SSD swap?

[Cave Man]

I think the answer is "yes" but can the SSD from one M4 Pro Mac mini (1 TB) be swapped with another M4 (not Pro) Mac mini (2 TB) without any issues?

 

[chabig]

No. The SSD is paired with the motherboard, and will not work if removed.

 

[USB3foriMac]

M4 mini and m4 mini pro have different memory, so you can't swap between these two systems.
You can swap the 'SSD'. Data will be unreadable by another computer, you'd have to wipe and reinstall system and data. Don't forget a backup.

Upgrading an M4 Pro Mac mini's storage for half the price | Jeff Geerling

www.jeffgeerling.com

 

[chabig]

I’ll amend my above comment. If you can manage to swap the SSD, you’ll need to perform a DFU restore to make it work. All data on the SSD will be lost. The link above explains it well.

 

[Cave Man]

Thanks for the info. I'll forgo the swap. Really crappy of Apple to do these things. I hope the Right To Repair movement goes nationwide and things like this can't be done by companies.

 

[MBAir2010]

Thanks for the info. I'll forgo the swap. Really crappy of Apple to do these things. I hope the Right To Repair movement goes nationwide and things like this can't be done by companies.

this is why we keep our early Intel Macs since they can be fixed-eded and still function!

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I hope the Right To Repair movement goes nationwide and things like this can't be done by companies."

"Right to Repair" isn't going to change anything here.
You can still "repair" the m4pro Mini. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple will provide the parts and instructions.

What you CAN'T do is "swap" the drive from one Mini to the other. That's not really a "repair", because nothing was "broken".

I believe it has more to do with the way the m-series hardware and software work, than the physical drives themselves (although I believe there are differences between the SSD modules used in m4's and m4pro's)

You could still buy a 3rd-party SSD upgrade for the m4 Mini and install it, if that's what you want...

 

[chabig]

Thanks for the info. I'll forgo the swap. Really crappy of Apple to do these things. I hope the Right To Repair movement goes nationwide and things like this can't be done by companies.

Locking the SSD to a single motherboard keeps the data absolutely secure. That’s why Apple does this. It’s not to sell another $200 SSD.