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Comment by neilsimp1 | Hacker News Reader

Genuine question from someone who knows nothing about Apple products... can't you replace/upgrade the drive?

They are soldered in. Replacement itself can probably be done by a professional repair technician who is equipped with the right tools. But it is not a self-service job that anyone can do.

On top of that, the drives might be somehow paired to the motherboard. And I would imagine that pairing a new one with the existing motherboard may require some proprietary software that only Apple has.

These are only my assumptions though. People e.g. at Louis Rossmann's repair shop might know more.

Apple does not use common parts for its storage. People are used to M.2 drives, but those have the controller on the stick, and Apple has integrated the controller inside its M-series. So you first need to find compatible storage in the first place, and the only place it can come from is a donor Mac.

Oh you silly boy, of course you can, it's extremely easy, here is a video showing how to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrg7nPG6_UU

Thanks! I can't believe I didn't know how easy this is!

For those who can't see the video, I think the above two commenters are being facetious for humor.

It is funny because the video is 50 minutes long which requires a difficult soldering job and chip reprogramming. This does not include the process of opening the Macbook Pro, disassembling it, removing the logic board, nor the reverse process.

So 3 hours in total for the work? That is not a cheap fee.

Soldered to the board for anyone that does not know

Heh, no, it's soldered.

If you throw enough money at a sufficiently skilled technician it can be done, but no M.2 slots in sight here.

You really know nothing, lol! When was the last time you replaced your "drive" inside your Android phone?

I run a Linux phone :D. But yeah, that is also soldered on.

I'm disappointed a mainstream laptop is soldered, though. Why would anyone buy it?

This is an Apple device, the word upgrade does not exist in their world.

Of course it does! You just have to go to a Genius Bar after the release of a new MacBook, and tell them you're interested in buying one. They'll even handle recycling your old one for you!

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