Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Pay for 512GB SSD or external 1TB SSD? Photo editing workflow.

H

helix21

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 25, 2009
296
57
Buying a 2019 iMac - I am getting the 256GB SSD upgrade. I cost of going from 256 -> 512GB is £160. I can buy a thunderbolt 3 SSD on amazon for £90 for 512GB, and £160 for 1TB.

One big thing I want to do with this iMac is a lot of photo editing utilising Photos app (which I understand can all be stored externally) and a fair amount of video editing.

I don't mind spending the £160 to go 512GB internal if it is far superior, but the way I see it I may get more bang for my buck using an external USB-C SDD?
 
I am also buying one iMac for photography. I choose 512 GB SSD.

The SSD Apple uses in iMac is Samsung's PCIe NVMe SSD. The retail price for 512 GB is about 200$, so it is not that ripping-off and it is definitely having an edge over external SSD.

I think it is worth throwing extra 200$ to get the 512 GB to save the hassle on those external storage configuration.

Another point is that your iMac resale value would be hurt if you go with 256 GB. Few people would like to consider such configuration combo. It means your iMac is hard to resell once you want to upgrade.

Honestly speaking, I think if you want to consider cost-effective so serious, you probably should not get an iMac since you have already paid a huge chunk of brand premium to Apple.
 
adamk77 said:
Are you sure it's a Thunderbolt 3 SSD and not USB 3.1 Gen 2? If it's USB 3.1 Gen 2, you'll only get around 500-550 MB/s from it. The internal ones are about 4x faster. I have the 1TB Samsung X5 which is a Thunderbolt 3 SSD and I paid $500 USD for it. The speed is similar to the internal.
Click to expand...


The SSDs may be substantially slower, sure, but so is the price difference. Beyond a certain point storage speed-boosts grow increasingly diminishing in terms of percieved difference. The photo workflow would likely be percievably identical, and the video workflow would depende heavily on codec and other software variance. But splitting system and work data also nets a performance benefit for video, especially in certain apps like Premiere (less so in Final Cut and DaVinci). If your storage is fast enough anyway it doesn't really matter, but if the NLE is trying to use the storage for operations intermediate system operations having two drives could net parallel operations.

In the end, it's a cost-benefit evaluation, not a clear cut answer. The internal SSD is undoubtably faster than what the OP has considered externally, but also carries a heftier price, and if the faster drive nets no real world benefit, more storage for less is a good deal
 
512GB NVME internal for apps, catalogs & 1:1 previews, and 4TB 2.5" SSD externally in JBOD (well my enclosure is dual bay).
 
  • Like
Reactions: BlueTide
mikzn said:
I would not buy a Mac of any kind without 512g storage minimum - that is without considering Photo storage and management. Video is even more reason to go with the 512g - IMHO
Click to expand...

I am in similar shoes as the OP. I can only afford a 256 Gb SSD upcharge. However, I do not do video or photo editing.

Why is 512 Gb minimum optimal for just OS and apps? I ask because I calculated on my current usage that this takes up about 120 Gb at best.

Thanks
 
Larger SSDs are faster and more durable. I'm still very happy with my late 2015 27" with 256GB, which was all I could afford at the time. Now I have three 1TB external SSDs on USB 3. I can boot from any of them; the internal boots in 29 seconds and the externals in 55 seconds.
I do Photoshop, desktop publishing, web production, a very little video.
 
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Fishrrman said:
For photo editing an external USB3 SSD will do just fine.

You might consider a USB3.1 gen2 enclosure, like this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N48N5GR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

... and then put an nvme blade SSD into it.

Doing this will give you roughly "double the speed" of an off-the-shelf USB3.1 gen1 drive, for not much more cost.
Click to expand...

Wouldn’t this be roughly the price as the enclosure and nvme ssd, and give you better performance if you have a TB 3 port?

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB3ENVP10/
 
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
helix21 said:
Buying a 2019 iMac - I am getting the 256GB SSD upgrade. I cost of going from 256 -> 512GB is £160. I can buy a thunderbolt 3 SSD on amazon for £90 for 512GB, and £160 for 1TB.

One big thing I want to do with this iMac is a lot of photo editing utilising Photos app (which I understand can all be stored externally) and a fair amount of video editing.

I don't mind spending the £160 to go 512GB internal if it is far superior, but the way I see it I may get more bang for my buck using an external USB-C SDD?
Click to expand...

I've been using the 256gb SSD in my iMac for the past 5 years, mostly for photography, and most of that Lightroom. I will *definitely* upgrade this 512gb in my new one, soon.

Two reasons: it's been painful keeping enough free space for the Adobe scratch disks (deleting previews more than I'd have preferred), and I've had to offload everything that wasn't nailed down (to the internal drive) to an external drive. I've recently begun using Photoshop, Nik Collection, and Lumenzia, with Topaz Studios coming soon. I do think the 512gb will be fine for my new one. Plus multiple external drives, of course.

Also, to save money, I'll get the 8GB memory RAM, and then do the 32gb upgrade for about the same price as Apple's from 8->16 price delta — per the video here on MacRumors.

One question: is there an adapter for the FW 800 drives with the new USB-C's? These drives will need replacing soon, but I'd rather run them to the end. (I keep backups using Backblaze & Time Machine) TIA
 
waldo647 said:
I've been using the 256gb SSD in my iMac for the past 5 years, mostly for photography, and most of that Lightroom. I will *definitely* upgrade this 512gb in my new one, soon.

Two reasons: it's been painful keeping enough free space for the Adobe scratch disks (deleting previews more than I'd have preferred), and I've had to offload everything that wasn't nailed down (to the internal drive) to an external drive. I've recently begun using Photoshop, Nik Collection, and Lumenzia, with Topaz Studios coming soon. I do think the 512gb will be fine for my new one. Plus multiple external drives, of course.

Also, to save money, I'll get the 8GB memory RAM, and then do the 32gb upgrade for about the same price as Apple's from 8->16 price delta — per the video here on MacRumors.

One question: is there an adapter for the FW 800 drives with the new USB-C's? These drives will need replacing soon, but I'd rather run them to the end. (I keep backups using Backblaze & Time Machine) TIA
Click to expand...

There is Apple official FW to thunderbolt 3 adapter and I think there are few in aftermarket. I would agree on RAM. That is really the place Apple rips you off.
 
mikey8811 said:
I am in similar shoes as the OP. I can only afford a 256 Gb SSD upcharge. However, I do not do video or photo editing.
Why is 512 Gb minimum optimal for just OS and apps? I ask because I calculated on my current usage that this takes up about 120 Gb at best.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Mostly because 256g is just not enough for an internal SSD IMHO - I keep my drive at least 30% free and prefer it to be considerably less than "70% used" to make it more efficient and allow space for the drive to work properly - keeping a 256g drive at less than "70% used" ends up at around 180g of storage

Mojave install seems to take about 80g for the 10.4 system ( at least for me)

My User library folder ( users < library) is currently 95g - that is from iPhone / iPad back ups, outlook / mail data files, and other software that stores data in the user library folder - this will vary depending on each persons use (and applications) but it's safe to say over the life of the computer it will grow and require a significant amount of space for application support and data - all for data that is stored in an invisible directory (out of sight = out of mind)

Cloud Sync and Storage - iCloud drive, drop box, One Drive and such all need space for storing some files locally, if not all the files on each cloud service

Local Media Storage - I don't store any media files on my internal SSD - but if there is any need to store locally any music, videos, pictures and other documents such as PDF's - this might be a consideration and calculated into the equation?

There are other reasons like adding / upgrading a MAC storage is getting more and more difficult if not impossible for everyday users, and selling a MAC with a low amount of storage will not have as much value. So when buying SSD storage and RAM / memory it is best to err on the high side if possible at least IMHO
 
dcp wrote:
"Wouldn’t this be roughly the price as the enclosure and nvme ssd, and give you better performance if you have a TB 3 port?"

I reckon it would amount to about HALF the cost, or even less.
 
mikzn said:
Mojave install seems to take about 80g for the 10.4 system ( at least for me)
Click to expand...

That seems like quite a lot. the website says 18.5 Gb if upgrading from Yosemite or earlier.

If anyone with one of the 2019 iMac's would care to chime in, how much space does Mojave itself take up?
 
Fishrrman said:
dcp wrote:
"Wouldn’t this be roughly the price as the enclosure and nvme ssd, and give you better performance if you have a TB 3 port?"

I reckon it would amount to about HALF the cost, or even less.
Click to expand...

But would be limited to 10Gbps instead of 40Gbps, no?

Still, your solution would probably be fast enough....can you give me a recommendation for that lower cost NVME SSD that would fit into your enclosure and also work with Mac? Thanks!
 
mikey8811 said:
I am in similar shoes as the OP. I can only afford a 256 Gb SSD upcharge. However, I do not do video or photo editing.

Why is 512 Gb minimum optimal for just OS and apps? I ask because I calculated on my current usage that this takes up about 120 Gb at best.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Only on the internet is that true. Buy what works for you, ignore noise like that.
 
helix21 said:
Buying a 2019 iMac - I am getting the 256GB SSD upgrade. I cost of going from 256 -> 512GB is £160. I can buy a thunderbolt 3 SSD on amazon for £90 for 512GB, and £160 for 1TB.

One big thing I want to do with this iMac is a lot of photo editing utilising Photos app (which I understand can all be stored externally) and a fair amount of video editing.

I don't mind spending the £160 to go 512GB internal if it is far superior, but the way I see it I may get more bang for my buck using an external USB-C SDD?
Click to expand...
512.

You can always hang drives off it if needed, either TB 3 SSD or just USB 3. There is no way to duplicate the internal SSD speed on one of the newer iMacs.
[doublepost=1555776125][/doublepost]
Fishrrman said:
For photo editing an external USB3 SSD will do just fine.

You might consider a USB3.1 gen2 enclosure, like this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N48N5GR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

... and then put an nvme blade SSD into it.

Doing this will give you roughly "double the speed" of an off-the-shelf USB3.1 gen1 drive, for not much more cost.
Click to expand...
That's an interesting looking enclosure.
 
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Thanks everyone for your view, they have been really useful to read.

In the end, I have decided that since I am already spending £1700 on this machine, it only makes sense to also go for the 512GB internal SSD. This computer is an investment for a while, and I think I will regret not getting the upgrade more later on.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SpecFoto and BlueTide
adamk77 said:
Are you sure it's a Thunderbolt 3 SSD and not USB 3.1 Gen 2? If it's USB 3.1 Gen 2, you'll only get around 500-550 MB/s from it. The internal ones are about 4x faster. I have the 1TB Samsung X5 which is a Thunderbolt 3 SSD and I paid $500 USD for it. The speed is similar to the internal.
Click to expand...

With USB 3.1 Gen 2 and NVME you can get close to 1000 MB/s if SATA is not part of the controller.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back