I prefer replaceable SSD even if it's slightly slower than soldered, also prices of SSD is currently plummeting down, for example price $1199 for new MacBook Air 128GB is atrocious, I had MacBook 15 2014 256GB SSD and after about a year I upgraded to 1TB SSD, you can't do this in new ones, it's a total absurd, also soldered SSD is cheaper to manufacturer so Apple is saving a lot of money, but charging customers for hefty SSD prices ($200 for SSD upgrade during purchase in new MacBook Air from 128GB to 256GB, when 500GB SSD Samsung 970 EVO costs alone about $120, so where is the logic? doesn't sound like daylight robbery?)I'm not sure why so many are using this recall as a backdrop to criticise Apple - this is a good move by Apple in all regards.
SSD controllers have a difficult task with the smaller flash lithography but Apple targeted the better OEM controllers available on the commercial market. This forum is not full of SSD failure cases but either Apple or the OEM has noted an increased failure rate that is not attributed to the Apple design or the SSD design but just to an identifiable serial number range. The first thing we know about it is a recall programme - this is a good thing.
As for Apple's view on the reliability of OEM SSD controllers especially with NAND die-shrink - well, they didn't like what they saw. So much so that they spent an eye-watering sum purchasing and developing the technology to overcome the inherent weakness. With major flash-only products such as the iPhone and iPads and an all-flash future for the Mac range Apple did not stick their heads in the sand and continue to buy OEM SSDs favoured by the wider PC market and hope for the best.
So this limited recall is with the last generation of Apple products to use OEM flash controllers and the last to depend on firmware provided by an external company. The iOS family made the switch to an Apple controller a while back and the same is now happening with the Mac. This started with the iMac Pro last year and has expanded to include the 2018 MBPs, MacBook Air and now the Mac mini. All current Apple designs only make use of raw NAND packages rather than a traditional SSD design.
Apple has invested serious money in an attempt to keep ahead of these issues and have achieved the fastest, most reliable and hard-wearing SSDs on the market. Perhaps we should limit our criticisms to the areas where they have genuinely made poor design decisions (Mac Pro, keyboard issues et al).
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