Not enough storage or just being picky?

[CYB3RBYTE]

Hello!

I recently bought a new 13" MacBook Air as a primary laptop. It is the base 13" model with a 128GB SSD and 4GB of RAM. It is excellent, however I feel that I will run out of space quite quickly. I have thought about an external drive, but that is a large investment at the moment and I am conflicted about whether I need it or not. I have only had the Air for a week, and I have already wiped the drive and started over on it once (That screwed up my launchpad, as I liked having the included apps in the right places). Can someone help me make this treacherous decision?

PS- if anyone knows how to make your launchpad look exactly like it would when you take the machine out of the box, please tell me.

 

[Weaselboy]

Run these two command one after the other in Terminal and it will reset Launchpad to default sort order.

defaults write com.apple.dock ResetLaunchPad -bool true

killall Dock

 

[Panch0]

storage requirements are all about the way you use the device. Media, especially video, especially HD video will very quickly fill up your 128GB.

Virtual machines tend to use up a good bit of space as you allocate space for the guest OS and it's apps.

If you do a lot of browsing and streaming media/music, you're OK because you don't need that data locally - it all comes from the cloud. If you don't have a WiFi connection available at all times that you need to use your MBA, then you may get into trouble.

OS X and a good selection of apps will very easily fit within 128GB - it's your media and data that will will things up.

I use a MicroSD card in my 13" MBA to store my iTunes music library and a couple of movies. That may help with the space crunch.

 

[capathy21]

Are you asking if you should exchange it for the 256 ssd model? If you think you need it and you have the extra funds, go ahead and exchange.

 

[macs4nw]

Hello!

I recently bought a new 13" MacBook Air as a primary laptop. It is the base 13" model with a 128GB SSD and 4GB of RAM. It is excellent, however I feel that I will run out of space quite quickly. I have thought about an external drive, but that is a large investment at the moment and I am conflicted about whether I need it or not. I have only had the Air for a week, and I have already wiped the drive and started over on it once (That screwed up my launchpad, as I liked having the included apps in the right places). Can someone help me make this treacherous decision?

PS- if anyone knows how to make your launchpad look exactly like it would when you take the machine out of the box, please tell me.

If after only a week you're already having doubts about enough storage, I'd say head back to the Apple Store and get your refund, while you still can.

Keep in mind moving up to 256GB of storage will set you back $200, in the same ball park roughly what a decent USB3 or Thunderbolt external drive will set you back, to augment that 128GB of internal storage you now have.

I would seriously consider taking that refund and taking a look in the refurb store where the base 13" you have, goes for $799, which is $200 less than the AppleStore's $999. The upgraded 256GB model goes for $979, which is less than what you paid for that nice shiny new shipping box, which you'll have to forego in the refurb store.
The one thing you'll have to give up is that .1GHz of processor clock speed (the base Airs were clock speed-bumped from 1.3 to 1.4GHz last April, although these newer units too are already available in the refurb store, at slightly higher cost), but it's unlikely you'll notice the difference in day-to-day use.

I'd highly recommend you consider the above lower-priced alternative. Apple gives you the same one year warranty, and you can also purchase AppleCare if you wish. The units are refurbished by Apple, as well as thoroughly checked, and come with the same return privileges. With most units you'll be hard-pressed to tell the difference.

You have nothing to lose really. Good Luck!

Edit: Just noticed there's a 512GB unit in there at $1229, which is $230 above your 128GB unit, but $270 below it's regular new $1499 cost. Think of it as an extra 384GB of PCIe internal Flash for $230.

 

[CYB3RBYTE]

Thanks for all the input on this issue guys! I think I am going to just have to get a external drive when the time comes. However I still cannot figure out what is taking up an extra 20GB of space. The only thing I could think of is Portal 2, and that only uses 6.6 GB. Any ideas?

 

[Mrbobb]

External drives don't cost that much unless you buy those "Apple Approved" like Lacie. Any Costco USB3 will do just fine as long as u don't mind the extra bulk.

 

[mlody]

Thanks for all the input on this issue guys! I think I am going to just have to get a external drive when the time comes. However I still cannot figure out what is taking up an extra 20GB of space. The only thing I could think of is Portal 2, and that only uses 6.6 GB. Any ideas?

Think of other as anything that does not fit into any of the 5 basics categories such system files, downloaded files, virtual machine files etc.

 

[CYB3RBYTE]

Huh... I would have thought that the system files would be under apps. I think I am going to buy a WD my passport for Mac. Any one have recommendations?

 

[Weaselboy]

Think of other as anything that does not fit into any of the 5 basics categories such system files, downloaded files, virtual machine files etc.

Huh... I would have thought that the system files would be under apps. I think I am going to buy a WD my passport for Mac. Any one have recommendations?

Nope... mlody is right on target. Other is everything that does not fit into one of the other categories, like the OS itself. 20GB is about right. You are fine.

The WD My Passport is just fine, but you don't need to "Mac" version. Just get whichever one is cheapest and format it to Mac Os Extended in Disk Utility and it will work.

 

[sracer]

If you're still in doubt as to where the storage is being used, I recommend this free tool: Disk Inventory X (it is essentially the OSX version of WinDirStat)

You didn't mention how much additional storage you'd need. If an additional 64GB would be helpful, then I'd recommend getting a 64GB microSD card and a custom short SD card adapter that is designed to be inserted into the MBA so that it is flush with the body and can remain inserted without fear of breaking or snagging on anything.

I have a 128GB 11" MBA (doesn't have an SD card slot) and use a 64GB Sandisk Cruzer Fit USB "nub" to supplement the onboard storage. So that might be an option as well.

 

[Beachguy]

Not enough space or being picky? Honestly, in my own experience, a little of both, but that's okay because it is YOUR hard earned money that has been spent.

I bought my 2011 MBA intentionally where it would be tight because I tend to be a "collector" and use up a lot of space. Since I use my MBA for work, I wanted to make sure it was kept lean- fit and trim. (SSD pun there...)

I have a Windows 7 VM I use occasionally and still have enough space to meet my needs. If I have the desire, I also have a 128GB SnaDisk SD card, and 2 32GB USB drives. I like that because I can easily remove them if I need the ports but I can also get plenty of storage, especially since I share a lot of stuff with my Windows machines (so I have Tuxera's NTFS drivers installed.)

Whatever you decide, I hope your brings you as much pleasure as mine brings me. The MBA is a really sweet little unit. I have two MBPs, and the only thing I like better with them is the larger screen (15" on those two.) I love them, but the MBA is such a nice unit...

 

[CYB3RBYTE]

To be honest, I am a little bit picky. I have always been used to 200GB drives, but before that I was used to 40+ GB drives. Things just take up much more space with these newer programs, and that's to be expected. I saved up for this machine over the summer and I could not be happier with it so far.

I don't do a whole lot that requires a ton of space. I am a light gamer, so having that extra space was kind of nice. But like Beachguy said, I now have a reason to not fling my files all over the place, and instead keep my machine nice and clean.

Last night I found a WD My Passport for Mac 500GB drive on Ebay for 42.00 USD with free shipping. I would have just bought a regular non-mac edition of the drive, but they were more expensive than the Mac version (for the first time ever, a Mac version is less expensive).

I will post my experiences with this drive as soon as it arrives, which is most likely Friday.

 

[CYB3RBYTE]

The Hard Drive came last night, and let me tell you it is FAST. I formatted it to NTFS so I can use it with Windows computers if need be. So far it has worked great, so if you need an external drive for your MacBook Air, this a great and cheap one to get.

 

[poiihy]

Thanks for all the input on this issue guys! I think I am going to just have to get a external drive when the time comes. However I still cannot figure out what is taking up an extra 20GB of space. The only thing I could think of is Portal 2, and that only uses 6.6 GB. Any ideas?

The operating system itself.

 

[motrek]

The operating system itself.

Download a copy of Disk Inventory X and that will show you which files/folders/etc. are taking up the most space.

The display in "About This Mac" of what's taking up your storage space is way too simplistic. Those 4-5 color coded sections seem like they would only be useful to very small children.

 

[AppleDApp]

Huh... I would have thought that the system files would be under apps. I think I am going to buy a WD my passport for Mac. Any one have recommendations?

Buy the cheapest USB 3.0 drive that has the capacity you want. Amazon has a 1TB Seagate drive for 65$.

 

[Dweez]

The Hard Drive came last night, and let me tell you it is FAST. I formatted it to NTFS so I can use it with Windows computers if need be. So far it has worked great, so if you need an external drive for your MacBook Air, this a great and cheap one to get.

Great - glad to hear. If it were my drive, I'd format it as ExFAT so your MBA can write to it. NTFS is read only for OSX without using a 3rd party driver.

I've got a handful of externals for use with my macs & a windows box, all except a few are ExFAT formatted. The others are used for making bootable Carbon Copy Cloner backups of our macs.

My 13" MBA is the 512 gig model which runs about 65-75% full most of the time. I also utilize a 128 gig PNY StorEdge SD card for "entertainment media" which I use while traveling.