when he changed the nand chips on the OEM ssd board and he also used nands that started with K6B2. So after tax, shipping and a small foreign exchange fee, I paid $216 in total. It would have been cheaper if I paid for the Sandisk nands. Unfortunately I paid for Toshiba and I got Sandisk. I sent a message to the seller to see if I can get a refund of the difference in price.
Now the good
The installation was not hard especially because they provided all the tools with the SSD. One thing I noted is that the ssd does not tilt upwards as much as a standard M.2 ssd. You have to pull it straight back and then it can be removed.
I didn't have a second "legitimate" Mac to restore my Mac Mini but surprisingly I was able to restore it with a Dell Optiplex Hackintosh that I had. So I guess you don't need an Apple silicon Mac to restore an Apple silicon mac after all. The middle port on the rear with the thunderbolt symbol is the port that works for restoring the Mac Mini.
So far it appears to be working fine however I've only been using it for a few hours. I did a 1gb speed test on blackmagic and I got 4584 mb write and 2956 mb read. I thought it would be faster at reading but it's the opposite.
I will update if anything significant happens. I attached a pic of the aftermarket ssd vs the OEM. The nand is noticeably bigger. I am assuming the Kioxia nands would be the same size as OEM. The OEM 128gb nand also starts with a K.
First the bad
I paid 1299 RMB for a SSD with Toshiba (Kioxia) nand chips. I noticed right away that they sent me a SSD with Sandisk nands chips. The Sandisk nands are noticeably bigger and the model number starts with SD. I know from a little research that the Kioxia nands start with K6B2. I also watched the Dosdude video when he changed the nand chips on the OEM ssd board and he also used nands that started with K6B2. So after tax, shipping and a small foreign exchange fee, I paid $216 in total. It would have been cheaper if I paid for the Sandisk nands. Unfortunately I paid for Toshiba and I got Sandisk. I sent a message to the seller to see if I can get a refund of the difference in price.
Now the good
The installation was not hard especially because they provided all the tools with the SSD. One thing I noted is that the ssd does not tilt upwards as much as a standard M.2 ssd. You have to pull it straight back and then it can be removed.
I didn't have a second "legitimate" Mac to restore my Mac Mini but surprisingly I was able to restore it with a Dell Optiplex Hackintosh that I had. So I guess you don't need an Apple silicon Mac to restore an Apple silicon mac after all. The middle port on the rear with the thunderbolt symbol is the port that works for restoring the Mac Mini.
So far it appears to be working fine however I've only been using it for a few hours. I did a 1gb speed test on blackmagic and I got 4584 mb write and 2956 mb read. I thought it would be faster at reading but it's the opposite.
I will update if anything significant happens. I attached a pic of the aftermarket ssd vs the OEM. The nand is noticeably bigger. I am assuming the Kioxia nands would be the same size as OEM. The OEM 128gb nand also starts with a K.
Attachments
Downloaded the new beta, going to try a Hail Mary with a couple of things, it will take overnight to see the results so have some patience...
Super interesting. Can you check if sleep works as intended?
Sleep works as intended. It's been less than a day but so far my Mac mini has been operating normally with the new ssd installed. As of now, the only concern appears to be longevity so only time will tell.
The prices vary a lot with these aftermarket ssd's. The pop up websites seem to have the highest prices. It looks like they are selling a version with the sandisk nands for $300.
Aliexpress seems to be middle of the road prices and they offer the option between Kioxia and Sandisk nands.
Taobao has the cheapest prices and they also offer the option between Kioxia and Sandisk nands. However shipping takes a little longer and there is no english version of their app. I used the website mostly with google translate but even then it is not that easy to navigate.
Just go for the cheapest one. Kioxia and SanDisk have a joint venture to produce NAND in the same fabs and the SanDisk ones here are likely BICS6 while Kioxia is BICS8. There isn't much difference between the generations.
Sold! I'll get the same one you got. I don't see a link.. which seller did you use?
What is this about rebooting from a Mac, though? I guess that's explained in Dosdude's video.
So happy I didn't upgrade through Apple.
Thanks!
What is this about rebooting from a Mac, though? I guess that's explained in Dosdude's video.
So happy I didn't upgrade through Apple.
Thanks!
I used a seller on Taobao but they are not listing it anymore so maybe they are out of stock.
This store on Taobao is listing the 2 tb sandisk version for 888 rmb which is lower than any other ones I've seen. I have no experience with this store however.
商品详情
This store on Aliexpress has them also for a fair price and it is a lot easier to navigate through Aliexpress.
Solid State Drive Kit 1T/2T For MAC MINI M4 SSD Capacity Upgrade Toshiba/SanDisk New Particles Upgrade Memory DIY Reair Kit - AliExpress 1420
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
www.aliexpress.us
You need to have another Mac because the SSD will be blank and you need another Mac to restore the operating system and I'm assuming link the SSD to your Mac.
This seller also has them for a fair price and it is "choice" which is the Aliexpress version of Amazon prime which means Aliexpress will ship direct.
www.aliexpress.us
But I would also assume that the prices will be lower eventually.
Mac MINI-SSD supports MAC Mini M4 models 1tb/2tb expansion ssd components Hard Drive Upgrade and Expansion SSD Component - AliExpress 1420
Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com
www.aliexpress.us
But I would also assume that the prices will be lower eventually.
Thanks! Very interesting. I've ordered things from taobao before through an agent, never direct. 888 rmb is looking pretty good...
Where do you see this?
I used the "Cainiao Direct Mail-Air Freight Standard ￥116.00" option on Taobao. Don't used the consolidated shipping option. I believe that is only when you have multiple items from various sellers. The seller shipped it to the Taobao warehouse for free and then Taobao shipped it to me in the US for 116 rmb.
In the US they used some shipping company that I never heard of before. It is called Piggy Express believe it or not. But they delivered it. Also I think you need an Alipay account to pay and there is a small fee associated with that. I also heard that they may take apple pay but I didn't try.
Aliexpress is as easy as shopping on Ebay or Amazon but the price is higher than on Taobao. Aliexpress takes paypal and if you use Rakuten then sometimes they offer cashback on purchases.
In the US they used some shipping company that I never heard of before. It is called Piggy Express believe it or not. But they delivered it. Also I think you need an Alipay account to pay and there is a small fee associated with that. I also heard that they may take apple pay but I didn't try.
Aliexpress is as easy as shopping on Ebay or Amazon but the price is higher than on Taobao. Aliexpress takes paypal and if you use Rakuten then sometimes they offer cashback on purchases.
Note, if you're not careful you may wind up buying the PCB only and not the fully populated board with NAND.
My experiment with the new beta and an external disk is still in progress, the SSD light has been flashing away for nearly 24 hours now. While I haven't seen this amount of activity before (and have some very light hope of success), in the past it's all come to nothing.
Plenty of YouTube videos out there now all showing success, it would be nice if that drives demand and lower prices through new entrants.
My experiment with the new beta and an external disk is still in progress, the SSD light has been flashing away for nearly 24 hours now. While I haven't seen this amount of activity before (and have some very light hope of success), in the past it's all come to nothing.
Plenty of YouTube videos out there now all showing success, it would be nice if that drives demand and lower prices through new entrants.
I am curious if Apple will do anything to address these third parties SSD solutions. They are known for their anti-consumer practices.
The board is not sourced from Apple's supply chain. The Apple version is proprietary. The schematics is analyzed and reverse engineered and redrawn to make it simpler to manufacturer. Then it was manufactured according to the revised schema.
One important note is that this daughter board only houses the NAND chips and not the controller.
Traditional SSDs contains both. The controller is responsible for storing health information related to the NAND chip attached - including the number of times it is turned on, number of hours it is in operation, number of terabytes written, number of bad blocks (SMART data).
On the M4 mac mini, the controller is on the SoC. It uses a small rewritable storage on the motherboard to store NAND health information. If you just swap out the board for an already initialized board, then it will not reset those health information. The information reflected will be based on the old NAND chips. This means the new NAND's health information is not reflected.
On the other hand, if you upgrade by soldering new chips, or if you purchase an uninitialized NAND board, you have to initialize it inside your mac with DFU Mode using another Mac. The controller on your mac could possibly reset the NAND health metrics.
Traditional SSDs contains both. The controller is responsible for storing health information related to the NAND chip attached - including the number of times it is turned on, number of hours it is in operation, number of terabytes written, number of bad blocks (SMART data).
On the M4 mac mini, the controller is on the SoC. It uses a small rewritable storage on the motherboard to store NAND health information. If you just swap out the board for an already initialized board, then it will not reset those health information. The information reflected will be based on the old NAND chips. This means the new NAND's health information is not reflected.
On the other hand, if you upgrade by soldering new chips, or if you purchase an uninitialized NAND board, you have to initialize it inside your mac with DFU Mode using another Mac. The controller on your mac could possibly reset the NAND health metrics.