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

When will notebooks have larger hard drives?

M

Mildredop

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 14, 2013
2,478
1,510
If they can get 512GB onto an SD card, it makes me wonder why MacBook Pros aren't available with harddrives well into the terrabyte territory.

I have a 1TB external hard drive filled with movies and TV shows - I've had it for many years and remember when I bought it thinking "In a few years, I'll be able to store all this right on my computer".

So why do I still need to have an external drive dangling off my laptop?
 
There's a worlds difference in speed between an SD card, and an SSD. There's also an enormous difference between a HDD and an SSD.

And you can just order a MBP with 1TB SSD.
 
  • Like
Reactions: keysofanxiety
SSDs cost a lot more than HDDs but provide significantly better performance. In general it was a tradeoff many consumers were willing to make in order to have better speed on their computers.
 
Mildredop said:
If they can get 512GB onto an SD card, it makes me wonder why MacBook Pros aren't available with harddrives well into the terrabyte territory.

I have a 1TB external hard drive filled with movies and TV shows - I've had it for many years and remember when I bought it thinking "In a few years, I'll be able to store all this right on my computer".

So why do I still need to have an external drive dangling off my laptop?
Click to expand...
Or you could look at it another way: do you truly need to have that data accessible all the time?
 
Many do, there are endless notebooks with the ability to have 2 SATA connected hard drives allowing up to 4TB of data storage.

Apple don't make them and if you configured them from the manufacturer they would cost a fortune in SSD upgrades, most of them are also big and thick and heavy with it as well but if all you want is storage on a laptop there are many options out there for you.
 
Mildredop said:
If they can get 512GB onto an SD card, it makes me wonder why MacBook Pros aren't available with harddrives well into the terrabyte territory.
Click to expand...

You can configure a MBP with a TB now.
Configure - Apple.png
 
Closingracer said:
The Apple way is a total ripoff though. You can change any Windows laptop or any MacBook with a SATA 2( I believe idk never had a MacBook before my 2015 model) connection for around $500
Click to expand...
I'm not arguing the price is absurdly high, but the OP was complaining that he is unable to get a configuration with a large SSD drive and that is simply not true. It may not be fiscally responsible, or viable (I would not pay for that drive), but if you must have it, and you have the money, its possible.
 
I'd definitely be willing to sacrifice some SSD performance if it means getting higher capcities for cheaper.

Closingracer said:
The Apple way is a total ripoff though. You can change any Windows laptop or any MacBook with a SATA 2( I believe idk never had a MacBook before my 2015 model) connection for around $500
Click to expand...

You mean SATA III. The problem with SATA 3 is that it's limited to 500mb/s read/write.

Apple's SSD prices aren't bad considering they get 2GB/s read/write.

I wish they would stop using a proprietary connector for their SSDs so they were upgradable though.
 
maflynn said:
I'm not arguing the price is absurdly high, but the OP was complaining that he is unable to get a configuration with a large SSD drive and that is simply not true. It may not be fiscally responsible, or viable (I would not pay for that drive), but if you must have it, and you have the money, its possible.
Click to expand...

I wasn't meaning to complain, I was merely asking why MacBook Pros don't have larger hard drives. From what I've read here, it's cost.

But then I wonder why there isn't an option to have 512GB of SSD and then 4TB of built-in, not-so-fast storage.

When I think of the physical size of an SD card, you could fit loads of those things into a MBP.
[doublepost=1453367769][/doublepost]
snaky69 said:
Or you could look at it another way: do you truly need to have that data accessible all the time?
Click to expand...

Yes, I do.
[doublepost=1453367971][/doublepost]
maflynn said:
You can configure a MBP with a TB now.
View attachment 611587
Click to expand...
Still not enough, though. Once the system was loaded onto it, there wouldn't be enough room for my TB of films. And an extra $800 seems very excessive.
 
Here's to hoping the base model on the next 15" is 512 instead of 256 and the upcharge isn't as much to go to 1 tb.
 
simonsi said:
See my sig, 1TB + 1TB in a cMBP, no problem.
Click to expand...

Yes, but your machine is based on how laptops were produced and made more than a decade ago. Things have moved on a long way since the cMBP was conceived so tinkering and upgrading is a thing of the past with modern machines.
[doublepost=1453373906][/doublepost]
Mildredop said:
Still not enough, though. Once the system was loaded onto it, there wouldn't be enough room for my TB of films. And an extra $800 seems very excessive.
Click to expand...

Why do you need to keep your film library locally? Buy a USB 3.0 drive for less than $100.
 
Mildredop said:
Still not enough, though. Once the system was loaded onto it, there wouldn't be enough room for my TB of films. And an extra $800 seems very excessive.
Click to expand...
I think NAS array would be better to hold your films. The data will be safer that way thanks to the RAID data duplication.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Queen6
Steve121178 said:
If he bulks at the price of extra storage then surely that puts a NAS out of reach.
Click to expand...
I was actually thinking of that, but when you're talking about large libraries such as this (film, or photos or something that means a lot to the OP), I think its best to store them in a manner that decreases the risk of loss.
 
Steve121178 said:
tinkering and upgrading is a thing of the past with modern machines.
Click to expand...


Right, because these forums aren't full of people bemoaning the non-upgradability of the newer MBP/A's. Its a thing of the past because newer designs make it so, yet the cMBP is still one of Apples best-selling lines...
 
simonsi said:
Right, because these forums aren't full of people bemoaning the non-upgradability of the newer MBP/A's. Its a thing of the past because newer designs make it so, yet the cMBP is still one of Apples best-selling lines...
Click to expand...

It sells primarily to the education sector because it's cheap. Its design hasn't really changed since 2008, the default config uses the awful 5400 RPM mechanical disks and it still includes a crappy 1280x800 TN panel if I am not mistaken. We are in 2016 and shouldn't be talking about notebooks and technology from yesteryear.
 
Steve121178 said:
Yes, but your machine is based on how laptops were produced and made more than a decade ago. Things have moved on a long way since the cMBP was conceived so tinkering and upgrading is a thing of the past with modern machines.
[doublepost=1453373906][/doublepost]

Why do you need to keep your film library locally? Buy a USB 3.0 drive for less than $100.
Click to expand...

Have you not read my first post? That's what I've got. But it's not the aspect of how I should store it I'm interested in, it's the technical reasons why MacBooks don't have much storage when an external drive or SD card does, and the actual question was how long will we need to wait until they have significantly larger drives?
 
It's easy to answer. Macs do not use cheap off-the-shelf drives. Macs use PCIe based storage and they are not cheap to produce therefore the base models are 128/256 (depending on what model you choose) but you have the option to buy up to 1TB, so I am not really sure what the problem is?

Macs have plenty of internal storage options for the vast majority of people.
 
  • Like
Reactions: aristobrat
Steve121178 said:
Yes, but your machine is based on how laptops were produced and made more than a decade ago. Things have moved on a long way since the cMBP was conceived so tinkering and upgrading is a thing of the past with modern machines.
[doublepost=1453373906][/doublepost]

Why do you need to keep your film library locally? Buy a USB 3.0 drive for less than $100.
Click to expand...


Because some people rather have it on local storage ?
 
Steve121178 said:
It's easy to answer. Macs do not use cheap off-the-shelf drives. Macs use PCIe based storage and they are not cheap to produce therefore the base models are 128/256 (depending on what model you choose) but you have the option to buy up to 1TB, so I am not really sure what the problem is?

Macs have plenty of internal storage options for the vast majority of people.
Click to expand...



$800 for a 1tb ssd is absurd PCI or not.....
 
Closingracer said:
$800 for a 1tb ssd is absurd PCI or not.....
Click to expand...

The storage options are available so I really don't understand what the issue is. If people want cheap 512GB/1TB/2TB options, then forget about it as it's not happening any time soon.

If people want alternatives, then they can invest in a USB 3.0 drive, a NAS or make use of cloud storage solutions.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samuelsan2001
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