13" rMBP: 1 TB SDD or 512 GB SSD + External 512 SSD drive enclosure

[Hammie]

I currently have a Mid-2010 17" MBP with two 512 GB SSD drives.

The primary drive houses my OS, Applications, and general documents. I have about 220 GB used. I will be pairing down the files when I migrate to the new laptop.

The second drive is dedicated to my photography files (Lightroom and Aperture databases and all photo files). I have about 230 GB used. I should probably go through and delete a bunch of the "crap" photos, but that may not clear much at all.

I am looking to upgrade to a 13" rMBP and was wondering if I should get the 512GB model and use one of the 512 drives in an external enclosure, or bite the bullet and get the 1 TB internal drive and not worry about the external drive.

I will have the money when I decide to purchase, but saving any amount of money is always a good thing.

 

[mastergrim8]

hey I was in the same situation. I got the refurb 2.6ghz with 16gb memory and 512SSD. The money I saved I could get (4) 2TB usb HDD that write read at 300kbs or so. Macs are overpriced already save some money and get applecare.

 

[campyguy]

When my small business and I needed to make that choice, I opted to go for the 1TB SSD. The 1TB drive is SO much faster than the 512GB units we have, and there's no more "juggling" of data. The 2 15" rMBPs we bought were Apple refurbs, and I'd buy them again today in a heartbeat (well, maybe I shouldn't have used "heartbeat", but you know what I mean...).

 

[Hammie]

When my small business and I needed to make that choice, I opted to go for the 1TB SSD. The 1TB drive is SO much faster than the 512GB units we have, and there's no more "juggling" of data. The 2 15" rMBPs we bought were Apple refurbs, and I'd buy them again today in a heartbeat (well, maybe I shouldn't have used "heartbeat", but you know what I mean...).

Thanks for your feedback. This is something I did not think about. However, my current 512 GB SSDs are installed in a Late 2010 MBP. The read/write speeds are in the low 200MB/sec range. I think the speed of the newer 512 GB PCI-e SSD is not the issue or my concern. I was expecting faster speeds to begin with. I will take it into consideration, though.

Thanks!

 

[TechZeke]

hey I was in the same situation. I got the refurb 2.6ghz with 16gb memory and 512SSD. The money I saved I could get (4) 2TB usb HDD that write read at 300kbs or so. Macs are overpriced already save some money and get applecare.

I can say with confidence that you have no clue what you are talking about in any aspect of this post.

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Thanks for your feedback. This is something I did not think about. However, my current 512 GB SSDs are installed in a Late 2010 MBP. The read/write speeds are in the low 200MB/sec range. I think the speed of the newer 512 GB PCI-e SSD is not the issue or my concern. I was expecting faster speeds to begin with. I will take it into consideration, though.

Thanks!

The 1TB PCIe SSDs apple uses are no joke. They easily get 900-1000Mb/s read/write.


Having an external will give you some flexibility, but all in all just depends on how much on board memory you need.

 

[campyguy]

Thanks for your feedback. This is something I did not think about. However, my current 512 GB SSDs are installed in a Late 2010 MBP. The read/write speeds are in the low 200MB/sec range. I think the speed of the newer 512 GB PCI-e SSD is not the issue or my concern. I was expecting faster speeds to begin with. I will take it into consideration, though.

Thanks!

You are welcome, however, I forgot to mention of couple of items. One of the units we're replacing with the above is a 2012 rMBP 2.6/8/512. I appropriated it (it's my company!), and the convenience of not having to carry around the additional brick is great!

The second item is we invested in multiple PNY StorEDGE SD cards, both 64 and 128GB. They're not as fast as a zippy SSD but are small enough that we can leave them in the laptops. So, think of it this way - by the time you've found the external SSD, found the cable, got up to plug it in and wait for it to mount - you've already accessed/copied/read the file on the SSD because it's already in the laptop. Oh, you can't find the cable? I'll wait...

The smaller rMBP/SSD combo works well with an SD card too, so, there!

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The 1TB PCIe SSDs apple uses are no joke. They easily get 900-1000Mb/s read/write.

^This

 

[Hammie]

You are welcome, however, I forgot to mention of couple of items. One of the units we're replacing with the above is a 2012 rMBP 2.6/8/512. I appropriated it (it's my company!), and the convenience of not having to carry around the additional brick is great!

The second item is we invested in multiple PNY StorEDGE SD cards, both 64 and 128GB. They're not as fast as a zippy SSD but are small enough that we can leave them in the laptops. So, think of it this way - by the time you've found the external SSD, found the cable, got up to plug it in and wait for it to mount - you've already accessed/copied/read the file on the SSD because it's already in the laptop. Oh, you can't find the cable? I'll wait...

The smaller rMBP/SSD combo works well with an SD card too, so, there!

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^This

That PNY StorEDGE SD card looks interesting. I'm still unsure. The speed factor is really catching my interest versus storing all my photos on my internal hard drive.

 

[Mr Pink57]

I would go the route of a 512gb internal and a 512gb external. If you get the external with a thunderbolt/usb 3.0 connection speeds will be just fine.

I would look at it as a security/piece of mind. What if something happens to the laptop? Not to say something can not happen to the enclosure. 512gb SSD is probably enough to work out in the field then transfer what you don't need to keep on to the external at home for safe keeping.

The external could be a platter drive to save some cash, when I dump files I do it usually before I go to work or before I leave for the night.

 

[Hammie]

I've decided on the 13" rMBP 512GB version (2.6GHz/16GB/512GB).

The extra space was primarily for my photo library. It is currently on its own internal 512GB SSD drive in my current MBP. I have a spare USB 2.0 enclosure that I can use in the near term until I find a USB 3.0 version I like that is compact.

I'm hoping to order it in the next couple weeks.

Thanks to everyone's responses!