MacBook Pro retina 128 GB, is it enough?

[Runnernorth]

Hi , my daughter needs to buy a new macbook, pro retina 13", she's going to the university, but what size hdd should she choose, the pricediff. is significant from 128gb to 256gb, isn't she better of with choosing the 128gb model, and spend the same amount on an usb 3.0 external hdd with more than x6 storage capacity?
What do other students choose, 128gb/256/512gb ?
Kindly
Jan

 

[Danando1993]

I faced this decision a couple of days ago and went with the 128gb model. I then spent the £60 gift card that you get with the student deal on a 1tb external hard drive from the apple website.

I couldn't really afford another £200 for an extra 128gb so went this the base model. It may depend on the course she is doing (lots of working with big files?/simple word documents?) and if she wants to carry an external hard drive around with her.

 

[sonicrobby]

It would depend on the files she will be using. I personally prefer to have more internal storage as it is less to carry around, so I would go with the 256GB one. But 128GB may suffice with her if she doesnt plan on keeping a lot of videos or large programs on the computer.

 

[capathy21]

128 should be fine. There are so many alternative storage options these days (cloud, external, flash) that for many, the extra 200 is hard to justify.

 

[Runnernorth]

I faced this decision a couple of days ago and went with the 128gb model. I then spent the £60 gift card that you get with the student deal on a 1tb external hard drive from the apple website.

I couldn't really afford another £200 for an extra 128gb so went this the base model. It may depend on the course she is doing (lots of working with big files?/simple word documents?) and if she wants to carry an external hard drive around with her.

It would depend on the files she will be using. I personally prefer to have more internal storage as it is less to carry around, so I would go with the 256GB one. But 128GB may suffice with her if she doesnt plan on keeping a lot of videos or large programs on the computer.

128 should be fine. There are so many alternative storage options these days (cloud, external, flash) that for many, the extra 200 is hard to justify.

Thx a lot, I'll advice her to go for the 128Gb

 

[jg321]

Just make sure you back everything up - including the stuff on the external drive that isn't also on the Mac!

 

[chlc]

I got the 128 mbp retina back in february and while it's great, 128GB is not enough. For me at least. I've got about 40gb of free space left. I bought a 500GB external hd, but I kind of realized I don't like carrying it around (it's really small and portable too i guess i'm just lazy) but I've just used it for my time machine backups that I try to do weekly.

When I've got ore $$ I plan to upgrade the internal HD. I think it is the only upgradeable part in the new mbp's

 

[Jeff Flowerday]

I
When I've got ore $$ I plan to upgrade the internal HD. I think it is the only upgradeable part in the new mbp's

No it isn't.

 

[mcmul]

128GB is more than enough. Avoid the Apple tax and save some money.

 

[anarti]

I've ordered 13rmbp with 128GB and 2.6ghc cpu. Have only maxed out the RAM to 16GB, just in case.

SSD will be be possible to upgrade later on this year when OWC releases new ssd for 2014 retina macbooks.

I wouldn't worry about it. It is always possible to buy it at later stage and it is easy to install it.

I will use my 13inch retina for lightroom and light office use. 128GB is more than enough.

 

[lcseds]

Check with Uni. Most have cloud storage space available to students. It would be a good idea to keep a backup of important files in the cloud at the school as well as on her computer. I hate using an external drive for extra storage on a portable.
That being said, 128 is really small. Especially if she is starting a four year program. 256 would be the wise choice as what might be enough today may not be in a year or two. With MP3 files, and smart phones taking very good video and hi res photos these days, her college "memories" will use up a good amount of storage.
Get 256GB. Get Applecare. Use the edu discount on both. Get a good carry bag. Have her check on the cloud storage. May be somewhat expensive at first, but will save money later.