512Gb vs 1Tb/Buying thoughts.

[MattZani]

I'm most likely going to be ordering the top model rMBP in the next few days, but I can't decide on which SSD to go for.

I'm a photographer, they take up A LOT of room, I've got backup etc in place, and moving old work to externals, but I'm not sure if the 512Gb would feel too limiting after having the freedom of the 1Tb in my Mac Mini.

The majority of the time it will be used on a desk, it's hard to calculate my need for a laptop as I'm never sure when I'll be away long enough for me to need to do work before returning home, so I'm debating the entire thing because of the fact it's getting a bit old model wise, and the next update/2015 update could be worth waiting. Current Mac Mini isn't limiting me just yet, but I'm starting to have to wait for it a bit, mainly due to the iGPU being pretty low power I think, as the CPU is roughly the same as the 2.3Ghz I'd be getting.

I can afford the 1Tb upgrade, but it's £330 or so I'd rather not spend. My university discount also runs out in September so after that the price increases roughly £300, and at the moment there's the £60 Gift Card too. Not sure if I buy knowing I'll be ~£350 up compared to a non discounted purchase, and have 3 years Applecare meaning I could sell if a huge update came out for not too much of a hit.

It's become a bit of a rant, apologies. What would you do, SSD, purchasing, both, or just what you feel like doing?

 

[talmy]

Since you are already used to archiving older photos on external drives, save the money and get the 512GB model. The savings will buy lots of TBs of external drives.

 

[GSPice]

My recommendation would be to save the money and put it towards a robust storage and backup solution.

I had a similar quandary, as my video projects can easily consume hundreds of gigabytes each. The bottom line, however, is that while I need speed for editing, and space for storing, I rarely need both at the same time.

I wouldn't even be comfortable with a single terabyte of storage for anything these days. For that £330 (which would only net you another 512GB of space), you could purchase several terabytes of external storage, and more importantly, backup space for your critical work.

Remember, the £330 would be buying you 512GB of tremendously fast storage - but after you're done editing your photos, you never need that speed again - so it sits there, like a Ferrari in an unused garage.

Get enough fast disk space you need for your editing workflow, and spend the rest on cheap, "slow" storage.

 

[2984839]

I agree with the others. Get the 512 GB and spend the money you save on external HDDs. You'll get a lot more storage for your money that way.

 

[Freyqq]

I'd try to get by with 512. You can reserve SSD space to only active projects and have a portable 2TB USB 3.0 drive for the overflow.

 

[BigBeast]

I agree with the above posters - save the $$ and get the 512 option, and get a couple good 2 - 4TB backup drives and a dual HDD/SSD docking station with duplicator capability. It'll add expansion AND redundancy - a much better option IMO. If you still find yourself wanting the extra SSD space, consider buying a refurbished MBP - still comes with the same warranty and ability to purchase AppleCare.

 

[MattZani]

Interesting, I think I was swaying towards the 512Gb anyway, if I do purchase.

The model would be cheaper than refurb new anyway as I get university discount. £1870 vs £2200.

 

[capathy21]

Another vote for 512.

 

[Meister]

Just to be unique I am going to say 1tb. Because its awesome!

 

[yjchua95]

Just to be unique I am going to say 1tb. Because its awesome!

And faster too. The 1TB ones have a 4-lane PCIe channel. 512GB and smaller ones have a 2-lane channel.

The 1TB models can hit almost 1GB/s in reads and writes.

 

[Meister]

And faster too. The 1TB models can hit almost 1GB/s in reads and writes.

thats why they are awesome

 

[Jeff Flowerday]

You can't upgrade after the fact so if there is a slight chance you'll need more than 512GB, get the 1TB.

 

[GSPice]

And faster too. The 1TB ones have a 4-lane PCIe channel. 512GB and smaller ones have a 2-lane channel.

The 1TB models can hit almost 1GB/s in reads and writes.

Would love to see how this speed difference makes any kind of noticeable improvement in real-life workflow.

 

[MattZani]

I'm 90% sure I'm going 512Gb now and spending the extra on a 4Tb Synology NAS setup. It will force me to be more vigilant with what work I move off the laptop, and I don't think the ~300mb/s will make a big enough difference real world. I'm currently on a traditional HDD anyway.

 

[TheIguana]

Would love to see how this speed difference makes any kind of noticeable improvement in real-life workflow.

You could theoretically need it if you were working with multiple 4k streams in Premiere or FCP.

 

[GSPice]

You could theoretically need it if you were working with multiple 4k streams in Premiere or FCP.

Yup, and if you're always editing multiple 4K streams, you're probably not worried about the extra cash for a terabyte drive.

 

[Freyqq]

You could theoretically need it if you were working with multiple 4k streams in Premiere or FCP.

If so, 1tb prob isn't enough anyway lol. Those raw 4k files are huge. Would need a RAID 0 SSD thunderbolt config and a mac pro.

 

[Imaginator]

You could theoretically need it if you were working with multiple 4k streams in Premiere or FCP.

Yup, I notice it coming from a 512GB to a 1TB.

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If so, 1tb prob isn't enough anyway lol. Those raw 4k files are huge. Would need a RAID 0 SSD thunderbolt config and a mac pro.

I use my internal storage as active storage for most projects since they rarely are greater than 600GB, then archive to external storage. Don't like externals hanging off my notebook.

 

[yjchua95]

I do heavy 4K and have a Pegasus R6, with 6 512GB 840 Pros in RAID0.

The benefits from having a 1TB internal SSD are pretty noticeable in doing 4K work.

You're right about the sizes, not more than one project that I'm working on (when mobile) resides on my internal drive.

 

[MCAsan]

I go for the largest internal SSD so I have plenty of room for multi week photo trips. When I get home those files are moved to my external drive library so that the room is available on the SSD for the next trip.