Affordable Third-Party Mac Studio Storage Upgrades Coming in 2025

French company Polysoft has successfully reverse-engineered Apple's proprietary storage modules for the Mac Studio and plans to offer more affordable upgrade options starting in January 2025, following a successful Kickstarter campaign.

The company's "Studio Drive" modules will be available in 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB capacities, with pricing starting at €399 ($420) for 2TB, €799 ($843) for 4TB, and €1,099 ($1,158) for 8TB – roughly half of what Apple charges for comparable storage upgrades at the time of purchase. Unlike traditional SSDs used in PCs, Apple's storage modules require specialized engineering because the actual storage controller is built into the M1 and M2 chips rather than being part of the removable module.

To develop compatible modules, Polysoft conducted extensive reverse engineering, sacrificing an original Apple module for detailed analysis. The company removed all its small components one by one using a laser station, inventoried them and measured their characteristics, then scanned every layer with a flatbed scanner. From this work, the company then made its own schematics and designed different boards, using the same Kioxia and Hynix TLC NAND chips as Apple's original modules to ensure compatibility and performance.

Polysoft has also added what it calls "RIROP" (Rossmann Is Right Overvoltage Protection), a safety feature designed to prevent data loss from potential voltage regulator failures – an issue the company says it has encountered when repairing certain MacBook Pro models.

As noted by The Verge, this development may have exciting implications beyond the Mac Studio. Recent teardowns have revealed that Apple's new M4 Mac mini also uses removable storage modules – potentially opening the door for similar upgrade solutions in the future. While the Mac mini's modules use a different design than the Mac Studio's, Polysoft's breakthrough in reverse-engineering Apple's storage architecture suggests that affordable storage upgrades might eventually become possible for Mac mini users too.

Just like with the Mac Studio, Apple's security system in the Mac mini encrypts storage using a unique identifier tied to each Mac's chip, meaning any storage upgrade requires a complete system reset using Apple's Configurator software to re-encrypt the drive for use with the new machine. Polysoft says it will provide detailed installation instructions for hardware enthusiasts and professionals wanting to upgrade their Mac Studio, including the necessary steps for properly initializing new storage modules with Apple's security system. For further details, see Polygon's Kickstarter campaign page.