Chosen Solution
I think my computer has been compromised and the EFI chip was changed out. Can someone please look at this picture and tell me if this is true? I think it also might have a missing chip. I’ve seen several pictures that show two of the silver chips shown in the picture.
That means you have a 128GB SSD. They use the same boards as the 256+ (which populate both pads) but only solder one chip per side on the 128GB configuration. You see solder there because of how the process works - even though it was never used, solder still flows due to the solder paste application process covering all 4 pads by design. In order to remove these chips, you need to remove the potting, desolder it and know how to pull the encryption keys (public and private) from the T2 secure enclave, solder all 3 parts onto a custom board and dump it. The potting is intact so it’s never been messed with here. You just bought a 128GB SKU and Apple shared boards between 128GB and 256+ versions of the machine.
