Mac Studio Teardown Indicates That SSD Storage May Be Upgradeable

[Wanted797]

Great news.

But in general, I don't quite understand the fuss around user-upgradability. Why do storage and memory need to be upgradable? Just buy as much as you need over the machine's lifetime right away. Think you will need 32 GB memory in the future instead of 16 GB? Then just get 32 GB memory now. Think you will eventually need 4 TB storage instead of 2 TB? Then just get 4 TB now.

A machine that is good enough at the time when you buy it will also be good enough five years later.

Eventually after some years, the CPU becomes the bottle neck, and since that is not really replaceable anyway, whenever that point comes, you will need an entirely new machine anyway, not just a memory or storage upgrade.

Because you don’t know what you need.

I’m still using a MacBook Pro from 2011! It was base spec at the time and suited me well. A few years after I bought added more ram and a ssd because it was too slow.

11 years later it’s slow but enough for what I need again as. The 2011 could not get an SSD or 16GB or ram. So I literally couldn’t buy what I needed later.

 

[blackcrayon]

Wear and tear isn’t covered by AppleCare?

Is that question or a statement? Assuming a statement- is there any precedent for this? If you demonstrated decreased performance on a fresh macOS install... My guess is it wouldn't be a measurable difference anyway and only a failure would get an exchange. But it was the previous poster who was suggesting it would be so reasonably soon that there's degraded performance that you might need to swap the ssd for that.

 

[theluggage]

I can tell you that you will not die from a shock of a tiny capacitor!

I wouldn't recommend poking around inside a mains power supply to find out - and, obviously, it's definitely still dangerous if you leave it plugged in. However, I think the meme comes with the old days when classic Macs (and the original iMacs) had CRT displays with exposed high-tension caps and coils inside them - and those most definitely did retain lethal voltages (15,000V... Just say no.) for some time after the power was disconnected.

 

[alexe]

Apple charges $400 for 32 go ram upgraded (when it was user upgradeable) vs $150 out of pocket from bestbuy.

Apple charges $400 for 1tb SSD vs $150 out of pocket.

If you can afford the apple tax, great! But I reckon cost is why a lot of people prefer to upgrade their machines themselves.

Saying “just get 4tb now” for the insane cost apple asks, is quite the statement.

Comparing storage or memory just by size isn't a fair comparison. How fast is that storage? How reliable is it? Same for the memory. You're not going to find a 1 TB external SSD with read and write speeds of >5 GB/s, but the internal storage on the new Macs can do that. And SoC memory is not the same as a good old RAM chip. That SoC memory has way, way more bandwidth.

If you buy a Mac with 32 GB of memory, you can't only look at how much those additional 16 GB cost you. You also have to look at what performance you are getting and ask whether you could have gotten similar performance from a system where you can just plug in an additional RAM chip onto the motherboard. The answer is no. Just comparing the amount of memory and the price just isn't the full picture.

The Apple tax may exist, but it's less high than people think. High-quality components drive up the price for Apple as well, and you cannot just compare those to the cheapest components you can find and say, "Look, this amount of storage/memory would cost a fraction here!".

 

[ric22]

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but I'll forever think it hateful of Apple towards its customers that they don't make storage on desktops user upgradeable. An expansion slot, as Dell even manage to add on their MacBook Pro competitor, really should be standard.

Personally I'd also take the performance hit and have replaceable RAM modules too. I've suffered far too many failures at this point, and binning a laptop because of a RAM failure is bloody infuriating!

 

[Danfango]

Again, nobody will die from a tiny discharge from these capacitors, not even a sick person.

And then this, the US legal system sucks.

Actually you’re not right.

The main filter primaries on the SMPS can kill you. Particularly here in the EU where they can peak at 400V or so. And you should never assume the bleeder resistors are actually working properly. Having accidentally put myself over one when I was an engineer working on SMPS I can assure you that you’re in for a bit of a surprise.

Most people don’t get injured by the shock itself but they do tend to fall from it and that has its own hazards or commonly end up with minor burns to the fingers.

 

[Ethosik]

Again, nobody will die from a tiny discharge from these capacitors, not even a sick person.

And then this, the US legal system sucks.

Why are you arguing the extreme? Nobody died when McDonalds was sued when their coffee was too hot. Was someone injured? Yes. That is all it takes.

 

[glockenSquish]

What is a definition of “pro” here? Nearly all the work I do (film/tv) requires offloading and transcoding to multiple hard drives rarely do I do any work that requires writing to the internal. And given that you can build an 8tb external that reads/writes at ~2Gb/s for a little over 1000 bucks it seems silly to pay 2400 more for internal storage. What pro work are you referring to? Is that a music thing?

Moooost definitely not a music thing. I am a professional composer. My setup, which would be a typical setup for any of my colleagues, revolves around maintaining terabytes of virtual instruments, streaming thousands of audio samples at a time from an array of super fast external drives with a fast bus (6 drives in my case).

 

[bpb]

A bit off-topic, but nah, pros want internal storage wherever possible, because it's way, way faster. The only reason to go for external storage is to save money, which is not the main concern for pros (or if it is, you're an aspiring pro at best).

I'll be buying these for my office.. we do digital imaging work. We have 2 petabytes of external, network-attached storage. The local hard drives in all of our machines are used for the OS, some application installs (most are network installed) and application caches.

I guess I will continue to aspire to professional status.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Why would a graduate student be buying a $2,000 or $4,000 system in the first place if they are concerned about budget? Why not just get a $1,500 Windows PC which will be better from an upgradeable perspective anyway?

You’re joking, right?
I’m assuming you purchased a computer before, but if not, you should be aware that it isn’t just the price that’s a factor.
To start with, maybe the student requires a computer with access to software that’s only available on macOS.
Maybe they are trying to become an audio professional, and their university exclusively uses logic pro, a program which you *cannot* get on a $1500 windows PC.
And then there’s just the idea of what their preferences are. Maybe they just prefer MacOS to windows, maybe it’s the operating system they grew up using and they don’t want to learn a new one.
Maybe they have other iOS devices that would communicate better with a Macintosh instead of a $1500 Windows PC.
Maybe they trust Apple with their private data more than they trust Microsoft.
Maybe they want a computer with a battery life that can reach over 20 hours, something that most $1500 windows PCs just don’t offer.
The possibilities are absolutely endless why they might choose a $2000+ Mac over a PC.
Coming from someone who chose a Mac over a PC, despite the fact that a PC could be purchased for much cheaper and would be much more upgradable.
I have applications that just are not available on windows, I grew up using the Mac so I have no desire to have to switch and learn a whole new operating system, I like that my computer has a 20 hour plus battery life, I like that my computer interacts with all of my other Apple devices perfectly, I trust Apple with my data more than I trust Microsoft, and the list goes on.

 

[cmaier]

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but I'll forever think it hateful of Apple towards its customers that they don't make storage on desktops user upgradeable.

Yes, apple proves its hatred for its customers by providing them with a faster, more reliable RAM subsystem.

 

[HiVolt]

Nobody yet knows how these modules are managed by Apple Silicon. I'm betting they are serialized and cannot be replaced or upgraded wiithout Apple's proprietary tools.

Apple Silicon Macs to date have not had any removable storage, so we just don't know how this will be handled.

 

[Ethosik]

You’re joking, right?
I’m assuming you purchased a computer before, but if not, you should be aware that it isn’t just the price that’s a factor.
To start with, maybe the student requires a computer with access to software that’s only available on macOS.
Maybe they are trying to become an audio professional, and their university exclusively uses logic pro, a program which you *cannot* get on a $1500 windows PC.
And then there’s just the idea of what their preferences are. Maybe they just prefer MacOS to windows, maybe it’s the operating system they grew up using and they don’t want to learn a new one.
Maybe they have other iOS devices that would communicate better with a Macintosh instead of a $1500 Windows PC.
Maybe they trust Apple with their private data more than they trust Microsoft.
Maybe they want a computer with a battery life that can reach over 20 hours, something that most $1500 windows PCs just don’t offer.
The possibilities are absolutely endless why they might choose a $2000+ Mac over a PC.
Coming from someone who chose a Mac over a PC, despite the fact that a PC could be purchased for much cheaper and would be much more upgradable.
I have applications that just are not available on windows, I grew up using the Mac so I have no desire to have to switch and learn a whole new operating system, I like that my computer has a 20 hour plus battery life, I like that my computer interacts with all of my other Apple devices perfectly, I trust Apple with my data more than I trust Microsoft, and the list goes on.

You don't need to be condescending. I have purchased 20 computers in my life. So your first full sentence ir quite irritating to the discussion. The person I quoted said a graduate that was concerned about a budget that also needs 5 GB/s+ speeds of an internal drive. They explicitly stated that the graduate would be concerned about the budget, so yes, price is a factor in this scenario.

"Unless you are someone like a graduate student who might need fast speeds but don’t have a commensurate budget."

Again, why would a graduate need that kind of power while also be concerned about their budget? What do they need that much power for? Why can't a 2 GB/s external drive be used and they NEED that 5+ GB/s speeds?

What is the percentage of people buying any system that fits that scenario you mentioned? A computer can't cover every 100% customer base. That is why I have 7 different computers, each tailored for specific needs because there is not one system that covers all my needs.

 

[Ethosik]

I'll be buying these for my office.. we do digital imaging work. We have 2 petabytes of external, network-attached storage. The local hard drives in all of our machines are used for the OS, some application installs (most are network installed) and application caches.

I guess I will continue to aspire to professional status.

This is what I find so irritating about some of the comments when discussing Apple products. Its all about "pro this" and "pro that". So if you and me work on external drives, we are not considered pros, huh?

 

[Danfango]

I'll be buying these for my office.. we do digital imaging work. We have 2 petabytes of external, network-attached storage. The local hard drives in all of our machines are used for the OS, some application installs (most are network installed) and application caches.

I guess I will continue to aspire to professional status.

Exactly this.

It really irks me how people make vast assumptions about the utilisation of devices and their professional classification.

As far as I'm concerned professional classification should be simply that you use it to generate wealth in some way.

Which I do at the opposite end of the scale as you with 373Gb free on a 500Gb machine ?

 

[Ethosik]

Exactly this.

It really irks me how people make vast assumptions about the utilisation of devices and their professional classification.

As far as I'm concerned professional classification should be simply that you use it to generate wealth in some way.

Which I do at the opposite end of the scale as you with 373Gb free on a 500Gb machine ?

I agree. Some people have different needs. Cool. But when people come here stating basically "Apple is ignoring pros" or comments like that is just irritating to many many pros out there. You are essentially saying "my workflow means pro and anything else means you are not a pro!".

Why do you think Dell/HP/Lenovo and more have like thousands of configurations across their entire product lines? Some people need different things.

Expandable internal storage will be the focus of the Apple Silicon Mac Pro. Like it literally always has been for many many years now.

 

[Danfango]

I agree. Some people have different needs. Cool. But when people come here stating basically "Apple is ignoring pros" or comments like that is just irritating to many many pros out there. You are essentially saying "my workflow means pro and anything else means you are not a pro!".

Why do you think Dell/HP/Lenovo and more have like thousands of configurations across their entire product lines? Some people need different things.

Expandable internal storage will be the focus of the Apple Silicon Mac Pro. Like it literally always has been for many many years now.

I think the bubble here is that Pro means YT influencer who needs 4TB of disk to store their ego on.

 

[Sinfonist]

Yeah, totally makes sense, but I just wonder why that option is worth so much. Just get more storage right away. It's not like you're gonna use your machine for 20 years. You're gonna buy a new computer after 5-7 years anyway, and for that time, storage needs aren't thaaaat uncertain.

Depends what you're doing and why. These will be professional users.

It's common to have a fixed budget for equipment purchases. When I spec a work machine, I tend to max out the CPU and get as much RAM/disk as I expect I will use. After some time (usually 2-3 years), it's possible to get an upgrade budget, or you may have a specific need that justifies the upgrade.

I currently have a (non-Apple) machine with 28 Intel cores, 256GB RAM, 4TB of SSD and 58TB of HDD. I expect I might need to upgrade the RAM (it can go up to 2TB, which would be $7K-10K). The SSD is fine for the moment, but might need to be upgraded. I'm probably limited to about 16TB (about $3K at current prices, but they're falling fast). I'm keeping an eye on the HDD - it's going to be hard to upgrade much further without using external disks/NAS (expensive!). To get a machine that would last 5-7 years, I would have needed to pay an extra $10K-20K over the purchase price. I'd rather do that over time...

 

[Danfango]

Depends what you're doing and why. These will be professional users.

It's common to have a fixed budget for equipment purchases. When I spec a work machine, I tend to max out the CPU and get as much RAM/disk as I expect I will use. After some time (usually 2-3 years), it's possible to get an upgrade budget, or you may have a specific need that justifies the upgrade.

I currently have a (non-Apple) machine with 28 Intel cores, 256GB RAM, 4TB of SSD and 58TB of HDD. I expect I might need to upgrade the RAM (it can go up to 2TB, which would be $7K-10K). The SSD is fine for the moment, but might need to be upgraded. I'm probably limited to about 16TB (about $3K at current prices, but they're falling fast). I'm keeping an eye on the HDD - it's going to be hard to upgrade much further without using external disks/NAS (expensive!). To get a machine that would last 5-7 years, I would have needed to pay an extra $10K-20K over the purchase price. I'd rather do that over time...

Depends what you do but if I need that sort of compute I rent it for a few hours from Amazon and run it from my ass end 14” MBP.

Having an expensive workstation sitting there burning watts for occasional workloads is terribly inefficient.

 

[DeepIn2U]

But didnt he say the pins were different from a normal SSD card? OWC will make an upgrade.
Wonder is the price difference will be huge.

No.

Max Tech said and specifically should the pins were smaller than the latest Mac Pro generations’ SSD

 

[turbineseaplane]

Why do storage and memory need to be upgradable? Just buy as much as you need over the machine's lifetime right away.

..because it's not always easy to know how much you might need over the machines lifetime.

Surely that's an obvious point.

 

[Dammit Cubs]

Even if it is upgradeable, I don't see Apple selling these parts to the public. This would mean you would have to go through their licensed partners. Maybe and that's a big MAYBE. It's not like you can just dump a small form factor M.2 and think it would work. Everything Apple makes is custom to the point where probably getting a replacement or upgrade would cost more than just ordering directly.

 

[jjcs]

Depends what you do but if I need that sort of compute I rent it for a few hours from Amazon and run it from my ass end 14” MBP.

Having an expensive workstation sitting there burning watts for occasional workloads is terribly inefficient.

Sometimes, you just can't run on someone else's (Amazon) computer for very good security reasons.

 

[v3rlon]

Not everyone is a fortune-teller.

I don't think you need to be an absolute fortune-teller. If you are approaching the limits of your 512GB system now (honestly, I would say if you are using more than 70%), maybe 1TB is reasonable. If 1TB is looking lean, you need 2TB and so on. If you start running out of room, look at some basic housekeeping. If that fails, get an external solution for some things (Basic USB drive, thunderbolt raid, NAS) until your next upgrade. Even if you need more than storage than you thought, it isn't like its the end of the world. If you can edit 4k video over thunderbolt external storage, it should be fast enough for most applications. It is more likely that you have some things that will survive just fine on a $99 USB 3 external drive.

But lets say all of that doesn't work for you. You bought a 1TB model and suddenly took up editing 8K video unexpectedly 6 months later. Thunderbolt isn't fast enough. Only internal drives will do for your demanding project. It is time to admit you just missed. Buy the upgraded version immediately, ahead of your regular 3-5 year upgrade schedule. Use Time Machine to clone your old system onto the new one (hopefully with faster processors to boot), then sell the old one to offset the cost. Even a 2 year old Mac still holds a lot of its retail value. Look at the difference as a mix of rental rate and a tax on your lack of foresight.

To put that in the real world, you bought a 1TB M1 Mac Mini (8 core, 16GB RAM) for $1299. Now you want to upgrade (it doesn't matter to what). Those are selling right now on ebay for $900-$1185 used. So you use the computer for a year and cash out for a loss of about $400, give or take. That isn't so bad for someone ready to buy the next and better Mac.

Really though, is it that hard to look at your current usage and take a pretty good guess at what you are likely to need in the next 3 years? How often have you been 'that wrong' unless trying something silly?

 

[macgenius34]

The thing is, people usually don't know how much storage they would need, especially considering the Mac Studio will last them 3-4 years and more. There's a 95% chance you'll find yourself needing more space in the future, and although cloud and external drives exist, nothing beats the ease of use and speed of internal storage.

The advantage of buying the base model and upgrading is getting 3rd party RAM or SSD which will ultimately be cheaper. . . .Apple consistently over charges for RAM and SSDs.