Mac Studio storage upgraded by hardware hacker, but don't expect a retail kit soon

AppleInsider

The flash storage on a Mac Studio is extremely difficult to upgrade, but a skilled hardware hacker has proven it can be done -- assuming you have the skill, tools, time, and patience.

Custom PCBs used to upgrade Mac Studio's storage [YouTube/dosdude1]

Since its switch to Apple Silicon, Apple has soldered the storage to the mainboard in a way that makes it a nightmare to change. While other notebooks and computers use M.2 and SATA-based drives for the most part, Apple instead relies on solder.

This makes the prospect of upgrading the storage almost impossible for the average user, barring the use of one of the best SSDs for Mac. Unless you have electronics knowledge, nerves of steel, and cash to replace components on standby, it's not advisable to try out.

In a video by "dosdude1" posted to YouTube on Thursday, the YouTuber wanted to increase the storage of their M1 Mac Studio. The original plan was to use a factory NAND module bought from eBay to be inserted into the second internal slot.



However, they were alerted to a project by Gilles of Polysoft Services to create custom NAND module PCBs that could be used instead. These custom modules would need memory chips to be installed onto the boards, before being placed into the Mac Studio.

After acquiring some board from Polysoft and a set of 8 blank 1TB NAND chips, the YouTuber got to work combining the components together.

Heat and patience

For the process, they had to reball the new NAND chips, referring to the process of applying lots of tiny dots of solder to the chip, in a specific pattern. This requires using a stencil and applying solder paste to the holes, then heating the solder to affix the dots in place.

At that point, one of the balls of solder has to be removed from the chip, to match the pattern on the board with one missing dot. A wick and more heat is used to pull it off.

After being repeated seven times, the chips are then carefully placed on top of each module, again using a lot of heat to melt the balls of solder. Four modules are installed onto each module, turning them into four-terabyte modules.

Adding balls of solder to the memory chips [YouTube/dosdude1]

The modules are then installed into the Mac Studio's slots. The original 512GB module is removed to accommodate the chip, but it is otherwise untouched by the process.

After installation, it needs to go through a DFU restore, which requires it to be connected to another Mac. Going through the restoration process with a pre-downloaded IPSW file, the Mac Studio is shown to eventually restore and boot up.

In testing, the read and write speeds are comparable to the original 512GB module the Mac Studio initially shipped with.

Easier but not easy

Apple SSD prices are rough. They've always been so. It's tempting to find a hack like this, and start soldering, if you've got the shop and the skill.

The video does show it is technically possible to upgrade the storage on a Mac Studio. The process is relatively similar to one demonstrated in August 2023, which saw chips being removed and replaced on an M1 Mac mini motherboard.

The fact that the Mac Studio uses removable modules for its storage does make it a lot less risky to pull off the procedure, since you're only affecting the storage instead of a full motherboard.

Crucially, the creation of custom PCBs for the process means that the YouTuber didn't have to go through the trouble of carefully removing a soldered chip from a genuine Apple module beforehand.

This does help reduce the difficulty of the task overall, but it is still hard to accomplish. And we're not expecting to see kits to do it on Amazon or from other vendors for the foreseeable future.

As we have warned previously, AppleInsider strongly advises you to not to go down this road to perform a risky upgrade to a Mac Studio. If you have missed the opportunity to upgrade your storage at the time of purchase, if you lack the skill of DosDude1, you should consider one of the best hard drive enclosures to expand capacity.



Read on AppleInsider

mikethemartian

I know the Mac Mini has the SSD soldered on but I thought that the Studio had them in a socket where you were able to replace them if they fail by buying the replacements from Apple, but you were not able to upgrade them to larger sizes.

sflocal

This is a fantastic - and evolving - option for Mac Studio owners.  As they use customer boards for the NAND chips, I would totally entertain this route if bigger players like OWC, Crucial, and Kingston created their own versions.

I often restored Macs with DFU and that part is actually quite easy, but definitely not for the average Joe.

My only curiosity is whether Apple will clamp down on this by removing the SSD slots on future Mac Studios and soldering the chips directly on the board.  

Either way, it gives me hope.  I want my future Mac Studio to be 8TB and that $2,400 upcharge is just highway robbery.

jeromec

A french outfit has been proposing this for all Apple Silicon Macs for some time. Here it is https://www.sauvemonmac.com/upgrade-ssd
Use your favorite translator to translate this into English.

VictorMortimer

mikethemartian said:

I know the Mac Mini has the SSD soldered on but I thought that the Studio had them in a socket where you were able to replace them if they fail by buying the replacements from Apple, but you were not able to upgrade them to larger sizes.

As dosdude1 shows, that's misinformation that Apple did nothing to dispel.

This guy is GOOD at what he does.  He's the guy who enabled unsupported installs of Mac OS X 10.12 through 10.15, he's the guy who figured out how to bypass the failing GPU chips on 2011 MacBook Pros, he's done a lot of good for the Mac community.

I'll go so far as to say Appleinsider is WRONG, and you absolutely SHOULD "go down this road" to perform what is actually a near-ZERO risk procedure on a Mac Studio.  Dosdude1 is going to be selling pre-populated SSD modules in the future.  It'll be almost as easy as changing a NVMe SSD.  Expect a retail kit soon.

mknelson

VictorMortimer said:
As dosdude1 shows, that's misinformation that Apple did nothing to dispel.

This guy is GOOD at what he does.  He's the guy who enabled unsupported installs of Mac OS X 10.12 through 10.15, he's the guy who figured out how to bypass the failing GPU chips on 2011 MacBook Pros, he's done a lot of good for the Mac community.

I'll go so far as to say Appleinsider is WRONG, and you absolutely SHOULD "go down this road" to perform what is actually a near-ZERO risk procedure on a Mac Studio.  Dosdude1 is going to be selling pre-populated SSD modules in the future.  It'll be almost as easy as changing a NVMe SSD.  Expect a retail kit soon.

How was it misinformation? That's the way it was until now.

Don't forget a DFU restore is needed - I'm not sure that makes it retail friendly.

tobian

Expect Apple will consider this upgrade a void of warranty and Apple Care PP. Understandably

cpsro

Apple should offer this as a DIY upgrade.

mikethemartian

VictorMortimer said:

mikethemartian said:

I know the Mac Mini has the SSD soldered on but I thought that the Studio had them in a socket where you were able to replace them if they fail by buying the replacements from Apple, but you were not able to upgrade them to larger sizes.

As dosdude1 shows, that's misinformation that Apple did nothing to dispel.

This guy is GOOD at what he does.  He's the guy who enabled unsupported installs of Mac OS X 10.12 through 10.15, he's the guy who figured out how to bypass the failing GPU chips on 2011 MacBook Pros, he's done a lot of good for the Mac community.

I'll go so far as to say Appleinsider is WRONG, and you absolutely SHOULD "go down this road" to perform what is actually a near-ZERO risk procedure on a Mac Studio.  Dosdude1 is going to be selling pre-populated SSD modules in the future.  It'll be almost as easy as changing a NVMe SSD.  Expect a retail kit soon.

I was referring to the AI write up.

mikethemartian

cpsro said:

Apple should offer this as a DIY upgrade.

You have to pay for the privilege by upgrading to the Mac Pro if you want to be able to upgrade the storage after purchase. Apple could easily give the customer the ability to upgrade the storage on the Studio (even if it was only allowed at the Apple Store and authorized partners) but Apple does not want to.

felix01

Mknelson@ "Don't forget a DFU restore is needed - I'm not sure that makes it retail friendly."

This makes it simple enough:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HWLLvJf5ms

sflocal

mknelson said:

Don't forget a DFU restore is needed - I'm not sure that makes it retail friendly.

I've done plenty of DFU restores, and it's not sometime for the average Joe to do.  I can easily see a mistake happening, Joe User gets upset/frustrated, bricking their Studio and instead of accepting responsibility, they'll make a TikTok video blaming Apple.  

I myself would totally do this.  I will most likely wait (at the minimum) for an M5 Studio when I retire my current machine and hopefully by then, there will be some more options.

I can also see Apple removing those connectors by then and soldering the SSD's in place, making this a momentary opportunity.  I suspect all the news about this is going to reach someone in Apple and a decision will be made.

ITGUYINSD

sflocal said:

This is a fantastic - and evolving - option for Mac Studio owners.  As they use customer boards for the NAND chips, I would totally entertain this route if bigger players like OWC, Crucial, and Kingston created their own versions.

I often restored Macs with DFU and that part is actually quite easy, but definitely not for the average Joe.

My only curiosity is whether Apple will clamp down on this by removing the SSD slots on future Mac Studios and soldering the chips directly on the board.  

Either way, it gives me hope.  I want my future Mac Studio to be 8TB and that $2,400 upcharge is just highway robbery.

One has to wonder why Apple continuously uses proprietary connectors and modules for their slotted drives?  Even the old MacBook Pro's had a special slot (someone did make a clever, cheap converter to use a more standard m.2 SSD).  What purpose?  Their drives aren't faster than retail SSD's at 1/3 the price.  Must be just to ensure all upgrades are done at time of original purchase at their rip-off prices.