Mac Studio has a dirty secret

March 21, 2022

Well, this is a bummer.

Even thought the SSD modules in the new Mac Studio are easily removed, Apple's software blocks owners from upgrading the computers.

The company advises consumers to “consider configuring to a higher capacity” when buying a Mac Studio, in case they need more storage in the future.

This is the iPhone model, of course, and flies in the face of Apple's new drive to make its machines more user-repairable.

But there is hope -- and precedent -- that Apple might remove the block. See the post for details.

In other news:

  • The first setups built around the Mac Studio are starting to go online, and there are some beauties.

  • The front of the Mac Studio could have looked much nicer. One designer shows how.

  • Apple's services suffered a major outage Monday morning, but seem to be slowly coming back online.

-- Leander Kahney, EIC.

Breaking open the new Mac Studio reveals that its solid-state storage modules are easily removable, but you can forget trying to upgrade them. Not only does Apple use a proprietary connector, but it also blocks user swaps in macOS.

Computer setups with new Mac Studio desktops and Studio Display monitors are already cropping up on social media sites. Checking in with real people and their first impressions about the gear offers a good early look at how things are going with Apple’s latest products.

It’s not just you: Many Apple services are offline. The outage affects 23 of the Mac-maker’s services, including many high-profile ones.

In recent years, performance and storage constraints caused all kinds of frustrations for Apple Watch Series 3 owners. So maybe it's time for it to go.

Luminar AI lets you make professional-quality edits to photos without any professional experience. If you want to transform an ordinary shot into an eye-grabbing image, this artificial intelligence-powered software can do the tedious work for you. However, if you’re ready to produce better pictures the easy way, this is your last chance to get this easy-to-use software — plus some serious extras — at a heavily discounted price. The Complete Award-Winning Luminar AI Bundle is on sale now for just $39.99 (regularly $235), but this deal ends on March 22.

It was predicted to come early this year, but a new report claims it won’t be ready until sometime during the second half of 2022. There’s also bad news for MacBook Pro fans.

The Mac Studio looks just a bit… off. It’s the three front-facing ports. They aren‘t arranged like they should be. The SD card slot makes a horizontal line, but the two USB-C ports are vertical. It’s an unusual miss for a company that’s typically obsessed with tiny design details.

Plugable's latest docking station includes a trio of 4K HDMI ports and the same number of 4K DisplayPort ports. These allow users to mix and match up to three monitors, even with M1 MacBooks that natively support only one.

On March 21, 2007, Apple launches the Apple TV, a set-top box for bringing iTunes media to the living room. Unfortunately, it's a flop.

Tweetz o' the day

One more thing ...

"Customers can't anticipate what the technology can do. They won't ask for things that they think are impossible. But the technology may be ahead of them. If you happen to mention something, they'll say, 'Of course, I'll take that. Do you mean I can have that, too?' It sounds logical to ask customers what they want and then give it to them. But they rarely wind up getting what they really want that way." -- Steve Jobs

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