Buying A New Hard Drive For Macbook Pro

  1. Buying A New Hard Drive For Macbook Pro
  2. Buying A New Hard Drive For Macbook Pro 15

After deciding which MacBook (Pro or Air) you need while shopping on the Apple web site the second page is meant to upsell some upgrade options including extra storage. Chances are you possibly wondering how much do you need to spend to make sure that you will not regret your decision in a year or two.

If you have an old MacBook Pro with one foot in the grave, the single best thing you can do to breathe new life into it is replace its traditional spinning hard drive with a solid-state drive.

  1. Sep 18, 2020 When it comes to storage space, I would say it depends on the type of person you are. I am someone who deletes stuff then and there. No junk, no unwanted photos or videos, etc.
  2. If you have an old MacBook Pro with one foot in the grave, the single best thing you can do to breathe new life into it is replace its traditional spinning hard drive with a solid-state drive.
  3. By the way, if you want to know how to save up $500 on a new MacBook check my article here. Here is my list: MacBook Air Early 2014, 128GB SSD, 4 GB RAM; MacBook Pro Retina 13-inch Early 2015, 128GB SSD, 8GB RAM; MacBook Pro 15-inch 2016 TouchBar, 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM. I have a Bootcamp on it.
  4. The 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro is an update that was clearly designed to offer the new Magic Keyboard with more storage space as standard. 10th Generation Intel CPUs You might be wondering why the 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro is still using an 8th generation CPU from 2018.

There is nothing worse than spending a couple of thousands of dollars on a MacBook and finding out soon that you need to spend even more on a new one because the old Mac does not have enough space.

The purpose of this article is to help you decide on MacBook specs and hopefully make your purchase future proof. After all, Apple laptops are very expensive and anyone who’s investing in those hopes to run them for at least 5 years or more.

So, is 128GB enough for MacBook? A 128GB MacBook will satisfy most users as long as the user regularly clears space from old applications and documents and/or uses other ways to extend the storage, such as iCloud or external hard drives.

However, it is recommended to double the storage if possible for better MacBook performance.

Now, let’s get into details. Below I will review cases for college use, programming, gaming. I will also describe various ways to extend storage on your MacBook.

Several years ago Apple started soldering laptop components. It meant that the components perfectly fit and this allowed to produce the slimmest MacBooks ever. The downside of this approach is that MacBooks are nowimpossible to upgrade after the purchase. So, one needs to decide between 128GB and 256GB before making buying a new MacBook.

SSD storage on MacBook is needed to store the files. The files on your computer can be roughly placed in 4 categories:

  • System
  • Applications
  • Working documents
  • Archive.

So when assessing how much storage is needed you have to know (predict) how much space you will eventually need for those categories.

How much space should the Mac operating system take?

Do you know how much space is actually free out of the box on a 128GB MacBook?

If you were hoping that with the purchase of the base MacBook model you get entire 128GB disk space then I am sorry to disappoint you. On the brand new 128GB MacBook only 107.5GB space will be available for applications and documents.

The rest (about 20GB) will be immediately used by the MacOS system initially. Note that with more applications being installed on the MacBook and more the system gets upgraded the space taken by the system will only increase.

How much storage do I have on my Mac?

If you don’t know how to find out how much storage you have on your MacBook here are simple steps to find out:

  1. Click on the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen.
  2. In the drop-down list click on “About This Mac” option.
  3. In a pop-up window click on the “Storage” tab.

Here is how my MacBook Pro with Mojave OS looks like:

As you can without a single document or new app, I am only left with 107.42GB. The interesting thing is that the storage size is displayed as 121.12GB, not 128GB as you might expect.

The space that is not available (hidden) is used by macOS for OS image, so in case your MacBook crashes or catches a virus you can always wipe out the system and restore to default settings without needing an OS disk.

How much free storage should I have on my Mac?

Before we review the storage requirements for applications and documents let’s discuss how much free space is needed on MacBook. If you ever wondered how a MacBook with 4 GB memory (RAM) can run applications that take 20GB on a disk the answer is that modern computers use the so-called virtual memory.

In the simplest terms, this means that operating system, e.g. macOS, only reads as little data as possible to the actual memory and when the application needs more data the macOS will simply load more when needed. This process is called swapping, macOS swaps data between RAM (memory) and disk (storage).

As a rule of thumb, it is recommended to have at free storage equal to 150% of computer’s RAM. For example, if the RAM on Mac is 8GB then the amount of free storage should be at least 12 GB.

Why is this important? Since we have so little storage in the first place, after accounting for system and free storage space we left with only 95.5GB = (107.5 – 12) for anything else.

Storage for Applications

The amount of storage required for a MacBook (or any computer) depends on the applications you need to have on it. While it is possible to store the documents in the cloud or external devices, the applications in most cases required to be installed on the internal storage.

So if you ask me how much storage is enough I will ask you which applications you are planning to use.

Let’s review some common user types and applications they typically use.

How much storage do I need on my MacBook for college?

As a college student, you will definitely need Microsoft office. If you run Office locally (and you can get a free copy from your college) then following are approximate space requirements for Office apps:

  • Excel: 1.93GB
  • Powerpoint: 1.71GB
  • Word: 2.31GB

Total for all 3 apps is around 6GB.

Note that these numbers only for app software, they do not include Office documents which may be quite large. With some quick calculations and if we don’t need to install anything else we end up with 89.5GB (95.5 – 6) storage for your notes, lectures, books, email, and other documents.

Also, if all you do is browse the Internet, watch YouTube and don’t like Safari, you can install other browsers and they will need some space as well. Google Chrome gets installed with 418MB of files, while Firefox only needs about 200MB.

This doesn’t include a cache of course. Browsers, are famous for using cache in order to reduce network bandwidth (less time for you to wait), but this comes at the expense of storage space.

Verdict: For most college students MacBook Air with 128GB is good enough for the coursework. 128GB is enough storage to store hundreds (even thousands) of Word/Pages, Excel/Numbers, and PowerPoint/Keynote documents.

Is 128GB storage enough for Gaming?

Definitely not. Modern applications need a lot of disk space because they need to store different images, sounds, etc. Each game nowadays requires 10-20GB of storage. Install a couple of games and there will be no space left on the 128GB disk.

Is 256GB storage enough for gaming? The 256GB disk will be on the lower end for a gaming laptop.

However, there are ways to install multiple games on the MacBook. For instance, if you play games on Steam the application itself (the shell) is pretty small around 6MB.

Games themselves, however, require significant space. For instance, Counter-Strike Global Offensive takes up 20GB, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI about 15GB and Fortnite a little over 19GB.

Fortunately, Steam allows to install games on drives other than primary so you can install an unlimited number of Steam games on cheap external hard drives without investing in expensive primary storage.

So if the question is can you install Fortnite on external hard drive mac then the answer is yes, it is doable. And yes, it will run slower than from the primary disk. But it is far more important to have better CPU and Graphics for games like Fortnite than disk performance.

Verdict: Gamer laptops are the most demanding in terms of resources, including storage. With 128GB MacBook you will only be able to have 1 or 2 games at a time. If you don’t mind uninstalling the games you are not currently playing and installing them back again then 128GB may be enough.

Installing games on external storage is also an option. When purchasing a gaming MacBook first invest in better CPU and more RAM, and then in storage.

MacBook Air for programming

Requirements for programming laptops have changed significantly in the last 5-10 years. In the early 2010s and late 2000s, I remember constantly craving for more hard drive space. I had multiple desktops and each desktop had multiple hard drives, the more the better. In those days (pre-cloud) we had to run everything locally – databases, VMs, multiple tools.

While we, programmers, still install multiple tools, the most resource-hungry applications have moved largely to the cloud. Now I run databases and VMs either on Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS.

However, the applications themselves grew in size as well. We use open-source libraries more often than before and many of them are not optimized for storage. Nowadays, even fairly simple applications come with dozens of nodeJS modules or other libraries.

Moreover, if you use source control (and you should) checking out branches or releases will double, triple and quadruple the space taken by the source code and executables.

When it comes to applications and tools the requirements also vary.

If you are just an HTML/CSS/JavaScript developer then you likely need a good text editor. For instance, Atom editor takes 520MB, while Visual Studio Code only 220MB (without plugins). If you need Photoshop for image editing then add another 3.5GB.

You need more resources if are building iPhone or Android apps. XCode is particularly bad with over 10GB space requirement. Java with Android library and simulator is another beast.

If you developing with Microsoft Visual Studio (yes, it is available on Mac) then expect 1.3 – 3.0GB storage taken.

So if you want to know my opinion on storage for programming MacBook, I’d say that 128GB will definitely be tight. Doable, but tight. If you are on a budget and need MacBook I would suggest choosing MacBook Pro with smaller disk over MacBook Air with a larger one. When it comes to programming the CPU is still more important.

How about VMs?

Previously, I never ran VMs on external drives because they were super slow. Recently, I tested a Virtual Box image on the external hard drive with the MBP and I was surprised to see how fast it was running. And I believe, this was because I have a super-fast external drive as well as great CPU and plenty of RAM.

While VMs are nice for the purpose of running multiple operating systems on the same hardware, some people prefer using Bootcamp.

Is 128GB enough for Bootcamp? Absolutely no. With Bootcamp one needs to split the drive. And while having 64GB for macOS is a challenge, running Windows 10 on the 64GB drive is essentially impossible.

Windows itself would take more than half of that space leaving almost nothing for other applications. For Bootcamp, I would not recommend anything less than 512GB.

Verdict: Nowadays programmers do not need as much storage as they used to 10 years ago. When purchasing a programming MacBook invest first in a better CPU. The only exception is when the programmer needs to have Bootcamp option.

Graphics Designers

Graphics designers need even more resources than programmers. Since they work with huge image and movie clips the storage requirements for Graphics designers are considerably high. I believe 128GB may not be enough even with external or cloud storage.

For these users, I would recommend getting as much storage as possible, as much RAM as possible and more powerful CPU (which means upgraded 15-inch MacBook Pro). It is true that most files the designers need could be archived away from the primary disk, but when editing image and video files you still need significant storage available on the main drive.

This could be hard to achieve after installing Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, GarageBand, and other essential apps.

Verdict: 128GB storage will be very challenging for Graphics Designers. A MacBook Pro with at least 256GB and additional cloud or external storage will be the most optimal solution.

Can I add more storage to my MacBook?

Unfortunately, the option of adding storage to MacBook is not available after purchase. However, while applications in most cases can only be installed on the primary disk, the majority of the documents (pictures, videos, last year presentations, old iTunes backups) can be archived and removed from the MacBook.

There are two main ways to archive old documents: cloud and external storage.

iCloud

While there are many cloud storage options unsurprisingly iCloud is the most compatible for Apple laptops. What’s cool about iCloud is that it automatically uploads your documents and clears your hard drive.

Let’s compare iCloud pricing with money needed to upgrade MacBook drive from 128GB to 256GB.

To upgrade MacBook from 128GB to 256 you need to pay an additional $200.
iCloud does not have option for 128GB, only 50GB, 200GB and 2TB (in the US).

If you go with the 200GB option the monthly plan currently stands at $2.99, which is equal to $35.88 per year. So instead of spending $200 for additional 128GB, you can have 200GB for 5.5 years. By that time you most likely going to have another laptop.

Moreover, you can share iCloud account if you have multiple MacBooks and iPhones and you can also share the same account with your family.

The downside of any cloud storage is that you always need internet. Fortunately, at least in the US free wifi is available in any Starbucks and in most organizations. In the worst case, you can always use internet tethering on your smartphone.

Microsoft OneDrive

Did you know that Microsoft Office 365 comes with at least 1TB of OneDrive space?

If you don’t have old Microsoft Office license and thinking about purchasing an Office 365 subscription you will be happy to find out that for $69.99 per year (or $6.99 per month) you can get Personal edition of the Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. And that includes 1TB of cloud storage. College students can get this even for free as far as I know.

Buying A New Hard Drive For Macbook Pro

External hard drives

The advantage of the external hard drives is obviously the ability to work offline. With the speeds of the latest drives, you will not see a big difference between documents (or applications) stored on internal or external disks.

Buying a new hard drive for macbook pro model

Buying A New Hard Drive For Macbook Pro 15

All you need to know is which drives are best for your MacBook. If you need a recommendation then check: The Most Reliable External Hard Drive For Mac Ever.

The downside of the external devices is that you need to carry them separately while traveling. Another problem is that you may not have enough ports (especially with the latest 12-inch MacBook) to plug-in devices which means that you need adapters too.

Flash drives

While flash drives are normally smaller and slower than SSD drives they are way more convenient. If you deciding which Flash drive to buy check the ones I am using myself.

SD Cards

There is a better solution for extending storage if you are buying a used MacBook (2015 or earlier). Transcend 256GB JetDrive Lite is an SD card which fits nicely in the expansion slot if your MacBook has one. The beauty of this approach is that you get an external drive of a decent size which is always inside the laptop.

You don’t have to plug and unplug it when transporting and it does not use USB ports so you can still use other devices which is super helpful.

Transcend cards are specifically designed for MacBooks. They are not some generic cards that people happen to use for both PCs and Macs. There are four different sizes so make sure to scroll down this Amazon page to find out which type fits your Mac.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a commission, at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure here.

The MacBooks I personally own

I am a lucky owner of three MacBooks and I am thinking about getting another one. The temptation to buy one was so overwhelming during 4th of July sale when I saw 12-inch MacBook for $849 ($450 off) so I had to keep distracting myself and work on this post instead.

By the way, if you want to know how to save up $500 on a new MacBook check my article here.

Here is my list:

  • MacBook Air Early 2014, 128GB SSD, 4 GB RAM
  • MacBook Pro Retina 13-inch Early 2015, 128GB SSD, 8GB RAM
  • MacBook Pro 15-inch 2016 TouchBar, 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM. I have a Bootcamp on it.

I also have old Mac Mini which I use as a desktop (and I have Bootcamp on it too).

As you can see 2 of my laptops have 128GB storage. Have I ever regretted my decisions to buy base models? Frankly, never. Mostly because I have plenty of external hard drives and flash drives.

Still not decided?

If you still deciding if you need more storage, let me tell you one thing: No matter how much storage you have, if you do not clean MacBook regularly you will be out of space eventually. More storage just gives you more time between periodic clean-ups.

How are you supposed to know which applications you will possibly need? How are you supposed to know whether or not 128GB will be enough for you based on what your probable needs might be at some point in the distant future?

Let me share with you one interesting fact. I have a quiz on my site called “Which MacBook Should I Buy”. One of the questions on the quiz is “Are you a software developer?” with three answer options: Yes, No and Maybe in the future.

The interesting fact is that every single person who answered the quiz picked the last option. I highly doubt that all those people seriously considering a career change, but the fact is nobody can predict what they will do in the future and as a result, nobody can tell how much storage is enough.

But I hope that I helped to ease your stress and fear about buying a base model with 128GB. Because now you know that even if you find out that the storage on your MacBook is inadequate, you still have options to extend storage by other means.

Last piece of advice

Things have a tendency to accumulate and take all available space. That’s why you have to delete the files you don’t need. Make a habit of deleting garbage data at least once a month and maybe you will not even need external drives or cloud storage.

Following are the things you need to check and periodically clean:

  • Browser cache
  • Downloads
  • DMG files – read more here about them
  • Old iTunes and Time Machine backups
  • Empty Trash
  • Uninstall applications you no longer need

If you still need help with selecting a proper MacBook then email me at al@macmyths.com.

By the way, while you exploring the topic of purchasing a MacBook there are two other posts you may like reading as well:

  • A post about choosing between MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, written specifically for college students: Best Apple Laptop For College Student.
  • A post which explains the things to consider when selecting between 8GB or 16 GB RAM for your MacBook: Is 8GB RAM Enough For MacBook Pro?

And final note

While working on this post I found out that I CAN upgrade SSD on my old MacBook Pro 2015 with Feather M13 SSD replacement. I’ve been thinking about this for two days and at the end I decided against the upgrade for two reasons:

  • I am already used to live with 128GB
  • I want to buy a new MacBook in the fall when Apple releases something more exciting

This article is from “Which MacBook Should I Buy“ series.

Image credit: Apple