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Upgrade new Mac Studio after purchase?

Can a user upgrade anything in the new Mac Studio? Or are we buying toasters, even at these prices? I miss user upgradeable macs and still keep a 2012 mac mini for that reason.

Mac mini, macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 9, 2022 5:47 AM

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Posted on Mar 9, 2022 6:07 AM

You do get 4 Thunderbolt4/USB4 ports for expansion.


With a base model of 32 GB RAM, and the M1 Max chip, unless you plan on doing mega scale 8K films or super duper realtime 3D modeling, what need for expansion would you need? If you were doing such, you would have the budget to get the Ultra M1 model.


I would take it that that is not your case since you are still using a 2012 Mini.

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Mar 9, 2022 6:07 AM in response to Black and White Night

You do get 4 Thunderbolt4/USB4 ports for expansion.


With a base model of 32 GB RAM, and the M1 Max chip, unless you plan on doing mega scale 8K films or super duper realtime 3D modeling, what need for expansion would you need? If you were doing such, you would have the budget to get the Ultra M1 model.


I would take it that that is not your case since you are still using a 2012 Mini.

Mar 10, 2022 7:03 PM in response to Black and White Night

I would say that upgradability has probably gone out the window for good for Apple devices since they moved to the system on a chip approach.

My understanding is that the CPU, GPU, and RAM on the Mac Studio are all part of the SoC, and the storage is also soldered onto the motherboard, which allows them to save a bunch of space and get that small form factor.


It may or may not be a coincidence that this also allows Apple to put a markup on any upgrades you order at purchase, rather than letting you do them yourself...

Upgrade new Mac Studio after purchase?

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