Are SSD drives upgradeable on new Macbook

[philrunclimb]

Hi - thinking of getting one of the 2016 new Macbooks... the people in my local Apple Store said the SSD is wired in and cant be upgraded after market by the customer.... does anyone know if this is correct.

I ask because 128Gb or even 256Gb is way too small ...especially for the long term, and on my previous old style macbook, it was very easy to remove the original spinning drive and replace it with a larger SSD one.

Phil

 

[Azl]

Hi, there is no 128gb macbook - just 256 and 512, and yes the ssd is soldered on the mainboard.
You can see that here -> https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Retina+MacBook+2016+Teardown/62149
On step 7.
So going 512gb is your best bet

 

[philrunclimb]

Hi, there is no 128gb macbook - just 256 and 512, and yes the ssd is soldered on the mainboard.
You can see that here -> https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Retina+MacBook+2016+Teardown/62149
On step 7.
So going 512gb is your best bet

Hi thanks for the help... apologies I have got goggle eyes looking at the specs for Macbook, Pro and Air....

So is that the same for the Macbook Pro 13 inch with retina display ..with 2.7 Ghz chip and 128 Gb storage??
and 8Gb RAM??
[doublepost=1466525767][/doublepost]

Hi, there is no 128gb macbook - just 256 and 512, and yes the ssd is soldered on the mainboard.
You can see that here -> https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Retina+MacBook+2016+Teardown/62149
On step 7.
So going 512gb is your best bet

And... the "teardown" is brilliant reading. thanks so much for that link.

 

[gooser]

not only is it not upgradable it's naturally not replaceable if it busts a few years down the line.

 

[Azl]

No, these are in fact replaceable (mbp) BUT there are't many compatible ssd's available as far as I know.
OWC Aura are the only ones I know of, and they are not cheap either.
Here they are -> https://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?sort=pop&model=534&type=InternalDrives

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Yes, the rMBPs are upgradeable.

 

[tubeexperience]

The SSD on the MacBook Retina is soldered and cannot be upgraded.

The SSD on the MacBook Pro Retina and on the MacBook Air can be upgraded.
[doublepost=1466534416][/doublepost]

not only is it not upgradable it's naturally not replaceable if it busts a few years down the line.

Ditto.

 

[old-wiz]

However while the rMBPs SSDs are replaceable, Apple does not sell upgrades and the part is not industry standard. 3rd party mfgrs sometimes have them, but they are quite rare.

 

[tubeexperience]

However while the rMBPs SSDs are replaceable, Apple does not sell upgrades and the part is not industry standard. 3rd party mfgrs sometimes have them, but they are quite rare.

Pricey, yes.

Rare, no.

 

[philrunclimb]

Thanks for the thoughts... At least if the rMBP drive can be upgraded later, it means there is hope... and SSD prices might gradually come down.

Shame about the new Macbook NOT being upgradeable... and I imagine when they bring out the new rMBP (apparently due later this year) .it might also be soldered...grrrrr

 

[Hellhammer]

Thanks for the thoughts... At least if the rMBP drive can be upgraded later, it means there is hope... and SSD prices might gradually come down.

The SSDs Apple use are custom form-factor and utilise a proprietary connector. That significantly limits the available options as currently OWC is the only one making a suitable drive, although it's not as good as the drives Apple use. Pricing is never really going to be competitive due to very limited supply.

Shame about the new Macbook NOT being upgradeable... and I imagine when they bring out the new rMBP (apparently due later this year) .it might also be soldered...grrrrr

That's the tradeoff you have to make for thinner and lighter devices.

 

[tubeexperience]

The SSDs Apple use are custom form-factor and utilise a proprietary connector. That significantly limits the available options as currently OWC is the only one making a suitable drive, although it's not as good as the drives Apple use. Pricing is never really going to be competitive due to very limited supply.

That's the tradeoff you have to make for thinner and lighter devices.

Well, at least it's nice to at least have the option to upgrade the SSD to a bigger one even if it's slower.

It's also possible (being optimistic here) that there may be faster compatible SSDs available in the future.

The pricing of these custom SSDs are definitely more expensive than more standardized SSDs, but the prices are definitely coming down.

 

[CatBookPro]

Hi - thinking of getting one of the 2016 new Macbooks... the people in my local Apple Store said the SSD is wired in and cant be upgraded after market by the customer.... does anyone know if this is correct.

I ask because 128Gb or even 256Gb is way too small ...especially for the long term, and on my previous old style macbook, it was very easy to remove the original spinning drive and replace it with a larger SSD one.

Phil

As far as upgradability with the rMB: It's kinda like the "iPad" of laptops: No upgradable parts inside. Except perhaps the keyboard parts / screen parts... and (maybe) some other small tidbits... but the RAM / SSD / GPU / etc... it's all part of the "Borg" of computers lol