Have I made a mistake? (Refurb nTB purchase)

[MPW99]

So after a fair bit of research I ordered a nTB mbp with 128gb for £1059, it’s for my gf and she doesn’t need the 256gb, thought it was a good deal as the usual price is £1249 or thereabouts new. Then I read the SSD is slower than the 256gb.

Got it for basic photo and video editing, have I made a mistake?

 

[redheeler]

In terms of speed, there shouldn't be any problem. The SSDs Apple puts in these Macs (even the 128 GB variant) are very fast, and you probably wouldn't notice much if any difference stepping up to 256 GB.

But with capacity, 128 GB is not much, and this is the main reason I tend to recommend the 256 GB unless it's someone who is very light on storage or stores files in the cloud or on an external drive. iMovie can take up quite a bit of space with render files, even for basic projects - so it'd become necessary to clear those often.

 

[Fishrrman]

I don't think the speed of the drive will become an issue.
Capacity... perhaps.
But not speed.

 

[ZapNZs]

The write speeds are slower - but I think one is unlikely to notice this with normal usage provided there is ample free space on the drive.

However, given the size of video files, the 128 GB could become an issue, and if the drive becomes too full, then you will notice performance/functional issues, and in some cases a dramatic decrease in write speeds. If working with video files, 256 GB might be worth the extra money if its not hugely expensive?

 

[simonmet]

Doesn’t the non-TB 13” MBP still have a removable SSD? If so, it could potentially be replaced in future, but I’d get the 256 GB if at all possible.

I’m sure Apple will let you exchange.

Edit: It is removable, but good luck trying to find the form-factor in the third-party market.

 

[jerryk]

As with everyone else, I think the drive size is too small. Video and picture collections can grow very fast.

And any recent MacBook/MBP should be thought of as a sealed, non-upgradable unit. With upgrading involving the purchase of a replacement unit.

 

[MPW99]

I know 256 is better but it’s £200 / $266 more, the other option was to get 256gb 2016 nTB but that’s about 20% slower from what I read (down to Kaby Lake and 640 upgrade on the 2017) I guess I looked at her iPad Pro and iPhone and thought she only uses about 50gb so she should be ok; but then I read on a forum that the 256gb ssd is much faster than the 128gb and that’s what gave me the heebyjeebies

 

[Abs_p]

She will be fine.

Get her an external drive for when the 128g fills up.

 

[simonmet]

As others have said, speed won’t be an issue. I think you’ll be better off with the 2017 Kaby Lake for performance overall than going for the 2016 with 256 GB

Another thing to consider is that Macs hold their value really well (provided you look after them) so if for whatever reason you find it insufficient you can always sell and upgrade and probably not lose that much.

So the consensus seems to be get the 256 GB if you can but don’t worry about it if you can’t.

 

[Macalicious2011]

iCloud for iPhoto optimise for storage and makes capacity less of an issue than 5 years ago.

Given that the laptop is for light editing I wouldn’t worry.

 

[simonmet]

And there are always students who need something just for internet, email and writing.