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rMBP users: how do you make it with such little storage?

palmerc2

palmerc2

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 29, 2008
1,625
687
Los Angeles
I think the retina MBP is a gorgeous machine, but how do you folks deal with such little storage? My iTunes music library is 150GB alone (however I do rip all my music in lossless), my iMac has a 750GB HDD and I'm constantly having to move things to an external.

I'm in the market for a MBP, but as of right now I'm solely considering the cMBP so I can do an SSD + HDD setup (256GB SSD and 1TB HDD). I don't have a problem carrying an external drive around for stuff I hardly access (movies, large files, etc), but having to plug in an external to listen to music, or access photos seems impractical.

I really won't be stationary that much which is why I'd need more internal storage.
 
You could consider getting a NAS so you can wirelessly access all your data when at home (and also in the go if setup properly, though don't ask me how to do that :p).
 
palmerc2 said:
I think the retina MBP is a gorgeous machine, but how do you folks deal with such little storage? My iTunes music library is 150GB alone (however I do rip all my music in lossless), my iMac has a 750GB HDD and I'm constantly having to move things to an external.

I'm in the market for a MBP, but as of right now I'm solely considering the cMBP so I can do an SSD + HDD setup (256GB SSD and 1TB HDD). I don't have a problem carrying an external drive around for stuff I hardly access (movies, large files, etc), but having to plug in an external to listen to music, or access photos seems impractical.

I really won't be stationary that much which is why I'd need more internal storage.
Click to expand...

I totally know how you feel about 'such little storage'. When I got my MacBook (specs in sig) OEM it came with a 120 GB HDD. I eventually maxed it out to a 500 GB, and it's still chugging along fine to this day. I'm also in the market for an MBP (99.999% sure I'm going to get the $1779 base refurb rMBP) and it'll come with the 256 GB SSD. Though, I do plan on getting this to somewhat alleviate the 'little storage' issue:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Aura_Pro_Retina_2012

That kit comes with an enclosure for the OEM SSD, and I'd have a nice and fast external SSD for stuff, like for example, a theoretical iTunes library. :)
 
I don't have many apps, and I do a lot of video editing. I use an external pocket hard drive to store all of my data because I am using about 500GB so far for Final Cut alone.
 
Cergman said:
I don't have many apps, and I do a lot of video editing. I use an external pocket hard drive to store all of my data because I am using about 500GB so far for Final Cut alone.
Click to expand...

Yeah there's that too. I do some occasional video projects (using Adobe Premiere Pro CS6, though when I get my rMBP I'd like to give FCP X a shot).

Where there's a will there's a way.
 
palmerc2 said:
I think the retina MBP is a gorgeous machine, but how do you folks deal with such little storage? My iTunes music library is 150GB alone (however I do rip all my music in lossless), my iMac has a 750GB HDD and I'm constantly having to move things to an external.

I'm in the market for a MBP, but as of right now I'm solely considering the cMBP so I can do an SSD + HDD setup (256GB SSD and 1TB HDD). I don't have a problem carrying an external drive around for stuff I hardly access (movies, large files, etc), but having to plug in an external to listen to music, or access photos seems impractical.

I really won't be stationary that much which is why I'd need more internal storage.
Click to expand...

I don't have storage issues with my rMBP, but still have a 64GB microSDXC card (and I'll get 128GB once they become available). That's a very convenient way to store media library (mostly music). I also have external SSD for my VM images (100GB and growing) just because I want to use them on my Air as well.
 
Hellhammer said:
You could consider getting a NAS so you can wirelessly access all your data when at home (and also in the go if setup properly, though don't ask me how to do that :p).
Click to expand...

I have considered that already, as I have a top of the line ASUS router which can be made into my own personal cloud storage. The only problem is I travel nearly every week and I'm not always connected to the Internet, and when I am it's not exactly the fastest :(

Hmmm, I just thought of this....what if I got an airport express and made my own little personal cloud when I'm in my hotel room? Just plug the airport express into the wall, and plug an external HDD into it. But what if I want to also use the Internet on it? Anyone try this? Is it possible?
 
palmerc2 said:
I have considered that already, as I have a top of the line ASUS router which can be made into my own personal cloud storage. The only problem is I travel nearly every week and I'm not always connected to the Internet, and when I am it's not exactly the fastest :(

Hmmm, I just thought of this....what if I got an airport express and made my own little personal cloud when I'm in my hotel room? Just plug the airport express into the wall, and plug an external HDD into it. But what if I want to also use the Internet on it? Anyone try this? Is it possible?
Click to expand...

In theory that could work on both accounts, but if the hotel's network is blocking your connection to your NAS back at home, then you'd have to do some proxying and whatnot.
 
Get the 768Gb version. I went from 1.5Tb (desktop) to this and thought I'd be able to whittle down my disk usage, and to be honest it was easier than I thought it would be. Lossless music rips on a laptop are a bit pointless -- store them on a NAS for access by something that can tell the difference if you like, have compressed copies on your Mac. Video similarly should be on a NAS as they're more likely to be accessed by a media computer. Backups too, and then a bit of deduplication and you should be good to go...
 
tillsbury said:
Get the 768Gb version. I went from 1.5Tb (desktop) to this and thought I'd be able to whittle down my disk usage, and to be honest it was easier than I thought it would be. Lossless music rips on a laptop are a bit pointless -- store them on a NAS for access by something that can tell the difference if you like, have compressed copies on your Mac. Video similarly should be on a NAS as they're more likely to be accessed by a media computer. Backups too, and then a bit of deduplication and you should be good to go...
Click to expand...

Forget that!! $900 for 768GB is insaneee. I may as well get a cMBP + iPad for that price.
 
palmerc2 said:
Forget that!! $900 for 768GB is insaneee. I may as well get a cMBP + iPad for that price.
Click to expand...

Saving money and buying a rMBP is an oxymoron.

If you need the rMBP performance and need the internal drive space you have no choice. Don't need the performance or space and want to save a few $$.. look at another model, refurbs, or used.

Oh, buy the 2.7Ghz 15 inch and the 768GB internal SSD is only $400.. I think I found a way to save you $500... :)
 
Last edited:
I occasionally clean out backups of my iPhone and iPad in iTunes.

You wouldn't know it, but those backups eat up a lot of G's...

I have two Lightroom libraries. One internal for quickly backing up a current batch of photos, and everything else is on a library on an external HDD.

Other than that, my codes and programming projects take up barely 1GB, so I'm set.

There was a time not too long ago that we had to make do with 160GB or less storage, you know...
 
ColdCase said:
Saving money and buying a rMBP is an oxymoron.

If you need the rMBP performance and need the internal drive space you have no choice. Don't need the performance or space and want to save a few $$.. look at another model, refurbs, or used.

Oh, buy the 2.7Ghz 15 inch and the 768GB internal SSD is only $400.. I think I found a way to save you $500... :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I know, I'm a basic user and the only pro-like applications I use are the Logic Pro suite of apps....which I fair just fine with my current 2.8 GHz C2D. I just love the retina display....I just wish they offered a laptop with retina screen that can accommodate a 2.5" HDD, that's all...
 
palmerc2 said:
I'm in the market for a MBP, but as of right now I'm solely considering the cMBP so I can do an SSD + HDD setup (256GB SSD and 1TB HDD). I don't have a problem carrying an external drive around for stuff I hardly access (movies, large files, etc), but having to plug in an external to listen to music, or access photos seems impractical.

I really won't be stationary that much which is why I'd need more internal storage.
Click to expand...
I had the same problems you described so here's my opinion on the whole rMBP situation.

1) rMBP is ahead of its time. Its a gorgeous and powerful machine in every way EXCEPT storage options. 256GB is fine for an Air which many use as a secondary machine, but at $2000 then this is a Primary machine and is used for more intensive purposes which demand more than 256GB.

2) Internal Storage is Easy. I have a large iTunes library too so when I had an external drive I'd have to keep micromanaging and swapping files. After going for a dual drive setup on a cMBP I have a ton of internal storage and dont have to worry about where my files are.

3) External Drives are annoying. Its easy to say "I'll just carry a 1TB external drive for my files" but in practical use its a pain. These are laptops and are often used on the go so having a spinning drive hanging off of one of your USB ports is silly.

4) Network drives are annoying. After giving up on an external drive I went for a network option. This worked okay but the speeds of a network vs internal/external were huge.


So in the end I dumped the rMBP in favor of a cMBP. I got the same power at a lower price even after installing an 256GB SSD+1TB HDD combo and I love this thing. Not only is it a true portable workstation, I'm also safe in that there is a very affordable and clear upgrade path for when I want to extend its life or add to its resale value.

Okay, well this is my experience but everyone is different so good luck with what youre after.
 
I recommend using some kind of storage that you keep at home, like a NAS or full-fledged file server that's accessible remotely through your laptop or phone in a pinch (I use VPN + Remote Desktop [my file server is a Windows 7 machine], but there are simpler options like LogMeIn). Then just keep a local copy of your music in a compressed format for listening when you don't have internet access. v2 mp3s, for example, are going to be about a quarter of the size of their FLAC counterparts, so your 150GB lossless library would only take up around 37GB compressed, and that's if you decide you want to be able to access your entire library without connecting to the internet.

I store all of my data on the server in my apartment rather than locally on my laptop's internal drive (with the exception of documents and the like), but for music in particular I do this:
  • Lossless files stored on the file server (for output to my home audio equipment)
  • v2 mp3 copies of my music stored on my laptop for listening without an internet connection
  • All lossless files uploaded from the file server to Google Music (free for up to 20,000 songs), which are then accessible through a browser (music.google.com) or iPhone app (gMusic right now)
  • $10/month subscription to Rhapsody

At the moment I'm not even carrying the v2 mp3s with me because I tend to always have access to wifi or cellular data. I'm only using about 30GB on my 128GB drive.
 
palmerc2 said:
I think the retina MBP is a gorgeous machine, but how do you folks deal with such little storage? My iTunes music library is 150GB alone (however I do rip all my music in lossless), my iMac has a 750GB HDD and I'm constantly having to move things to an external.

I'm in the market for a MBP, but as of right now I'm solely considering the cMBP so I can do an SSD + HDD setup (256GB SSD and 1TB HDD). I don't have a problem carrying an external drive around for stuff I hardly access (movies, large files, etc), but having to plug in an external to listen to music, or access photos seems impractical.

I really won't be stationary that much which is why I'd need more internal storage.
Click to expand...


512 gb on board on the rMBP, and $25 per year for iMatch from itunes. Keeps all of your music available and you choose what is local.
 
palmerc2 said:
Forget that!! $900 for 768GB is insaneee. I may as well get a cMBP + iPad for that price.
Click to expand...

It does indeed cost the same, but doesn't do the same things. You also might as well buy a few hundred Big Macs for the same money.

$900 for 768Gb isn't insane at all. My first 128Gb SSD cost twice that not long ago. Similarly, my first 1.4Gb hard drive cost $4000 and I remember selling a 5Mb hard drive for a SuperBrain at GBP6,000. And that was when GBP6000 was a lot of money.
 
I found that space is at a premium so I only have what I need on mine. I'm only using about 75g of my 256. I have been winding down my offline music collection as streaming has gotten better. I do use a 500g hdd as my extra storage and mainly backup.
 
I'm surprised no one has yet mentioned iTunes Match/iTunes in the Cloud. I manage my library from an older Windows computer connected to my external and then back it up to the cloud. No storage required on my Mac or iPhone except the files I'm listening to, and I can download songs or albums as necessary.
 
OK for music but even a few HD videos or TV episodes to catch up on will eat up significant disk space. Streaming on those cross country flights just doesn't work...
 
I went from a 13" rMBP 256GB to a 13" cMBP w/ a 1TB Fusion Drive (256GB SSD + 750GB HDD). I don't miss the retina display.

The easy upgrade to 16GB SDRAM is nice too.
 
I wouldn't have gotten the rMBP if I was able to store what I needed too on the laptop.

True I have a NAS but all my stuff I need day to day is on my laptop. The fact that I can upgrade the SSD is comforting though that is a pricey upgrade.

Bottom line, pick the best tool for the job, and if you have higher storage requirements the rMBP may not be the best tool for the job
 
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