How bad is the M1 Mac's SSD failure problem?

[jdb8167]

So it turned out to be a reporting issue rather than actual wear on the drive.

Apple resolved M1 Mac SSD wear reporting issue in macOS 11.4 | AppleInsider

Previous issues surrounding reporting tools reporting heavy wear on SSDs in Apple Silicon Macs now appear to be fixed in macOS 11.4

appleinsider.com

That article is nonsense. There has been no change in reporting of SMART data that I can see. Others have also pointed out that it isn’t true.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1396450298244132864

 

[Antinet]

There is a huge thread addressing the SSD issue in M1 issue. That thread seems to be in the agreement that macOS 11.4 has quietly resolved the issueS.

I had a weird day with my SSD today.

 

[posguy99]

except in the past, you could take out the hdd and you know, access it after the computer stopped working

I'm not sure what that has to do with backups being a good thing. If you want to be one of those for whom loss of their data is someone else's fault, more power to you.

 

[_Nito]

There have been Big Sur updates that has tremendously improved the read/write speeds of my SSD. If you are still having doubts, you should buy AppleCare + for your mac.

No really a great solution if you don’t backup your data daily.
The NAND and RAM on one chip is one thing - adding the SSD is the worst part.
But putting the bios (ebios?) on there too will prevent it from starting with an external drive too! 🥺

 

[_Nito]

MacOS 11.4 has fixed most of the excessive SSD write issues on M1 (or other) Macs.

That said, you should always assume that your internal drive could fail catastrophically at any time (or you could simply lose or damage the computer), so anything on the drive without backup should be considered temporary and disposable.

It's easy to re-image the computer with a new OS and restore from a backup. Not so easy to rewrite all your documents or re-take all your photos

SSD’s are a Known “working” part with a limited lifetime. Making them non-replaceable makes the entire computer “disposable” When (Not If) it fails.
No need to tie the SSD to the NAND and RAM.
The 1/10 Repairability rating kind of says it all.
My 2017 12” MB went from 95% health to ZERO overnight.
Anyone need a paperweight?

 

[Andeddu]

SSD’s are a Known “working” part with a limited lifetime. Making them non-replaceable makes the entire computer “disposable” When (Not If) it fails.
No need to tie the SSD to the NAND and RAM.
The 1/10 Repairability rating kind of says it all.
My 2017 12” MB went from 95% health to ZERO overnight.
Anyone need a paperweight?

This is all part of Apple's plan to make the MacBook a perishable device. Adding the SSD to the SoC is probably the most egregious example of planned obsolescence I have ever seen. The SSD will stop working a some point due to it having a definitive lifespan and it will result in the entire system becoming eWaste.

Most people don't quite get how long electronics can last. I still have ancient computers from the 80's, such as the Macintosh 128k which is my avatar, still running despite being almost 40 years old.

It'll probably not affect basic consumers as most laptops tend to get replaced after 5-6 years and the SSD will likely have around a 10 year lifespan.

 

[_Nito]

This is all part of Apple's plan to make the MacBook a perishable device. Adding the SSD to the SoC is probably the most egregious example of planned obsolescence I have ever seen. The SSD will stop working a some point due to it having a definitive lifespan and it will result in the entire system becoming eWaste.

Most people don't quite get how long electronics can last. I still have ancient computers from the 80's, such as the Macintosh 128k which is my avatar, still running despite being almost 40 years old.

It'll probably not affect basic consumers as most laptops tend to get replaced after 5-6 years and the SSD will likely have around a 10 year lifespan.

Yeah. Awful. Unfortunately it continues with the new M’s, though hopefully not the same failure rate as 2016-2020’s! Those were just awful years for Apple laptops of most denominations. I still have a beautiful 2015 15” MBP that works without a hitch. Best thing was newer NVME’s can be used with an adapter, offering Cheap storage increase, and much faster r/w speeds!
Apple doesn’t want that!
Most people seem okay with spending every two/three years what used to be the value of a beater car! 😳

 

[arcite]

Any device can fail at any time. Always have multiple backups.