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They won't offer official upgrade kits for mainstream users due to the power supply being in the way for legal reasons.
If they provide upgrade / replacement kits to end users, it will be through the self-service repair store where people isare responsible themselves for what they are doing.
Yeah, maybe like that, or you through Genius Bar with quick install done by an technician.
 
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Genius Bar / Mail-in service for sure. No doubt about that. If they aren't going to offer that option, there would be no point in socketing the flash modules.
 
You can upgrade the MacPro. Apple offers an upgrade kit
Maybe something similar will come for the studio.
As I see it, the main differentiator between the MacPro and the MacStudio (apart from loads of power that just a few people will need) will be modular upgradability... Historically the MacPro has been the one offer that offered true upgradability and even advertised it as feature...

Basically the Studio is kind of a consumer-mac with pro-esque performance but lacking the modularity...

want modularity? go full-pro...

i might be wrong though, since we still have to see the apple-silicon mac pro...
 
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As I see it, the main differentiator between the MacPro and the MacStudio (apart from loads of power that just a few people will need) will be modular upgradability... Historically the MacPro has been the one offer that offered true upgradability and even advertised it as feature...

Basically the Studio is kind of a consumer-mac with pro-esque performance but lacking the modularity...

want modularity? go full-pro...

i might be wrong though, since we still have to see the apple-silicon mac pro...
Apple touted it as some kind of modular.
Witze the spare port inside, maybe the will be some official storage upgrade kit, though not self-serviceable.
 
This is the reason: security, not "greed". The 2019 Mac Pro has the same issue. I suspect the upcoming Apple Silicon Mac Pro will be user-upgradeable, but the Studio was not designed to be upgradeable.
Please stop abusing the word “security”! I hear this word everywhere, anywhere, and I don’t feel more safe than when i was using pirated win xp and a jailbroken iphone. Remember that IT companies are not the only that care so much about our security. Mafia asking for money in exchange for “security” do this from a long time before ?
 
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From another perspective aside of the socketed storage modules, the Mac Studio is even more modular than the Mac Pro: All the ports (USB, Thunderbolt, Ethernet, Display Output) are not soldered to the logic board but connected to small sockets. So they can be replaced very easily if broken. In terms of repairability, the Mac Studio is probably one of the best devices Apple made in a long time and they hopefully will continue on this track.
 
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So, first, Hector is an expert (they're project lead of Asahi Linux, so there are few people outside Apple on the planet who know as much about how ARM Macs boot as they do), and their thread is worth reading.

That said, I disagree with their SSD/flash distinction. An "SSD" is really just a bunch of flash chips with a controller that coordinates them (including allocating them smartly, etc.). In Apple's case, that controller is on the M1 itself, so the module you insert is really just the flash chips, and isn't a full SSD of its own. But the end result is an "SSD" nonetheless.
Just to clarify, because my tone was totally bitter and angsty after reading just a couple of pages of replies, I wasn’t referring to him but to Twitter in general as the less than ideal place to get info (I irrationally dislike it).

That said it was a nice thread, interesting info and thanks to all that have chimed in from a few pages halfway back to now giving a fuller perspective. Learned a couple of things myself.
 
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Apple Silicon Macs use the same boot process as iPhones including iBoot. They also are unbrickable as such that even if there is no firmware, they can still use DFU. Apple provides macOS images as IPSW files for Apple Silicon Macs which are used to restore them if they are bricked. It is done through Apple Configurator 2 exactly the same way as with iPhones. You can also use Linux machines with iDeviceRestore to do the same.

For the 2019 Mac Pro and other Macs powered by T1 or T2 security chips, they also support DFU in case the firmware of the T1 / T2 is corrupted. This is done through an IPSW package as well. And exchanging the flash modules of the 2019 Mac Pro requires... (drums) ... an IPSW restore as well. ;)

Is this what Apple meant by replacing your computer with an iPad? :D And here we thought that meant making MacOS and Mac apps more like iOS. Who’d have thought it also meant hardware architecture.

FWIW, Windows PC’s today don’t have a graphical boot picker, internet recovery or target disk mode like Intel Macs do. Apple added those things to the firmware. I don’t think there is anything inherent to ARM architecture that requires M1 Macs to boot the way they do now. Apple chose to rely on the internal drive for storing boot code instead of using a separate firmware chip. Otherwise replacing an SSD would simply require booting up from an external drive and running a utility to erase+pair the new SSD without having to connect a second Mac.
 
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Apple would want customers to take it to Apple store to upgrade storage. Or maybe Apple will start selling SSDs as upgrade option under ‘Self Repair’ which is about to be launched.
if they do, they'll sell it at the same price as they sell them when you buy them (e.g. $2400 for 8TB if I remember correctly)
 
Right — the modules aren't SSDs, but "the Mac Studio has an SSD" is still valid.
i think it is more than "just valid"... technically the Mac Studio will still have one SSD, even if it sports two NAND-modules...

edit: or does the m1-ultra come with 2 ssd-controllers because it is basically two m1-max glued together, hence the second port might only work in models equipped with the m1-ultra...?
 
edit: or does the m1-ultra come with 2 ssd-controllers because it is basically two m1-max glued together, hence the second port might only work in models equipped with the m1-ultra...?

- both the Max and the Ultra go to 8TB
- mainboards are quite different between the 2
- no point in putting in the actual slot on a mobo not able to use it

I'm quite surprised that the 2nd slot is there on lower storage tiers. This either means that the storage size is decided for a specific mobo very late in the supply chain, or that Apple is indeed planning to offer upgrades.
 
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Update: The Mac Studio requires an IPSW restore after changing its SSD modules to ensure that they are readable and able to boot. Running a Device Firmware Update (DFU) restore using the macOS IPSW package for the Mac Studio should enable the machine to boot from a different SSD, providing that both of the modules are of the same size and make, meaning that storage upgrades still appear to be feasible.
Apple bad, Apple bad...

Opps we were were wrong... This is what happens when people who have no clue about the hardware just start acting like they know what they're talking about. Did anyone even ASK Apple for a comment before posting this ?
 
I remember the glory days of being able to buy a low spec Mac and upgrade ram and drive.

Pretty odd that a 'professional machine' with a chunky enclosure wouldn't be aimed toward expandability.
Yep...The "Classic Cheese Grater Mac Pro"...Such a nice design, both elegant and practical. You could upgrade pretty much everything, including the CPU. I wish some PC case manufacturer would bring back that design.
 
Apple bad, Apple bad...

Opps we were were wrong... This is what happens when people who have no clue about the hardware just start acting like they know what they're talking about. Did anyone even ASK Apple for a comment before posting this ?
As I stated before, all MR had to do was ask a single person in a help desk role about…you know, working on a Mac?
 
Did anyone claim it was?
Apple claimed the Studio was a modular solution. In the release video. It was literally a bullet point.

The Mac Studio decouples the monitor from the computer so it's more modular than an M1 iMac. Yet, older Intel iMacs could be upgraded with modular RAM and could also (with a little effort) be upgraded for storage.

The Studio actually looks more repairable and upgradeable, at least for storage. But with less than a week out in the wild, we're just learning the capabilities and the "blocks" Apple has currently imposed that could certainly be officially lifted, or easily bypassed via some 3rd-party tools.
 
Apple claimed the Studio was a modular solution. In the release video. It was literally a bullet point.

The Mac Studio decouples the monitor from the computer so it's more modular than an M1 iMac. Yet, older Intel iMacs could be upgraded with modular RAM and could also (with a little effort) be upgraded for storage.

The Studio actually looks more repairable and upgradeable, at least for storage. But with less than a week out in the wild, we're just learning the capabilities and the "blocks" Apple has currently imposed that could certainly be officially lifted, or easily bypassed via some 3rd-party tools.
"Modular" in Apple-speak means bring your own keyboard, mouse, display. Unlike an iMac.
 

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