Mac Studio is an ultra expensive niche product which will never see mass adoption like a $599 Mac Mini. Here the companies like OWC have real incentive to make money depending on userbase.
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Floodgates have opened (M4 Mac mini storage upgrade)
- Thread starter d5aqoëp
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You saw in the video how dosdude didn't even get the 4 NAND chips he ordered. Good luck trying to bulk order these niche chips for a mass commercial operation. Pretty much all the relevant NAND produced goes to Apple with only rejects and dribs and drabs left for the rest of the market. If this ever got further than proof of concept YT videos, you can be sure that Apple would lock down the supply chain even harder to protect its revenue.
The only complexity with entering the storage upgrade market is it's not just a "swap the module out" job. You need to do a DFU restore from another Mac as well. So this won't be commoditised other than in the enthusiast market and above. They probably is a market for storage modules of course still.
I would be quite happy to buy a 3rd party NAND card and use my daughter's M2 MBA to DFU it though.
I am interested to see if an M4 iMac has the same module or not though. I haven't found a teardown yet.
I would be quite happy to buy a 3rd party NAND card and use my daughter's M2 MBA to DFU it though.
I am interested to see if an M4 iMac has the same module or not though. I haven't found a teardown yet.
@cjsuk
Different form factor cards in the M4 mini and M4 Pro mini.
The M4 Pro card is different than the one in the Studio.
support.apple.com
Edited for clarity.
Edited for accuracy.
Different form factor cards in the M4 mini and M4 Pro mini.
The M4 Pro card is different than the one in the Studio.
Mac mini (2024) Repair Manual - Apple Support
Technical instructions for troubleshooting and replacing parts in an Apple device
Edited for clarity.
Edited for accuracy.
Last edited:
Yeah but the people buying the $599 Mac mini aren't going to spend even 50% of the "Apple price" to buy a 3rd party storage solution. In other words, if you're shopping at the <$1K price point, paying even $200 for a 3rd-party internal 1TB SSD is hard to justify when you can get 'good enough' external storage for literally $50.
@cjsuk
Different in the M4 mini and M4 Pro mini.
Both different to the Studio.
Mac mini (2024) Repair Manual - Apple Support
Technical instructions for troubleshooting and replacing parts in an Apple device
No it's not. The cards that likely come from Apple don't need a DFU restore. The service manual is written from the perspective of those. Third party cards will not ship with anything on them as the FLASH chips will be empty as they have no rights or way to redistribute any macOS bootstrap on the FLASH legally.
They're really easy to get in quantity. Apple aren't the only people using these and there is plenty going around. There are storage manufacturers galore in Shenzhen. All you have to do is get a supply chain up and a reasonable MOC.
However the thing is due to how tariffs on parts work you will need to set up a supply chain and manufacturing operation out there. People like OWC already have that running so it's a case of adding another supply line only. That and testing/verification which is what you're paying for from Apple and other commercial storage vendors.
Only reason this hasn't been done yet for the Studio is it requires a DFU restore which is non trivial for the average user. It isn't just a swap and reinstall windows type operation.
As for Apple locking this down further, who knows 🤷. I don't really give a crap. My time is worth more than the money worrying about it.
The only special tools required are some Torx screwdrivers that are typically included for free when you buy the NAND upgrade and access to another MAC to plug the upgraded Mini into to put a boot image on the new NAND. The boot image installation process is pretty automatic. Other than that, removing and putting back some screws is very straight forward.
I'm curious if there are perfomance differences between the different 3rd Party models and the Apple boards.
There are some interesting differences in terms of layers of the PCB, in term of used parts, and of course routing.
Especially if used heavy topics like thermal throtteling, real NAND write speeds, size of pSLC-Cache may vary.
Luckily we are not forced to use internal storage as we can use external storage with higher speeds and larger capacities also as Standard NVME drive are available up to 8 TB and can be raided up to 16 TB , the pSLC-Caches are much larger than the homoeophatic size of the internal storage, and the capacityprice per MB is way cheaper than the internal storage even when a reasonable Thunderbolt 4 or even 5 enclosure is factored in. Of course we have nto sacrifice at least one of the rare Thunderbolt ports.
There are some interesting differences in terms of layers of the PCB, in term of used parts, and of course routing.
Especially if used heavy topics like thermal throtteling, real NAND write speeds, size of pSLC-Cache may vary.
Luckily we are not forced to use internal storage as we can use external storage with higher speeds and larger capacities also as Standard NVME drive are available up to 8 TB and can be raided up to 16 TB , the pSLC-Caches are much larger than the homoeophatic size of the internal storage, and the capacityprice per MB is way cheaper than the internal storage even when a reasonable Thunderbolt 4 or even 5 enclosure is factored in. Of course we have nto sacrifice at least one of the rare Thunderbolt ports.
Last week I upgraded my M4 Mac Mini 256Gb to 2TB by ordering a plug&play module from alibaba seller for $205 shipped. It was so easy upgrade with iFixit video. No soldering whatsoever. I did break the power cable because I yanked it out of the connector in "wrongest" way possible. But new cable was $10 and after installing that, my M4 Mac mini is good as new. So even if it is an easy upgrade, be careful about the thin power cable going to the power button and unplug it carefully.
DM me you want to know the Alibaba seller.
New 2TB has slightly higher performance compared to original Apple NAND that shipped with the device.
Where did you get the new cable for $10? I broke mine too and I’ve been running it with scotch tape.
I think most of the newer guides are recommmending and showing that you do not have to detach a single cable to switch the internal storage. You just need to prop up the two attached layers carefully to the side so that they do not strain the cables.
Just a general FYI for those considering doing this upgrade yourselves - it is possible to swap the SD without unplugging the power cable at all. I've seen a couple of recent videos on the upgrade process that show the power cord remaining connected.
Select US and maybe search for same part number in US store.
I personally think unplugging the cable carefully is much safer way as the cable can get stretched due to heatsink and fan weight if not being careful with it attached. I took the decision to unplug even after seeing those videos. But instead of lifting or yanking the connector upwards. I tried to pull it backwards using the wires and broke it like 50% of the people out there. It was such a dumb rookie mistake. Ahh well but the replacement cable from mouser aint that costly. I ordered 2 just in case.