Quick summary, for those who don’t have time to watch the 23 minute video:
Upgrading a Mac Studio’s storage is possible, but you need to use brand new (never-been-written) NAND flash chips. If you don’t the Mac will reject them. If you do, they will be auto-configured and will work.
I would like to think that someone should be able to completely wipe used NAND flash chips or a used module, but maybe that would require removing the chips from the board and erasing it with specialized equipment.
Gilles of Polysoft Services ( https://www.polysoft.fr/ ) has developed an unpopulated storage module board. You can solder new NAND chips onto these boards. It requires microsoldering skills, but shouldn’t be too hard for someone with these skills.
The video author, DosDude1 apparently bought chips without solder balls on their contacts, so he needed to “re-ball” the chips. I thought new chips usually ship with balls attached, but I guess some don’t.
He also had to work around a design defect in the Polysoft board, removing the connection from one contact.
The Polysoft board is still a work in progress, but should be available for sale in the future.
Once installed, you need to run Configurator to initialize/pair the modules, and restore macOS, but after that, it works.
There is a significant cost saving. DosDude1, spent about $500 for eight 1TB flash chips in order to populate two boards for an upgrade to 8TB of storage. A lot less than the $2500 Apple charges.
Performance is comparable to the Apple-provided factory storage.
This is, of course, a lot of work, but now that the ice has been broken, I don’t see any reason why someone (like OWC and iFixit) can’t sell pre-assembled modules. You’ll still need to use Configurator after installation, but that’s something easily doable by a customer (if he has another Mac).
That is interesting. Thank you for the information.
I read about internal storage being theoretically replaceable on the 14" and 16" MBP with Apple Silicon before I purchased my 16" a couple of years ago.
Although I replaced the internal HDD on my 2006 MBP, I am confident that the process for this technology is beyond my capability. It is good to hear that it may be doable by third parties some day. I’m sure it is doable by Apple service today, if necessary, which eases my mind about failures.
For increased storage in everyday use, an external SSD is cost-effective and scaleable, but also low-risk compared to surgery on the MBP internals.
I wouldn’t expect most people to be able to source flash chips and solder them to the boards. But I fully expect that in the near future (once the Polysoft board is available commercially) there will be people selling fully populated boards that you will be able to just plug in and format (using Configurator from another Mac).
We know that Apple can do it today. If you buy a Studio or Mac Pro and the Apple-provided SSD fails, they will replace it. What they won’t do is sell you an upgrade to a larger capacity than they shipped when the computer was originally purchased. And we now know, without a doubt, that this is strictly a matter corporate policy, not a technical issue.
Unfortunately, only the Studio and Mac Pro have socketed flash modules. Everything else Apple sells today has the flash chips soldered directly to the motherboard. Which means you need microsoldering skills to replace them, whether to replace defective chips or to upgrade storage.
Not something I’d recommend for an upgrade, but if the onboard flash has failed, you wouldn’t be able to boot from an external drive either. So you might want to seek out a repair shop capable of replacing the chips. But I have no idea what it would cost. Possibly more than the cost to replace a low-end model like an Air or a Mini.
This does atleast offer hope to those with HotAir solder stations, gear, etc. I’ve considered a rework station for removing chips that a friend does gold recovery from DIMMs and SIMMs. And yes, not for the timid. But man, considering that $500 of chips that Apple charges $2400 makes me consider the mark up of Apple on memory and storage…right?
Just be sure to carefully research what kinds of chips your specific computer requires. They’re not all interchangeable and they don’t all have the same pin/pad layouts. And the SSD controller in your Apple Silicon laptop probably has limits.
But from everything I’ve read, yes, if you get the right kind of chips and have the skills to replace the ones on your motherboard with new ones, it should just work. You’ll need to use Configurator to pair the chips with your motherboard and install macOS, but after that, I expect that it will work.
If you don’t yet have experience with SMD rework, don’t learn while upgrading your Mac . It takes a lot of practice to be able to do it reliably and without causing damage.
The YouTubers I’ve watched (Louis Rossmann and Jessa Jones) recommend that you start the learning process by buying a bunch of junk/broken boards from eBay (they should be dirt cheap) and use them to practice removing/replacing chips. Once you’re comfortable doing that, see if you can use those skills to actually fix a broken board or two. Once you can do that reliably, then you can consider reworking your own laptop.
. It takes a lot of practice to be able to do it reliably and without causing damage.