On: External boot disks still don’t work properly with...

[Wowfunhappy]

Would it be possible to replace the internal SSD? Possibly by setting some laxer security policy before the original one dies?

[tenacious_tuna → Wowfunhappy]

I am certain the internal SSD is soldered on--I believe the whole M1 motherboard is an SOC.

[Wowfunhappy → tenacious_tuna]

Ha, I was thinking of software restrictions and neglecting the glaringly obvious mechanical one! Thanks.

[plussed_reader → Wowfunhappy]

Very do-able on 2015 MacbookPros; can't imagine it's that different on the M1 mobo.

[spijdar → plussed_reader]

The 2015 MBPs were the very last with removable storage[0]. The flash controller and NAND chips are soldered directly to the board on every newer MBP and are essentially non-replaceable, short of desoldering the raw NAND flash I suppose.

[0] The low tier 2016 and 2017 touchbar-less MBPs do, quixotically, have removable storage, but using a proprietary format vs the NVMe sticks in previous models. All touchbar MBPs (and M1 Macs) have soldered flash chips, and the TB-less ones were totally discontinued in 2018 IIRC.

[plussed_reader → spijdar]

Yes, desoldering the NAND is quite doable.