Mac Studio teardown reveals potentially expandable SSD storage

While The teardown of Max Tech from Mac Studio, the channel’s host Max Yuryev discovers something very interesting about Apple’s new hardware: two SSD ports. This may mean that Mac Studio is at least upgradeable.

And there’s more good news: The SSD slots appear to be relatively easy to access — in the video, Yuryev removes the Studio’s rubber backing to reveal four screws connecting the bottom section of the case. After removing this cover, Yuryev discovers two SSD connectors located under the Mac Studio’s power supply, which he states may be accessible without further disassembling the unit (5:46).

As Yuryev further disassembles the studio, removing the power supply and aluminum back panel, he takes a closer look at the SSD connectors (8:24). At first glance, the connectors look similar to those on his 2019 Mac Pro, he says, but when he tries the Mac Pro’s SSD, it doesn’t quite match. Apple’s SSD kit for the Mac Pro let us Users replace their existing SSD with one that supports up to 8TB of storage.

Screenshot: Apple

But as Yuryev points out, Apple’s reference to the Mac Studio product page blatantly says that users cannot access the device’s storage. “Mac Studio storage is not accessible to users,” Apple’s note reads. “If you think you’ll need more storage capacity in the future, consider a higher-capacity configuration.”

Mac Studio can be configured with up to 8TB of internal storage; The standard model with 512GB of SSD storage is $1,999 and adding 8TB for an additional $2,400. While the Studio’s internal storage may eventually be upgradeable, it’s worth noting that there’s no way to upgrade it once you’ve bought the device, as the RAM is built into Apple’s M1 chip.

It’s unclear if we’ll get a similar DIY SSD install kit for the Mac Studio in the future, as Apple’s wording suggests it might want to have the job done by a professional. Apple currently lets users bring theirs iMac Pro to the Apple Stores or authorized service providers to add more RAM – but of course that doesn’t stop techies from doing it do it yourself with third-party components (such as those offered by Mac parts provider OWC).