SSD of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar cannot be replaced

Storage cannot be replaced on both versions of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. The SSD is soldered to the motherboard in those models. With the 13-inch model without Touch Bar, the SSD can be removed, but Apple uses its own design.

A MacRumors user unscrewed his new 15″ MacBook Pro and found no replaceable SSD. The SSD is soldered to the motherboard and hidden under a piece of thermally conductive tape. A teardown from iFixit confirms that the 13″ version of the MacBook also does. Pro with Touch Bar does not have a replaceable SSD.

Previous teardowns of the 13″ MacBook Pro without Touch Bar showed that the SSD of that model can be replaced. However, that SSD uses a proprietary connector and form factor, so that the SSD cannot be replaced by a standard other model However, there is a possibility that third parties such as OWC will release special SSDs for the laptops.

They are not the first laptops from Apple to make concessions in terms of hardware replaceability. In 2012, the company announced the first MacBook Pro with Retina display. With this laptop the 2.5″ HDD and the DVD player disappeared and the memory was soldered to the motherboard. The SSD and network card could still be replaced. The new MacBook models have a small motherboard to which all chips are soldered. and nothing can be replaced.

A possible problem with the lack of a removable SSD is that data can be saved less easily if the laptops break. It is then not possible to connect the SSD to another computer. MacRumors advises users of the laptop to pay extra attention to making backups.