Was I wrong? Apple Silicon and SSD Upgrades

Since the release of my video on the secure enclave OS (sepOS), tons of comments have told me that the NANDs Apple are upgradable and it all stems from this one single incident from Chinese social media.
This video follows up my video on sepOS after receiving numerous commenters mentioning the possibility about upgrading Apple Silicon SSDs, and the process it takes.
Spoiler, you can but there's some real gotchas. At least though there is a way.
My Patreon:
/ dmug
0:00 Opening
0:50 The Facts
2:34 The Tech world reacts to the Mac Studio's SSDs
3:17 macOS Recap
5:29 SSDs and how macOS can be installed
7:21 Summary
7:59 Returning to saga of the Mac SSDs
8:39 Confirming the M1/M2 SSD swap
9:12 Mac Studio Upgrades?
Links to check out:
forums.macrumors.com/threads/...
Background from video:
blog.greggant.com/posts/10-10%...
My video on sepOS
• Apple's Secret Operati...
LTT's video on the Mac Studio's SSD
• I want to love Apple, ...
Luke Miani's video on the Mac Studio SSD
• What happens if you tr...
iFixit's Mac Studio Teardown
• Mac Studio Teardown: N...
Luke Miani's second video on the Mac Studio SSD
• Here's why Apple won't...
Sources:
arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/...
www.apple.com/jp/mac/docs/App...
help.apple.com/pdf/security/e...
support.apple.com/guide/secur...
support.apple.com/guide/apple...
support.apple.com/guide/apple...
Music by me. Edited in FCPX, Cubase, Sound Studio, Pixelmator Pro, Motion.

[@steveballmersbaldspot2.095]

The sad part is that since the industry as a whole follows Apple, we've had a ton of computers with low to no repair/upgrade potential come out these past few years.

[@thejpkotor]

It’s a tool, like a hammer for me at the end of the day. I use it, and replace it if it breaks. People need to stop pretending they will be using the same computer in 20 years.

[@steveballmersbaldspot2.095]

@@thejpkotor Not everyone is well off enough to be able to do that. Besides, creating tons of potentially toxic e-waste doesn't seem like the smartest move either.

[@Scott__C]

@@thejpkotor I agree. A business should be on about a 3-5 year upgrade cycle depending on what the users are doing anyway.

[@Scott__C]

@@steveballmersbaldspot2.095 Ideally, as much as possible gets recycled. I don't know anyone who just throws away a computer.

[@mikey9836]

@@thejpkotor computers don’t just break. I have a 2015 mac book air and upgraded it last year with a 500 Gig SSD. No need for me to buy a whole new laptop just because I’m running out of space. Also have you ever swung a hammer before? It’s so hard to break a good quality hammer. Going to last years. No one thinks they will use a computer for 20 years😅

[@junelawson6708]

This is ridiculous. The degree of security hardening in these products far outstrips the actual security needs of the intended users. It's also pointless, because virtually all cybersecurity threats involve either human factors vulnerabilities, such as phishing or the use of 2FA SMS, and server-side software errors, like outdated software and dependencies, publicly exposed file stores, or badly written software. Almost no attacks use physical compromise of target machines, and standard secure boot and filesystem encryption will provide adequate protection against them. The only reason to do this is to prevent servicing of the machine by the end-user or third party technicians, thus ensuring a virtual monopoly that allows apple to overcharge customers.

[@dmug]

Preaching to the choir here: there are PCs that use hardware encryption on NVMe SSDs. The other claim is performance although Apple’s SSDs are just upper-average performers, in random 4k read/write at high Q depths you’ll find them lacking below other performance minded drives.

[@Blitterbug]

Yup. It's to support Apple's monolithic vertical market and for no other reason. I defy anyone to give me a real-world (not hypothetical sci-fi) consumer benefit of this.

[@dmug]

@@Blitterbug Again, security is pretty tight on Apple's computers, although the threat of someone removing the SSDs from Mac Studio strikes me very edge case. For traveling business types, I imagine the MacBook being effectively a brick if stolen is comforting as data theft won't be a thing. Over time, MacBooks may become a "low value" target like how locked iPhones are becoming. The average person won't bother to steal a lost iPhone as they know they can't unlock said device. That's the silver lining I see for consumers. It's not much but it's something.

[@Blitterbug]

@@dmug Mmm, I s'pose govmnt / CEO use possibly, yeah...

[@Dave102693]

@@dmugall Apple devices are effectively aluminum bricks the moment someone accidentally iCloud lock themselves or more likely someone stolen an Apple device.

[@JCDFU]

I was actually thinking about to get a new Mac but that’s not gonna happen. Not only that these things aren’t upgradable in any but, but a MBP with 1TB SSD and 32gb RAM costs about 4000$. Like a used car…And we actually don’t pay so much for the hardware, we’re paying them tons of money for the MacOS which we don’t even own.

[@dmug]

The apple tax is pretty harsh, if you want the ultra with the full gpu and max ram it’s like near $6k, the base models of apple silicon are strong buys but man, the PC that you’d afford at that price point steam roll it

[@jonesing4fame922]

Apple's own dogcow Clarus says, ""Moof!".

[@dmug]

Probably the most insightful comment I’ll get ever

[@bobweiram6321]

Oh the good old days of MacOS classic. Steve was the best thing to ever happen to Apple, but the worst thing to ever happen to the Mac.

[@elcamino06]

Apple is becoming the embodiment of what it means to be consumer hostile.

[@dmug]

It's been a trend with Apple post iPhone, they learned a lot from it and took away some bad lessons. I suppose you don't become the world's richest company by being generous.

[@Dave102693]

Always has been…now just over the top now

[@Scott__C]

To be fair, they don't market to the self upgrade/hobbyist/tinkerer market. Every company that sells things wants people to buy more of the things they sell. My wife's laptop from work (Dell) doesn't appear to be terribly upgradeable either.

[@joshuaam7701]

It’s gotten so much worse.

[@igordasunddas3377]

They've always been like that and I wouldn't touch anything Apple with a stick, but the damn M1 (and M2) MacBooks are so power efficient. Once the general laptops catch up in power efficiency, I'll switch back I guess. I'd prefer a Linux system and Asahi Linux doesn't cut it yet (though they're awesome).

[@gamersinghking4167]

There were a few MacBook models that used proprietary SSDs. However, we eventually got adapters so that you could upgrade the storage. Maybe it'll happen with the Mac Studio.

[@dmug]

The old proprietary SSDs were NVMe where the storage controller/cache/NAND were self contained hence why a NGFF to M2 adapter was feasible. The controller is part of the SOC now so there won’t be any solutions that aren’t specifically engineered to the Mac Studio. We never saw third party for the iMac Pro or Mac Pro 2019, which used similar so it seems unlikely.

[@johnwaldmann5222]

@@dmug there is zero intrinsic reasons (aside from corporate greed and inertia), certainly no engineering reasons why Apple does not add an internal user accessible secondary m.2 NVMe slot, that can utilise industry standard NVMe. The performance of which would be at least the equivalent of the internal SSD’s of m2 series devices, LOL. And in most cases would be capable of saturating the PCIE lanes devoted to the socket. Say roughly twice the speed of externally attached thunderbolt3 devices, and a darn sight more secure and reliable (no cables to dislodge). There is no inherent need to encrypt a secondary bill storage SSD attached to a m.2 bus, so no need for it to be part of Apples Secure Enclave. It merely requires the same level of security offered to external devices, i.e., entirely optional. Indeed this would actually increase the security of user data, -if used by the consumer, because then more of them would secure their family photos on the drive that can ultimately be removed when the Mac computer eventually shits it’s self. Why? Because the encryption key (if user encrypted) would be extrinsic to the Mac SoC, because it would be software driven. My 6TB of source project video & ProRes proxies would be better served off an internal M.2 NVMe, leaving the SoC ssd for boot, applications, and secured documents. Windows PC users can have this why can’t Apple deliver? Ohhh, that’s right corporate greed, inertia, and apparently engineers incapable of holding their own in the board room, or in the bathrooms where design decisions are made. (Clearly Apple has embraced shitty decisions that inherently kneecap the performance of the Mac platform).

[@Blitterbug]

Um, no

[@FVBmovies]

@@Blitterbug Maybe in few years time someone will FPGA through custom controller.

[@damianvila]

This is a new channel to me, and I have to say I love your attitude. You investigate, support your claims with facts, and are not shy to admit when you're wrong, all good qualities, in my opinion. Count me as a subscriber. 😊

[@dmug]

I've had to eat a lot of humble pie over the years writing the Mac Pro Upgrade Guides, I'd rather be factual than "right" as it doesn't do anyone good if I double down or pretend/ignore things I got wrong.

[@grumpent]

@@dmug well said bro

[@sulrich70]

Absolutely apple has locked users into paying premium for everything in hardware. SEP strikes me as being focused just on locking out hardware changes more than anything else.

[@Dave102693]

It’s also made to make devices permanently inoperable at the slightest hint of being digitally or physically compromised for what it’s worth. 🤷🏾‍♀️

[@claytonberg721]

It seems to me it hurts bad actors and good actors alike. It's my understanding that thieves when they steal your stuff don't usually try to take that device and make it operable again, but rather they break it down and sell the parts. Making it so screens and keyboards are firmware locked from the factory discourages this. At the same time if you break the screen on you laptop you can't just buy one on ebay for parts anymore and fix it yourself...

[@navidds]

And to think a macbook was one of the easiest to swap and upgrade ram/drive around the first unibody series. it even had a note saying it was user servicable...such upgrades didn't void the warranty.

[@MacinMindSoftware]

I"ve learned a lot from your videos without having to put in my own effort so I appreciate yours.

[@dmug]

Ha, that's what I'm here for. Getting things wrong and then making vids about what I learned.

[@NullStaticVoid]

Back when I worked It at an ad agency we would frankenstein multiple broken Macs into a working Mac all the time. It was kind of fun due to the clean way that Macs were built back then. We used to joke the inside of the Mac Pro is what Jobs condo must look like. When we expanded and took on a bunch of new employees we could only find low spec Macbook Pros. So we bought a dozen of those and upgraded their ram and storage. Took all of 2 hours including picking up the computers. Now I still prefer to be working in Apples Posix compliant OS. But I really hate the limits they place on end users with the hardware. Sure my 14" MBP is fast, but they only had 16GB/500gb iterations in stock when I bought it. So I am stuck having to offload files to external drives, and have to actually close programs to keep it running at a decent speed. Not the end of the world, but I tend to hold on to laptops for 5-7 years. My last one was a 2015 MBP which I had upgraded the ram, storage and optical on. Ditto for my 2013 Mac Pro. Bought it at the affordable level, then over the next 8 years I maxed out the ram, CPU and storage. Now these shenanigans would be fine if Apple gave us top notch hardware. But they do not. Until recently I could usually get a better specced SSD through OWC, who also offered ram kits that would expand the ram beyond what Apple offered stock. Now I am supposed to buy the type of computer I need for the next 5 years? I'm sure that Apple hopes people will just buy a new computer every 2 years instead.

[@LetrixAR]

I love these technical videos. I'm curious, with the amount of people in that are onto this topic, that there's only two persons that documented the SSD upgrade, one for Macbooks and other for Mac Studio. I would like to see more tries.

[@dmug]

There’s a few non English vids, and just the handful of Mac KZbinrs who are technical enough (Snazzy labs where are you bro?)

[@DekritGampamole]

Make sense because every try will cost you thousands of dollars. Not everybody can afford it.

[@WeaponsGG]

Expandable storage has been a thing ever since computers were invented. Apple is swimming against the current here.

[@llothar68]

@Phillip Banes Which is fine for desktops but not for mobile devices and Apple knows this very well. Also you still are fucked if the internal disk breaks because you can't boot from an external system without having the bootloader loading from the internal. And external is always slower. I can get PC systems that are now 3 times faster then Apples system at around 20GByte/sec.

[@llothar68]

@Phillip Banes Well and that "more then fast enough" is why Apple totally lost the server and workstation market. Because it can never be fast enough. And big enough. But only having 5% on an M1 Ultra compared to a 4090 Nvidia in GPU computing power says it all where Apple is positioning it's market.

[@Scymet]

@Phillip Banes So because stupid cumbersome external SSDs exist, it justify preventing people from adding internal ones ?

[@tippy35075]

Always fun being able to push whats possible

[@dmug]

I keep getting linked the iBoff video on replacing SSDs in Apple Silicon Macs and i figure I should post it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4OanmeXit17ma8 Luke Miani also collabed with DOSDUDE1 to demonstrate the SSD upgrades kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6GofHSPZpaBh9U The interesting thing is at least two people now have mentioned I was incorrect for a second time, but from what I've seen it corroborates what I said here. I'm not sure if my messaging around the DFU mode or soldering was confusing or if people aren't entirely watching my video. If you found a particular phrasing or passage by me incorrect, please let know (and why). I'm more interested in accuracy than being "right". I had a request for the background used in this vid, so I uploaded it here, it was made for motion graphics so will likely look best on smaller displays rather than 4k monitors. blog.greggant.com/posts/10-10%20mountain.jpg

[@yummytutel]

Thank you!!

[@claytonberg721]

I posted on the previous video calling the title a little 'dramatic'. Honestly I agree with the premise that the apple silicon system simply put is not up-gradable in any sort of practical sense. When you need skills equal to those possessed by those with two years post secondary education and professional equipment, when the process itself risks destroying the whole logic board with the smallest of errors, when you have to go on a deep dive to source new NAND from china no that's not upgradable. Repairable, when you can go to your local apple authorized repair shop that have that stuff and that know how I would say that's repairable. It's becoming painfully obvious that basic NVME SSD's would be just as fast with silicon as their impossible for all but 99.9 percent of us to replace or upgrade would have been just as effective.

[@Wannes_]

They're also locking the laptop screen angle sensor - making the screen appear to be unswappable without causing issues

[@dmug]

Yeah I saw Louis Rossman’s rant on that. Just awful.

[@coffeefuelsme]

Interesting insights. Thanks for posting!

[@dmug]

Thanks for watching!

[@codyfan1097]

The macrumors forums really are a god send

[@dmug]

Indeed, a National treasure

[@oobis]

Hey I just watched your 5month review on the pebble bee card I’m wondering if you made sure the firmware was up to date before testing it?

[@patrickfarnburn5704]

Thank YOU, and I understand it is just a begin, soon or late we can again upgrade the ssd's by ourself.

[@dmug]

That’s the hope. Maybe in the future there’ll be specialist who can do it for average users like myself who can’t solder.

[@VMiXEZ]

The SSD is upgradable, many shops can do that (at least in Bangkok, where I live). But totally not by normal user. And it cost a lot!!

[@dmug]

It's interesting hearing from places with totally different tech scenes as this is pretty much unheard of in the States.

[@dreinakh]

@@dmug just a bunch of internal apple software pirated copies make life much easier :)

[@alex-chicago-80]

So technically wrong but too hard to even try, which Apple likes because it means it's easier to just buy the extra storage from Apple rather than brick your perfectly fine machine. That's the Apple way!

[@llothar68]

Thats the Apple after Steve Jobs way.

[@AY-gf3jq]

Great investigation, without biases but facts.

[@charminbaer2323]

Given enough time, NAND SSDs for Macs will eventually be more readily available. Right now, you can go to China and upgrade the NAND storage for pretty much any iPhone/iPad and have it done right in front of you. The NAND chips are readily available.

[@antifocus]

You can replace the NAND chips in your M1/M1pro/M2 macs with a higher capacity, but I haven't heard about the RAM so far. The price for doing so had come down in the past few months and the price was like 1TB for $200 give or take in China, it was kinda plug'n play since apple integrated the controller and it is basically the same as upgrading the Intel macs 2 or 3 years ago. I don't know where the chip comes from or if it's brand new, I just follow some of the Chinese repair shop channels and sometimes they'll post videos about it

[@ThePlayingJs]

so if I get somebody to swap the sand In my 15 2018, I use DFU to reinstall it?

[@frankfeng98]

What I’m interested the most in would be replacing the RAM instead, which is indeed the most expensive add-on option in Apple Silicon based Mac’s configuration.

[@ThePlayingJs]

@@frankfeng98 since the ram is soldererd to the soc, you would need some insane soldering to even swap it

[@gmichia]

Ram a common upgrade in china.

[@llothar68]

@@ThePlayingJs And i have seen a youtube video on insane soldering actions but yeah, the time it takes even with professional lab technolgy at your hand is higher then buying it from Apple.

[@Teluric2]

RAM can be outside the chip package since the signal travel 40cm each cycle, so Apple made RAM inside chip module to force non upagradeability.

[@RunForPeace-hk1cu]

It has more to do with power usage, not just latency. RAM directly on the SoC incurs significantly less power than standard DDR5 ram.

[@renascence239]

@@RunForPeace-hk1cu would be good argument if RAM was non upgradable in MacBooks only, but it isn’t even upgradable in desktop Macs, where ultra low power consumption is not that really important

[@Teluric2]

@@RunForPeace-hk1cu I dont think so. How much miliwats would eat a chip outside.?

[@FlyByWire1]

@@renascence239I think that’s because Apple uses very similar logic boards for their new iMacs that they use for their laptops. Everything is soldered to get the device as thin as possible.

[@mrlithium69]

Good update video covering all sides. Its borderline possible but the meta just isnt there yet. Maybe people can start once they are caught up

[@dmug]

Ha. Accurate .

[@JBoy340a]

That is fascinating information. Unfortunately, the last part, with the skill requirements, leaves me out. I guess if I want more memory in my Studio or MBP M2, I will have to trade it in.

[@dmug]

I think that’s most of us, I can barely ball joint solder let alone BGA…

[@andygilbert1877]

Having decided I wanted a Mac Studio, it seemed sensible for longevity to go for a 1 TB model. For the moment I’m recycling some 1 & 2 TB SSDs from a old PC for additional external storage, and I’ll probably add an NVMe drive in a Thunderbolt enclosure at some stage, and something for Time Machine backup. (I bought the Studio secondhand, 8 months old, for a good price.)

[@v3rlon]

I love how even though the video spends half the running time talking about the security reasons Apple did this, everyone assumes it was just to screw over some vanishingly small percentage of customers who upgrade computers. In the Windows World, something on 95% of computers never get upgraded. These are computers made to be modular and upgradeable, but most only upgrade by purchasing a new one. So, missing out on $200-$400 in sales on less than 5% of new Macs is the reason they spent all the time and money on the Secure Enclave and encryption system? It costs more to develop than they would make without it. Then there is the market where people put lower end parts in, and customers want warranty work when they fail.

[@peter_shadow7559]

I see a lot of comments from people who still don't seem to understand what Apple's customer base is, who aren't tech enthusiasts. They buy what they understand they need until they think they need something else. They are usually people who want a secure system that works, so they stay with the brand that provides them with what they are looking for. The new Porsche's do not have access to the engine compartment. The customer base of that brand is not waiting to customize anything, they use the car as it comes and that's it. Apple doesn't work like Microsoft get over it once and for all. I don't like these restrictions so much, especially with the SSD issue, but it's what I have to live for having a system that doesn't get sick with the flu every 7 days and that works efficiently. Excellent video, you make the 10 minutes go by quickly. Thank you.

[@queens.dee.223]

Hi hi. Is there a link to the person at 2:52? Thanks! And thank you for the interesting video :)

[@dmug]

That's the iFixIt teardown, linked in the description

[@retrovox]

Hi, since 2020 iMac is having a T2 chip, and if the internal SSD fails, do you think it can brick the whole iMac? Even external SSD is not bootable if that happens?

[@dmug]

Almost certainly not, other T2 macs will not boot if the ssds are removed or not functioning, see the iMac Pro and Mac Pro 2019

[@tonybucks5709]

I miss my Mac Mini (late november 2012), you could just upgrande about everything! SSD, RAM, fans, power, i've purchased a base model and made it a beast. Still works good now in 2023, but you're limited to max 16 gb RAM. I have the Mac Studio too, very powerful machine, i just wish i could upgrade parts.

[@WarriorsPhoto]

Powerful video and if I decide to learn soldering. I'll still upgrade my Macs storage during purchase 😮. Okay we can do so and I don't think it's worth it. 😮😅😊

[@ejonesss]

i think the reason it is possible to replace the ssd in the mac studio is because it is cheaper for apple to source the ssd as a removable module than to solder it on. remember the time when you could buy an enclosure and internal pc hard drive and build your own external drive cheaper than a ready made external drive? same here. because of the encryption of the t2 chip and the m1 m2 macs then how does forensics teams working for the police get access to the data to investigate a crime? probably apple would just desolder then resolder a new ssd chip and just re pair the new chip and re bless it or just replace the motherboard.

[@yummytutel]

I would like to ask, do you have a link on the Yosemite night sky you use at 1:44??

[@dmug]

I made in Apple Motion that for this video, but I'll export a version later tonight.

[@dmug]

Here you go: blog.greggant.com/posts/10-10%20mountain.jpg

[@yummytutel]

@@dmug oh thank you really much! and by the way, nice video!

[@yesmanhk]

i came cross by youtube recommended, is that possible to unlock the mdm MBP intel based 2019, since brought it from 2nd hand market. i can bypass it by disable DEP for update, but how to full unlock, swap the T2 or i see some video about switch the serial number by modify the T2 rom, any idea?

[@dmug]

There’s a video by iBof that shows the entire process now for t2 and apple silicon Macs.

[@robeigner4390]

I take a different approach to this issue. I spent a real long time working for an arm of the US government. We did a lot of classified work and put classified data on laptops, which made that laptop classified and accountable. When an authorized employee needed to take a classified laptop off-site, the entire laptop was photographed and every screw was marked/sealed to make sure any attempted physical intrusion would be identified. This was a major pain. Apple's M-series laptops and desktops with their sepOS makes it very difficult (maybe) for an intruder to remove the NAND and copy it since it's encrypted and keyed to a specific Mac. This encryption is difficult to break, especially when it's not inside a Mac. For all you repairers and upgraders, I'm sorry but Apple going to great lengths to secure their hardware benefits many more people than repair companies and upgraders. Yes, I was a repairer and upgrader for years (actually decades when you include non Macs) and I have all kinds of "stuff" in drawers but I firmly believe Apple have (finally) produced a product line that has much less need for repairs (user abuse doesn't count) than previous (Intel) lines. External storage works just fine in many cases so upgrading internal storage should be done when purchasing a Mac. We all know this, especially once SSD/NAND storage started to be used. As for those countries/governments who demand replaceable everything, I strongly feel their only motive is to be able to capture user information through a variety of methods. Apple is making this more difficult to do with every new product and OS. disclaimer: I have never directly worked for Apple although I have worked with Apple employees on specialized committees and user groups many years ago early on while working at my government job. I strongly believe some of the requests we made of Apple finally made it into their products.

[@mathsrodrigues667]

Thanks for your input. For the majority of the internet it’s sooooo easy to blindingly throw rocks at apple but Macs are the only CONSUMER grade notebooks that have a commitment to security (at least above the rest of the industry) PS: upgrade prices are some bullshit. 200 bucks for a Nand module ? Cmon

[@linuxxxunil]

Wow. 5 minutes in and I’m Gna sub this channel.

[@aelaan12]

This is always a technical and hypothetical adventure. Yes, any challenge can be overcome, if you are persistent enough. The issue is: Is it commercially viable? What is the business risk? Soldering at this level requires expensive equipment with precise temperature gauging. I would think the SSD for the Mac Studio could be made more viable but what would the cost of a 4Tb drive be and what are the downfalls of putting it on a USB-4 or TB4 external enclosure. Yes, during the purchase process, the Apple Tax is hilarious. I think a solid external drive solution is an option, should an internal SSD crash, which is more likely with one that has not gone through the testing in the manufacturing facilities, it would be great if you held on to the original one.

[@dmug]

Realistically most people, self included won’t be upgrading the SSDs but at least there’s a way to keep them out of landfills.

[@jrm332]

​ @dmug Which is why I installed the OS of my mini in an external SSD, and have a script run an unmount the internal storage as a login item. I think people will check for SSD health for resale value in the future, just like they do on battery for iPhone nowadays, at least I would. I purchased the 256GB model thinking I can save everything else on a separate drive, like I do on windows, but apple suspiciously changed the cloud storage API (one drive, dropbox..) so that it needs to be in the main drive. This forced me to install the OS in an external SSD.

[@aelaan12]

@@dmug I watched the iBoff channel, and now it makes a lot more sense. The only thing we need are clean NANDs. And, yes, the land fill needs to be free of hardware that can be used. It may not always be in the "rich" American countries.

[@johng.1703]

it is a security feature... it secures lots of new sales for Apple. Apple has one interest, make profit by making you buy more Apple products. personally, I'm in the camp that unless you are locked in to Apple, don't buy Apple. I personally like Apple phones, so I am willing to tolerate the "locked in" ethos for that device, but only as far as I need to, I backup my phone via an app for my NAS.

[@nhansgoofyvideos7581]

For the part sourcing, it’s not impossible. Soon one of my friends would have his MacBook Air M1 upgraded, and the parts comes from an iCloud-locked motherboard.

[@dmug]

Yeah, I've heard of people parting out iCloud locked devices, makes sense the NANDs and RAM would be looted besides the obvious like the screen, keyboard, battery etc.

[@Dave102693]

Just like an iCloud-locked iPad

[@paxwebb]

Yeah but you have no idea how much life is left in these NANDs once they have been reprogrammed

[@johnwaldmann5222]

Apple could provide an user accessible secondary m.2 Pcie NVMe slot that is not encrypted. This would vastly improve the utility and durability of Apple desktop and laptop devices. For those of you who want to say that this is not possible. Well your wrong. Effectively all this requires is to dedicate one of the PCIE buses to a m.2 slot rather than to thunderbolt. The advantage is that thunderbolt acts as a bottleneck. Removing this improves media speeds for video editing providing larger storage options, and at least double the bandwidth of external thunderbolt-with no loose cables for your studio cat to play with and dislodge at critical moments. And improves data security by reducing the likelihood of total internal drive failure. However, the mac would still require an encrypted main drive with the secured boot picker partition, and may cost the Mac one of its thunderbolt ports. However trading a thunderbolt port for a spare internal NVMe slot it’s a trade off many would prefer to have -particularly on the Mac Studio with its plethora of ports.

[@cjeelde]

The problem is this: if Apple will give the end user an option in any form to buy a SSD from another company than Apple, then Apple will sell less. Now Apple got a monopoly for both RAM and (internal) SSD on all Macs. Of course this is about money. I've prayed so many times that Apple gonna become "the good old Apple" that allowed us end users to buy RAM and internal SSD/HDD from other companies. So I guess that Apple's architecture (Apple Silicon) is so much about control and profit/revenue. To do so, they have to show us end users that it's actually worth it. Mac Studio would not have been possible with the latest "Xeon W" CPUs and the extreme GPUs from AMD/Nvidia. Apple could def have made a Mac Pro 2023 with "Xeon W 2023" and the latest cards from AMD/Nvidia. But Mac Studio would not have been possible. But when you think about it, just compare the physical size of Mac Studio vs Mac Pro 2019-2023 and Mac Pro 2006-2012! Mac Studio will take occupy only a fraction of the space which is a huge win! It's at least possible to upgrade any Mac when-buying-it-on-applestore. It's expensive yes, and that's what we all dislike. We have to pay for "that upgrade" NOW for "400 dollar" instead or waiting 2-3 years to buy it for "100-200 dollar" and if we really need "that upgrade". So this behaviour from Apple means that too many customers must "overspec" their new Macs and pay too much. Many end users feel that they wanna future proof their Mac so they will upgrade Mac Studio to 64 GB RAM and 2-4 TB SSD while they probably only need 32 GB RAM and 1 TB or 512 GB SSD which is way cheaper. I cannot see anything in the pipeline that will make Apple change their Macs so the end user can upgrade RAM and/or internal storage. The only hope is that EU (European Union) gonna require that it must be possible to upgrade RAM and storage very easy. Maybe also the GPU. But how will Apple meet that requirement with their SoC architecture? Personally I often propose like you did: a M.2 PCIe NVMe slot. Exactly how Sony did with PS5. That would be so good! But I cannot see that happen. I pray for it but I cannot see that happen...

[@cyberlizardcouk]

what would be awesome would be if Apple could develop a communication port which could allow multiple Mac Minis to be daisy chained together to share system resources using a ultra high bandwidth connector. That way you could simply purchase more Mac Minis rather than having to send one to the landfill and having to purchase a newer one.

[@nexgen-3d-printing]

Long time Apple user and purchaser here, they have lost me as a customer, the M1 Air is the last product I will buy, as nice as it is, they are heading down a fully locked walled garden that I no longer want a part in, next machine will be a Framework, and if they ever bring out a phone, I will buy that too, if you don't have root, you don't own it.

[@thetaoofwisdom9844]

There is one guy in China's Anhui Province who can actually upgrade storage with M1 chips. The storage chips either come from malfunctioning macs, or scrapped motherboards from Apple Assembly plants.

[@googleevil]

Does it mean I need to disable file vault on my M1 Pro Mac?

[@dmug]

Nope, doesn’t change anything regarding boot options.

[@MelodeusForever]

That was a very tall cup of Nothing for me!

[@macguru9999]

Interesting but just not worth it for regular users. Better to boot from a fast external ssd, and max out the ram when buying the mac.

[@dkmillares]

Great video. +1 subscriber

[@dmug]

Thanks!

[@Tigerex966]

My question is, say you buy a new imac. Someone sets it up for your and forgets everything ot dies and you have no way of knowing their email or what password they used. Or you buy a used m1 again you have no way of booting to the desktop because you have no apple ID apple email account icloud account or password at all. What can you do to get to the desktop? Or install OS x from scratch. Erasing what's ever in the mac, On a apple silicon machine.? If that makes any sense

[@evanhearne4020]

I would say you could probably use an external ssd to boot macOS, but without the iCloud information if the previous user set up with iCloud, you can't do much with the internal ssd. If you bought the machine from someone, I would try to ask for their information to unlock the device, or if they don't wish to give you that info, get them to pay for shipping to and from your address to get them to properly unlock the device. It definitely makes sense... of course, in a hypothetical sense I would go to the seller and ask them to release the device from their iCloud account. There is the chance they never set up Find My, so you could reinstall the OS to see can you get in this way. You can also install other OSes such as Ubuntu or Asahi Linux to get some usability if the seller is unable to release the device. I would request a refund if they can't fix your issue. I believe Apple can unlock the device if you can prove the death of an individual. If it is your loved one you can request Apple directly. You could also contact the seller if it is their loved one, and follow this link --> support.apple.com/en-ie/HT208510

[@Tigerex966]

@@evanhearne4020 hey thanks. This was a hypothetical because i have heard it is impossible from an end user perspective on all current macs if your internal ssd goes you can not boot into OS x even from an external ssd. Now in sure apple can probably do something but so fir they have not released any information officially that even they can. Then booting info Is on them dead ssd. Not just the password or apple id. So you buy that uses m1 mac and the drive is dead or dies your are screwed. Older macs allowed me or you your or I to simply hook up a old drive external or swap out they internal and bout directly from that without t2 chip security enclave on a drive that's over now. I believe even the intel mac pro will refuse to boot if your take the internal drive out. Apple believes the machine is still theirs after you buy it d I they van lick you out it will. .remember the backlash they g it when they said they would scan photos in icloud and lock users out of their macs phones pads and call the fbi on them all without your knowledge. Basically you never own your apple product. They do.

[@evanhearne4020]

@@Tigerex966 I am pretty sure you can boot into macOS from an external drive. I could be mistaken. Also, if you live in the States, then yes, they own your device. If you live in the EU, you own your device.

[@Scott__C]

Wouldn't the person who set it up just give you the information so you can use it? How would you log into the machine after reboot?

[@1stRanger]

So you can upgrade it taken you'll be able to source NAND that's impossible to source. Well, we kind of knew that already.

[@ryanzmuda3167]

So you can upgrade the ssds in the Mac Studio. Do vendors now sell them

[@dmug]

You can but Apple does not sell them nor has apple shown any interest in letting 3rd parties make them.

[@ryanzmuda3167]

@@dmug what about other 3rd parties. Can you upgrade the size

[@dmug]

@@ryanzmuda3167 Apple has not show any interest in letting 3rd parties make NAND upgrades for it's products: See the iMac Pro and Mac Pro 2019. The NANDs are Apple specific.

[@ryanzmuda3167]

@@dmug ok what about the mac studio

[@dmug]

I don't know what else to say here. I already stated Apple does not sell upgrades for the Mac Studio; this is something you can verify by going to Apple's website. They haven't shown any interest in previous computers letting 3rd parties make SSDs for the only other two computers using NANDs similar to the Mac Studio. Apple could tomorrow let 3rd parties make upgrades. They could decide to give every Mac Studio owner free 8 TB upgrades. They also could throw me a big birthday party with pizza and balloons. Based on the history of not giving away SSDs and throwing me birthday parties, we can safely say they won't do either of these things and probably won't allow 3rd parties to make SSD upgrades.

[@austin2994]

Sad we didn’t see the actual upgrade

[@hishnash]

The reason the macPro cant boot when you remove the intern NAND modules is that large parts of the system firmware are stored on there including the UEFI. T2 Macs are a little different to other PCs in the boot staging kzbin.info/www/bejne/aZPcf4GLh8qsrKc gives a nice overview of this but in the end what it means is the T2 chip is responsible for loading, validating the UEFI and providing it to the cpu. The T2 chip reads this from the SSD.

[@samguapo4573]

I used to think the same way as most people here. However: 1. More and more laptop makers are doing the same thing and soldering the SSD onto their motherboards. 2. Most computers become less usable over time and makes little sense upgrading it. You would rather just get a new one making these soldered SSD's seem more reasonable and increasing their reliability.

[@Peichen01]

Louis Rossmann got driven from New York to Austin so hopefully there he would have more freedom to explore upgrading MacBook storage.

[@AdmV0rl0n]

This is why I only buy or use end user servicable Mac things, and that's long ago really ceased being thus. All my compute is simpler, easier, and far less costly. The idea people will pay premium for locked hardware is their insanity, not mine..

[@AnweshAdhikari]

❤️

[@FreakyDudeEx]

basically all us plebs with no mad skills in soldering and finding nand flash chips and no 2nd mac devices are stuck with what apple only giveth.....

[@dmug]

Same. Camp Plebe. Population: me

[@DeepThinker193]

...Sooo, you're saying there's a chance. Whew!

[@dmug]

About the same shot I have with Allison Brie

[@neutron7]

I think this is the first time I have ever seen someone use "Fact" for something that isn't actually nonsense.

[@hishnash]

I would argue that doing a raw NAND replacement when an SSD dies is better for the environment than throwing away an entire NVMe module including the controle and DRAM. Much of the cost of a good NVMe drive in-fact is in the controler not the NAND (the price difference between a high end NVMe drive and a low end drive of the same capacity is almost entirely down to the controler and DRAM). The job of de-sodlering NAND is not ultra advanced, it is something a skilled tec can do by hand this is not like soldering a SOC to a package substrate were the pines are extremely small. From a write to repair angle providing the firmware tools to reset the controler (DFU mode) is a good thing and better than telling people to throw away working silicon. What apple should do is sell the studios NAND cards in paired packs like they do for the 2019 macPro. These would work out of the box (with a DFU reset), as the configurations apple would sell for each skew would match the sizes the firmware supports.

[@boredgrass]

I watched it all. (And Ioved it🤗) Can I apply for a degree? 🤔 @ Security: It seems to me that this tech contributes to a good deal of security. Do you have a video about the security benefits of this?

[@dmug]

I made a video on sepOS, that's the only other macOS security specific video I've made.

[@boredgrass]

@@dmug Thanks! Will see🤗

[@catlover9998]

Apple silicon has no hardware support for external boot. External boot is only possible after writing the bootloader to the internel drive (less of a Security thing but that's definitely a factor, and more that the early boot firmware just has no USB support baked in). Swapping NAND chips has a lot more to do with the system architecture than it has to do with security. Apple silicon devices can be recovered with DFU (or from idevicerestore which is usable from any Windows/Linux/Mac/Android device) even if the entire NAND is wiped along with the SPI flash chip where the early boot firmware is installed. Here is a full technical explanation about NAND swapping if you are curios: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4OanmeXit17ma8

[@dmug]

Not sure what you mean about not supporting external boot. Apple does have support baked in for external boot, but it still requires the internal SSD to be working. I've done it on my M1 Max and it's similar to how my T2 equipped Mac Pro works. Here's two mainstream publications outlining the process on Apple Silicon. It's the more or less the same as T2 Macs. www.macworld.com/article/331916/how-to-start-up-your-m1-mac-from-an-external-drive.html appleinsider.com/articles/21/01/03/how-to-boot-an-apple-silicon-mac-from-an-external-drive I've seen most of the iBoff vid, and it corroborates my video. I'm not sure if I didn't make it clear enough in this video? But I talk extensively about using DFU mode to restore macOS onto replacement NAND modules. Apple is locking down the SSDs via authorization. I didn't really jump into the macOS boot rom aka iBoot, beyond mentioning the existence of the DFU mode being bootable without a functioning SSD as there's only so much info dump as I try and walk the line between technical and accessible. One of iBoot's key features is verifying the security integrity of the volume it's booting from, and thus it is part of the "system architecture" which is why swapping NANDs doesn't work without a DFU restore to initialize the proper keying for the drives. This is easily explored with the Mac Studios as it doesn't require soldiering to test. This isn't to say iBoff's video wasn't enlightening but I keep getting linked it and I'm not sure where the confusion is. I'm more than willing to admit when I'm wrong and issue corrections. If there's a particular phrasing or passage that I said, please let me know.

[@thebeeamberheardsdogsteppe6368]

they are upgradeable however u have to make sure they have to be coded for the right slot. iBoff released a very good video yesterday about upgrading the SSDs

[@kkshinichi]

this deep dive explains the reason why SSD swaps were done incorrectly, throwing in bunch of errors in DFU, and how to upgrade SSD itself assuming you have great microsoldering skills: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4OanmeXit17ma8

[@gsanchez922]

Short answer: Yes, is it possible to upgrade but not worth doing it

[@dmug]

Yep.

[@Stopinvadingmyhardware]

The firmware is upgradable, so it must be decompilable. I am not suggesting anything illegal, but it might provide a greater insight into what is happening under the hood.

[@dmug]

Beyond me as I’m only a UX dev, but I’m sure the Asahi dudes have been poking around for awhile now.

[@cameramaker]

It might not be a code even, just data - like a "personality identification". If anybody has some samples or source of that nand programmer jig, share and we'll analyze it.

[@Stopinvadingmyhardware]

@@dmug Yeah, there’s several rootkits floating around now that completely compromise the entire security platform of Apple’s. In general people are just trash.

[@kerrydaniels8460]

I still blame the customers here to soem degree. I bought secondhand for my upgrades. Paid a more fair price for an M1. I let some other customer pay full price for the specs instead.

[@gear3983]

My only real theory is that the secure enclave is used as a means to prevent potential hardware level exploits (not swapping SSDs). There are totally hardware level exploits that are capable on the base product, but I feel like the Secure Enclave prevents certain add on card exploits. This leads me to also believe

[@llothar68]

It's just to justify the vendor lockin from more progressive governments like the European Union. Just look at the insane security holes MacOS had in the past.

[@Scymet]

If your machine is in the hands of someone else it's already compromised, this seems like a convoluted solution to a non-problem.

[@ezradja]

Apple is becoming the Orwellian in their own 1984 ad.

[@MrCooper83]

And this is the main reason I use Mac Pro. The Mac Studio might be faster but the old Mac Pro is future proof.

[@dmug]

I’m hoping apple keeps support for some time to come for my 2019. :/

[@karmatraining]

BGA soldering...I live in a high-tech country and I know about 3 ppl with the right gear for that.

[@voxtelnismo]

You don’t become a three trillion dollar corporation by designing a product that you can upgrade for $50 instead of paying Apple $400 up front and having to buy a whole new $3000 system once that becomes obsolete.

[@codenamegrs9278]

May Apple profits go down to 0 until they come to their senses and stop soldering SSDs onto Mac motherboards. They also overcharge 4x the price per TeraByte compared to any other SSDs on the market. Despicable and an ABOMINATION.

[@Gmon750]

And yet Apple consumers constantly go back and keep Apple's business going. Go do something better with your time than spewing hate.

[@codenamegrs9278]

@@Gmon750 do i hate them ..? i kind of ... Are they making decisions based on their greed and changing the world not for the better ( you'll see...) ? for sure Answer me this: Are you an apple user ? ;)

[@Tigerex966]

What were you wrong on

[@dmug]

In the previous vid I said you couldn’t upgrade the ssds in apple silicon

[@Tigerex966]

@@dmug oh ok I missed that. Would be nice to see shops in America doing that soon ram as well. Where there is a well and parts three is a way

[@inwerp]

It has nothing to do with what you describe here. Imagine replacing nand chips on the SSD drive, say, on any modern ssd like Samsung 980 evo. Replacing NAND on SSD drive is technically possible bit it will never work unless you have access so manufacturer firmware tool. Modern Mac embedded SSD is basically the same: NAND SIP chips are built into array by T2/m1 which acts as an SSD controller. Yep, this works the same as a bigger chip on your m.2. Samsung drive. It stores firmware on service area on some chips, all the service information like SMART, block wearing out statistics, trimming setting, everything. Now imagine you have ability to move NANDS between different drive while keeping ssd controller / dram on board. Would you expect it to work? Not nearly, it does not work on any SSD drive since decade at least. Even though it seem so be "replaceable" on studio, it is preconfigured nand block there is even port number it is configured for, printed directly on the drive. So basically apple did not do anything more difficult to repair, they simply embedded part of the SSD Drive into processor and got rid of it.

[@inwerp]

Apple configurator is able to rebuild SSD drive in some circumstances and it is widely used by the repair community. I replace NAND chips if needed and there are tools to transfer service information from one nand chip to another. Also if you source clean NAND chips you can upgrade m1 machines and do DFU restore to rebuild an SSD.

[@igorgiuseppe1862]

people can say that you were wrong all they want, but this solution is impratical for most people so... you were technically right.

[@arvindynr]

Rewa technology a chinese company does it and has a video on youtube showing it.

[@dmug]

For the Mac Studio?

[@arvindynr]

@@dmug kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJu0oIetop6Dd6M

[@arvindynr]

@@dmug you can just upgrade nand flash on existing storage module.

[@dmug]

@Arvind Bakshi that’s the current speculation. I haven’t seen anyone do that though on a Mac studio

[@Dave102693]

I had iPad bricking defenders attacking me in the comments of that video…

[@dmug]

Which vid?

[@Dave102693]

@@dmug the sep os video

[@dmug]

@@Dave102693 Interesting, didn't see that debate, so many comments though. I see two sides to the ability to brick devices as its one hell of a theft decentiviser, and but also creates ewaste.

[@Dave102693]

@@dmugagree it’s a deterrent to device thefts, but so many people stupidly iCloud lock their own devices and don’t know how to fix it and Apple themselves don’t even bother to fix it most of the time; it’s more worth it to get a replacement from them, thus more ewaste.

[@Jpeglism]

EZFIX told me that only M1 and M1 Pro MacBook models can be upgraded, due to the encryptions. So unfortunately I'm still using my M1Max 512GB lol.

[@jozefbania]

Amazing but I think they ( apple ) should fill the case with concerte that exaplode when you tinker with it. ( for your safety of course )

[@FromagioCristiano]

Coming from the future to share a video by iBoff RCC ("Replace EVERY DEAD SSD for M1 Max, M1 Pro, M1 & T2 Mac, T1 Mac, BONUS:M1 Ultra (FOR DUDES IN DENIAL)") kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4OanmeXit17ma8 that illustrates a lot of the investigative reverse engineering of NANDs replacement on recent Macbooks. To say that video is a gem would be an understatement (it is worth just for the diagrams).

[@dmug]

Thanks, this on my watch list but haven’t made it to it. It’s great to see but completely out of reach for average people.

[@FromagioCristiano]

@@dmug Sadly true

[@gmichia]

Why were you wrong in the first place when it's clearly out there in numerous successful attempts for the soldered on.

[@dmug]

That's just the thing, the "numerous" successful replacements mostly went back to a singular social media post. That's not exactly confidence inspiring. After digging deeper (credit to viewers who assisted) I had enough confirmation.

[@gmichia]

@@dmug there is nothing wrong in questioning and self verification and takes a man to ack a mistake. Just saying there is nothing dubious about claiming you can upgrade a tiny component. Nothing much to gain from faking it.

[@bsenka]

Every time I feel like I’m ready to replace my Mac, the current generation becomes a worse and worse value. I’ve upgraded mine far beyond what was possible to equip from the factory at the time, and i can’t see myself ever being comfortable paying thousands for one that can’t be upgraded at all.

[@dave24-73]

With the Mac Pro with M silicon chips, I hope Apple engineers have found a way to allow memory to be upgradeable even if in custom modules, otherwise the new Mac Pro, will be like the trashcan Mac Pro was, not everyone can afford a fully spec machine on day one but may upgrade to higher specs as they grow, remove this as an option and you kill your main audience. They have got away with it on low spec machines, but imagine the money needed to get a Max spec Mac Pro when it comes out, clearly a very niche market. It’s like Tim Cook is happy to kill Apple as he tries to squeeze as much money out of every potential customer there is.

[@dmug]

Probably the least likely upgrade with the unified memory architecture. Apple filed patents about using iGPUs and dGPUs. It’s super sad that we’re here. I can bump my 2019 CPU and will do so at some point but if I were to get a apple silicon Mac Pro, that wouldn’t be the case.

[@sicmike2g]

With they said, they are not upgradable.

[@eulondon]

I don't understand most (99%). But the way I see we are screwed, because this is a trend that most big companies (Apple, Dell, Lenovo, etc) are going. And I don't see a escape. And they say Richard Stallman is over catious. He is right, they are jailing us beyond belief and we are asking for it buying these things. I'm guilty too. Wish I could be as stubborn as he is and keep using a modified T60. 😢

[@artysanmobile]

Congratulations to Apple for assuring that their halo product, the fruit of enormous investment, will never be purchased by me, arguably a most desirable customer. After 47 Apple products in a 30 year span, 7 of which in current use, they have finally broken the income stream from me to them. They worked very hard at this so must be super proud.

[@Djmatrix2310]

Someone get Luke Miani in here!

[@dmug]

I’m sure this isn’t news to him

[@vistaero]

Some day the EU will prohibit Apple from doing this crap too.

[@dmug]

I hope so. The EU might give us a USBc iPhone.

[@woolfel]

Given the prevalence of identity theft and how easy it would be to steel a person's device, I don't mind the SSD being locked down. As a programmer, these kinds of hardware level security used to be exclusive to enterprise level hardware. Is it over kill for consumer devices? That's for each person to decide. I store important files in a file server, so that I don't need to upgrade the SSD. If I really need a computer that's upgradeable, I have windows and linux servers. Not everyone is a programmer with lots of hardware. I get why people are annoyed, but the youtube space bitching is really just for views.

[@dmug]

Sure, but encryption doesn't prevent ID theft nor do you need a specialized integrated controller in the SOC. The MS Surface uses hardware encryption. Only requirement is NVMe drives that support. While correct, you can't just easily pop out the SSD when the device is stolen and read all the data, the same is true on modern Windows with TPM2.0. The far far more common way people nab personal info off a device is from malware, which doesn't require breaking any encryption, just getting a user to install said software as the OS already has write access to drive. Both Apple and MS recognized that encryption ≠ security when networking, thus we have System integrity protection and MS has UAC/WRP, indows Defender and so on.

[@LanHikari90]

Apple continues to dick the customes, yet the customers continue to buy their stuff.

[@MiguelAngelLozanoOrtiz]

ARM processors use crypto processors and secure key storage since the 90s

[@JohnSmith-pn2vl]

there is a never spoken feature of non upgadeable devices, which is second hand value. even just a port to upgrade ram sticks devalues a products second hand value significantly. if literally no one is messing with the device it has a huge resell value for extended amounts of time, this is not so bad at the for the consumer. you can blindly sell your device and get the one with the specs you want and pay only slightly more, because both devices have lost their initial bigger chunk ov value. upgrading like this is actually way better. ppl talk about upgrading and reparing all the time, but in reality close to nobody does that ever, like not even 0,1%

[@weberman173]

thats not how resell value works.. Being able to upgrade a second hand purcahsed PC dosnt "devaluves the product" and people are upgrading and repairing less(still far more then "0,1%" or else repair stores wouldnt be a thing) because companys made it almost impossible(and in some cases SCARE the consumer by illegal "warranty void" stickers) a Device from 2005 that cant be upgraded in any way.. will ALWAYS be a device from 2005, it will run like adevice from 2005. Thats it, Now a single upgradble ramslot can depending on configuration change that SIGNIFICANTLY., there are a HUGE ammount of Office PCs that get turned into low budget gaming Computers by virtue of being upgradable, they only HAVE resell value because they can be upgraded Like you smoked some good shit to come to the conclussion "less upgradability=more second hand value" Apple has relativle stable resel values not because "they cant be upgraded" but because the apple economy, ecosystem, and everything around it is relativly stable. AS much as i hate apple their ecosystem keeps devices alive for RELATIVLY long,

[@toseltreps1101]

Definitely hit the bong a bit too hard there.

[@c1ph3rpunk]

There’s a really simple solution here for those that don’t like this: don’t buy a Mac.

[@perrykeshahwalker5321]

😂I bought an M1 Mac mini. However, after I am going back to a Windows machine. I hate the fact that you get price gouged by apple if you want something useful. 16gig/256gb ssd is so 2008. You can't upgrade it yourself, accept with external usb4.0 drives. I am purchasing a used i7 9700 with 64 gigs of ddr4 and a 2tb drive with the capabilities of upgrading the ram and the memory for about 200 bucks more than the entry level m2 mac mini. Sure, it's not as snappy, but it's almost as fast as my M1, plus I upgrade it. For audio production, you can't rell the difference in speed.

[@TedTabaka]

To be honest. You should not need to desolder anything to upgrade storage.

[@dmug]

oh for sure, it's absurd.