YouTuber shows off hardware hack to replace soldered MacBook storage

AppleInsider · October 26, 2024 7:39PM

A YouTube video shows off a newly-developed technique to replace the soldered-on storage modules on most modern MacBook Pro and other MacBook models -- but the upgrade is impractical and costly to do.

Gloved hand holding a computer RAM module above a laptop's open hardware compartment.

Video shows replacement of original soldered storage with PCB that uses the M.2 connector.

YouTuber iBoff RCC, based in Malaysia, uses the video to show off a custom-made replacement PCB miniboard with an m.2 connector, which is microsoldered in place of the removed original storage modules. A snap-in component, ordered from iBoff, offers replaceable modules featuring storage in quantities of up to 2TB.

The difficult part, which iBoff hopes you will let them do rather than trying it yourself, is to desolder the original storage modules and remove them, then microsolder the replacement PCB miniboard into those sockets. This is referenced, but not shown in detail.

The video also goes over how the MacBook's battery must be disconnected from the logic board before replacing the storage modules, as it supplies some power even when the MacBook is turned off.

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Another difficult step once the upgrade has been completed is re-configuring the MacBook model. Users who want to do the repair themselves will need a second Mac handy to use Apple Configurator to restore the upgraded MacBook.

Once the upgrade is completed, however, the new storage modules behave identically to the original built-in storage. The company offers replacement NVMe adapters for various models of MacBooks, and even one for an iMac at modest cost, but the adapters do not include the storage modules.

It also offers to do the complicated work for customers, if desired, but at considerable cost -- around $1,000, according to a commenter on the YouTube video. While the grand total including shipping is likely still less than the cost of a replacement MacBook Pro, the full-service price will vary greatly based on the level of storage upgrade the user wants.

In addition to promoting the company, the iBoff upgrader uses the opportunity to argue that Apple could -- if it wanted to -- offer MacBooks with user-upgradeable storage slots that could be used to upgrade machines once the AppleCare warranty has expired. Such a move could also make it possible for Apple service providers to offer that option.

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lowededwookie · October 26, 2024 10:54PM

Brilliant idea only how do you get the connector installed? That's a warranty voiding repair right there.

eriamjh · October 27, 2024 1:33AM

Obviously, one does this after warranty is expired. The old SSD chips need to be removed and the PCB SSD adapter soldered on. THEN one snaps in the new SSD.

These SSD chips are still not very cheap, and all desoldering involves risk. From what I’ve seen, a good TB4 SSD is still plenty fast to run externally without any noticeable decrease in Max performance even for fairly heavy video users.

The labor to pay someone to install the upgrade AND THEN paying for the upgrade card can’t possibly be cheaper than electing to just pay more up front. It only works out years down the road.

However, it’s nice to see people figuring these things out. It gives people options. Even if those people are few and far between.

sflocal · October 27, 2024 6:32AM

This is kind of a solution looking for a problem. No one would do this to a new MacBook under warranty. So by the time one considers this an option, it would be on an "old" MacBook which would then make one question if it's just better (and cheaper) in the long run to just buy a new MacBook.

mike_galloway · October 27, 2024 10:24AM

For about the same money as you would pay for this modification and memory I just added 8TB external SSD to a MAC Studio.

No modification required, no warranty violation, and the drive can be used elsewhere.

danox · October 27, 2024 11:07AM

The average person usually keeps/uses their Mac for 3-6 years or more easily, Macs have a high resale value used, maximize the memory/flash drive at time the of purchase don’t penny pinch. A Mac is not a PC where it’s worthless the moment you walk out the door, and the same applies with most of the other Mac devices.

The trade-in value is unbeatable in comparison to Microsoft PCs and Androids devices, they are not equivalent on the used market. (the only component worth anything in the PC world is the graphics card, particularly if you have a used 4090 Nvidia card).

alexjenn · October 27, 2024 12:53PM

Another difficult step once the upgrade has been completed is re-configuring the MacBook model. Users who want to do the repair themselves will need a second Mac handy to use Apple Configurator to restore the upgraded MacBook.

Time Machine?

daalseth · October 27, 2024 1:37PM

lowededwookie said:

Brilliant idea only how do you get the connector installed? That's a warranty voiding repair right there.

I took the point of this to be that there is no engineering reason Apple doesn’t do this. When Apple gets sued for forcing users to replace their MacBooks rather than making them reparable, this will be one of the exhibits.

forumpost · October 27, 2024 1:45PM

eriamjh said:

Obviously, one does this after warranty is expired. The old SSD chips need to be removed and the PCB SSD adapter soldered on. THEN one snaps in the new SSD.

These SSD chips are still not very cheap, and all desoldering involves risk. From what I’ve seen, a good TB4 SSD is still plenty fast to run externally without any noticeable decrease in Max performance even for fairly heavy video users.

The labor to pay someone to install the upgrade AND THEN paying for the upgrade card can’t possibly be cheaper than electing to just pay more up front. It only works out years down the road.

However, it’s nice to see people figuring these things out. It gives people options. Even if those people are few and far between.

It just shows that Apple can make it possible for end users to upgrade the ssd themselves if Apple made the ssd swappable as shown in the video. Just solder the base connector but leave the slots accessible

chasm · October 27, 2024 2:05PM

alexjenn said:

Another difficult step once the upgrade has been completed is re-configuring the MacBook model. Users who want to do the repair themselves will need a second Mac handy to use Apple Configurator to restore the upgraded MacBook.

Time Machine?

No. This is resetting the Mac entirely, not just restoring a backup.

chasm · October 27, 2024 2:13PM

ForumPost said:

It just shows that Apple can make it possible for end users to upgrade the ssd themselves if Apple made the ssd swappable as shown in the video. Just solder the base connector but leave the slots accessible

Yes, but ... we are talking about an incredibly small percentage of MacBook owners that would even bother to ever open their machine, ever. Sub-two percent, if even that. So even of the storage slots were removable, which I fully agree would be great, Apple would likely charge to do this work for you as an out-of-warranty repair, and make the storage modules otherwise unobtainable to the public.

It's SUPER easy to do some real damage to your investment if you open up your Mac and don't feel fully confident that you know what you're doing, even for an "easy" upgrade like that.

All that said, I wish Apple would change that design to allow for storage upgrades, and charge for doing that that work for you.

mikethemartian · October 27, 2024 3:31PM

chasm said:

alexjenn said:

Another difficult step once the upgrade has been completed is re-configuring the MacBook model. Users who want to do the repair themselves will need a second Mac handy to use Apple Configurator to restore the upgraded MacBook.

Time Machine?

No. This is resetting the Mac entirely, not just restoring a backup.

You can set up a new Mac from the Time Machine drive from the Mac you are replacing.

chasm · October 27, 2024 3:45PM

mikethemartian said:

You can set up a new Mac from the Time Machine drive from the Mac you are replacing.

The iBoff people appear to think you need a second Mac AND Apple Configurator in order to restore the Mac once you have disconnected the battery from the logic board, desoldered the storage chips, replaced them with a new mini-PCB with m.2 connector you soldered into where the storage chips were, added new storage chips, and closed the machine back up again.

If you think otherwise, why not tell the iBoff people they don't know what they're talking about? A quick call to Malaysia should set them straight.

edited October 2024

mikethemartian · October 27, 2024 3:56PM

DAalseth said:

lowededwookie said:

Brilliant idea only how do you get the connector installed? That's a warranty voiding repair right there.

I took the point of this to be that there is no engineering reason Apple doesn’t do this. When Apple gets sued for forcing users to replace their MacBooks rather than making them reparable, this will be one of the exhibits.

There was never a signal integrity issue to use a connector. There are connectors that are used on devices with high speed data rates much faster than the SSDs used in a Mac. It is just an easy way to milk extra money out of their base users.

sflocal · October 28, 2024 12:31AM

ForumPost said:
It just shows that Apple can make it possible for end users to upgrade the ssd themselves if Apple made the ssd swappable as shown in the video. Just solder the base connector but leave the slots accessible

Considering the problem I've had with 3rd-party RAM in the four years I've owned my 2020 iMac, I totally get why Apple is soldering everything. I have went through four separate RMA's from multiple RAM vendors whose RAM was causing so many instability problems with my iMac. So many in fact, that I thought of trashing what was essentially a brand new machine. Apple, OWC, Crucial, Micron all did nothing but point fingers at each other, multiple visits to Apple repair, etc...

Only two months ago I FINALLY got a set of RAM cards (128GB) that works flawlessly on my iMac. After four years of instabilities and being unable to upgrade MacOS without having to install the original 8GB OEM RAM cards.

I think Apple had to deal with system issues related to users obtaining sketchy RAM cards and blame Apple for it. I think Apple's repair issues have gone down substantially since then. It's why other competitors with Windows machines are following the same path.

mattinoz · October 28, 2024 1:02AM

chasm said:

ForumPost said:

It just shows that Apple can make it possible for end users to upgrade the ssd themselves if Apple made the ssd swappable as shown in the video. Just solder the base connector but leave the slots accessible

Yes, but ... we are talking about an incredibly small percentage of MacBook owners that would even bother to ever open their machine, ever. Sub-two percent, if even that. So even of the storage slots were removable, which I fully agree would be great, Apple would likely charge to do this work for you as an out-of-warranty repair, and make the storage modules otherwise unobtainable to the public.

It's SUPER easy to do some real damage to your investment if you open up your Mac and don't feel fully confident that you know what you're doing, even for an "easy" upgrade like that.

All that said, I wish Apple would change that design to allow for storage upgrades, and charge for doing that that work for you.

Makes me wonder why we haven’t seen a company push a chip package slot?
like an m.2 slot but no carrier board not unlike the new flat pack memory standard that is becoming common in PC land.

calamander · October 28, 2024 10:16AM

Some YouTuber was showing off how to replace basically anything on any device in Shenzen, there's a huge tech mall of sorts - he upgraded his iPad storage on on old iPad from 64 to 256GB - they did it for very cheap as well. Anything can be done if you know how.

Also everything cool is now in China, in 2024... sigh.

YouTuber shows off hardware hack to replace soldered MacBook storage

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