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The #1 thing preventing Apple from getting into S-tier is user-serviceable storage. Baking on the memory? It's frustrating and gimps the device lifespan, but a

The #1 thing preventing Apple from getting into S-tier is user-serviceable storage. Baking on the memory? It's frustrating and gimps the device lifespan, but arguably unavoidable with the bandwidth Apple is targeting. Without replaceable storage though, every Apple Silicon device is effectively a ticking time-bomb. These devices will all hit their TBW limit long before they're unusable, and Apple refused to anticipate this because... it side-steps their pricing scheme? The current Macbook lineup is a step in the right direction, but far from perfect. Even ignoring my hundred gripes with MacOS, I think there are clear hardware improvements they can make with future iterations. None of these improvements seem particularly profitable though, so I'm not counting on Apple adding them.

Retric 4y ago
High speed internet has largely rendered local storage obsolete for most users. However, Apple’s base model is frankly silly. A solid 2TB NVME drive is only 150$, slapping the equivalent of 20$ worth of storage on a 1,500$ laptop is crazy.
stametseater 4y ago
Constant backups are essential when using a computer without user-serviceable storage. That or mounting another [network] drive and doing all your work from that instead of internal storage. Otherwise you'll be without your data for hours if not days/weeks whenever something inevitably goes wrong (not even with the storage itself) and you can't simply pull the drive to continue working on another computer.
- KptMarchewa 4y ago
  Or just not caring about any data you have locally.
- vetinari 4y ago
  M1 won't boot without internal storage. The point of the parent comment was not about saving data from the drive, but that the devices are landfill material once they hit tbw limits on their drives, even if they were otherwise in good condition.
  - stametseater 4y ago
    Well you'll not hit TBW limits if you're using another drive anyway.
    - smoldesu 4y ago
      Unless you have configured your Macbook to not use Swap, it will constantly write to the built-in drive when memory pressure is high enough.
  - ehutch79 4y ago
    Sure it will. Just checked, found a bunch of articles with 5 step instructions where one of the steps is hold the power button down.
    - smoldesu 4y ago
      > The M1 boot process requires a working SSD to boot macOS. The SSD contains a Signed System Volume that is cryptographically sealed by Apple. No seal, no bootable System. > So if the internal drive on your M1 Mac fails completely, even an external bootable drive won't boot. Yep, your Mac is bricked. https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-bad-is-the-m1-macs-ssd-failure-problem/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-bad-is-the-m1-macs-ssd-fai...
- rbanffy 4y ago
  > Constant backups are essential when using a computer without user-serviceable storage. Constant backups are a necessity even if your computer has RAID-6 storage built on enterprise-grade storage. Your office can catch fire. You can be hit by ransomware. Multiple devices in the array can fail in rapid sequence (happened to me once). Your computer can get stolen (happened to me, twice). Have an offsite backup always on hand.

Retric 4y ago

High speed internet has largely rendered local storage obsolete for most users. However, Apple’s base model is frankly silly. A solid 2TB NVME drive is only 150$, slapping the equivalent of 20$ worth of storage on a 1,500$ laptop is crazy.

stametseater 4y ago

Constant backups are essential when using a computer without user-serviceable storage. That or mounting another [network] drive and doing all your work from that instead of internal storage. Otherwise you'll be without your data for hours if not days/weeks whenever something inevitably goes wrong (not even with the storage itself) and you can't simply pull the drive to continue working on another computer.

KptMarchewa 4y ago
Or just not caring about any data you have locally.
vetinari 4y ago
M1 won't boot without internal storage. The point of the parent comment was not about saving data from the drive, but that the devices are landfill material once they hit tbw limits on their drives, even if they were otherwise in good condition.
- stametseater 4y ago
  Well you'll not hit TBW limits if you're using another drive anyway.
  - smoldesu 4y ago
    Unless you have configured your Macbook to not use Swap, it will constantly write to the built-in drive when memory pressure is high enough.
- ehutch79 4y ago
  Sure it will. Just checked, found a bunch of articles with 5 step instructions where one of the steps is hold the power button down.
  - smoldesu 4y ago
    > The M1 boot process requires a working SSD to boot macOS. The SSD contains a Signed System Volume that is cryptographically sealed by Apple. No seal, no bootable System. > So if the internal drive on your M1 Mac fails completely, even an external bootable drive won't boot. Yep, your Mac is bricked. https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-bad-is-the-m1-macs-ssd-failure-problem/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-bad-is-the-m1-macs-ssd-fai...
rbanffy 4y ago
> Constant backups are essential when using a computer without user-serviceable storage. Constant backups are a necessity even if your computer has RAID-6 storage built on enterprise-grade storage. Your office can catch fire. You can be hit by ransomware. Multiple devices in the array can fail in rapid sequence (happened to me once). Your computer can get stolen (happened to me, twice). Have an offsite backup always on hand.