Mac Mini's New Storage: A Baby Step Towards Upgrades

Ever wondered why upgrading your Mac's storage could be a hassle? Well, with the new Mac Mini M4, Apple is taking a tiny step in the right direction. This version finally says goodbye to the soldered SSD, which was glued to the logic board in the previous M2 model. Instead, it features a removable SSD module, a feature we've already seen in other Apple desktops like the Mac Studio and Mac Pro. But hold your horses, it might not be as upgrade-friendly as it sounds. Tech experts hint that the NAND chips, which store data, are still on the board, making DIY upgrades a bit tricky. But wait, there's more! A clip from Douyin, China's version of TikTok, shows someone swapping the NAND chips for larger ones, bumping the storage up to a whopping 2TB. Sounds like a job for the tech-savvy folks, right? Similar upgrades have been done by hackers on the Mac Studio. The video also gives us a peek under the hood, showing where the WiFi chip and antenna are placed, directly on the machine’s air intake. So, while the new Mac Mini's storage is a bit more flexible, it's not quite the upgrade paradise you might hope for. It's more like a gentle nudge towards easier repairs and customizations, but you'll still need some tech prowess to make the most of it.