The dream of an upgradeable Mac Studio is dead at least for the time being. If you follow Apple blogs, you probably saw that over the weekend teardowns
of the companys latest desktop computer showed that it features SSD storage that isn’t soldered down to its main logic board. That led some to believe that it would be possible for Mac Studio owners to upgrade the computer on their own. However, those hopes have now been dashed.
YouTuber Luke Miani
conducted a test to see if he could upgrade the Mac Studios storage. To do so, he took one unit and wiped its SSD so that he could then transfer the drive to an open SSD slot on a second machine. The secondary Mac Studio recognized the drive, but no matter what Miani did, the computer would not boot with the component installed in it. The Mac Studios only response was to use its status LED to send out an SOS call. All of that suggests Apple has programmed the Mac Studio not to accept replacement SSDs.
Thats not necessarily surprising. On its website
, Apple states, Mac Studio storage is not user accessible, and the company recommends customers configure the computer with enough storage to meet their needs when they buy it. MacRumors
suggests the purpose of the Mac Studios SSD slots is to allow certified technicians to replace nonfunctioning drives. Presumably, theyll have access to tools that will allow them to bypass the company’s software lock. As the website also notes, its possible Apple may at some point allow people to replace the SSD in their Mac Studio on their own by selling storage upgrade kits, much like it started doing with the Mac Pro in mid-2020
. Until then, its a shame a machine that costs so much doesnt offer some form of upgradability.
