The operating system correctly identified the RAM and SSD, so macOS will not block these sort of updates - or not for the time being, at least. Images shared online showed an M1 MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD being upgraded to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. MacRumors explains that reports of the achievement have been circulating on social media in China over the weekend, being picked up by local media. An engineer in China has found a way to upgrade both the memory and the storage on M1 Mac. Removing the RAM and SSD modules from the logic board isn’t impossible, however. Apple M1 processor seen inside the new MacBook Air’s motherboard.

You can’t take your M1 Mac to Apple to have them swap out the RAM and storage after the fact. And you have to do it at purchase time, as upgrades aren’t available down the road. The disadvantage of soldered memory and storage is that the Apple store is the only place to upgrade. These components contribute to the overall speed of devices, whether it’s the M1 Macs, the iPhone, or the iPad. One other thing to note about soldered chips is that Apple’s RAM and storage choices can certainly be trusted. Those devices don’t allow users to upgrade the RAM or built-in storage - though some Android devices do have microSD slots for storage expansion. The same thing happens on the iPhone and iPad or any smartphone or tablet. The advantage of having the RAM and storage soldered to the logic board is that it gives Apple the ability to slim down the size of laptops and increase the battery capacity. It turns out there is a way to upgrade the RAM and storage of the M1 Macs, but you absolutely should not do it. But the same goes for the M1 Mac mini, which has a logic board with soldered memory and storage. That’s not news for anyone buying MacBooks, as they come with RAM and SSDs that are soldered to the logic board, making user upgrades impossible. If there’s one thing to criticize about the M1 Macs, it’s that they’re hard to upgrade.

Mac mini m1 ram upgrade 2020