iFixit Tears Down Mac Studio and Studio Display

[MacRumors]

iFixit today disassembled Apple's new M1 Max Mac Studio, giving us a first glimpse at the components inside the machine. This is not iFixit's traditional, more detailed teardown, which has not yet been published, but it does provide a few interesting details about the Mac Studio.

"If Apple squeezed a Mac Pro into a Mac mini, you'd get something that looks a lot like the new [Mac Studio]," iFixit said, describing the internals of the machine.

An earlier teardown found that the Mac Studio's SSD is not soldered and can be removed, which iFixit confirmed, but it's still not clear if upgrades are possible. iFixit found a spare slot on the logic board and attempted to put the SSD from a second Mac Studio into the empty slot, but couldn't get it working. Swapping drives of the same capacity between machines did, however, work.

Time to find out if this modular storage is actually upgradeable. After a lot of testing, some of it interrupted by Apple's server issues, we actually have some definitive answers. We popped this stick into another base model Mac Studio's empty slot, but Configurator kept giving us DFU restore errors. No matter the configuration, we haven't gotten two base model drives to boot in a single machine.

However, when we swapped the spare Studio's drive for the one in the teardown unit and used Configurator to do a DFU restore, it worked. Storage swaps are possible, at least between two drives of the same size, but jury's still out on upgrades.

Unlike storage, RAM is built-in, which means memory upgrades to the Mac Studio won't be possible after purchase.

The M1 Max Mac Studio features a massive heatsink with a dual-fan assembly, and the fans are "so much more massive than other Mac fans," according to iFixit. The site also said the heatsink "positively dwarfs the M1" with more than six times the weight.

The internals of the Mac Studio are complicated with brackets, connectors, and torx screws, which impacts repairability and user accessibility. iFixit praised the modular ports and the heat management system, but wasn't pleased with the buried fans, potentially non-upgradeable storage, and baked-in RAM. The Mac Studio earned an iFixit repairability score of 6 out of 10. It's a "worthy successor to the Mac mini, but isn't quite ready for the pros," said the site.

iFixit also took a quick look inside the Studio Display, and it turns out the internals look a whole lot like an iMac. The webcam in the Studio Display is similar to the camera in the iPhone 11, but iFixit didn't have much more to say about the Studio Display at this time as a more in-depth teardown is coming in the near future.

Article Link: iFixit Tears Down Mac Studio and Studio Display

 

[Macalway]

I've learned to read these. That is, completely ignore the 'likes and dislikes', which have nothing to do with quality.

Sort of like Consumer Reports, but much worse

 

[JPack]

Storage not upgradable, but at least Apple permits you to open it up. So it's not welded shut. So... that's a plus. ?

 

[Macalway]

Storage not upgradable, but at least Apple permits you to open it up. So it's not welded shut. So... that's a plus. ?

Actually, it does look like the storage is upgradable, just not presently.

 

[4jasontv]

Actually, it does look like the storage is upgradable, just not presently.

I thought the confirmation was that it was replaceable, not upgradeable.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Dang! iFixit did an excellent job.

Question! Were they able to put it back together just fine?

 

[SSDGUY]

I thought the confirmation was that it was replaceable, not upgradeable.

If it is replaceable why not upgradable? If one was inclined to pay Apple to "officially" do it, like swap a 512GB SSD for a 2TB SSD?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I thought the confirmation was that it was replaceable, not upgradeable.

That's how I read it. They did just eliminate the concept that a single drive is "married" to a single Studio. Moving "the same size from one to another" and it working means there is not a hardware/software key. So there's at least potential that someone finds a software "block" that would make a Studio ignore what is in the other slot.

If solely for storage repairability, I'm not grasping why Apple would need to build in 2 slots. I would assume maybe there were plans for BTO all the way to 16TB in 2 drives but they backed that down to 8TB MAX (for now).

 

[Abazigal]

M1 chips have never been upgradable, and people buy into them knowing that this is the price for the superior performance they receive as a result of its integrated design.

Till now, I still fail to see what all the uproar is about. It’s more like a “Okay, duly noted” and I feel it’s going to have absolutely zero impact on one’s purchasing decision.

 

[azentropy]

I still think the best looking angle/view is the bottom!

 

[GMShadow]

but isn't quite ready for the pros

Pros don't work on their own machines. They use them, and replace when the time comes. Any issues are handled under warranty.

iFixit needs to adjust their definitions.

 

[profcutter]

I think not ready for the pros refers to a lack of slots, and still pales in RAM capability compared to the current Mac Pro. It would have been nice to see them try to put a larger SSD in just to rule out the possibilities.

 

[jiminycricket]

Pros don't work on their own machines. They use them, and replace when the time comes. Any issues are handled under warranty.

iFixit needs to adjust their definitions.

Most of the audio engineers I know don't replace their equipment until they absolutely have to, and they do upgrade them before they are likely to buy replacements. That's mainly because the majority of audio engineering work is no longer done in major studios, and instead is done in smaller 1-4 person operations where they are very cost conscious.

 

[Realityck]

"iFixit Tears Down Mac Studio and Studio Display"

Yes the YouTube video shows the Mac Studio teardown, but this was only a sneak preview of the Studio Display guys, so article title is incorrect.

 

[4jasontv]

If it is replaceable why not upgradable? If one was inclined to pay Apple to "officially" do it, like swap a 512GB SSD for a 2TB SSD?

I would assume it is because the profits on a new machine are greater than new storage.

 

[BWhaler]

The more I think about the Studio Display, the more I am disappointed in Apple. Typical Apple crappy software quality aside, it's a cheap move to capitalize on their years of ignored customer demand by offering dated technology.

Is this the device Apple employees would want to buy in 2022 for $1,600, or would they want something different? Once upon a time, Apple made the products they wanted to use, not the ones the MBA product marketing people think they can get away with.

 

[CarlJ]

The M1 Max Mac Studio features a massive heatsink with a dual-fan assembly, and the fans are "so much more massive than other Mac fans," according to iFixit. The site also said the heatsink "positively dwarfs the M1" with more than six times the weight.

I'm beginning to lose hope for an M1 Ultra MBP.

 

[Danfango]

The more I think about the Studio Display, the more I am disappointed in Apple. Typical Apple crappy software quality aside, it's a cheap move to capitalize on their years of ignored customer demand.

Is this the device Apple employees would want to buy in 2022 for $1,600, or would they want something different? Once upon a time, Apple made the products they wanted to use, not the ones the MBA product marketing people think they can get away with.

Um I bought one. I’d probably buy another one if I had enough room on my desk. It’s a really nice monitor.

 

[Danfango]

Ok so the storage is replaceable and upgradeable. They just haven’t worked out how to upgrade it yet because it doesn’t work like the old PC architecture does.

I bet this will be nailed within a month or so and/or apple will start selling self repair parts under their new scheme so you can do this yourself.

It’ll be something as trivial as blowing away some keys in the Secure Enclave for the connected device and rekeying the disk. Similar to our Thales cryptos.

 

[videosoul]

"giving us a first glimpse at the components inside the machine"

Except it's not the first, is it? You literally go on to reference the first one!

 

[CarlJ]

If it is replaceable why not upgradable? If one was inclined to pay Apple to "officially" do it, like swap a 512GB SSD for a 2TB SSD?

I'd venture a guess that what they're running into is not some nefarious "lock out user upgrades" mechanism, but rather something to do with the encryption on the SSD, and keys in the secure enclave, and such. Doing a DFU restore with another drive already set up to work with all that, worked. It's possible that Apple could offer some sort of upgrade path in the future. It's also possible (likely?) that it'll be something they can't be bothered to implement.

 

[Kylo83]

I can see people buying the max 8tb and swapping it out for there 512 and returning the expensive one this is gonna give bad people ideas they shouldn’t have spoke about it

 

[huge_apple_fangirl]

Hopefully Apple allows storage upgrades in the future- and I think this confirms the Mac Pro will at least allow storage upgrades. A step in the right direction for Apple!

 

[GMShadow]

Most of the audio engineers I know don't replace their equipment until they absolutely have to, and they do upgrade them before they are likely to buy replacements. That's mainly because the majority of audio engineering work is no longer done in major studios, and instead is done in smaller 1-4 person operations where they are very cost conscious.

Serious question: how many of them were operating on used equipment to begin with?

Apple doesn't make money when someone buys a five year old Mac to limp along for a few years, but that group is often angry that Apple (or any company!) doesn't cater to them.

 

[Crowbot]

It looks to me that the entire chassis has to be removed to get to the fans for cleaning. This could be a serious maintenance issue.