Might purchase the Pro version of the mini just based on this information from you 😬
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Upgrading Mac Studio storage
- Thread starter gilles_polysoft
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You should probably follow the Kickstarter for updates.
At the time I sent my question here there was no update yet, hence I asked here (original topic). But glad to see they succeeded. : )
Hello mulch0629,
Please send me a dm, MacRumors forum rules don't allow self-advertising and I have been temporarily banned from here.
However, I continue to contribute here to the following threads:
And I have done a lot of soldered NAND aging tests, including on Mac Studio of course, I may publish results here.
Took about 20 minutes to install my 2Tb - used a screen/glue softener (zippy bag with hot water) when removing the circular screw cover, leaving the adhesive intact, as the adhesive strips included in the kit weren't the ones used in Apple's repair process. Had two backups - used the standalone TM one I made to use after doing the IPSW restore - 45 minutes later I had a 32gb/2Tb Mac Studio. Easiest upgrade ever. Chocolates have quite a history - the Chocolatier company has been around for hundreds of years. Enjoy your expanded storage.
Very very happy with my new 8TB SSD from Polysoft.
And, seeing that they are very capable in doing hardware upgrades, maybe a suggestion for a new project would be to make the CPU upgradable. I would participate in such a Kickstarter project without hesitation.
And, seeing that they are very capable in doing hardware upgrades, maybe a suggestion for a new project would be to make the CPU upgradable. I would participate in such a Kickstarter project without hesitation.
Not possible 😉 However, I’d be interested in the possibility to upgrade the unified RAM 🤔
Btw., the new Mac Studio looks very very interesting 🧐
PolySoft did an amazing job on my 2Tb module - are there any other PolySoft Kickstarter rewards supporters that now have a M1 Max 1Tb or 2Tb spare module for sale?. I have a spare 512Gb module and would like to upgrade one more Mac Studio M1 Max (A2615) to larger than 512Gb.
AFAIK you cannot use spare parts from other Mac Studios in other units. The SSD parts from Polysoft are prepared for this and have special firmware installed.
Sure you can.
You can desolder the NAND modules and fit it with 4 x 512GB for 2TB total. It's difficult to do this yourself because you have to fully populate the board with many tiny components.
The NAND modules just need to be new (raw) and then Apple Configurator will take care of the rest.
I got a second OWC 1M2 for a family member who wanted more storage. He already has a 990 EVO 4 TB and was using a cheap Oricao USB3 enclosure. He tried the 1M2 and the performance boost was incredible. I think that it's great that you can upgrade the internal storage but, with the Mac Studio, external usually works quite well and you can move it to another system if you need to transfer a lot of data to another Mac.
Yeah that's the bottomline to me. Reverse engineering how the internal storage works to come up with a user upgradable solution is an interesting experiment, but in practical terms, with a desktop with TB 4 or 5, external is the better option. The only thing that lives on my internal drive is the OS and apps. All my documents and media files are on external SSD or HDD.
Same for me.
I'd have this little worry in the back of my mind that Apple could issue an update in the future that would break the reverse-engineered solution too.
Direct from PolySoft themselves:
"Yes of course your original Apple SSD module can be reused in any Mac Studio of the same generation (M1 in your case if I remember correctly).
1TB drives are worth at least 200CAD in my opinion...
512GB disks have no real use by themselves, but they can be upgraded by asking any microsoldering technician to replace the NANDs."
You just can't mix and match across models ie M1 Max/M1 Ultra/M2 Max/M2 Ultra - just between same Mac Studio models. And the NANDs MUST be blank.
Ordered directly off the PolySoft website in late March - order seemingly shipped on the 2nd of April, was supposed to show up on the 8th but has been sitting with no update from UPS for about a week... Not sure what's going on, haven't been able to get any updates from Gilles or UPS. When I called UPS in Canada to ask them what was up, they made some vague statement about how the package is with French customs and invited me to take it up with the shipper or UPS France directly. Which is kind of odd, as the UPS tracker says it cleared customs on the 2nd... Anyone else encountered weird delays like this?
Hello,
This is my fault : we are far behind schedule, still not have shipped but will do in a couple days.
We worked like crazy with my colleague Vadim (by the way, we tested our boards with the Mac Studio M4 and they work very well).
We're testing each board before shipping, we've finalized the packaging, the UPS shipping labels, the metal boxes with the foam and anti-static bag, the iFixit tool kits we're giving away.
But we're still missing a few accessories: screws for the second SSD (for 4TB and 8TB configurations), manuals and adhesive kits.
I've also wasted some time with the tariffs / no tariffs stuff, reading part of the 4000-page Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States...
We're in the process of finalizing everything by Thursday for a departure from our premises on Friday or before.
gilles
For 2 or 4TB, I don’t know if waiting to order is warranted. To me, the savings over configuring when you order doesn’t seem worthwhile. It’s a different scenario if you already have a Studio and have some buyer’s remorse over the built-in storage you initially ordered.
Everyone’s time/money/hassle equation is different.
The 8TB upgrade is completely worth waiting to order. It makes sense that the largest upgrade has the biggest savings and Polysoft really delivered (pun!)
Code:
Apple Polysoft
2TB $600 $431 -$179
4TB $1,2000 $862 -$338
8Tb $2,400 $1,180 -$1,220Don't forget, this also lets you take advantage of someone else's buyer's remorse! I got a sweet deal on a Studio M2 Max 64GB from the Apple refurb store... I like to think the original owner returned it after they realized 500GB would not go the distance on a machine with 64GB of RAM...
This upgrade lets me squeeze even more value out of a machine that I didn't have an opportunity to configure at order time... When I bought it I wrongly assumed I could just run it all off a big external SSD like in the Intel days... Turns out that if you need to use kernel extensions, they don't load when booting off external drives due to 'security reasons'...
This upgrade lets me squeeze even more value out of a machine that I didn't have an opportunity to configure at order time... When I bought it I wrongly assumed I could just run it all off a big external SSD like in the Intel days... Turns out that if you need to use kernel extensions, they don't load when booting off external drives due to 'security reasons'...