App Requirements: Deciding Between 256GB And 512GB

[Drew84]

I'm trying to decide if 512GB is really necessary for my needs, or if 256 will do. I'm planning to have Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, InDesign, FCX, and the iWork suite installed, and I'm curious of a rough estimate of how much of the roughly 250GB of usable disk space that collection of applications might consume, along with OSX, of course.

I've been working with a 200GB drive (180 usable) for years on my current machine and it's been a somewhat regular job of shifting things off onto an external, although given my current usage, I'd probably have fewer files than I do currently. Like most folks, I do like to maintain a cushion of unused space, though, as they seem to slow down noticeably when they get down to 10-20GB free.

 

[FuNGi]

I'm trying to decide if 512GB is really necessary for my needs, or if 256 will do. I'm planning to have Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, InDesign, FCX, and the iWork suite installed, and I'm curious of a rough estimate of how much of the roughly 250GB of usable disk space that collection of applications might consume, along with OSX, of course.

I've been working with a 200GB drive (180 usable) for years on my current machine and it's been a somewhat regular job of shifting things off onto an external, although given my current usage, I'd probably have fewer files than I do currently. Like most folks, I do like to maintain a cushion of unused space, though, as they seem to slow down noticeably when they get down to 10-20GB free.

I can't speak to that app combo in particular buy my 512 GB machine uses 23 GB of its SSD on Apps alone (Office, Aperture, Deltagraph, Photoshop, Illustrator, 2 statistics programs, 3 browsers, etc., etc.).

I think if you can afford it then definitely get the 512 to assure: a) you will have room for iTunes library (mine at 80GB), photos (my Aperture library is 80GB), iMovie projects (30GB), etc.; and, b) you can resell the computer in 3 years and it not seem archaic in comparison to new models shipped in 2016.

That being said, many "pro's" use externals as scratch disks to save wear on their drive. I don't store my music on iCloud, only working data synced between two machines on Dropbox. I like having all non-expendable files on one machine (albeit backed up to 2 TimeMachines in different locations).

 

[maflynn]

If you can afford it, then go for the 512GB, but it seems you have a good workflow set up and the 250 fits nicely within that. I went with the 250 and I have an external drive to hold my aperture vaults that I don't need on my laptop. So moving data off to an external drive is a good idea. (Just be sure to back that drive up as well )

 

[MacModMachine]

If you can afford it, then go for the 512GB, but it seems you have a good workflow set up and the 250 fits nicely within that. I went with the 250 and I have an external drive to hold my aperture vaults that I don't need on my laptop. So moving data off to an external drive is a good idea. (Just be sure to back that drive up as well )

I'm curious which external hdd you use and how you back those vaults up.

i recently just had my 480gb owc retina ssd die on me and I'm back to my 128gb stock ssd and I'm not sure i can trust the 480 when it is replaced.


thanks