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1TB vs User upgrade vs External

RiverOak

RiverOak

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 21, 2016
39
24
I've decided to wait to buy a new 15" MacBook Pro until WWDC. If a new model is introduced I might be able to get the older one at a good price. Judging by the previous blowout the 2.5GHz with 512GB will go for about €2100-2200 which is a great price. My only issue is that the storage is very limited. Just my sample libraries will occupy most of that SSD.
But the 1TB model will not likely be on sale as no-one has it in stock, so then it's €800-900 more, which is a lot for 512GB extra storage. And refurbs are not an option where I live.

I'm on a very limited budget right now, but I still want a computer that will last me a long time, and more than 512GB of storage is a must for me. So what are my options?

What user upgrades are available for this model at the moment? Is the only option to buy genuine replacement at eBay or are there third parties like OWC that will offer the same speed?

Another option is of course external storage, which I don't enjoy carrying around and it's a lot slower. But I could get a tiny 1TB external SSD for less than half of that price difference. And I could add a stealth drive to that for storing things like my music library.
Having stuff split over several drives is a hassle however, especially when they aren't internal.

Not sure which route to go. I don't want to be stuck with less storage than I need, but even the €2200 is a bit of a stretch with my current budget so I need to make the most of it.
 
RiverOak said:
What user upgrades are available for this model at the moment? Is the only option to buy genuine replacement at eBay or are there third parties like OWC that will offer the same speed?
Click to expand...
I'd say eBay may be your best bet. I don't think the OWC models are a great buy, given that they use RAID chipset so some of the features (like TRIM) are available and the performance over time may degrade.

Anandatech has a nice write up of the OWC SSD.
 
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Aditya_S said:
You can get an SD card with 512gb of storage for $200 and keep it in the Macbook Pro forever.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's an option I've considered. Only problem is that it's really slow, so it only good for things that doesn't require fast disk speeds. Also I use the SD slot all the time for transferring photos from my DSLR, so I'd need to get an additional reader (and keep track of it).
But that's certainly an option that I've had in mind. Perhaps in combination with an external disk.
[doublepost=1463004716][/doublepost]Looks like upgrading it myself would cost me about the same as buying it with the 1TB option. But then I'd have a 512GB card to either sell or use as an external drive.
Either way it's perhaps a little more than I can afford to spend at the moment. I'll try to manage with the cheaper options for a while and hope that the situation changes.
If they don't announce an attractive option at WWDC that is.
 
RiverOak said:
Yeah, that's an option I've considered. Only problem is that it's really slow, so it only good for things that doesn't require fast disk speeds. Also I use the SD slot all the time for transferring photos from my DSLR, so I'd need to get an additional reader (and keep track of it).
But that's certainly an option that I've had in mind. Perhaps in combination with an external disk.
[doublepost=1463004716][/doublepost]Looks like upgrading it myself would cost me about the same as buying it with the 1TB option. But then I'd have a 512GB card to either sell or use as an external drive.
Either way it's perhaps a little more than I can afford to spend at the moment. I'll try to manage with the cheaper options for a while and hope that the situation changes.
If they don't announce an attractive option at WWDC that is.
Click to expand...

There are no external enclosures that will work with apples proprietary connector and the shape of the drive, so using it as an external is probably not an option for drives pulled from the machine.
 
Samuelsan2001 said:
There are no external enclosures that will work with apples proprietary connector and the shape of the drive, so using it as an external is probably not an option for drives pulled from the machine.
Click to expand...

Doesn't the one from OWC work?
 
RiverOak said:
Doesn't the one from OWC work?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean by work, yes it will work fine in the MacBook. However the drive you replace has a connector that will only work in a Mac and a non standard form factor, so you can only use it in another Mac with that connector, in other words you can't repurpose the original drive.
 
Samuelsan2001 said:
the drive you replace has a connector that will only work in a Mac and a non standard form factor, so you can only use it in another Mac with that connector, in other words you can't repurpose the original drive.
Click to expand...

But OWC is selling the upgrade kit with an Envoy enclosure that is made for that purpose, and they can be bought separately.
 
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