What happens if you try to UPGRADE a $5,000 Mac Studio?
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Last edited: Mar 21, 2022

Had the same thing with the control unit on John Deere Electric Gator TE.

The motor went bad after years of use and the only place that could fix it was a JD shop and they had to change the ECU and the motor because they are matched and will only work in pairs. Also on my New Holland tractor the oil/hydraulic filters are just regular ol'e Baldwin filters but Case-NewHolland actually machines off the series numbers and paints over them so that you can not just go pick up a Baldwin filter for 20 dollars and have to get the CNH for $60. All repairs must be done by CNH or your warranty etc.

It's not an Apple vs everyone problem, the laws are setup to allow it so it exists. Foxes guarding hen houses never works because foxes would rather have full bellies than have no shame. It's also worth thinking about what a repair versus an upgrade/downgrade is, the devil lives in the details.

It's not just Apple, it's also JD, CAT, and with telematics Subaru, Ford. The solution is laws,but I will not go any further than that because it will delve into politics and when it comes to that subject ignorance is about between what people say and actually do.

My reaction at this is point in time a hefty - meh - it's a fix it for everyone or deal with it as it is kind of situation.

 

The Mac Studio is really a killer machine, as is most of Apples stuff now with the M1 chips, but I could never rationalize buying a computer that I can't even swap hard drives in myself.

Apple's blatant disregard for the "Fair Repair" legislation, and for the environment as well, is just disgusting. I really hope there will be a change in their attitude towards this, but I can't say that my expectations are high.

I'm guessing that they are targeting the worst offender first and foremost. If they can force a change with a company like Apple, many of the others will follow.

 

You made me think about what Louis Rossmann is up to these days. Related to discussion here:

Unplugging the battery BRICKS this device; you MUST go back to the manufacturer

Smart devices get stupider and stupider...

 

The guy in the video is right: this is outrageous!

Other thing that is outrageous for me: each time a new mac OS version is out, it breaks compatibility with the precedent, plugins (old ones with no updates available) begin to severely bug, some scripts or utilities stop working etc all of that because of some f*cking "security" measures and new functions / libraries that breaks compatibility with the former ones...

All of these measures IMHO only serve one purpose: to brick the machine and imprison you more and more.

My last Grapple machine was a mini 2018 i7 (6 cores), that I use today mainly for all stuff that is not music-related, but recently I had a studio contract that allowed me to earn just enough money... to buy a windoze laptop absolutely perfect for everything sound-related. Result: I'm still completely 100% broke, but happy!

Today I regret to have wasted so much money in Grapple machines, and I really think the mac is a thing of the past. Windows have the great advantage (for me) to have preserved a great ascendant compatibility: I can even use my favorite (free or not) old plugins in C12, and enjoy some old apps, freewares and utilities almost twenty years old, still perfectly working today!!! Impossible to do that with a recent mac!

Once you have tamed the spyware-like and bloatware functions and services, deactivated the f*cking Defender internal AV, Win10 is really a great OS to work with everyday. I didn't tried 11, but I'm sure the ascendant compatibility is preserved too, and that brings me peace of mind.

Last but not least bonus: nothing prevents me from stripping down my new machine to replace say a SSD or something else!

 

If you ask me CNH and John Deere have hurt my wallet a lot more than Apple.

Computers are a planned obsolescence product 2-3 grand and you know it's going to eat shit and die at some point in the next 3-7 years.

The tractor and the gator require maintenance and most certainly not disposable about 200 a year for the gator and 450 to 600 for the tractor and it's attachments. The Gator was well over 20K and the tractor was just under 50K.

I can drive to an Apple repair or Apple store in 15 mins. The tractor and Gator go on a trailer for 45min to JD or over 75min to CNH, most of the time I just pay the 80 dollars to JD or 125 to CNH to just pick them up and bring them back.

They are all evil shitbags, but saying Apple is the worst offender isn't recognizing that the problem is not Apple but the weak laws that have come into play since 1980s.

 

i saw the video when it was posted, and i saw one of the comments that said it might have been encrypted to the other mac, having the apple configurator as a possibility to unlock it and use it (which some people reported it was possible to do on the mac pro)

 

What I will say is that Apple has shown a willingness to make the "Pro" community happy by implementing requests at some stage.
Some quickly, some slowly. Microsoft is definitely returning to the behavior that had the U.S. government investigating their software & business practices. The same needs to happen to Apple and, again to Microsoft, The latter receiving heavy fines & sanctions for forcing regulatory actions once again.

With Apple, a meaningful day of reckoning would make others strongly consider the risks of anti-consumer, monopolistic behavior.

I do however, give Apple their do, for the technology they bring forth. AMD is quietly taking over the server space with the Epyc platform. Hopefully they do not turn to the ways of Apple, Intel, Microsoft and Nvidia. Hope is eternal!

 

That's where the Apple Store/Genius Bar comes in. Of course with the Apple tax applied.

 

if you want to see how much Apple wants people screwing around in devices, you don't need a 5000$ computer to figure that out. Take apart an iPhone or an iPad. If you are bothered by something like a T8 tamper-proof Torx as this guy seems to be; they are probably doing you a free favor.

 

Flim-flam-boozle!

 

The issue is the statements, promises and, lack info details to the targeted Pro/Creator market. So the question is...How would one go about upgrading or repairing one of the products introduced in this latest release cycle?
Also...Why a lack of information on specifications?

 

Usually these are the sorts of things I consider before buying something. My agenda is pretty limited to that.

 

Although someone already referred to Louis Rossman, funnily enough, he's also very outspoken about the lack right to repair that's prevalent in the farming industry.

John Deere has 9 lawsuits against them: farmers see blood in the water

He has numerous videos in addition to that one concerning anti-consumer/anti-right to repair laws. He's at the forefront of the movement and has contributed significantly to the cause.

 

i mean, the apple configurator is an app you can download btw

 

And now for Part 2. Luke, tries using the Apple configurator & even has help from the Genius Bar among others. He revealed that Apple is using a "dummy storage" device (NAND without a controller) that is serialized as per usual.

Here's why Apple won't let YOU upgrade a Mac Studio [Part 2]

 

yeah yeah i saw that... tbh, the chip controlled reason i would call it a bluff. i think the real involved that might be the texas instrument controller

 

Apple has a long history using Texas Instruments controllers in their devices & computers. They also have a long history of unnecessarily "recreating the wheel", creating proprietary schemes. Apple uses a combination or the T2 chip and a nand controller.

Using standard or custom NVMe M.2 devices that have an on-board controller would eliminate design & compatibility issues while keeping the "Pro" community satisfied and happy. Would also convince x86/x64 PC users that Apple is taking their concerns into consideration when designing & releasing new product.

For what Apple asks customers to pay, it is time for them, Apple, to put up, or shut up.