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How much space will I have on a 512GB flash drive?

bluedoggiant

bluedoggiant

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 13, 2007
2,658
102
MD & ATL,GA
I really wanted a ~700GB option, and 1TB may be too much, so in the effort of saving money on this already ludicrously priced laptop I may reconsider and purchase a 512GB one. My question is, how much space will I have on it, after formatting and the OS installed with one user account on it? About 480GB? An estimate will do. Thank you!
 
My disk usage on 500GB Samsung SSD

PHP: 
$ df -h
Filesystem    Size   Used  Avail Capacity   iused     ifree %iused  Mounted on
/dev/disk0s2 316Gi  207Gi  108Gi    66%  54414194  28410048   66%   /

/Applications$ du -sh
 30G	.

/Users$ du -sh
129G	.

These numbers are from my current Macbook Pro. It has a 500GB Samsung 840 SSD in it. Windows uses 160GB of it. This is a pretty big install, with all of Adobe Creative Suite installed, along with a lot of user files, so your install will most likely be much smaller.
 
phsphoenix said:
PHP: 
$ df -h
Filesystem    Size   Used  Avail Capacity   iused     ifree %iused  Mounted on
/dev/disk0s2 316Gi  207Gi  108Gi    66%  54414194  28410048   66%   /

/Applications$ du -sh
 30G	.

/Users$ du -sh
129G	.

These numbers are from my current Macbook Pro. It has a 500GB Samsung 840 SSD in it. Windows uses 160GB of it. This is a pretty big install, with all of Adobe Creative Suite installed, along with a lot of user files, so your install will most likely be much smaller.
Click to expand...

Why is your Windows using that much space? I think mine is only using ~50 gigs.
 
768 option would have been perfect... but $500 for 1TB seems a bit much... OP what will you get?
 
Starfyre said:
768 option would have been perfect... but $500 for 1TB seems a bit much... OP what will you get?
Click to expand...

I mean I am still thinking about it. 768 would have been perfect I agree, but I am trying to save money so I am trying to see if I can do with 512GB.


Would it be around 490GB free after OS X is installed?
 
I understand iLife and iWork take up about 20GB of space. Would that mean a new 512GB SSD have about 470GB free once its set up?
 
bluedoggiant said:
I understand iLife and iWork take up about 20GB of space. Would that mean a new 512GB SSD have about 470GB free once its set up?
Click to expand...

An external drive is rather inexpensive and quite easy to carry. Have you considered that as an option?
 
snaky69 said:
An external drive is rather inexpensive and quite easy to carry. Have you considered that as an option?
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I'm considering because I want a 1TB drive, but its too expensive and I want to make sure the 512GB will satisfy my minimum needs for data I want to have right on the computer.
 
bluedoggiant said:
That's exactly what I'm considering because I want a 1TB drive, but its too expensive and I want to make sure the 512GB will satisfy my minimum needs for data I want to have right on the computer.
Click to expand...

Although I opted for the 1TB, I agree with the other poster. You can get a 1TB external portable drive for about $76 or a 2TB for $140. I think there are cheaper options though as these are labelled 'for Mac'.

I have an external drive at home (formatted for PC), but chose to max out ssd on mbp because I travel a lot and one more thing to carry is weight I would rather avoid.
 
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bluedoggiant said:
and I want to make sure the 512GB will satisfy my minimum needs for data I want to have right on the computer.
Click to expand...
After 16 posts I can't take it anymore...

What exactly will you be using your mac for? Do you own a computer? If so, what size is the drive and how much free space is left right now?

Help us help you.
 
Krazy Bill said:
After 16 posts I can't take it anymore...

What exactly will you be using your mac for? Do you own a computer? If so, what size is the drive and how much free space is left right now?

Help us help you.
Click to expand...

Haha I'm sorry but all I'm asking is the amount of free space I will get with the 512GB SSD, because I know I won't be getting 512GB all to myself, space will be taken away by the OS and "default" apps.

That other information is for me to know but if you must I have about 250GB of data give or take. I just want to make sure I will have at least 150GB free if I get the 512GB drive.

I am away from my main computer (my iMac) which is 500GB and I am unsure how much free space I have on that (it's 500 miles away).
 
bluedoggiant said:
That other information is for me to know
Click to expand...

Well, you started out by only asking how much space the OS will take up. Then, down the line you threw in iLife and iWork into the equation. Anything else?

Just wanted to give you an opportunity to get it all out on the table.
 
Krazy Bill said:
After 16 posts I can't take it anymore...

What exactly will you be using your mac for? Do you own a computer? If so, what size is the drive and how much free space is left right now?

Help us help you.
Click to expand...

Krazy Bill said:
Well, you started out by only asking how much space the OS will take up. Then, down the line you threw in iLife and iWork into the equation. Anything else?

Just wanted to give you an opportunity to get it all out on the table.
Click to expand...

Haha Bill! You're like LET ME KNOW HOW TO HELP YOU. I WILL FORCE IT OUT OF YOU.

Damn it, I want to help SO HELP ME HELP YOU.

Lol
 
Scott7975 said:
Why is your Windows using that much space? I think mine is only using ~50 gigs.
Click to expand...

It's a full workstation install with Adobe CS, Office Professional and a lot of other apps.

Also, I'm a bit worried about the 512GB. I have to run virtual machines as part of some of the stuff I do for work. Each Windows virtual machine takes up 14-20GB, and I need 4-6 of them...
 
Last edited:
I have the 512 gb 13 inch. Out of the box, about 490 gb and some change was useable. I don't have exact figures since I have already loaded quite a few of my apps.
 
phsphoenix said:
It's a full workstation install with Adobe CS, Office Professional and a lot of other apps.

Also, I'm a bit worried about the 512GB. I have to run virtual machines as part of some of the stuff I do for work. Each Windows virtual machine takes up 14-20GB, and I need 4-6 of them...
Click to expand...

Oh I see. I thought you were saying that JUST windows was using that much. With all you need, you might want to go with a 1TB. Maybe you could consider a very fast usb external.
 
Scott7975 said:
Oh I see. I thought you were saying that JUST windows was using that much. With all you need, you might want to go with a 1TB. Maybe you could consider a very fast usb external.
Click to expand...

I actually did consider the 1TB option for around 5 min, but I believe it's really too expensive. I'll look around for some kind of virtual storage if I need it to store my virtual machines. That seems to be the most cost-effective solution.
 
My system loaded down with all apps, creative suite, office, 9 gbs of music and a fairly good amount of apps , I'm around 95 gb of used space before we get into any files that I add. So in essence around 390 left on my Samsung 840 pro 512gb drive. I think the OS alone is around 70 gb on my machine . 512 should be plenty but . I'm in the same boat deciding but my decision is not space related but sped related the 512 flash drive the reads/writes are around 700 and the 1tb is closing in close to 1000 reads / writes. Question to myself is it worth the 500 dollars for those speeds. Sure having the extra data is nice on the OS but I have a ton of backup stuff going.
 
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