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maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,489
43,412
Back in the day I bought the 128gb ssd for my laptop - it was just too small. Given the prices and availability I'd opt for larger storage at this point
 

Isamilis

macrumors 68020
Apr 3, 2012
2,049
956
In the beginning I was also worry 128gb is enough. But after 8 months of use, I am still fine with that, having external disk (small form factor); but bring Air only most of the time. I use tunespan to split my music in internal & external storage.
 

larry918

macrumors regular
Jun 29, 2013
128
0
I have a 2010 MBP, which came with 249.72 GB of free space. I'm not a very heavy user, and I still have 176 GB left. Given this, I think I may be better off with the 128 gigs on the new MBA, but I have not made my final decision yet.
 

judethat

macrumors 6502a
Nov 16, 2007
544
328
128 is fine if your secondary Mac. I have a rMBP with 256 and an iMac with 1TB, so not need for more than 128 on the carry around Macbook Air. Now most of my stuff is in the cloud and dropbox, do not need as much.
 

Bear

macrumors G3
Jul 23, 2002
8,088
5
Sol III - Terra
...
The only thing holding me back is the price. You can easily find 256GB SSD's for $~160 but the thought of paying $200 just to get a 128GB upgrade is really putting me off.

Has anyone regretted getting the 128GB?
Everybody's needs are different. For some 128GB will be more than enough, for others, not even 256GB will be enough. And this doesn't matter if it's a primary or secondary system.

As for your question, how soon do you want to void the warranty of your MacBook Air? If you need the space, just get the 256GB upgrade.
 

gpeden

macrumors regular
Nov 24, 2007
115
1
I regretted it last year when I grabbed a mid 2012 MBA (on sale) to replace a dead MBP. I needed it, no wanted it, now:rolleyes: I ended up buying a 64GB USB stick to keep my iTumes files external. This wan't too big a deal because I only STORE iTunes on the MBA and use it on iPhone or iPod. I also regretted having only 4 GB, so now I have an i7, 8GB 256GB MBA:)

One interesting development was that I had lots of room for 32 bit win7 on a 20 GB partition on the 2012, but I could not install that with with winclone on the new machine. It requires 64 bit and I had to use a 30 GB partition for that and re-installed from scratch.

Glen
 

SteveJobs2.0

macrumors 6502a
Mar 9, 2012
942
1,716
What about getting a 128gb one and then using an SD card when you need more space? Even now too can get 64gb sd cards for like $50-60. Just store music etc on there. Also, you can keeo the card inaide the laptop at all times so no need to worry a out varying a USB stick or external HD. In a year or two you will probably be able to get a 128 gab card for $50 on sale which is half of how much the upgrade coats now. Of course, this does not apply to the 11" version. :p
 

hkim1983

macrumors 6502
Feb 5, 2009
354
9
I just ordered the 128 GB model and will be "downgrading" from my 256 (current) SSD to it. For my needs, the extra space is irrelevant, and most of my large files (i.e. media) is all on external devices anyway, so putting that $200 towards something else is better.

It really depends on the needs of the user though. Personally speaking, I don't think 256 is sufficient for the "average" user either, assuming that don't stream all of their media (which is increasingly becoming the case), but that's just me. 256 is good for those who boot camp (for gaming) though, and for those with multiple VMs, assuming the OS is large.
 

adiddas125

macrumors member
Aug 2, 2006
70
3
I just ordered the 128 GB model and will be "downgrading" from my 256 (current) SSD to it. For my needs, the extra space is irrelevant, and most of my large files (i.e. media) is all on external devices anyway, so putting that $200 towards something else is better.

It really depends on the needs of the user though. Personally speaking, I don't think 256 is sufficient for the "average" user either, assuming that don't stream all of their media (which is increasingly becoming the case), but that's just me. 256 is good for those who boot camp (for gaming) though, and for those with multiple VMs, assuming the OS is large.

I got the i7/8gb/500gb ssd.

Considering I plan on using this for the next 5 years+ I did not want to be running out of space and upgraded the ram. I got $350 for my 2009 MBP so yeah its great to be running a machine that is quite zippy and light.
 

B...

macrumors 68000
Mar 7, 2013
1,949
2
For many people it is enough. Not for me (and most MR users).
 

WilliamLondon

macrumors 68000
Dec 8, 2006
1,699
13
There was a time I'm sure it would have bothered me whether it was my main machine or not, but a few years ago my iMac's internal 1TB drive went kaput, and rather than put any money into the machine, I opted for a 64GB SSD, and decided to really start using my external storage much more efficiently. When I bought my MBA with 128GB I already knew it would be no problem because my main home machine is only 64GB, and I don't regret it one bit. I've got a NAS, plus I use Dropbox, SugarSync and SpiderOak (all free), plus I've got 2 more external drives (one attached to the NAS another to my AirportExtreme) and I have plenty of storage and never ever wish I had more - not sure what I'd do at this point with more storage, it'd simply sit there idle.
 

twingo

macrumors regular
Jul 3, 2009
118
0
To order 4 Machines when you need one sounds crazy to me.
If everyone does it this way, we all have to pay more for our hardware in the future. First think, then buy. :mad:
 

tjdaugherty

macrumors newbie
Oct 20, 2011
23
0
I went 8/256 against my better budgeting thoughts, but I don't want to have any worries as I plan to keep it for 4 years.
 

Detrias

macrumors member
Jan 11, 2011
68
0
Bought the 2010 mba as my primary computer with the 128GB sdd, and haven't had a problem with it. I even got a few games installed on it (Diablo 3, LoL and WoW) on top of my regular programs with around 24GB to spare. Bought a separate 3TB external disk and I manage all my multimedia from there. I would only recommend the 256GB upgrade if you need to have multiple large size apps installed, otherwise if you can make do with having the multimedia at home or you don't mind carrying the external drive, go with the 128GB imo.
 

mattdo93

macrumors 6502a
Oct 2, 2010
532
74
128gb is more than enough for me. Before, my drive filled up quickly mostly because of pictures and music. But now I use Spotify and Flickr for those, so I have a lot more free space. Having an external 1TB hard drive helps too :D
 

dmk1974

macrumors 68020
Sep 16, 2008
2,389
464
128 GB is plenty for me since my media is on a networked Mac Mini. My MBA only uses 40-45 GB of space.

For me, the only advantage of 256 GB is the faster speed of the SSD.
 

Suraj R.

macrumors regular
Feb 17, 2013
179
1
Canada
I got the 128 GB (13/i5/8/128) and its perfectly fine for me. I currently have 46.8 GB of space free, and that's with all of my applications and two seasons of an HD TV show.

I do have a USB 3 3TB Western Digital 1150 Media external hard drive for storing everything (movies, TV shows, applications I don't need away from the desk) at my desk. I connect my monitor and my Magic Mouse and AWK and I pretty much have a desktop with 3.1 TB of storage space.

Whenever I need/want a larger app or file, for example Final Cut Pro, I just put it on my hard drive for as long as I need it. I could probably (definitely) fit all of my applications on my internal 128 drive but if I don't need to, why bother.

Anyways, 128 is the way to go, save yourself the $200.
 

617aircav

Suspended
Jul 2, 2012
3,975
818
128gb is fine for me. I don't store music or videos on it. I have a 32gb as card with all my music and 2 1tb external hd's for videos.
 

Tarrou8

macrumors member
Jun 10, 2013
83
4
I went 8/256 against my better budgeting thoughts, but I don't want to have any worries as I plan to keep it for 4 years.

This. Although I agree that the $200 charge to upgrade from the base storage is extreme (although still a better deal/more practical than the max SSD upgrade). The base model with the 8GB RAM upgrade is definitely the best cost-value buy.
 

throAU

macrumors G3
Feb 13, 2012
8,831
6,996
Perth, Western Australia
How much is your time worth to you?

My ex went with 128GB and 4GB RAM on her 2010 air at my insistence (she knows little about computers and was going to go for 64GB and 2GB) - and is now running into capacity issues.

If she'd gone for the 64GB she would have been pretty screwed early on.

As it is, she has a 60GB plus iPhoto library which now needs to live externally...

Yes, you can do stuff like move iTunes to an external drive, move iPhoto to an external drive, remove all your media after you've watched it once, and store it all on a NAS or external drive, etc....

But part of the beauty of an MBA is having a single small device that you can take with you and have your data to work on.

Trying to work on something stored on an external USB disk whilst balancing it all on your lap (which is what the MBA is for - working whilst away from a desk) is just a bunch of FAIL, as is spending hours (over the course of a year) micro-managing your storage because you were too cheap to spend the 10-20% additional $ required.


OP: i'm not saying you're too cheap - just presenting the scenario...


In short: don't cheap out (whether you buy from apple or aftermarket is another issue, but plan on getting > 128GB one way or another), it will be detrimental to your ownership experience.



edit:
SD cards are slow. verrrrryyyy sllooooowwww
 

Ifti

macrumors 68040
Dec 14, 2010
3,931
2,437
UK
I went for the 256GB since although it'll be my secondary machine and a I have a PassPort 2TB USB3 drive as well, I wanted to be safe rather then sorry! Im sure I will never use that much, but I do intend to keep the machine for several years now.

Also looking to order the updated rMBP, and will max that out completely since that will be my main workhorse machine.
 

\-V-/

Suspended
May 3, 2012
3,153
2,688
I'm never going with 128 ever again. After all my software installations, I barely had anything left.
 
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