2024 Apple Mac mini features removable SSD, but it's not easy to upgrade
Apple introduced the 2024 Mac mini with upgraded hardware, featuring up to the M4 Pro. It's also the smallest mini PC that the company currently has in its lineup. While all that sounds great, you need to pay quite a bit extra to get a decent amount of storage.
Recent teardowns of the M4 Mac mini show that the SSD isn't soldered to the daughter board. While this would mean that the storage of the mini PC is user-upgradable, the case isn't that simple. The module is proprietary, and it's similar to the one that Apple used for Mac Studio and Mac Pro before.
So, you can't just install any third-party M.2 SSD and get a much more affordable storage upgrade on the Mac mini (2 TB Samsung 990 EVO curr. $129.99 on Amazon). Moreover, as MacRumors notes, the NAND controller is very likely to be integrated into Apple's SoC. However, there's still potential for some upgradability.
As X user @ohgkg shares, repair shops in China were able to upgrade the 256 GB variant of the 2024 Mac mini to 2 TB by replacing the NAND chips. This isn't something an average user would be able to do, as it requires soldering skills and equipment. So, even though it's expensive, it's easier to resort to the SSD modules that Apple sells instead.
Another interesting bit that the teardowns reveal is that even the base variant of the 2024 Mac mini has an SSD module with two NAND chips. Compared to a single 256 GB chip module, this should lead to better transfer speeds.
