Apple’s M1 MacBooks are impressive, but they come with what many computer users will define as an unforgivable caveat: they can’t be upgraded with more RAM or storage capacity. That was the conviction, but it may no longer be the case if you are willing to void your warranty.
As reported by MacRumors, a set of technicians from Guangzhou, China, actually found a way to do this without destroying the machine. They were able to detach the RAM and SSD chips and replace them with higher capacity parts, and the computer recognizes this (currently) as official and compatible.
You just have to void your warranty to do so.
Chinese maintenance engineers can already expand the capacity of the Apple M1. The 8 GB memory has been expanded to 16 GB and the 256 GB hard drive has been expanded to 1 TB. pic.twitter.com/2Fyf8AZfJR
– DuanRui (@ duanrui1205) 4 April 2021
In the tweet above, the multiple attached images show the process.
As expected with something like this, the process is not straightforward and full of pitfalls. Not only do you need to get parts that are compatible with the system properly, but you also need to remove the RAM and SSD chips that are being soldered – not something that most people recommend. That said, if the parts were successfully acquired, the previous parts were properly removed and the new ones added properly, the technicians showed that they had successfully expanded the computer from 8GM memory to 16GB, and the 256GB memory was expanded to 1TB.
This is not the first example of experts thinking of Apple’s very specific and non-upgradeable design. Earlier this year, Linus Tech Tips has shown that the M1 MacBook Air can actually match – or even beat – the performance of the M1 MacBook Pro with a thermal road improvement. In that case, the modification would also invalidate the warranty of MacBook and non-experts, and even make such adjustments beyond the convenience of the average MacBook owner.
As Engadget says it’s nice to see that an M1 MacBook can technically be upgraded more than Apple wants you to believe, but given how restrictive the business is around repairs, it looks like a situation it would take as an exploit considered and if it became popular enough, it could be pasted through software or become unworkable due to the limited availability of parts. In reality, however, it is unlikely that this method will become popular due to the skill level required to pull successfully, mixed with the risk. It’s very easy to destroy the MacBook in this process, and it’s a financial coin that most MacBooks do not want to take.