Hi Peter,

The “SSD”/flash memory is made by Toshiba.

Not in this series.

Keep in mind the T2 is a flash controller, so Apple is side stepping the PCIe/NVMe issue of the SSD instead using raw flash chips which are interleaved simular to how memory is done. The T2 presents the PCIe/NVMe interface to rest of the system.

In truth it’s like RAID, but it’s not! It’s something newer! As it’s soldered to the logic board Apple can get away with this.

To elaborate on what Dan said, the T2 chip includes Apple’s own NVMe PCIe SSD controller, which they developed in house. Like most SSD controllers, it uses multiple channels (maybe 8 in this case?) to address the NAND flash dies and increase performance through parallelism. Both the T2 and the NAND flash packages are soldered directly to the logic board. It is also likely that the drive can tolerate the failure of individual blocks and pages, or perhaps even whole NAND dies by using parity data.

This is a different concept than RAID though, which employs Redundant Arrays of Independent Drives to increase availability and in some cases performance. RAID 0 in particular ditches the redundant bit and stripes across an array of independent drives purely for increased performance. Apple decided to put the NAND flash packages for the iMac Pro on a pair of removable modules, however they were in no way independent drives. There was still only a single SSD controller located in the T2 chip on the logic board.

The T2 processor should not be NAND Flash controller here. T2 is more like a RAID controller. Refer to https://duo.com/blog/apple-imac-pro-and-... The Toshiba chip here could be a PCIe/NVMe SSD in BGA chip package(like the one in the iPhone/iPad). The physical interface between T2 and Toshiba chip could be PCIe interface. T2 processor is also used to replace TI’s SMC controller.

@JJ Wu, The SSD controller is in the T2. To quote Apple: “Introducing the Apple T2 chip, our second-generation custom Mac silicon. By redesigning and integrating several controllers found in other Mac systems — like the system management controller, image signal processor, audio controller, and SSD controller — T2 delivers new capabilities to the Mac.”

The notion that the iMac Pro used independent drives in RAID 0 is a widely held misconception that is entirely inaccurate. Look at the packages on the modules. They are commodity multi-chip NAND packages that connect to the SSD controller in the T2 using a typical NAND bus architecture. This is essentially the same SSD as in the iMac Pro but the NAND packages are on the logic board instead of on independent modules.

@repoman27  i talked to Apple store employee. The SSD module used in the Apple iMac Pro can be replaced by other PCIe SSD(Apple does not recommend doing that) and the employee said it is PCIe interface which means it can not be typical NAND interface.

This is an example of BGA SSD on M.2 module https://www.anandtech.com/show/12819/the...

@JJ Wu The SSD in the iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro (Late 2013 - 2015) is a PCIe SSD with a proprietary form factor and connector. If you have installed macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later, the firmware will be updated to unofficially support 3rd party NVMe PCIe SSDs. Then you can use an adapter to physically convert from Apple’s proprietary interface to M.2 2280 or whatever and replace the drive. Third party solutions emulating Apple’s form factor and connector are also available for these models.

That is not at all the case for the *iMac Pro*. No adapter exists because the NAND flash modules are not independent drives and are not connected to the T2 via PCIe. Look at the iFixit teardown of the iMac Pro. Try searching for an adapter or third party SSD upgrade solution. You will not find one.

Wow, new TB3 controller, really? Does that mean these 13-inch notebooks now have full-speed on all four TB3 ports?

That was already confirmed, yes. The new 13-inch MacBooks have full-speed on all four TB3 ports (as fas as I know, the previous generation didn’t not because of the controllers, but because the Intel CPU itself only had 12 PCIe lanes, which weren’t enough to have full-speed on all 4 ports). But I haven’t seen the DisplayPort 1.4 support mentioned anywhere, which is why I presumed that Apple didn’t update the controllers to the Titan Ridge generation.

Seems like it!

https://ark.intel.com/products/97400/Int...

Ok, it seems I was too optimistic. According to Anandtech:

It's also worth noting that since the DP 1.4 spec is not supported by Intel's iGPUs, Intel-powered notebooks and desktops looking to take advantage of Titan Ridge's DP 1.4 functionality will have to use dGPUs to drive their TB3 controllers. This will somewhat increase the complexity of these designs, since previously most vendors only needed to route the iGPU to the TB3 controllers.

So it's certain that the 13-inch MacBook Pro does not actually support DisplayPort 1.4, because the integrated Intel GPU does not support it (and you cannot add a dGPU to the 13-inch MacBook Pro). As for the 15-inch MacBook Pro, it remains a possibility, but I don't think that Apple did in fact decide to use the dGPU to drive the Titan Ridge controller, which means that the 15-inch MacBook Pro doesn't support it either, I presume.

External displays are always driven by the discrete GPU on the 15-inch, so there is still hope there. I believe the internal display is connected to the Intel integrated GPU via eDP to allow graphics switching, but 4 DisplayPort main links from the AMD GPU feed the two Thunderbolt controllers.

Hi Helio,

The “SSD” on the 15 inch follows the same setup: flash memory chips soldered onto the motherboard, with the T2 chip acting as the controller.

How many spatial streams are supported on 802.11ac? 3 or 4?

Newer specs often adopt and standardize features that already existed as proprietary extensions to the previous version. Thus a quick firmware or driver update can bump up the revision number because some of those features were already supported by the silicon. (e.g. 802.11a/b/g hardware that included “draft n” features could become 802.11a/b/g/n via a software “enabler”. ) That appears to be the case with this USI module and Bluetooth 4.2 > 5.

It is incredibly unlikely that this module contains certain functionality necessary to implement the more compelling aspects of 802.11ax. In particular, OFDMA isn’t something that can just be bolted on via a firmware update.

Apple’s use of 3x3:3 Wi-Fi modules in MacBook Pros already makes them 50% faster than any integrated laptop solution from other vendors.

@Raoul H, 4 spatial streams are supported under 802.11ac, but usually only by access points. Apple is the only OEM I am aware of to ship a laptop with support for more than 2 spatial streams.

Thus a quick firmware or driver update can bump up the revision number because some of those features were already supported by the silicon. (e.g. 802.11a/b/g hardware that included “draft n” features could become 802.11a/b/g/n via a software “enabler”. ) That appears to be the case with this USI module and Bluetooth 4.2 > 5.

It is incredibly unlikely that this module contains certain functionality necessary to implement the more compelling aspects of 802.11ax. In particular, OFDMA isn’t something that can just be bolted on via a firmware update.

The question is whether the silicon already supports 802.11ax which can be accessed through a software upgrade just like Bluetooth 5.0.. Apple is already part of the consortium of manufacturers supporting Draft 3.0 of 802.11ax. Most OEMs have chips now and will release hardware this year in time for the holiday season. Why wouldn’t Apple/USI reward its Pro lines with the shiniest new silicon for a Pro environment next to a six-core CPU?

I’d reckon it’s a complete redesign to be (more) compliant with the latest USB Power Delivery Specification Rev. 3.0, Version 1.2. That might have ramifications for charging iOS devices from these newer power adapters. AFAIK, Apple’s proprietary divider methods are no longer allowed, and to get certification, chargers must provide power according to the USB Battery Charging 1.2 spec instead.

I imagine this model also supports all of the normative voltage and current levels expected of a 60W USB Type-C charger according to the latest specs. So it probably provides better interoperability with non-Apple devices.

It may also include a programmable power supply. Hopefully someone manages to coax Benson Leung or Nathan K. into doing a little write-up on this.

I have an early 2008 MBP, and it is very picky about booting Linux. I too have wasted many an hour messing around with various distros and bootloaders only to wind up frustrated. However, AFAICT it is due to the NVIDIA dGPU and chipset, not an evil plot by Apple. I recently booted Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver from a USB thumb drive successfully by simply adding the nomodeset boot option. You may want to give it a try if you’ve still got that hardware kicking around.

But I can pretty much guarantee that if there is a chip called T2 in the MBPs from that era, it shares absolutely no lineage with the current T2.

it’s pretty much the same as a 2017 LCD assembly, the internal Apple guides for both year models are the same, I just checked

So the display assembly with previous models is compatible?

As the RAM and “SSD” are now chips soldered onto the motherboard (see steps 9 & 10), upgrading will unfortunately look like turning in your MacBook for a new one.

You could opt for external storage, but I wouldn’t consider that a true upgrade, and there’s no recourse for RAM at all.

That is correct. You will have to expand with external/cloud storage.

Hi Eulises,

Correct. The processor, memory, and hard drive are all chips soldered onto the motherboard.

@vuphansj Either repair it so you can power it on, or start drilling holes through the main board storage chips. There’s no other option I’m aware of. Just one more way in which this design inflicts maximum hurt on both customers and the environment.

You do not need to remove the keyboard to remove the battery. You do have to remove the motherboard, as the battery connector is trapped underneath it.

Hey Joseph,

Check this post out for all the details details on Flexgate!