Macbook Air 128gb or 256gb?

[vainflesh]

Hello, guys! I know there are a lot of topics like this one but none of the authors are going to use their macbook for the same purposes as me.
I am currently using a Windows 7 laptop and I've used only 30gb of its space (I've had it for 4 years).
I am going to use my macbook for
○ browsing the internet;
○ watching movies and tv series online;
○ listening to music online;
○ I may download pictures (500+), songs (50-100 maximum), a few movies and a season or two of a TV show;
○ I am not into games by the way and I don't edit any videos
But I think 128gb will be okay because I don't have that much money to spend on the 256gb if I don't really need this much space.
Thanks to all of you in advance!

 

[LoveToMacRumors]

Hello, guys! I know there are a lot of topics like this one but none of the authors are going to use their macbook for the same purposes as me.
I am currently using a Windows 7 laptop and I've used only 30gb of its space (I've had it for 4 years).
I am going to use my macbook for
○ browsing the internet;
○ watching movies and tv series online;
○ listening to music online;
○ I may download pictures (500+), songs (50-100 maximum), a few movies and a season or two of a TV show;
○ I am not into games by the way and I don't edit any videos
But I think 128gb will be okay because I don't have that much money to spend on the 256gb if I don't really need this much space.
Thanks to all of you in advance!

128GB is fine, never pay more for storage. You can get much cheaper storage everywhere else.

 

[Ulenspiegel]

128GB is fine, never pay more for storage. You can get much cheaper storage everywhere else.

+1. 128GB is enough for your needs. And you have still the external options.

 

[sracer]

As others have said, 128GB will be fine for your purposes. If you are getting a 13" MBA, then you have the option of purchasing a "flush" SD card adapter that can hold up to 128GB microSD cards for additional storage. Since the adapter does not protrude from the body of the MBA, it can remain "permanently" inserted.

I have a Sandisk Cruzer Nano 64GB USB drive permanently inserted into my 11" MBA (because it doesn't have an SD card slot). Works wonderfully.

 

[flowrider]

I disagree, as with other things in life, you can never have too much storage. If you can afford it, go for the 256MB.

Silly me, when I bought my MBA, I thought I could live with 64GB, and a 500 GB external for when I needed it. This was a HUGE Mistake on my part. I replaced the internal with a 500GB Transcend SSD and problem solved.

Lou.

 

[John marts]

after 5 months with this computer I am using 66-69% of my disk space based on what ram is being sent to the SSD. It sounds like I've used alot but its been at that storage for a few months. The only reason why I've used that much is because I have 2 games on it taking up about 25-30 gigs alone.

Honestly if you dont need games, and stream music, you dont really need the extra storage. Thats something I've been pretty surprised about because I almost regretted it at first.

I highly recommend iStat mini for the notification center. its a gauge that dsiplays HD space, CPU usage, and ram usage. I also hardly ever go past 60% ram usage with 4 gigs. Also, disk invetory X is useful for freeing up space.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I disagree, as with other things in life, you can never have too much storage. If you can afford it, go for the 256MB.

Silly me, when I bought my MBA, I thought I could live with 64GB, and a 500 GB external for when I needed it. This was a HUGE Mistake on my part. I replaced the internal with a 500GB Transcend SSD and problem solved.

Lou.

Agreed.

My first MBA - bought in 2010, which was a terrific computer - had 128 GB, and, after a few years, I realised that it wasn't really enough.

These days, I have over 80GB of music on my iTunes, and I wouldn't have less than 256GB in any laptop.

The more capacious drives tend to be faster, too.

 

[Mrbobb]

a season or two of a TV show

This is what going to take up the room.

If you got no dough, compromise with half a season.

Can always buy cheaper external flash, slower but good enough for what you use it for.

 

[jdechko]

after 5 months with this computer I am using 66-69% of my disk space based on what ram is being sent to the SSD. It sounds like I've used alot but its been at that storage for a few months. The only reason why I've used that much is because I have 2 games on it taking up about 25-30 gigs alone.

Honestly if you dont need games, and stream music, you dont really need the extra storage. Thats something I've been pretty surprised about because I almost regretted it at first.

I highly recommend iStat mini for the notification center. its a gauge that dsiplays HD space, CPU usage, and ram usage. I also hardly ever go past 60% ram usage with 4 gigs. Also, disk invetory X is useful for freeing up space.

Agreed.

My first MBA - bought in 2010, which was a terrific computer - had 128 GB, and, after a few years, I realised that it wasn't really enough.

These days, I have over 80GB of music on my iTunes, and I wouldn't have less than 256GB in any laptop.

The more capacious drives tend to be faster, too.

I'm not going to disagree with what you said, but I think it should be qualified that it seriously depends on your situation. Wireless internet is becoming more common, though not ubiquitous by any means. At the same time (or as a result), cloud solutions have also taken off. Streaming, cloud hosted files like iTunes Match, and cloud storage like Dropbox & gDrive mean that it's easier to access your data anywhere. It's like having your files with you without having your files with you.

For just a few bucks a month, I can have thousands of movies (Netflix), thousands (or millions of songs) iTunes/Match and 1TB of storage for more photos and documents than I know what to do with (Dropbox). All I need is a decent internet connection.

And that's only what we're capable of today. Look at fusion drive and Photos and extrapolate from there. When the network infrastructure supports it, what stops Apple from doing a fusion-type iCloud drive? Your OS, Applications and most frequently accessed documents live on a relatively small SSD. Everything else lives in iCloud, ready to be pulled down at a moments notice. It's all seamless to the user and only the super user cares about which files are actually on the device at any given time. Sure it sounds futuristic, but it's already happening with Photos.

 

[motrek]

I'm not going to disagree with what you said, but I think it should be qualified that it seriously depends on your situation. ...

Indeed. I have two Macs, both with 128GB drives, and they're both only half full. I don't feel like I need more space at all.

Every month or two I will archive infrequently-used files to a small external hard drive, which I rarely need to access.

If a friend offered to buy me a new laptop as a gift and was willing to get the 256GB upgrade, so that it wasn't even my own money, I would still decline. I don't need it at all and it would save them money.

 

[joshlalonde]

Get the best you can afford, I suppose. I'm glad you're thinking about storage rather than RAM. Seeing as Storage is more feasible.

 

[qcmacmini]

I bought a 128GB, and will eventually put in a 512GB SSD from eBay. That way I can keep the 512GB SSD and sell my MacBook with the original 128GB for maximum resale value.