Question about Macbook Pro using Samsung T5

[lllfyc]

I am looking to buy Macbook Pro 15" but since I am on budget, if I get 256 and using T5 as external storage, when I am doing work like importing photos to mac using Photo app, if 256 is full, will it automatically backup using the T5 ?

Or any way to make MacOS automatically recognize the external drive as part of the default drive?

any suggestion/ idea will be welcome.

 

[poorcody]

One thing to keep in mind regarding an external T5 vs the internal SSD, is that the internal will be in the neighborhood of five times faster (~2500 MBs vs ~500 Mbs). Something to factor in when considering Apple's upgrade pricing...

To answer your first question, I don't think you can make Photos fall-over to an external drive when the main one is full. You could just put all your photos on the external, or create two photo libraries. See:

https://www.imore.com/how-use-photos-mac-external-hard-drive

Not sure about second question.... [EDIT: See Post #7 below]

 

[Sterkenburg]

There is no way to create a "shared" Photos library on different drives, nor to merge the external drive with the system one, afaik. You can, for example, include both in the same "global" Time Machine backup (the external will obviously be backed up only when mounted), but they'll still be recognized as separate drives.

You have two options for your pics:
- Split your libraries and create a new one on the external drive (hold Option when you open Photos to switch library)
- Move all your photos to the external storage (I ended up doing this)

Yes, the internal drive will be much faster technically (it's pretty much the fastest on the market), but I personally think such a difference is significant only if you use the disk as a system drive (i.e. if you load the OS and applications from it). If you wish to store and edit photos, the T5 is perfectly adequate and a great bang for the buck.

 

[maflynn]

if 256 is full, will it automatically backup using the T5 ?

No the OS will not automatically start using any other connected storage if the internal storage fills up (if I understand your question). Instead I propose that use the external drive as your library for your images. That's what I'm going to do, as my internal storage is 256GB, but my Lightroom catalog and images are in excess of 400GB and I'll be repurposing my T3 drive. The good news there is since the catalog and images are on the external drive. I can use LR on my iMac or MBP and it will be using the same centralized data (as long as I plug it into the proper computer )

Yes, the internal drive will be much faster technically

No question but these external SSDs are pretty darn fast. I was running my iMac off of a T3 SSD and the speed was amazing. I don't think the human eye can really notice the performance that much and so the OP will be fine.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

You can keep your photo library on an external drive (t5 or anything else), but remember that you'll always have to connect the drive in order to access the library.

The OS will not "recognize the external drive as part of the default drive".
It will mount in the finder on the desktop.

You'll then have TWO drives to manage.
There's nothing scary about this.
You'll get used to it quickly.

If you use Photos (or anything else) and designate the external drive library as your "default" library, once you have the drive mounted on the desktop, Photos should "find" and open it without further prompting.

You might consider creating TWO photo libraries:
- one (containing everything) on the external drive.
- two (a "trimmed down" library containing your best images) on the internal drive.

 

[csurfr]

I'll be repurposing my T3 drive.

What usb-c cable are
You using with the T3? Or are you using the supplied usb-a cable with an adapter?

I simply cannot find a super short usb-c cable that runs above 2.0 speeds, and Samsung refuses to sell the usb-c cable that comes with the T5.

 

[poorcody]

Or any way to make MacOS automatically recognize the external drive as part of the default drive?

I was curious about this, so did a little research. Apparently you can setup drive "spanning" to accomplish this. Check out this article:

https://lifehacker.com/5986883/how-...to-one-volume-for-cheap-high-capacity-storage

EDIT: On second thought, this might not work with the startup disk as one of the set...

https://support.apple.com/guide/dis...reating-disk-sets-dskufd8dce72/16.0/mac/10.13

 

[maflynn]

Apparently you can setup drive "spanning" to accomplish thi

You can create a fusion drive consisting of an internal and external drive but for laptops I don't recommend that simply because if you forget the external drive, you're SOL

 

[SDColorado]

You can create a fusion drive consisting of an internal and external drive but for laptops I don't recommend that simply because if you forget the external drive, you're SOL

That could be a problem. I also wonder what kind of mess it could create if you or someone else accidentally bumps the drive/cable and you get one of those (Disk Not Ejected Properly) errors. I would imagine that could lead to some data corruption?

 

[maflynn]

That could be a problem. I also wonder what kind of mess it could create if you or someone else accidentally bumps the drive/cable and you get one of those (Disk Not Ejected Properly) errors. I would imagine that could lead to some data corruption?

Indeed, or even if the OS crashes. I saw a disk not properly ejected message once, and I wasn't doing anything.