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I want to buy a Mac with M1 processor, however I’ve read many horror stories about the internal SSD dying prematurely, hence bricking the entire Mac. In my old Mac (with Intel processor), even with a dead internal SSD, I can still boot from an external drive.
Has Apple fixed this issue yet? Or is there any workaround solution? Or should I just wait for Mac with M2 processor?
Thanks.
MacBook Pro (2020 and later)
Bootable clone is not option for M1 Mac. You may backup all you want but if the SSD of M1 Mac died, everything die as well, you have to replace the whole Mac.
Bootable clone is not option for M1 Mac. You may backup all you want but if the SSD of M1 Mac died, everything die as well, you have to replace the whole Mac.
According to https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-bad-is-the-m1-macs-ssd-failure-problem/
To keep malware off Apple Silicon macOS (& iOS), Apple is locking down the macOS boot process. 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.
That is correct.
Macs prior to the M1 can continue to be used after the internal SSD has failed, by connecting an external SSD containing a bootable copy of macOS.
The M1 Macs can no longer be used at all once the internal SSD fails. You will need to buy a new Mac or replace the logic board.
This is especially disturbing given the absurdly high SSD wear that many M1 Mac users are experiencing. My own M1 MacBook Air , for example, is only 9 weeks old and is already at double the SSD wear of my 5 year old Intel MacBook.
mclim wrote:
I want to buy a Mac with M1 processor, however I’ve read many horror stories about the internal SSD dying prematurely, hence bricking the entire Mac. In my old Mac (with Intel processor), even with a dead internal SSD, I can still boot from an external drive.
Has Apple fixed this issue yet? Or is there any workaround solution? Or should I just wait for Mac with M2 processor?
Thanks.
?
Never heard of this as an issue. The M1 were just released November 2020....
I will add, I would not buy a Mac today without purchasing the extended 3 yr warranty.
AppleCare+ https://www.apple.com/support/products/mac.html
mclim wrote:
According to https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-bad-is-the-m1-macs-ssd-failure-problem/
To keep malware off Apple Silicon macOS (& iOS), Apple is locking down the macOS boot process. 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.
It seems you are taking away your own interpretation of the article you reference.
The more salient point that I read from the article:
"it may be that malware is a bigger threat to your data than a complete SSD failure is."
If the SSD fails on any Mac from the last 4 or 5 years the Machine is bricked— all SSD are soldered to the logic-board—and will require replacement either under warranty, extended warranty or out of pocket.
It is still no excuse to not backup you data, and a bootable clone is certainly a viable option.
3-2-1 Backup Strategy: three copies of your data, two different methods, and one offsite.
I've decided to wait for M2 Macs, perhaps Apple might fix the high SSD wear rate and change the boot process by not requiring the internal SSD to boot the macOS.
If Mac M1’s built-in SSD died
