New 27-Inch iMac's Storage Affixed to Logic Board, 4TB and 8TB Configurations Have Expansion Connector

[magbarn]

There's no weak link in something like BitLocker or any of the other enterprise-grade drive encryption software products out there that don't semi-permanently lock the drive to the logic board's security chip. That's why it's in use by the military and the federal government. No need whatsoever for this degree of hardening.

Exactly, IF the connection between removable SSD chips and the T2 chip was the weakest link, the SSD chips can be desoldered anyway for any determined hacker. Besides, the Mac Pro isn't considered "unsecure" despite the use of socketed SSD flash chips. It's actually more secure and more environmentally friendly as if a business/government needs to wipe the computer, they can just remove the memory chips and destroy them and be able to use the machine for something else. As of now, you would have to destroy the whole logic board for that.

Soldered SSDs in a desktop is a plain money BTO money grab and ease of assembly for Apple. NO BENEFITS AT ALL FOR THE END USER....

 

[sdf]

There's no weak link in something like BitLocker or any of the other enterprise-grade drive encryption software products out there that don't semi-permanently lock the drive to the logic board's security chip.

Of course there is: The key is accessible in software.

From there, actually getting it is a problem but not an impossibility.

 

[Brien]

You have your choice of Windows desktops to satisfy that particular itch.

Not only is ‘go use Windows’ extremely dismissive, but for anybody who’s been paying attention Microsoft is heading in the same direction.

I will continue to disable SIP and all this crap until Apple makes it impossible.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Of course there is: The key is accessible in software.

From there, actually getting it is a problem but not an impossibility.

Considering that in BitLocker, the key is typically stored in a TPM chip, you are not technically correct here. Nice try though!

 

[iMi]

since the machines typically stay in one place it's not inconvenient like it would be on a Macbook.

ah, hold my beer, you amateur... 😂

 

[iMi]

I give ZERO f's about the physical security of my system storage - I'm not doing anything illegal and couldn't care in the slightest if someone who physically had my system could access my information. It's no worse than someone stealing something out of a file cabinet. Besides, if you're making external backups the content would be no more secure than removable internal storage.

I do care about repairability and expandability, don't buy in the slightest the "security" excuse for making the product non-repairable and upgradable.

some of us work with sensitive info, like product prototype, confidential financial data, etc. security is paramount.

 

[iMi]

I think threads like this are funny. I recognize that there remains a small, very small, tiny even, group of consumers that are still into building or modifying computers, but the future of computing is not going to be kind to this group.

And that is the reason that Apple does what they do with ram and storage, physical build, etc. Heck, every computer maker is moving this direction.

I remember back in the day, there were small computer stores in even city and town selling parts, not to mention the build chains that offered cases, drives, effectively every component to build your own computer. Maybe there still are these stores, but I’m guessing people are buying parts online instead because the market for this type of consumer continues to shrink.

I have to assume what we’ll see from Apple in the coming years will be their making computers using fewer off the shelf parts, which will make this tiny and shrinking group of consumers even more mad, while the tens of millions of people buy Apple computers, iPads, iPhones, etc. without thinking twice about whether they can add ram or upgrade the gpu (my guess is most people have barely a minimum understanding of what either is or does).

It‘s not just Apple. People used to tinker with their cars. Now you need a “factory certified technician” where Bob “the weekend mechanic” used to do the job just fine. Cars are more complex, but also vastly more reliable, safe and efficient. I wonder if the people who owned those early cars with a manual crank starter were complain when an electric starter was introduce. 😂

 

[1madman1]

some of us work with sensitive info, like product prototype, confidential financial data, etc. security is paramount.

Yet the HP Elitedesk and Dell Optiplex systems that are standard across industry, government and even the armed forces are user upgradeable and serviceable. "Security" is just a lazy, poor excuse to hide behind.

 

[russell_314]

Yet the HP Elitedesk and Dell Optiplex systems that are standard across industry, government and even the armed forces are user upgradeable and serviceable. "Security" is just a lazy, poor excuse to hide behind.

Those must be the laptops stolen from a parked car containing thousands of VA patients information 😂

 

[Yebubbleman]

Those must be the laptops stolen from a parked car containing thousands of VA patients information 😂

And, if encrypted properly no data leakage would've occurred in that scenario. That's the entire point behind drive encryption in the first place!

 

[h4lp m3]

Don't like Macs with fixed RAM and storage?
STOP BUYING THEM!

 

[iLilana]

Don't like Macs with fixed RAM and storage?
STOP BUYING THEM!

I did then I bought the M1 Mac mini and realized ram wasn't the issue.

 

[jiminoz]

From a repairability standpoint... Let's just say I've never seen an SSD fail in an iMac and I've been working with hundreds of them over the past few years. They're super reliable and I think Apple realizes this so they cut costs by soldering them on.

That leaves the expansion standpoint. Frankly, this is not a big deal either. Apple doesn't even use standard M.2 drives; they use their own proprietary interface. On top of that, these are iMacs! You can easily plug in cheap external storage, and since the machines typically stay in one place it's not inconvenient like it would be on a Macbook.

I'm still irritated by everything being soldered down, but it's not as big a deal as it was in the past. If Apple bothered to use an industry standard like M.2, it would be a bigger loss, but they don't anyway.

Just had a failed SSD in my 2020 iMac which required a replacement of the logic board. Thankfully it was backed up and under warranty.

 

[AlumaMac]

Just had a failed SSD in my 2020 iMac which required a replacement of the logic board. Thankfully it was backed up and under warranty.

Glad it was under warranty. But totally ridiculous it requires a logic board replacement.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

I have a maxed 2019 iMac with realistically less than 50 hours of actual use on it. Plugged it in, fired it up, thought I could save an extra 5min by using target disk mode moving my big Win10 VM off it on to a MBP instead of using an intermediary drive. Well, after the transfer, its drive wouldn’t unmount from the MBP, and thinking the restart cycle on the MBP would terminate any hanging processes and shut down safely, I did that. Viola, iMac’s SSD dead as a doornail, locked in a perpetual state of thinking it’s in use, and can’t mount, be formatted, be blessed, can’t even be armwrestled into an external. Genius Bar confirmed, firmware nuked, & not the first time they’ve seen the changes in Monterey’s approach to APFS result in this. $$$ fix. $$$$ if it were a disposable computer all soldiered together meant to be discarded when something goes wrong. Cheap integrated computers are one thing, but anything this expensive should be al least somewhat serviceable.