Can you upgrade the SSD in an M1 MacBook Air?

Why you can’t just swap the SSD

There’s no drive to take out. On the M1 Air, the storage is a set of NAND flash chips soldered directly to the logic board, and the storage controller sits in the M1 chip itself (Apple’s M1 announcement). EveryMac’s Apple silicon Q&A puts it plainly: the storage in every Apple silicon MacBook Air “cannot be upgraded after purchase.”

Apple said the same thing when it sold the machine. The 2020 configurator page for the M1 Air noted that storage “is not user accessible” and told buyers to upgrade at the time of purchase if they might need more space later.

That’s different from the MacBooks many repair guides still describe. Older Intel MacBooks used a removable SSD module that could be swapped, and Apple began soldering storage to the board from the 2015 12-inch MacBook onward (Tom’s Hardware). If your Air has an Apple M1 chip (check Apple menu > About This Mac), no upgrade kit will fit it. The same goes for the RAM: the 8GB or 16GB of unified memory is part of the chip package and can’t be changed either.

The chip-swap upgrade: possible, but not a DIY job

A storage upgrade on an M1 Air can be done, but only by replacing the flash chips with a hot-air station and then reprogramming the Mac. The first public proof came in April 2021, when engineers in China resoldered the memory and storage on an M1 Mac mini. In early 2024, Tom’s Hardware reported that VancouverMac.ca, a repair shop in Canada, offered M1 storage upgrades up to 2TB for CA$550 (about US$407 at the time).

The process, as Tom’s Hardware and a MacRumors forum thread on Apple silicon SSD upgrades describe it, goes like this:

1. The old NAND chips are desoldered from the logic board.
2. Higher-capacity chips of a type Apple itself used are soldered on. For M1 machines, the forum thread lists a pair of 1TB chips for a 2TB configuration.
3. The Mac is restored from another Mac using DFU mode, which sets up the new storage. The chips need to be blank or pre-programmed with the right firmware, otherwise a special programmer is needed first.

Apple’s own instructions for that last step say you need a second Mac running macOS 14 or later, an internet connection and a USB-C cable that carries data and charging. Apple specifically says not to use a Thunderbolt 3 cable. A restore erases the Mac, so everything on it has to be backed up first.

The risks are why we wouldn’t recommend this for a laptop you depend on:

• It’s board-level microsoldering. Overheat the board or lift a pad and the Mac may not start again.
• The parts trail is murky. In the MacRumors thread, one contributor who does these upgrades warns that used NAND chips can be reprogrammed so they report zero data written, so a buyer can’t easily tell new from recycled.
• Apple won’t do it, and doesn’t support it. It isn’t an Apple service, and you’d be relying on the shop for any follow-up repair.

If a shop near you offers it, ask whether the chips are new, what happens if the board fails, and whether they back up and restore your data. If the answers are vague, walk away.

What each option costs

An external SSD is now the cheapest way to add a terabyte, but not by as much as it used to be. SSD prices rose sharply through 2026, driven by AI data-center demand and memory makers shifting capacity away from NAND flash, and the 1TB Samsung T7 sells for $274.99 on Samsung’s US store (October 20, 2026).

Option	Adds	Price	Catch
Apple’s own upgrade at purchase	256GB to 1TB / 2TB	$400 / $800 extra (2020 list prices)	Only possible when buying new, which you can’t do now
Chip swap at a repair shop	Up to 2TB internal	About US$407 (CA$550, March 2024 quote)	Board-level risk, data wiped, few shops do it
Samsung T7 external SSD	1TB / 2TB	$274.99 / $479.99 (Samsung US, Oct 20, 2026)	Something plugged into a port
iCloud+ storage	200GB / 2TB / 6TB	$2.99 / $9.99 / $29.99 a month	Ongoing cost; needs internet to download originals
Free up space	Whatever you clear	Free	Takes an hour of sorting

The chart makes one thing clear. Apple’s 2020 price for 2TB was steep, but you can’t buy that option anymore. The real choice today is between an external drive you buy once, a subscription, and a risky board repair.

The external SSD: the upgrade most owners should make

A portable SSD is the closest thing to a storage upgrade for an M1 Air. Both of its ports are Thunderbolt / USB 4, rated for Thunderbolt 3 at up to 40Gb/s and USB 3.1 Gen 2 at up to 10Gb/s (Apple tech specs). A USB drive like the Samsung T7, rated at up to 1,050MB/s reads, plugs straight in with a USB-C cable. A Thunderbolt drive can use the faster 40Gb/s mode.

What to move to it, from Apple’s own advice on freeing up space:

• Your Photos library. Apple notes that photos and videos can use a lot of space and suggests moving the Photos library to an external drive.
• iMovie libraries, music and video files. Anything you open now and then rather than every hour.
• Old iPhone or iPad backups. If you back up your phone to the Mac, delete the backups you no longer need rather than moving them.

Keep apps and the files you use daily on the internal drive. An external SSD that’s unplugged means a missing library, and on a laptop you carry around, that happens.

A short cable, or a drive that sits flat beside the laptop, puts less strain on the port than one dangling off the side.

Free up space before you spend anything

You may not need more storage at all. Open System Settings > General > Storage (on macOS Ventura 13 or later) to see what’s using the space. Click the More Info button next to a category such as Applications, Documents or Messages for options to clean it up.

Apple’s checklist includes:

1. Let iCloud optimize storage. Your Mac can keep files in iCloud and make space available automatically when needed (this uses your iCloud plan).
2. Delete old device backups, music and videos you can stream again.
3. Clear the Downloads folder and empty the Trash. Space isn’t freed until the Trash is emptied.
4. In Mail, choose Mailbox > Erase Junk Mail and Mailbox > Erase Deleted Items.
5. Delete apps you don’t use.

“System Data” is Apple’s catch-all for files that don’t fit another category. If you just need room for a macOS update, starting up in safe mode once can clear some cached files temporarily.

iCloud is the other half of this. As of October 2026 in the US, iCloud+ costs $0.99 a month for 50GB, $2.99 for 200GB and $9.99 for 2TB. Before you lean on iCloud to hold your only full-size photos, read what happens when you turn off iCloud Photos, including the Optimize Storage trap, and download your originals first.

When to trade up instead

If you’ve run out of space and the 8GB of memory also feels tight, a newer Mac may be the better fix. The M1 Air is still supported: Apple’s compatibility list for macOS 27 Golden Gate, updated September 2026, includes the MacBook Air (M1, 2020). So the machine isn’t at a dead end on software.

But neither the storage nor the RAM can grow. Current MacBook Air M5 models start at 512GB of storage and can be configured up to 4TB, according to EveryMac. If you need 1TB or more inside the laptop, buying it built in is the only clean way to get there. Check your Air’s trade-in value on Apple’s Trade In page with the serial number from About This Mac before you decide. Apple’s values vary by condition, so we haven’t quoted one here.

If you’re weighing a bigger-screen MacBook while you’re at it, our look at whether Apple will make a 17-inch MacBook again covers what Apple sells in each size.

What to do next

1. Open System Settings > General > Storage and see which category is eating the space.
2. Let iCloud optimize storage, and delete old backups, Downloads and Trash. Check how much you got back.
3. If you still need room, buy a 1TB or 2TB USB-C SSD and move your Photos library and large media to it.
4. Only consider a chip swap if you’ve found a shop that uses new chips, backs up your data and stands behind the work.
5. If you need more storage and more memory, price a trade-in against a new MacBook Air with 512GB or more built in.

Sources

• MacBook Air (M1, 2020) tech specs, Apple
• Customize your MacBook Air (Dec 2020 archive), Apple via Wayback Machine
• Introducing the next generation of Mac, Apple Newsroom (November 10, 2020)
• MacBook Air Silicon RAM and SSD upgrades, EveryMac
• Repair shop offers MacBook M-series storage upgrades, Tom’s Hardware (updated March 9, 2024)
• Apple Silicon Soldered SSD Upgrade Thread, MacRumors Forums
• How to revive or restore Mac firmware, Apple Support
• M1 MacBook Air price guide, AppleInsider
• Portable SSD T7 1TB, Samsung US
• Portable SSD T7 2TB, Samsung US
• Free up storage space on Mac, Apple Support
• iCloud+ plans and pricing, Apple Support
• macOS 27 Golden Gate is compatible with these computers, Apple Support
• Are SSD prices going up?, Hard Disk Prices (September 26, 2026)