Malcolm Owen
Apple isn't soldering the SSD to the logic board in the M4 Mac mini, but given the company's history with Apple Silicon, don't expect upgrades.
Older Intel-based Mac minis provided intrepid users with the ability to disassemble the computer and to upgrade a few components. The 2018 model had upgradeable RAM, but easily replaceable internal storage on the Mac mini has been a thing of the past for a decade.
A question posed to the iFixit forums innocently asks if the SSD in the 2024 Mac mini is soldered in place. Soldered storage is practice that Apple has performed throughout the Apple Silicon age, for the most part, making it extremely difficult for anyone to replace.
One answer from a new user to the forum identified as "KianWee Lim" posts a single picture in response, accompanied by the text "It's not soldered." The photograph appears to be the insides of a New Mac mini, with the baseplate removed and some components extracted.
In the middle of the picture is a slot-in board equipped with a large chip, similar to the boards used in the Mac Studio and Mac Pro to hold its storage. There is also an empty slot towards the base of the image, where the small board fits in.
Still not really upgradable
The photo indicates it is possible for the storage to be removed and potentially replaced by another board. However, it's not a confirmation of easy upgradability at all.
For a start, that small board holding the storage chip is not a part consumers could easily acquire for themselves. It's a custom Apple part, so it's intended more for in-house repairs.
This hasn't stopped the more motivated hardware tinkerers from coming up with their own solutions.
YouTubers have posted videos where they desoldered original memory chips from the board before carefully replacing them with other chips in a delicate process.
There have also been efforts to create custom PCBs for similar storage cards used in the Mac Studio, as well as a MacBook Pro. Again, these were difficult processes to accomplish, requiring careful soldering and undergoing a configuration process to get them working.
These certainly do demonstrate that you can replace the memory chips, but it's a risky and difficult task to accomplish.
There's also no real chance of Apple creating kits for users to change out these storage cards anytime soon, as it would've done so by now for other models. Apple did supply storage module replacement kits for the Mac Pro, but that seems to be the exception to the rule.
AppleInsider recommends that anyone seeking to upgrade their Mac's storage to consider buying an external drive instead. The drives are certainly fast enough to be usable, and are considerably safer to perform as an upgrade without risking your hardware.
Mac mini M4
To purchase a Mac mini at a discount, be sure to check out the AppleInsider M4 Mac mini Price Guide.
Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
36 Comments
Quite interesting how well modders can do this or even if someone finds a way to position an ssd in a different direction or even create an extension strip to connect any ssd to the slot (whether internally or externally)
The ability to upgrade a Mac would definitely be useful. I understand that this is a cash cow for Apple since it means people have to choose the model that will meant not only their current needs but possibly their future needs too.
In many ways it would be good to buy a base model and overtime upgrade the memory and SSD if that is all you can afford at the time. I've certainly done that in the past for Mac desktops, minis and even MBPs and its extended the usability of the device for several more years.
With Macs now being extremely powerful, the CPUs are able to handle OS upgrades for years. There used to be a time where a new OS upgrade would significantly slow down a machine. This M1 MBP that I got in 2021 is still speedy and will last several more years. I purposely got a model with 512GB SSD because I know that 256 can be very limiting. I also got 16MB of RAM which though less important for me, 8GB could become a bottleneck.
Interesting case of modularity that benefits the builder but lacking replaceabilty that (directly) benefits the consumer. The modularity will probably help Apple make it more repairable too. This is a good reminder that when we ask for modularity what we really want is replaceability, or more accurately, modular replaceability.
I don't think user upgradeable for storage anyway. This was same for Mac Studio.
Apple coded each storage for specific unit so user can't upgrade. Unless Apple change the way.
This is just for Apple service purpose. They realize replace storage unit is cheaper than replace mother board within warranty period and for the trade in unit.
Simply replace storage unit and reinstall os to sell higher price.