One of the reasons why I'm not looking at this solution is the concern that Apple could break it at any time.
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Upgrading Mac Studio storage
- Thread starter gilles_polysoft
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One of the reasons why I'm not looking at this solution is the concern that Apple could break it at any time.
With a random update, right? Yeah, I think I’ll try to get the 1TB SSD and call it a day. But sure it is tempting…
I'm looking at doing a Windows build or buying a Windows laptop. Gen 5 NVMe has been available on high-end PC motherboards for two years I believe and you can now get them on midrange motherboards. This is an area where Apple is behind and where they could get this feature by using commodity hardware. The laptop that I'm looking at has Gen 4 NVMe slots which run around 7K MBps and one is replaceable with a screwdriver. I think that you have to take the back cover off for the other NVMe slot.
There's also RAM but Apple threw M4 customers a nice bone by bumping up the minimum to 16 GB. In the midrange Windows market, though, the minimum is 32 GB.
I only need 512 GB but I got 1 TB and it is definitely more comfortable. I don't have to clean up the MacBook Pro as often and don't have to bring an external drive. I have my big files on the Mac Studio on external SSDs, and, while they aren't as fast as the internal, they are fast enough for me. If I need more speed, I'll go with Windows.
I always liked Apple (using them since the Apple ][ days) but most of the computers that I have purchased has been PC's, exactly because of how hostile apple has always been to their customers.
And to be honest, adding removable SSDs on their desktops but making sure that they are almost impossible to replace is a huge FU to us.
Nothing and I mean absolutely nothing justify their actions besides pure greed.
That said, I need a Mac for part of my career, but I will buy a cheap Mac Mini just for that and a nice Pc running Linux and Windows (in a VM) for the rest.
If more of us gave Apple the middle finger, they wouldnt not be acting like this, but sadly, we are not called a cult for nothing.
Its less of an FU in my mind, and more about forcing their customers to pay for their over-priced storage upgrades. I definitely think they never expected people to reverse engineer the nand ssd cards.
I think its a lost opportunity that they themselves don't offer an upgrade path, i.e., take your studio or mini to your local apple store and have them upgrade the storage.
I remember during the intel days, our CTO had a MacBook Pro with 256 Gb or something like that and he wanted a 1 TB drive.
He instructed me to call Apple and order that drive.
To our surprise, they didnt sell them at all.
And to add insult to injury, the idiot on the line said "Next time, plan better".
We did plan better, we removed all Macs from the company.
Thats how pissed off we were.
Sadly, he left the company many years after and the replacement is one of those hardcore cult members, which bends over to their very whim.
The forcing their customers to their overpriced upgrades AND not selling them after is indeed a FU to us.
There is no sugarcoating it, they have us by the short ones and they know it, because we are still here, giving them money and making excuses.
As said, in my case, I have been using them since the 70's and still have to use their products, but I do it reluctantly at this point.
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I'm still waiting for the replacement to ship. I haven't heard anything since June 17th—more than three months since I placed the original order, almost six weeks of requesting technical support after installing the faulty modules—and I still don't know if it will fail again. Once again, I'll have to disassemble equipment not designed for the end user, at all the risks that entails. I'll reinstall the replacement if it ever arrives and improve my backup strategy until I verify its reliability. I'd very much like to recommend it, but unfortunately, I can't yet.
Hi Gilles, I'm still waiting for the replacement storage upgrade that failed. I've tried contacting you on WhatsApp and through PolySoft support, but haven't received any updates since you said it would ship two weeks ago. Could you please provide a tracking number?
I think I was just unlucky, but it seems like they're really trying their best to support both new users and those who experienced difficulties. I expect to have a positive update in a fortnight.
@gilles_polysoft Do you have a date that M1 2TB Studio drives will be available? I saw you were having some issues with PayPal payments but can pay however you'd like; I need the drive ASAP.
@gilles_polysoft : can't wait to M4 8TO SS to be back in stock, stalking your site daily like a kid waiting for xmas for over a month ! 🤩
Please keep us updated. I willl not purchase until I know that if there is a warranty claim, it will be handled quickly and not dragged out.