M1 Mac RAM and SSD Upgrades Found to Be Possible After Purchase

[jz0309]

I’ll answer for you.

No

Of course not, cause those are simply not in existence.
Having said that, it’s a unique and proprietary format/form factor and if Apple wanted to at some point, upgrades could be possible, but, we probably all know that likelihood of that happening… well, most of us, not all

 

[Mcckoe]

My concern with some of the reports of really high ssd usage due to memory swapping is the longevity of that drive. I’d hate for the drive to fail in under 5 years and require an entirely new motherboard. Time will tell how big of an issue that will be.

Modern SSDs designed with the latest PCIE V4 standards, should get about 10 years of use, and that‘s even with modern memory offloading. In reality that 10 years should stretch to 15-18 years; because people don’t use storage spaces like they used to… meaning it will most likely extend beyond the lifespan of the product. No worries… of course things can always happen, in which case… save up for a new system in 6-8 years just to be safe.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Of course not, cause those are simply not in existence.
Having said that, it’s a unique and proprietary format/form factor and if Apple wanted to at some point, upgrades could be possible, but, we probably all know that likelihood of that happening… well, most of us, not all

I see it as something like “walking from NY, NY to LA, CA”. It’s absolutely possible and I have no doubt in my mind that a few have done it. However, no matter how reliable it becomes it will never be an option for the vast majority of folks.

 

[panosx300]

Extremely misleading title. It's a bit like saying robbing a bank is possible, given you have an experienced crew, inside information and a pass from law enforcement. This is not something the average user will ever be able to do.

Technically Possible !== Possible

So there some kind of law forbidding to open your mac! Wow 🤣

 

[lepidotós]

Eruption was difficult in the '60s, but high schoolers play it now. Hopefully, RtR gets enshrined and repair shops can start training their employees how to do this. I'd rather like to get 15 or 20 years out of a laptop, no matter how long most people wait to say they "need" an upgrade.​

 

[Zdigital2015]

Eruption was difficult in the '60s, but high schoolers play it now. Hopefully, RtR gets enshrined and repair shops can start training their employees how to do this. I'd rather like to get 15 or 20 years out of a laptop, no matter how long most people wait to say they "need" an upgrade.​

15-20 years out of a laptop?! Yeah, that’s not going to happen, and shouldn’t. Definitely not going to help move computing forward.

 

[lepidotós]

15-20 years out of a laptop?! Yeah, that’s not going to happen, and shouldn’t. Definitely not going to help move computing forward.

At present I daily drive a 1.67GHz, 15" PowerBook G4. It's currently 17 years old, single-core, 32-bit. Does what I need to do with no issues -- KDP's web panel, Fiverr, cpanel and Namesilo for hosting my website, Apple's website, YouTube all work on it, as do LibreOffice, Gmail, iTunes web radio and FreeBSD 13.1. The only reason I'm even thinking about a 13" Pro is because of video conferencing. And that's just what I daily drive -- I occasionally play around with a 19-year-old iBook G3 and a 23-year-old PowerBook G3, both go online sometimes too. And that's not even getting into the emerging takeover of the PC market by smartphones and tablet PDAs that are often weaker than a decade old laptop.
We're coming fairly close to an end of history with silicon; last I read it's not entirely clear if transistors can physically be smaller than 1nm (and even 5nm is a stretch), and if they can, I can't see what objective use that would actually be for 80% of people. Render farms and scientific use, sure, but the progress bar basically no longer exists already unless you're waiting a whole agonizing... six minutes to render a 4K video. What does exist is the energy and resources put into manufacturing consumer electronics, most of the metals of which are unrecyclable.​

 

[wen_wen]

so if you think you have all the proper tools

385 degree celsius + air flow 45 (to remove the nand chip)
280 degree celsius + air flow 45 to remove the adhesives on the side, pry out the adhesives

365 degree C soldering gun, apply some paste flex, use some soldering wig to clean
clean bonding pad w/ PCB cleaner

then 365 degree celsius + air flow 45 to put the (don't know where to get these) nand chip (512gb or 1tb) back on to the logic board

would make this 20 minutes upgrade very affordable, but possibly screw up a good working computer, and immediately voids all warranty.

 

[Frantisekj]

then 365 degree celsius + air flow 45 to put the (don't know where to get these) nand chip (512gb or 1tb) back on to the logic board

would make this 20 minutes upgrade very affordable, but possibly screw up a good working computer, and immediately voids all warranty.

It is probably nonsense do it yourself unless you are service man. But be sure there will be service shops that will offer that as service and then it is only about trust that they know what they do and have credit to get you other machine if they screw that. And of course it is nonsense to do it during warranty as well.

 

[Frantisekj]

15-20 years out of a laptop?! Yeah, that’s not going to happen, and shouldn’t. Definitely not going to help move computing forward.

We do not need move computing forward but humanity and society. That is nothing related to computing. My macbook pro from 2009 is still working running Catalina. Not a speed demon but works. Much more useful then iPad.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

15-20 years out of a laptop?! Yeah, that’s not going to happen, and shouldn’t. Definitely not going to help move computing forward.

15 years is possible, but it has nothing to do with the repairability or upgradability of the system. It’s more about a person realizing that the 10 year old system they have meets their needs. If the only things a user is doing is checking email, surfing the web and other stuff like that, a 2009 computer has MORE than enough performance for that.

 

[wen_wen]

It is probably nonsense do it yourself unless you are service man. But be sure there will be service shops that will offer that as service and then it is only about trust that they know what they do and have credit to get you other machine if they screw that. And of course it is nonsense to do it during warranty as well.

absolutely nonsense to do it myself during warranty.

But if I do get super bored, and I have a 16GB Mac Mini M1 or iMac M1 laying around, that's already out of the warranty, I'm very interested in removing my out of warranty M1 iPad Pro 1TB to the Mac Mini or iMac, move the 256GB or 512GB to the iPad.

so my iPad can be reduced from 1TB to 256GB, and a Mac Mini can increase from 256GB to 1TB.

 

[lepidotós]

but it has nothing to do with the repairability or upgradability of the system.

Well, it has something to do with it. RAM dies, SSDs have a fixed number of writes before their NAND cells die. Some Rosetta bug afflicted M1 Macs have already started dying of dead SSDs only a couple years later. Generally agree with the rest of your post though.​

 

[rmn1644]

so if you think you have all the proper tools

385 degree celsius + air flow 45 (to remove the nand chip)
280 degree celsius + air flow 45 to remove the adhesives on the side, pry out the adhesives

365 degree C soldering gun, apply some paste flex, use some soldering wig to clean
clean bonding pad w/ PCB cleaner

then 365 degree celsius + air flow 45 to put the (don't know where to get these) nand chip (512gb or 1tb) back on to the logic board

would make this 20 minutes upgrade very affordable, but possibly screw up a good working computer, and immediately voids all warranty.

With the new 256gb M2s coming with an empty chip slot, this sounds like it might be an even easier upgrade. Has anyone heard if anyone has tried? I suppose only Apple RAM would work, which would render this moot?

 

[RumorConsumer]

Extremely misleading title. It's a bit like saying robbing a bank is possible, given you have an experienced crew, inside information and a pass from law enforcement. This is not something the average user will ever be able to do.

Technically Possible !== Possible

This, here, is the best comment on this thread.

 

[JPack]

This, here, is the best comment on this thread.

It's a regular service done everyday by skilled shops across the world. MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini. A 2 hour job.

 

[RumorConsumer]

It's a regular service done everyday by skilled shops across the world. MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini. A 2 hour job.

The article cites an incredibly high risk of failure... I did a quick google search and dont find any English speaking companies that do this. Prove me wrong Id be grateful.

 

[RumorConsumer]

15 years is possible, but it has nothing to do with the repairability or upgradability of the system. It’s more about a person realizing that the 10 year old system they have meets their needs. If the only things a user is doing is checking email, surfing the web and other stuff like that, a 2009 computer has MORE than enough performance for that.

I dont know if you've used a 2009 laptop recently but you aren't surfing anything with one. You're talking about a machine with a Core 2 Duo with 802.11g/n networking supporting up to 8gb of RAM running a maximum of El Capitain Mac OS 10.11.

All of its security certificates expired in 2021.

See: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253272998

 

[Solomani]

A. So what do you do for a living?

B. I’m a surgeon.

A. Oh, what kind of surgeon? Cardiac? Neuro? Breast implants?

B. Apple Silicon.

 

[JPack]

The article cites an incredibly high risk of failure... I did a quick google search and dont find any English speaking companies that do this. Prove me wrong Id be grateful.

The "article" knows nothing because it's written by MacRumors, not actual technical staff.

Here's a repair shop in Brooklyn, NY that will do it. Just use Google to search your part of the world.

Professional Laptop and MacBook Repair Services in New York Brooklyn | L2 Computer Inc.

L2 Computer Inc. offers expert repair services for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and major PC laptop brands including Dell, HP, Lenovo, and ASUS. Specializing in logic board repair, motherboard repair, and screen replacement in New York Brooklyn.

l2computerinc.com

 

[Unregistered 4U]

All of its security certificates expired in 2021.

Fortunately for those with an old computer they’d still like to use, it can run OS’s other than MacOS.

 

[redbeard331]

The "article" knows nothing because it's written by MacRumors, not actual technical staff.

Here's a repair shop in Brooklyn, NY that will do it. Just use Google to search your part of the world.

Professional Laptop and MacBook Repair Services in New York Brooklyn | L2 Computer Inc.

L2 Computer Inc. offers expert repair services for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and major PC laptop brands including Dell, HP, Lenovo, and ASUS. Specializing in logic board repair, motherboard repair, and screen replacement in New York Brooklyn.

l2computerinc.com

Can they do the ram too?

 

[JPack]

An


Can they do the ram too?

Storage only.

 

[RumorConsumer]

Fortunately for those with an old computer they’d still like to use, it can run OS’s other than MacOS.

“Other OSes” ok here we go

 

[RumorConsumer]

A. So what do you do for a living?

B. I’m a surgeon.

A. Oh, what kind of surgeon? Cardiac? Neuro? Breast implants?

B. Apple Silicon.

nice