Overview
- Teardowns and vendor analysis published Sept. 22–23 show the M5 Pro and M6 Mac mini have NAND chips soldered to the logic board so the removable SSD slot used in M4 models is gone.
- Apple’s repair documentation for the new Mac Studio confirms its SSDs can be replaced but says modules are specific to each model and serialized so they are not freely interchangeable.
- Expand Mac mini, which sold plug‑and‑play modules for M4 machines, says support for the M5 Pro and M6 now looks unlikely and third‑party upgrades are effectively blocked.
- Independent tests reported that 256GB M6 Mac mini units use a single NAND die and deliver roughly half the sequential SSD throughput of 512GB and larger configurations, creating a performance reason to buy more built‑in storage.
- The change raises upgrade and repair costs for users because Apple charges substantially more to increase internal storage, replacement modules must match model and serial requirements, and Apple has not explained the reversal.