[HN Gopher] Mac Studio's removable SSD is reportedly blocked by ...
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       Mac Studio's removable SSD is reportedly blocked by Apple on a
       software level
        
       Author : carlycue
       Score  : 13 points
       Date   : 2022-03-21 22:07 UTC (53 minutes ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.theverge.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.theverge.com)
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | happytiger wrote:
       | That's really disappointing.
        
       | jiripospisil wrote:
       | "Those aren't SSDs. Those are raw storage modules."
       | 
       | https://twitter.com/marcan42/status/1506022589357260801
        
         | duskwuff wrote:
         | Also, more specifically:
         | 
         | "If you want to play around with those storage modules in a
         | Studio, you should know that 1) you definitely need to do a
         | full DFU erase, and 2) if you populate both slots, they
         | _definitely_ need to be the same size, and they _might_ need to
         | be the same vendor (there are several). "
         | 
         | https://twitter.com/marcan42/status/1506033231069855747
        
       | jIyajbe wrote:
       | I'm not persuaded that the stated facts lead inevitably to the
       | conclusion they reached. From another article (linked from the
       | Verge post):
       | 
       | "* YouTuber Luke Miani decided to test whether or not the machine
       | is actually upgradable through a series of comprehensive
       | tests..."
       | 
       | "* Miani took the wiped SSD from the second machine and inserted
       | it in the open slot on the first machine, but the Mac's status
       | light blinked SOS and it wouldn't boot up"
       | 
       | "* He then swapped the SSDs between two Mac Studios and found
       | again that neither would boot"
       | 
       | "* In a disappointing move, it appears that Apple has locked
       | user-upgradability in software (the device recognizes the SSD,
       | but Apple stops it from booting)."
       | 
       | Given Apple's recent attention to security at the
       | hardware/firmware level, it is possible that, for example, Apple
       | is requiring some type of hardware authentication from the SSD,
       | and not simply to prevent the user from upgrading their SSD.
       | (Along the same lines as the T2 chip, is what I'm imagining.)
       | 
       | I'm not a security person, so I don't know if this is likely. I'd
       | be interested in the thoughts of any of you who do know this
       | stuff. Is there a valid security purpose that could explain this?
        
       | moondev wrote:
       | What is a "ssd port" ?
        
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       (page generated 2022-03-21 23:01 UTC)