Install larger SSD in M1 mac mini?

[pax-eterna]

I think I know the answer to this already haha! But I'll ask anyway JUST in case someone has a way to do it.

Can I install a larger storage device on the M1 Mac Mini?

 

[fwmireault]

Not really. Some people did it, but the complexity of the task is way too much for an average user (including me): https://www.macrumors.com/2021/04/06/m1-mac-ram-and-ssd-upgrades-possible/

Being a Mac mini, it's not that much of a pain to just connect an external SSD

 

[AustinIllini]

Apple hardware questions like this get divided into two:
1) Can you do it? Yes, but it's not easy
2) Is it supported? No. In fact, expect it to completely void your warranty

 

[pax-eterna]

Yep, I agree - way WAY above my pay grade hahaha! I have a few USB 3 drives. I THINK the USB A ports are USB 3 on the MINI M1.

 

[Fishrrman]

No.
Forget the posts above. The answer is "no".

The m1 Mini's -- along with all the other Apple Silicon Macs -- ARE NOT "upgradeable" in any way.

What you buy, is "what you get".
(not much else to say...)

I suppose one might remove the motherboard and replace it with another motherboard, but what would be the point...?

 

[fwmireault]

No.
Forget the posts above. The answer is "no".

The m1 Mini's -- along with all the other Apple Silicon Macs -- ARE NOT "upgradeable" in any way.

The question was not "is it easy to upgrade", it was "is it possible". And yes it is, there are a few articles about it. So yes there is technically a way, but it’s not something that anyone should try.

 

[pax-eterna]

No.
Forget the posts above. The answer is "no".

The m1 Mini's -- along with all the other Apple Silicon Macs -- ARE NOT "upgradeable" in any way.

What you buy, is "what you get".
(not much else to say...)

I suppose one might remove the motherboard and replace it with another motherboard, but what would be the point...?

haha, read my response immediately above yours

 

[walterpaisley]

Anything is possible if you have enough coffee and determination. I use an external Thunderbolt 3 enclosure with a NVMe drive and performance is awesome. For what tha'ts worth.

 

[theluggage]

The question was not "is it easy to upgrade", it was "is it possible".

If you want to get pedantic, the actual question was:

Can I install a larger storage device on the M1 Mac Mini?

...and the answer is "not unless you're a dab hand at surface-mount soldering, have the necessary equipment and are happy to risk turning your new Mac into landfill". And the OP has since confirmed that they are not.

Or "No, for all practical purposes".

 

[staypuftforums]

Anything is possible if you have enough coffee and determination. I use an external Thunderbolt 3 enclosure with a NVMe drive and performance is awesome. For what tha'ts worth.

You are able to boot from this, yes? Just in case the internal drive dies?

 

[Boyd01]

No, not if the internal ssd is dead. This is a change that Apple made to the M1 Macs.

"The M1 boot process requires a working SSD to boot macOS. The SSD contains a Signed System Volume that is cryptographically sealed by Apple. No seal, no bootable System. So if the internal drive on your M1 Mac fails completely, even an external bootable drive won't boot."

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

If your M1 Mac's SSD fails, you can't boot off an external drive, a change from past decades. Here's the problem and strategies to manage the risk.

www.zdnet.com

 

[Boil]

No, not if the internal ssd is dead. This is a change that Apple made to the M1 Macs.

"The M1 boot process requires a working SSD to boot macOS. The SSD contains a Signed System Volume that is cryptographically sealed by Apple. No seal, no bootable System. So if the internal drive on your M1 Mac fails completely, even an external bootable drive won't boot."

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

If your M1 Mac's SSD fails, you can't boot off an external drive, a change from past decades. Here's the problem and strategies to manage the risk.

www.zdnet.com

The recipe to try and avoid an internal SSD failure, yet also plan ahead for such a failure...?

More RAM, larger SSD, AppleCare+, & proper backup management...! ;^p

 

[weckart]

No, not if the internal ssd is dead. This is a change that Apple made to the M1 Macs.

"The M1 boot process requires a working SSD to boot macOS. The SSD contains a Signed System Volume that is cryptographically sealed by Apple. No seal, no bootable System. So if the internal drive on your M1 Mac fails completely, even an external bootable drive won't boot."

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

If your M1 Mac's SSD fails, you can't boot off an external drive, a change from past decades. Here's the problem and strategies to manage the risk.

www.zdnet.com

Interesting. Looking at what the Chinese did above in that linked report, they replace the onboard storage and the RAM and the system booted. Looking at the pictures, the 2 Hynix 128GB storage modules were replaced by 2 512GB modules. There doesn't appear to be any other room for adding storage in addition to what was already there - at least from the pictures, as I don't have any M1 Macs to check. Whatever crypto gubbins was onboard, they managed to replicate.

 

[jerryk]

You can use an external SSD enclosure with an M.2 SSD stick. I have one and it works great. It is about 30% slower, but that is fine for my use case.

 

[jons]

You can use an external SSD enclosure with an M.2 SSD stick. I have one and it works great. It is about 30% slower, but that is fine for my use case.

Which enclosure are you using? What are the speeds like? And issues with disconnecting when going to sleep?

 

[jerryk]

Which enclosure are you using? What are the speeds like? And issues with disconnecting when going to sleep?

I used the TDBT M.2 NVMe. I bought it on Amazon. No issues with disconnects.

 

[George Dawes]

I’m going for the 2tb internal, doubt I’ll run out of space on that anytime soon ?

 

[jerryk]

I’m going for the 2tb internal, doubt I’ll run out of space on that anytime soon ?

The downside of spending a lot on internal is that space cannot be moved to another system when you upgrade to the M1 Pro, M2, ....

 

[Bodhitree]

You can use an external SSD enclosure with an M.2 SSD stick. I have one and it works great. It is about 30% slower, but that is fine for my use case.

How does that compare to a standard USB-C external SSD? I have a Samsung T7 2 TB which does about 1 GB per second read and write, which seems quick enough for my uses.

 

[jerryk]

How does that compare to a standard USB-C external SSD? I have a Samsung T7 2 TB which does about 1 GB per second read and write, which seems quick enough for my uses.

The enclosure with NVMe SSD is about 1.9 GB/sec. I also have several T7s and wanted a bit faster speed.

 

[George Dawes]

The downside of spending a lot on internal is that space cannot be moved to another system when you upgrade to the M1 Pro, M2, ....

?

Just get a bigger ssd when I upgrade , easy enough

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

We have iphone repair shops in my town offering to upgrade the storage of iphone, ipad.
I'm pretty sure that in the future, when the process is matured enough, and when the Apple Care ++ has expired on the Mac mini M1, these service will be offered more widely.
The price will be slightly higher than external storage, and cheaper than the price difference between Mac mini models.

 

[Boyd01]

How will they get around Apple's cryptographic seal that locks the original SSD to the Mini?

 

[chabig]

How will they get around Apple's cryptographic seal that locks the original SSD to the Mini?

You would use Configurator 2 to restore the Mini to factory condition.