I currently have a 2017 iMac and plan to upgrade, most likely to a MacBook Air. I’m concerned about the amount of photos I’ve got (3.6GB) and music (27 GB) with it taking up too much space. Is there any risk relying only on storing all these online or should I have a backup plan.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Online storage of photos and music.
- Thread starter Coxfo
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You have a very small amount of photos and videos (30.6 GB in total), so you should've be concerned about them taking too much space.
To migrate to a new Mac, you'll need to use Time Machine. For this you just need a 64GB (to be safe) USB stick or an external SSD. After you migrate, you can then use the USB drive or the SSD to back up your stuff every 6 months or so.
An alternative option is to pay £1 a month for 50GB on the iCloud. We are, for example, paying £8 a month for the 2TB option, as my wife needs it professionally, and I'm just piggy-backing off her allowance. This way you don't need to worry about backups (people will argue with that, but we don't worry at least). Also you don't need Time Machine to migrate to the new computer.
The choice is yours, really. There is no right or wrong answer here.
I am using BOX with free 50GB of storage... works brilliantly and is accessible from everywhere.... as backup or storage unbeatable (free) - everything else Google Dropbox or others are about 5-10-15GB free, afterwards than £££, best would be iCloud paid, but that cost money....
You could use external storage and avoid monthly recurring fees. You'd want two external storage devices as you need to ensure you have a second one as backup for the first. Time Machine would let you backup your MacBook and first External Storage to the second External Storage, just ensure you have space. If you have 1 x external SSD of 512GB and a MacBook Air with 512GB, then you want at least 1TB of external SSD or HDD for your backup.
I'd use HDD for the backup drive. Much cheaper and it's backup so performance is not a significant issue.
I'd use HDD for the backup drive. Much cheaper and it's backup so performance is not a significant issue.
First of all, I don't rely on Apple's proprietary apps (Music, TV, Photos) to store / use the appropriate files - precisely so that I can back them up to whatever media source I like.
As noted by Andrey84, you don't have a lot to store, so I wouldn't be too worried about the footprint on your new Air, but always worth backing up to outside sources, too. There's plenty of cloud storage options - a couple noted above - but as always with that, you're relying on the vagaries of the internet and the company involved. Even a temporary problem with either of those, and you may lose access to your files for a time. Or a company changes the storage / cost on you.
While I use some online storage options, for the most part I do backups to local sources. For example, I have a portable SSD set up as my Time Machine, and another set up as simply a Backup (Documents, Movies, Music, Pictures, Software Install Files). I also - once a month - refresh backups on a USB drive I have. And certainly your 30GB (and growing) files could easily live on most of those for very little financial outlay.
As noted by Andrey84, you don't have a lot to store, so I wouldn't be too worried about the footprint on your new Air, but always worth backing up to outside sources, too. There's plenty of cloud storage options - a couple noted above - but as always with that, you're relying on the vagaries of the internet and the company involved. Even a temporary problem with either of those, and you may lose access to your files for a time. Or a company changes the storage / cost on you.
While I use some online storage options, for the most part I do backups to local sources. For example, I have a portable SSD set up as my Time Machine, and another set up as simply a Backup (Documents, Movies, Music, Pictures, Software Install Files). I also - once a month - refresh backups on a USB drive I have. And certainly your 30GB (and growing) files could easily live on most of those for very little financial outlay.
Get you an external SSD and use it for some of your storage. They are fast and cheap and great for backing up.