New 2020 27" iMac No flash storage upgrades allowed on 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB after purchase.
Friday, August 7, 2020 1:38 PM
Apple says that the flash storage is indeed affixed to the logic board and cannot be removed.
However, for the 4TB and 8TB configurations, Apple says that a flash storage expansion board is attached to a connector on the logic board.
In the 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB configurations, the expansion board and connector are not present.
Apple adds that the flash storage and logic board are paired together for hardware encryption, so data will be lost if the logic board is replaced.
For this reason, it is recommended that customers back up their files on a regular basis.
Update
the 256 GB configurations :
there are 2 flash nand soldered, 1 on the back side of the logic board, 1 on the front side
the 512GB to 2 TB :
there are 4 flash nand soldered, 2 on the back side of the logic board, 2 on the front side
the 4TB and 8 TB configurations :
yes there is a flash expansion module, but it contains only HALF of the flash storage
the other half of storage is still soldered to the logic board.
So for this iMac 27” 5K 2020 :
all configs from 256GB to 2TB of storage have 100% of their storage soldered
the 4 TB configuration has 2TB soldered and 2 TB on a separate module
similar to the iMac Pro and Mac Pro
the 8 TB configuraiton has 4TB soldered and 4 TB on a separate module
This iMac has been conceived with limited engineering efforts,
so even if there is plenty of space, Apple choose to not offer upgradability