Is the SSD drive replaceable on the MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021)?

[iphonefreak450]

I was wondering if my MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021) SSD drive is soldered in the motherboard or not?
In other words, if the SSD drive fails, can It be replaced on this model or is it soldered in the motherboard?

 

[idark77]

It is soldered.

 

[iphonefreak450]

Then how come on the tech specs page it says: Configurable to 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB?

 

[sam_dean]

Then how come on the tech specs page it says: Configurable to 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB?

Before they ship it to you you can choose from 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, or 8TB sizes.

When it leaves the factory then its permanent

 

[jabbawok]

There’s quite a few people now with hot-air rework stations upgrading the ram and SSDs on intel macs. I’ve even seen a few CPU replacements. It’s certainly not an end user job, but it’s been done. It may be harder on ARM Macs but I think I’ve seen it done on those too.

 

[Fishrrman]

The answer is, "no".

The days of replaceable/upgradeable drives and memory are over for Apple computers.
(for all practical purposes, that is...)

 

[ignatius345]

There’s quite a few people now with hot-air rework stations upgrading the ram and SSDs on intel macs. I’ve even seen a few CPU replacements.

This is great and I hope we see more of that to extend the usable life of all these Intel Macs kicking around.

It’s certainly not an end user job, but it’s been done. It may be harder on ARM Macs but I think I’ve seen it done on those too.

The RAM on Apple Silicon Macs is integrated right into the SoC. I'd be very curious to hear about someone somehow upgrading that.

 

[jabbawok]

This is great and I hope we see more of that to extend the usable life of all these Intel Macs kicking around.


The RAM on Apple Silicon Macs is integrated right into the SoC. I'd be very curious to hear about someone somehow upgrading that.

The ram isn’t integrated into the SOC directly, it’s just a BGA chip soldered on the same package. There were some guys in China that did a ram upgrade very early on.

 

[ilikewhey]

i mean you can, if you know how to do soldering 😆

 

[VaruLV]

The answer is, "no".

The days of replaceable/upgradeable drives and memory are over for Apple computers.
(for all practical purposes, that is...)

With EU pushing for repairable and sustainable goods, I wouldn't be surprised to see not only Apple having USB-C on iPhone(coming this year afaik) and allowing 3rd party app stores but also being forced into some sort of SSD and maybe even RAM user upgradeability in not so far away future.

 

[white7561]

You can probably replace or add chips then do a full restore using apple Configurator 2 to make it use the new chips but I'm just guessing

 

[iphonefreak450]

Just to confirm, that on my MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021) SSD drive is soldered? Correct?

 

[dmccloud]

Just to confirm, that on my MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021) SSD drive is soldered? Correct?

SSDs have been soldered on MacBooks since well before the switch to Apple Silicon. Even if you order one from the Apple website and customize the specs, that RAM and SSD configuration is still soldered onto the logic board. While it is technically possible to desolder the existing storage and upgrade, it requires equipment that the vast majority of people do not have access to, nor have the requisite experience to perform the upgrade successfully.

 

[Fishrrman]

You cannot replace the SSD.

Next question...?

 

[curnalpanic]

Is it replacable? Well, how skilled are you at soldering? 😁

 

[AustinIllini]

If you have to ask, the answer is no.

 

[Young Turk]

You cannot replace the SSD.

Next question...?

So what's the preferred, optimum way to increase storage?

 

[iMacDragon]

You cannot. You can only use external storage to add.

 

[Fishrrman]

"So what's the preferred, optimum way to increase storage?"

Buy a small external USB3 SSD (preferably USB3.1 gen2, which is 2x as fast as USB3).

I'd suggest a Samsung t7 "shield".
Very VERY good price right here:

SAMSUNG T7 Shield 1TB, up to 1050MB/s, USB 3.2 Gen2, Rugged, IP65 Rated, for Photographers, Content Creators and Gaming, Portable External Solid State Drive (MU-PE1T0S/AM, 2022), Black

Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD delivers high performance on-the-go, not matter the terrain. It has an IP65 rating for water** and dust* resistance, with Dynamic Thermal Guard to manage heat control. Transfer huge files instantly. USB 3.2 Gen 2 and PCIe® NVMe™ achieve soaring sequential read/write...

www.amazon.com

 

[Elviss116]

you can use externa nvme with thunterbolt enclosure

 

[dmccloud]

So what's the preferred, optimum way to increase storage?

I picked up a 2TB Samsung 980 Pro (M.2) SSD and put it in a Thunderbolt enclosure. Paid just over $200 for both, and it reads/writes data almost as fast as the internal SSD.