I have (stupidly) bought a new iMac with only 256 GB of storage when my previous one had 1TB. I didn’t realise this until I had already signed into it and tried to transfer my files. I have taken it into a repair shop to see if the can add storage but they say they can’t as it’s part of the motherboard (I think!)
I can’t take it back to the shop as the seal is broken and I have been into it. Is my only option to use an external hard drive?
WheelieNick wrote:
Yes, your only option is to use an external harddrive. Apple silicon Macs are systems on a chip, your storage is on your chip, therefore you cannot expand it I am afraid.
The storage is not literally on the processor chip. The SSD controller is part of the Apple Silicon processor chip. The raw flash storage is separate from the processor chip – but in most Apple Silicon Macs, including the iMacs, the flash chips are soldered to the motherboard. In a couple, they're on modules, but even on those, expanding storage is not exactly as easy as popping in a M.2 NVMe SSD.
By the way, most of the data on an Apple Silicon Mac's internal SSD is encrypted using keys stored in the Apple Silicon chip. If that Mac ever dies, even if the SSD is still intact and socketed (e.g., Mac Studio or Mac Pro), you won't be able to pull out the SSD and retrieve the data. Pulling out the SSD will separate it from the keys – then good luck making heads or tails of the data!
This underscores the importance of making backups, which is something one should be doing anyway.
WheelieNick wrote:
Yes, your only option is to use an external harddrive. Apple silicon Macs are systems on a chip, your storage is on your chip, therefore you cannot expand it I am afraid.
The storage is not literally on the processor chip. The SSD controller is part of the Apple Silicon processor chip. The raw flash storage is separate from the processor chip – but in most Apple Silicon Macs, including the iMacs, the flash chips are soldered to the motherboard. In a couple, they're on modules, but even on those, expanding storage is not exactly as easy as popping in a M.2 NVMe SSD.
By the way, most of the data on an Apple Silicon Mac's internal SSD is encrypted using keys stored in the Apple Silicon chip. If that Mac ever dies, even if the SSD is still intact and socketed (e.g., Mac Studio or Mac Pro), you won't be able to pull out the SSD and retrieve the data. Pulling out the SSD will separate it from the keys – then good luck making heads or tails of the data!
This underscores the importance of making backups, which is something one should be doing anyway.
Yes, your only option is to use an external harddrive. Apple silicon Macs are systems on a chip, your storage is on your chip, therefore you cannot expand it I am afraid.
lyndae2000 wrote:
Is my only option to use an external hard drive?
You could also use an external SSD. I've seen some that are about the size of a credit card, and the thickness of an iPhone, so you don't necessarily need something with the footprint of a wall-powered desktop hard drive, if you are short on desk space.
Thank you so much for your quick response-really appreciated.
Storage issues on imac
