Storage Space

I know this topic has been beat to death, but I got to ask.

I am all but ready to pull the trigger on the 2013 MBA i5/8gb ram.

My only concern is the 128gb vs 256gb debate.

I was originally all set on getting the 128gb. I have about 20gb of iTunes media and I do like taking photos on my DSLR (RAW Format). Keep in mind, I usually snap hundreds of photos but end up only keeping at most 10 good shots. The rest are usually trashed. Given my busy schedule, I'd be lucky to be able to take my camera out once a month.

I recently stopped purchasing music on iTunes and have pretty much transitioned all my music listening to Spotify.

This will be my primary machine. I will mainly be using it to surf the web and do some photo editing with Lightroom. I do not plan on gaming on this machine. I also do not plan on dual booting both Mac and Windows. I have a separate work laptop that satisfies my Windows needs.

Now, back to my original point of me being set on getting the 128gb. My girl got the 2012 13" MBA 128gb for her bday last year. It's her primary machine as well. She has 2gb of audio, 23gb of movies, 5 gb of photos, 20 gb of apps and 70 gb of other. She has 1.93 gb free. I had her restart her laptop (she said she doesn't remember ever shutting down/booting up since she got it last year) and we re-checked the storage. She now has 13 gb free.

Looking at her system got me concerned about the 128gb model. She uses the laptop to surf the web and Photoshop. She's not what I would consider a power user and she's struggling with storage. I am concerned that if I get the 128gb I will regret it very soon. I just have a really hard justifying the extra $200 for the 256gb. I would hate to purchase extra storage only to not use it. The extra $200 could go towards another product (Apple TV, maybe?).

Just to put my situation more into perspective, I currently have a 16gb iPhone 4s. I plan on getting the iPhone 5s later this year (16 vs 32 gb will be another issue as I'm currently struggling with the 16gb). I also plan on getting an iPad mini whenever/if it gets the retina screen (32gb vs 64gb is another decision for me). Lastly, I plan on either getting Mac Mini w/ Thunderbolt display or iMac (no storage debate here, 1TB Fusion ) but this won't be late 2014 or even 2015.

Given my potential setup, my girl's storage issue, and my usage, what does everyone think?

We were trying to figure out what all the "Other" stuff was as well. Some of it might be movie files that are not recognized as Video files.

But I still find it kind of outrageous that she had 60gb+ of "Other" files.

If money was not an issue, I'd get 11/512/8gb/i7 in a heartbeat. I want to make sure I'm not (and this sounds silly but...) buying too much storage.

Keep in mind, I do not plan on doing any gaming or booting Windows. All of my music listening is exclusively on Spotify. The only thing I can see taking up space are my movies (which makes no sense to keep more than 2 or 3 at a time) , my TV shows (which also makes no sense to keep more than 5 or 6 episodes at a time), and my photos (which I plan on getting a Time Capsule 2TB). Other than that, how much space can a word documents take???

Actually, as I'm writing this, I wonder why this hasn't been discussed before.

Why not save the $200, get the 128 gb, and use the saved $200 add another $100 and get the 2TB Time Capsule?

I actually told her to save her files on an external. She's too lazy to do it.

Hard drive failing is another concern of mine. Which is the same reason that instead of getting a 64gb memory card for my DSLR, I carry multiple 16gb/8gb cards.

I was thinking, with the $200 that I'm saving, couldn't I get the 128gb and spend an extra $100 and get an Airport TimeCapsule (2tb)? I'm surprised this solution isn't recommended more often. Thoughts?

Jefe's MacAir said:

I was just about to recommend it. I still think you should get the 256 GB AND the TimeCapsule. You can then show your GF how to move her movies and such to the TimeCapsule.

The other benefits would be faster read/writes (the 256 is faster than the 128) automatic backups to TimeCapsule, and increased internet speeds for you and the new wifi on the NEW TimeCapsules. And IF you can afford it get the 3TB over the 2TB.

Click to expand...

Valid point. But for the automatic backup to TimeCapsule. Why would 128 vs 256 make a difference? I would think that if I have a 2 or 3 TB external TimeCapsule storage that having a 256gb SSD would make less sense.