Apple Expands Do-It-Yourself Repair Program to Desktop Macs With M1 Chips and Studio Display

[MacRumors]

Apple today expanded its self-service repair program to include Mac desktops with Apple silicon, as noted by Jason Snell at Six Colors. Parts, tools, and repair manuals are now available for the iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Studio with the M1 series of chips, and the Studio Display, allowing customers to complete do-it-yourself repairs.

Availability of parts for Mac desktops and the Studio Display is limited to the U.S. for now, despite the program expanding to Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the UK earlier this month. Repair manuals for Mac desktops with Apple silicon and the Studio Display can be found on Apple's website.

Tool kits for Mac desktops and the Studio Display can be rented from Apple's self-service repair store for $49 each and must be returned after seven days.

The program first launched in the U.S. in April, providing customers with access to genuine Apple parts, tools, and manuals to complete do-it-yourself repairs of iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and third-generation iPhone SE models. The program was expanded in August to include MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models with the M1 series of chips.

Apple says the program is intended for individuals who are "experienced with the complexities of repairing electronic devices." For the "vast majority" of customers, Apple says visiting a "professional repair provider" like an Apple Store is a better choice.

Article Link: Apple Expands Do-It-Yourself Repair Program to Desktop Macs With M1 Chips and Studio Display

 

[cpnotebook80]

Step in the right direction.. I guess?😶..at least the apple tools to rent are cheaper than i expected.

 

[CMMChris]

Mac Studio Flash modules available. Told you so.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Oh no! I’ be terrified to open up a Mac Studio on my own 😰

 

[mansplains]

Looking at the manual for the Studio, wish I could do Mac repairs again, fun times

 

[thomasjpr]

So for the Studio Display, does this mean I could now swap out the mount/stand? Like right now, I've got the Studio Display with the VESA mount option. Could I get all of the necessary parts to move to the Tilt-and-Height stand?

 

[fwmireault]

Do they sell a webcam replacement that is not trash for the Studio Display? Can’t see one on the website 😂

 

[ThisIs🐵]

What about speakers and other parts?
There are not too many components...

 

[jaw04005]

So for the Studio Display, does this mean I could now swap out the mount/stand? Like right now, I've got the Studio Display with the VESA mount option. Could I get all of the necessary parts to move to the Tilt-and-Height stand?

I thought about the same, but then I looked at the repair guide. Good lord.

 

[sunny5]

All Macs are so difficult to tear down so I feel that Apple is handing over the repair responsibility to us when we make mistakes and break parts. Then they should make Mac to be repairable with easy assembling design, not like Mac Studio.

 

[citysnaps]

Although I have a tech background and have fixed a lot of stuff in the past, I'll let Apple repair my Mac Studio and ASD should they need repairing.

 

[Danfango]

All Macs are so difficult to tear down so I feel that Apple is handing over the repair responsibility to us when we make mistakes and break parts. Then they should make Mac to be repairable with easy assembling design, not like Mac Studio.

Nah they're looking quite easy. Only realistically difficult bit is cutting the display adhesive and that's not really that hard.

The hardest bit of repairing any of these things is not dinking any of the parts by dropping them and the manuals go to great extremes telling you how to hold things to avoid that.

This stuff is so much better than a lot of consumer trash out there.

 

[jonnysods]

So you can upgrade the SSD after the fact?

 

[geartau]

people complaining about right to repair for the past several years still going to be sending it to apple for repairs

i swore i saw so many people convey "we're not asking apple to change the design to make it easier to repair, we're just asking for the ability to do it ourselves". now people are saying "no thanks, that's too difficult"

🤦‍♂️

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

Curious to see what the process for replacing the flash module in the Mac Studio is
Like do you have to call Apple to do the pairing on their end like with the iPhone or is Apple Configurator getting updated to allow for that operation to be done completely independently?

EDIt: Interestingly enough the manual just says you have to restore your firmware with Apple Configurator
I guess the modules Apple sells are not paired and you can just do that? Cause I remember a bunch of YouTubers complaining they couldn’t swap modules between two different Mac Studios

 

[Pressure]

So you can upgrade the SSD after the fact?

Yes, this had already been tested.

You need to put the SSD blades in the correct slots and use Apple Configurator on another Mac to restore it.

 

[lkrupp]

So you can upgrade the SSD after the fact?

No you cannot. It is not an SSD, it has no controller on board. It has already been demonstrated that swapping in a higher capacity module does not work. And I would guess you cannot order a higher capacity module to replace the one that shipped. And you cannot order these from a third party either as they are NOT SSDs in the classic sense.

 

[t0rqx]

All Macs are so difficult to tear down so I feel that Apple is handing over the repair responsibility to us when we make mistakes and break parts. Then they should make Mac to be repairable with easy assembling design, not like Mac Studio.

Did you really believe for one second they handing you over all the tools and skills and perform repairs flawlessly? This is just another milkcashcow. 98.9% of all average consumers will break it and Apple will definitely say it is your own responsibility.

 

[Realityck]

Apple today expanded its self-service repair program to include Mac desktops with Apple silicon, as noted by Jason Snell at Six Colors.

Great now can look up more technical specifics against the AS Mac desktop models, rather then look at take apart videos.

 

[phenste]

All Macs are so difficult to tear down so I feel that Apple is handing over the repair responsibility to us when we make mistakes and break parts. Then they should make Mac to be repairable with easy assembling design, not like Mac Studio.

uhhh…you can still just go to the store and get it repaired there, friendly reminder

 

[sunny5]

uhhh…you can still just go to the store and get it repaired there, friendly reminder

Then what's the point of SELF-service repair? Ironic.

Did you really believe for one second they handing you over all the tools and skills and perform repairs flawlessly? This is just another milkcashcow. 98.9% of all average consumers will break it and Apple will definitely say it is your own responsibility.

And that's why I'm being negative about what they are doing.

 

[haddy]

No you cannot. It is not an SSD, it has no controller on board. It has already been demonstrated that swapping in a higher capacity module does not work. And I would guess you cannot order a higher capacity module to replace the one that shipped. And you cannot order these from a third party either as they are NOT SSDs in the classic sense.

This is interesting. I have had two internal SSDs in my iMac fail one year apart and both replaced at no cost to me. Is the flash storage in the studio less likely to fail?

 

[CMMChris]

No you cannot. It is not an SSD, it has no controller on board. It has already been demonstrated that swapping in a higher capacity module does not work. And I would guess you cannot order a higher capacity module to replace the one that shipped. And you cannot order these from a third party either as they are NOT SSDs in the classic sense.

This is simply wrong. You can upgrade, and this is why Apple sells modules in different sizes. Due to the fact those are pure flash modules and not SSDs you of course have to play by the rules set by the SSD controller inside the M1 Max / Ultra SoC. The controller expects a specific combination of flash capacity, and they also need to be put into the correct slots.

Some stupid YouTubers tried putting invalid configurations in their machines and claimed you can't upgrade because it didn't work. They did not realize they simply did not use an allowed configuration. If you use the exact module configuration like Apple would do and initialize properly using Apple Configurator 2, upgrading works just fine.

Also, in theory, you could use third party modules if someone would make them. However, this is unlikely to give you much benefit in terms of cost. The specs of the flash memory NEED to match exactly the original Apple parts, which would be expensive to manufacture, especially when considering this is a niche replacement part. So it's very likely Apple's self service repair store will remain the only place you can get them - aside from sourcing used modules on for example eBay.

Edit: Forgot to add that it's exactly the same on the last Intel Mac Pro by the way. Same flash module concept, same limitations.

 

[theluggage]

This is interesting. I have had two internal SSDs in my iMac fail one year apart and both replaced at no cost to me. Is the flash storage in the studio less likely to fail?

The SSD modules (or flash memory modules if you want to split hairs about 'what is a SSD') in the Studio can definitely be replaced like-for-like - either by Apple service or via the self-repair program.

The debate is whether you can upgrade to a larger SSD than the one that came with the machine. Previous attempts by bloggers had failed. It's not clear if the self-repair program changes anything in that respect (or whether Apple will even sell you a larger SSD).

 

[_Spinn_]

Good to see more devices fall under the self-service program.