Upgrading Mac Studio storage

[ldx0]

I hope everyone who is dealing with polysoft is able to get their refunds. It's a shame things went so sideways, since Gilles was offering a 5 year warranty addressing a potential shortcoming of the AliExpress models wherein the effective warranty might just be the AliExpress return period. Of course that also requires a responsive solvent company to fulfill the warranty.

To add another datapoint to the shared SSD upgrade knowledge, my AliExpress SSD arrived in 5 days. I ended up taking a chance and ordering from a different seller instead of Fangyuan as it allowed me to use a larger coupon. It arrived in an English branded retail box (I can't find any trace of the brand online) different from what others have received. The module itself appears to be well made, and the same as everyone else with SK Hynix NAND chips. The underfill was applied cleaner than the apple module. It would be interesting to find the actual OEM of these modules.

So far it's working well and I've written several hundred GB.

 

[ratmtr]

Oh you're on tracking spreadsheet so nothing happened since ...

Right. I have not received a refund/update/tracking info/delivery etc.

I am currently catching up on processing refund requests, and everything is being taken care of.

Lol

 

[cybermaster69]

Hello @KlingmannMusic

I apologize, I just saw the flood of messages here. I was away because I spent some time with my children over the last 2-3 days, for the first time in 2 years...

To give a general response to what I've read:

• we have about 290 paid orders which will take another 15 days to be tested and sent and we have already purchased 500 PCBs for the next 300 orders. We are forced to work in batches of around 500 PCBs.
• The system on the website that shows stock levels is not quite precise. It incorrectly sets the inventory to positive stock even though everything has already been pre-reserved. It's a Prestashop module and I am struggling in vain with the developers to get pre-order management that works.
• For those who are concerned that I have listed my repair shop as temporarily closed on Google: it's simple. Given the volume of orders, we can no longer manage both workshop repairs and orders at the same time. To my regret, at the beginning of July, I voluntarily stopped taking repairs at my workshop for the first time in 23 years so that we could devote 100% of our time to orders.
• For those who claim that we can't get 2TB chips: if you don't know, don't say anything rather than talking nonsense. For years, I have always been able to find hard-to-find products. For those who know what I'm talking about, I was able to obtain K6B3 chips six months ago, and I am now also able to obtain 2TB Samsung KLBIGAN5 chips.

That said, I can only apologize for the delays that have accumulated.

Tariffs have caused chaos (and are further complicating trade).

One key employee on the project has been experiencing health issues for several months.

Two of our suppliers caused problems last summer, we had hundreds of NAND chips unprogrammed.
We thought we could unsolder and reprogram them, but ultimately that proved impossible, so we ended up starting over with new PCBs and new chips.

We strive to do quality work, and everything takes time.

I am currently catching up on processing refund requests, and everything is being taken care of.

It should be noted that some dishonest customers received their products but still requested refunds, which they obtained, and have since gone silent. Of course, they are not going to come here and brag about it.

I have not received a reply, refund, update, tracking info, delivery!

 

[tamilarasan17]

 

[Chancha]

Just to share my experience:

For my M1 Max Studio I ordered 8TB through Taobao where it seems to be the same people selling on Ali Express. The shop I picked is this one:

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=941863382722&skuId=5842909793020

Since I am located in Hong Kong so the shipping only took 4 days (lol...). The "cover art" of the box is the first I have seen, never heard of "Lynxis" before, but the inside is similar if not the same as what some other poster showed with their recent Ali Express orders, namely the red & blue labels on the NAND for indicating which card is for the main vs 2nd card slots.

The cards look fine, package is well protected, included tools are adequate, screws are at the right size. Only complaint is there are some soldering burnt marks but not detrimental to the functioning of the SSD I guess. The BGA of the NANDs onto the board looks to be done well, but the black sealing is not as great as the Apple vanilla card of course.

There is no manual, so I just googled and followed some teardown videos. Nothing particularly difficult, except maybe the very first step of plying off the black ring at the bottom of the Studio, but the supplied tool already made it much easier than without. One part I am not even sure I screwed up or not is one of the connecter cables out of the PSU to the main board of the Studio broke off its side. The plastic wall seems to be way too thin, I may have broken it off by yanking the cable head sideways, anyway I had to super glue that part back before reassembly and all is fine.

The initial DFU restore went fine and it automatically installed Tahoe with it, which I immediately wiped and downgraded back to Sequoia lol, created test user and ran the usual tests. It ran fine so I restored full user backup, ran it overnight; the next day resumed installing and actually using the machine, to my horror the machine suddenly pops off in the middle of me doing something and went straight to amber LED blinking in SOS signal. A DFU revive / restore could not proceed past the final steps, so I contacted the seller, and within minutes they walked me through troubleshooting by opening the Studio back up, and finally found one of the cards were not inserted fully. This time I made sure every plug and screws are secured, did the DFU and other restore / install again. So far the machine has already been running for 5 days with no issues (fingers crossed).

This was always a gamble and I am glad it turns out fine for me. I suppose you guys having to order through Ali Express and then with the extra shipping and customs / tariff issues it will not be as smooth. Good luck every one.

 

[trickyswitch]

<image>

Be aware that many of us that had delayed orders also saw our status move from preorder to the "Processing in progress" step. I am not sure that it really means anything. My order sat in that status for over two months, I think, before I started my chargeback.

I am very suspicious and cynical of Polysoft at this point, I will admit. But based my personal experience, it very much feels like moving orders to that status is something they are doing to keep people on the hook for their order and to delay customers trying to get their money back. I was very excited to see that status myself until I slowly realized that it did not actually mean that the order was going to ship imminently. Just like terratoss and ratmtr said about their orders on the previous page.

Interestingly it seems like for everyone that has reported the "progress" of their order, preorders moved to the "Processing in progress" step somewhere between 60-70 days after ordering. Everyone I've seen post details fell into that range. There's not enough information to know if that's a manual or automatic process, but the time interval between those steps has been in a pretty tight range.

Perhaps Polysoft only likes to update outstanding orders every two months, who knows anymore.

 

[trickyswitch]

Following on to my reply just before this post. If the order progress is actually a manual step that Polysoft is doing, did anyone who has been waiting for a refund get such a status update around the time that @tamilarasan17 and @Molecular1958 reported their order status updates? If so, do you see the money returned to your bank or credit card yet?

 

[zaxxon]

Also received "Processing in Progress" update to my order. No answers to e-mails or messages requesting shipping time. I chose Polysoft for the perceived speed of a European company as I'm constantly traveling and it's hard to catch the SSDs in the right place if ordering from China. I missed a couple of "back in stock" opportunities and was happy to finally get my order in in September as I received a mail signed by Gilles informing me of the M3 8TB being back in stock. I immediately placed the order, paid but the order showed "pre commande" or "pre-order". I inquired into this but never received an answer. Only after a month passed I found this forum thread. I've been in stressful situations like this myself back in the day, so I feel it for Gilles, but the massive delay on something that was sold to me as "back in stock" + lack of communication is too much. I'll give him a few more days and then take action to return my funds.

 

[zaxxon]

After doing a quick dig on the internet it seems Gilles is a crypto-savvy guy. From this I conclude that he is probably now using our money to gamble with crypto in the attempt to win back the money lost on the faulty SSD chips in order to recover. Given the last movements in crypto, I'd say he lost even that money and is now biting his nails off and looking over his shoulder for some east-european looking guys who will be coming for him when the CC chargebacks and refunds fail.

 

[tamilarasan17]

@trickyswitch Thanks for the information. I have already raised a dispute with my bank, and they have accepted the case. The investigation is in process, and they will try to recover the money. If the seller doesn’t ship the item in the next couple of weeks.

 

[pkurt926]

Yeah it’s a clear deliberate maneuver to sell more than what is in stocks !
I had the same issue : asked Gilles is it in stock ? No answers.
The day after I “magically” saw that the M4 8 TB was in stock so I thought I could buy it
But the truth is when it’s showed as in stocks Polyaoft doesn’t have ANY items in stock.

It’s deliberate guys so people falls into that trap..

 

[Molecular1958]

🇫🇷 Just a quick update regarding the refund process with Boursorama Bank (BoursoBank), in case it's useful for other French buyers here:


I tried to initiate a Chargeback for my payment to Polysoft using my BoursoBank credit card, but they refused.
Here’s a summary of their response:

The “Chargeback” process, which allows a customer to ask their bank to contact the seller’s bank for a refund, is not included in Boursorama’s terms and conditions.
According to Article L.133‑8 of the French Monetary and Financial Code, once a payment has been authorized and received by the merchant’s bank, it becomes irrevocable.
Since the payment was made with my full consent and the merchant was credited, the bank considers it a commercial dispute, not a banking issue.
As such, they will not process a refund, and I must deal directly with the merchant.

So unfortunately, French buyers might have to go through legal procedures (such as a formal demand letter or a court order) if the seller doesn’t respond.
For now, I’ve also submitted a complaint via the DGCCRF consumer protection platform.


If you’re in a similar situation, feel free to DM me for templates or next steps.

 

[pkurt926]

As usual typically French, laws protecting the bad guys.

I issued a chargeback but with N26, I still have a German IBAN so i may have a positive chargeback.
Anyway if it’s refused I’m going personally to Gilles shop. I don’t like being scammed

 

[ldx0]

Since I am located in Hong Kong so the shipping only took 4 days (lol...). The "cover art" of the box is the first I have seen, never heard of "Lynxis" before, but the inside is similar if not the same as what some other poster showed with their recent Ali Express orders, namely the red & blue labels on the NAND for indicating which card is for the main vs 2nd card slots.

This is the same one I received. I also couldn't find any trace of "Lynxis". We may have bought from the same store, the product images seem to be the same as the store I bought from on AliExpress.

When you went back to reinsert the card did it seem clear it wasn't all the way in? They look well inserted in the picture. I'm kind of paranoid now but I also don't want to open my Mac again.

 

[Molecular1958]

✅ European Buyers – Chargeback Clarification (France/Boursorama Example)


For those in Europe dealing with Polysoft non-deliveries:
Even if your bank (like mine, Boursorama France) initially refuses a chargeback, citing “commercial dispute” or article L.133-8 (irreversible authorized transaction), you can still insist based on EU consumer protection rules.


➡️ Here’s the key reply I used:

The French Ministry of Economy (https://www.economie.gouv.fr) confirms that chargeback (“rétrofacturation”) is possible for online card payments where the seller does not fulfill the contract (non-delivery).


This is supported by EU Directive 2015/2366 (PSD2) and outlined by trusted sources like Europe-consommateurs.eu.


The chargeback procedure is handled by the card issuer (Visa/Mastercard), and banks are required to forward valid requests to them.


In this case, I provided all proof of failed delivery, unanswered refund requests, and the seller’s absence from the forum (Polysoft officially uses MacRumors as its communication channel).


I also filed a complaint with the French DGCCRF.

📌 Important: Use Reason Code 13.1 (Visa) for non-delivery.
Keep pressure on your bank and reach out to Visa/Mastercard directly if needed.

Keep digging !

 

[Chancha]

This is the same one I received. I also couldn't find any trace of "Lynxis". We may have bought from the same store, the product images seem to be the same as the store I bought from on AliExpress.

When you went back to reinsert the card did it seem clear it wasn't all the way in? They look well inserted in the picture. I'm kind of paranoid now but I also don't want to open my Mac again.

No, it was not at all clear, not like dangling out. I guess the first time I was being too careful to not have checked to see if they are pushed in all the way, but it was not very visible. The image I post here is taken after my 2nd attempt.

Whether or not the first failure happened, I was going to be extra cautious with using this SSD anyway, in that I mean to be doing more careful and timely backups and never leave lone copies on the machine, at least for a few weeks / months. Over with the M4 mini SSD cards I heard stories of failure weeks into usage, probably spotty soldering jobs or just bad luck of the draw. Well we get what we paid (instead of paying 4x that to Apple).

 

[ldx0]

No, it was not at all clear, not like dangling out. I guess the first time I was being too careful to not have checked to see if they are pushed in all the way, but it was not very visible. The image I post here is taken after my 2nd attempt.

Whether or not the first failure happened, I was going to be extra cautious with using this SSD anyway, in that I mean to be doing more careful and timely backups and never leave lone copies on the machine, at least for a few weeks / months. Over with the M4 mini SSD cards I heard stories of failure weeks into usage, probably spotty soldering jobs or just bad luck of the draw. Well we get what we paid (instead of paying 4x that to Apple).

Agreed. I've read the same about some of the mini SSD cards. Apparently there are some that are impedance matched to the apple design with 10 or 12 layer pcbs which we have, at least assuming the text on the box is true. I suppose it's probably best practice to have good backups with any of the modern Macs, seems like data recovery would be next to impossible given the proprietary nature of the storage.