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New 27-Inch iMac's Storage Affixed to Logic Board, 4TB and 8TB Configurations Have Expansion Connector

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Following a report from German blog iFun.de that claimed the new 27-inch iMac's flash storage is soldered to the logic board, MacRumors has obtained additional information in an internal document for Apple technicians.

2019 imac home
In the document, Apple says that the flash storage is indeed affixed to the logic board and cannot be removed. However, for the 4TB and 8TB configurations, Apple says that a flash storage expansion board is attached to a connector on the logic board. In the 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB configurations, the expansion board and connector are not present.

Apple adds that the flash storage and logic board are paired together for hardware encryption, so data will be lost if the logic board is replaced. For this reason, it is recommended that customers back up their files on a regular basis.

The new 27-inch iMac features 10th-generation Intel Core processors, AMD Radeon Pro 5000 series graphics, up to 128GB of RAM, up to 8TB of storage, a 1080p front-facing FaceTime camera, a True Tone display with a nano-texture glass option, higher fidelity speakers, studio-quality microphones, and more.

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Top Rated Comments

C
Crzyrio
78 months ago
You guys asked for it and ya got it. They got rid of the Fusion Drive on the base config :D
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
zorinlynx
78 months ago
From a repairability standpoint... Let's just say I've never seen an SSD fail in an iMac and I've been working with hundreds of them over the past few years. They're super reliable and I think Apple realizes this so they cut costs by soldering them on.

That leaves the expansion standpoint. Frankly, this is not a big deal either. Apple doesn't even use standard M.2 drives; they use their own proprietary interface. On top of that, these are iMacs! You can easily plug in cheap external storage, and since the machines typically stay in one place it's not inconvenient like it would be on a Macbook.

I'm still irritated by everything being soldered down, but it's not as big a deal as it was in the past. If Apple bothered to use an industry standard like M.2, it would be a bigger loss, but they don't anyway.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
robertcoogan Avatar
robertcoogan
78 months ago
This is ridiculous. Why does Apple continue to make hard to repair PCs???
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Expos of 1969 Avatar
Expos of 1969
78 months ago

This is ridiculous. Why does Apple continue to make hard to repair PCs???
Dollars, Euros, Yen, etc. etc. etc. Tim's bonus, etc.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A
aid
78 months ago

You guys act like repairability is a new problem with Apple. Their products have never been very repairable. Go back and open an iMac G3 from the 90s. Not exactly the easiest process to do upgrades in that thing.
2012 MacBook Pro - all fine. RAM upgraded to 16GB. Original HDD swapped out to SDD (and that's been increased in size over the years) and CD connector used for a large HDD. This computer is 8 years old and is running with 16GB RAM and 1.5TB storage. Better than lots of current machines – the majority?

The problem with everything soldered down; is that RAM and storage that is currently prohibitively expensive (e.g. 64GB RAM or 8TB storage) will likely become quite affordable during the lifetime of the machine – but you're prevented from using these cheaper, future prices due to the use of these soldered components within the machine.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RyanXM Avatar
RyanXM
78 months ago
This will count against the repairability score on IFIXIT by at least 2 points...
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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