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Clean install uses more system data

J

jha

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 4, 2021
273
192
Noticed on the latest version of Ventura and even prior - out the box setup will consistently stay at 5-6gb system data on the latest devices.

Fresh install is 15gb to start and I've seen it grow to as much as 40gb over time.

Why would factory firmware (even with updates) be 10gb smaller than doing a clean install with internet recovery?
 
jha said:
Why would a Time Machine snapshot be on a clean install?
Click to expand...
I wasn't referring to Time Machine snapshots, I was referring to the other types of APFS snapshots now used by macOS. Have you checked yours?
You don't have any?
 
bogdanw said:
I wasn't referring to Time Machine snapshots, I was referring to the other types of APFS snapshots now used by macOS. Have you checked yours?
You don't have any?
Click to expand...
None, checked. What I’m referencing is that macs have about 5-6gb system data if you set up the Mac out of the box. But when you do a clean install by wiping the disk in system recovery, the system data is minimum 15gb and only grows from there
 
To clarify - system data as a category under “storage” in settings. Does it keep a copy of the installer?
 
One question is, what comprises "system data?" I don't think it's completely known what Apple considers to be lumped into that category. I think it includes APFS snapshots and the multitude of cache files, but there may be other types of files in there also.

jha said:
What I’m referencing is that macs have about 5-6gb system data if you set up the Mac out of the box. But when you do a clean install by wiping the disk in system recovery, the system data is minimum 15gb and only grows from there
Click to expand...
I'd speculate that the method used after manufacture to put the OS on the storage is different from running the installer from system recovery. E.g., at the factory they probably do a byte-by-byte copy from a standard disk image instead of running an installer app. Perhaps that somehow could cause differing amount of data in various cache locations after first boot. Just guessing, though.
 
Brian33 said:
One question is, what comprises "system data?" I don't think it's completely known what Apple considers to be lumped into that category. I think it includes APFS snapshots and the multitude of cache files, but there may be other types of files in there also.


I'd speculate that the method used after manufacture to put the OS on the storage is different from running the installer from system recovery. E.g., at the factory they probably do a byte-by-byte copy from a standard disk image instead of running an installer app. Perhaps that somehow could cause differing amount of data in various cache locations after first boot. Just guessing, though.
Click to expand...
Factory firmware is definitely different. 10gb less installed
 
Factory firmware may only include things specific to the hardware to reduce size and transfer time.
 
Update on this: doing a restore via another Mac using Apple Configurator is the equivalent to a factory install. Uses about 10gb less data than wiping the drive in recovery mode and reinstalling macOS directly on the device after.

Strange there is a variation between the two.
 
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