Apple launched its new Mac Studio a few weeks ago. A single Mac Studio has two internal SSD slots, and the SSDs can be easily swapped. Some reviewers found that the device’s SSD could be easily removed, raising hopes that the product’s drive could be upgraded. But, it turns out that it cannot be done despite slots being made available to expand storage.
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Apple has blocked a chance to update by locking the device at the software level, according to a Luke Miani, a YouTuber who reviews gadgets.
In his teardown video, Miani formatted the SSD, removed it from the device, and inserted it into an empty SSD slot in another Mac Studio, but the Mac’s status light blinked sending SOS signal, and failed to boot.
The Mac Studio recognises the SSD, but Apple’s software prevents it from booting. Miani suggested that this as a conscious decision by Apple to prevent users from upgrading their storage themselves.
Apple claimed on its website that the Mac Studio’s SSD storage is “not user accessible”, and encouraged users to configure the device with enough storage at the point of purchase, MacRumors said in a report.
This goes to the heart of the Right to Repair movement. In November, Apple said it would allow its users to repair their devices via a new online store dedicated to parts and tools. Now, a change like this in its Mac Studio begs the question whether repairing your own Apple device is possible.
It was earlier impossible for users to manually upgrade the storage of the Mac Pro, but Apple went on to offer a kit to upgrade the Mac Pro’s storage in mid-2020.
A similar move for the Mac Studio is not out of the question, particularly given the announcement of Apple’s Self Service Repair Program, MacRumors said.
