256GB ssd is bull

[theorist9]

This thread is about 256 GB and 512 GB options. Dell, Lenovo, Razor are more expensive to about the same as AAPL. If you need or want more storage internally, then pay up or buy from someone else or find another solution. The reason we have corporations is to maximize shareholder value.

You could also just buy a thousand shares and pay for your storage off capital gains.

More is being discussed in this thread than just the 256 GB and 512 GB options. But: If you're considering just 256 vs. 512 GB options, then your statement that "Dell's prices for RAM and SSD line up quite nicely with Apple's" is particularly inaccurate, since (as I showed in post), Apple's pricing for a 256 -> 512 GB upgrade is double Dell's.

If you want to compare purely the cost of upgrades, you should look at just that, which is what I did. It gives the clearest picture, because it eliminates other variables.

 

[pshufd]

More is being discussed in this thread than just the 256 GB and 512 GB options. But: If you're considering just 256 vs. 512 GB options, then your statement that "Dell's prices for RAM and SSD line up quite nicely with Apple's" is particularly inaccurate, since (as I showed in post), Apple's pricing for a 256 -> 512 GB upgrade is double Dell's.

It doesn't matter. Apple's MSRP prices are below Dell's for both configurations. I'm not talking about component price deltas. I'm talking about system prices.

 

[theorist9]

It doesn't matter. Apple's MSRP prices are below Dell's for both configurations. I'm not talking about component price deltas. I'm talking about system prices.

Look, that's not what you wrote in your post: "Dell's prices for RAM and SSD line up quite nicely with Apple's." That's not a statement about system prices, it's a statement about the pricing for RAM and storage. Everyone can see that.

The bottom line is you got it wrong, and now you're trying to spin it by saying "Oh, I was never talking about RAM and SSD prices". Come on man. You made a mistake. We all make them. Nothing wrong with that. What is obnoxious is playing these games instead of owning up to your mistake.

 

[pshufd]

Look, that's not what you wrote in your post: "Dell's prices for RAM and SSD line up quite nicely with Apple's." That's not a statement about system prices, it's a statement about the pricing for RAM and storage. Everyone can see that.

The bottom line is you got it wrong, and now you're trying to spin it by saying "Oh, I was never talking about RAM and SSD prices". Come on man. You made a mistake. We all make them. Nothing wrong with that. What is obnoxious is playing these games instead of owning up to your mistake.

I apologize for being unclear though what I posted made clear what I meant to say.

 

[Leon1das]

You could also just buy a thousand shares and pay for your storage off capital gains.

Exactly what I am doing

 

[pshufd]

Exactly what I am doing

One of my neighbors is a retired teacher. He retired around 50. Drives a Mercedes Sport Coupe. His largest holding is AAPL and he bought it in the 1980s and it has been his largest position for all of these years. His AAPL holdings were worth about $3 million when we talked about it a few years ago. That's almost a Forest Gump. If Apple can get people to pay a fortune for two or eight terabytes, more power to them.

 

[Leon1das]

Moments when I lose any wish to compare $ value of Windows laptop vs MacBook M1 are:

- I will lose Mac trackpad

- to get same screen quality as with Mac, I need to pay more with Windows configuration

- my customized Windows laptop configuration is out of stock

- my customized Windows laptop arrived but I get coil-whine, and since its customized - I cannot return it.

- Finally, I will lose Mac trackpad...

 

[pshufd]

Moments when I lose any wish to compare $ value of Windows laptop vs MacBook M1 are:

- I will lose Mac trackpad

- to get same screen quality as with Mac, I need to pay more with Windows configuration

- my customized Windows laptop configuration is out of stock

- my customized Windows laptop arrived but I get coil-whine, and since its customized - I cannot return it.

- Finally, I will lose Mac trackpad...

I have not used a Windows laptop since last year when I prepped my Dell XPS m1330 to give it away to a college student. The trackpad on that thing was tiny, and the usable area was even smaller because it had a scroll region. No multitouch either. I can imagine the annoyance in losing that. I customize my settings with tap and other things such that I'm annoyed on other MacBooks that don't have them set up.

 

[deeddawg]

256GB is great for those using the system in a business wherein they're not working with video or storing a ton of content locally. I would argue that 512GB should be a minimum for anyone looking to purchase for themselves.

Neither my wife nor my (adult) daughter work with video nor store a ton of content on their macbooks. Web, email, social media, Pages/Word, a little bit of Excel/Numbers is all they do.

Why

Well, it's part of the SoC these days.

I'm a bit puzzled by this one. $1,600 for a laptop that comes with only 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD.

View attachment 1801540

Yeah, wonder what else is in there or if BestBuy is messing with folks.

X1 Carbon 9th gen Intel i5 8/256 is $1426 direct from Lenovo.

Let's also remember the X1 Carbon line is their thin/light - stuff some folks pay a bit of a premium to get.

If you drop to the Thinkpad E-series line, you can do 8/256 for $743.

Though we also all know (even if some forget), component cost is largely irrelevant in the pricing of differentiated non-commodity good like laptops. Especially when there's a matter of platform interoperability increasing the hurdles to switch platforms.

 

[bousozoku]

You forgot about one small detail... those Windows laptops have replaceable M.2 SSD and many users intentionally buying base model to upgrade it with own SSD, because it is cheaper and/or user can already have one from previous laptop/pc.

I haven't bought a newer Mac than my mid-2012 MacBook Pro because of the choices. I have a 2018 Omen by HP with 3 TB in an M.2 slot and a 2.5 inch drive slot. The company has to fulfill their own choices, but apparently, they're making enough money that more money from more consumer choices isn't appealing to them.

 

[thingstoponder]

My fault because I wanted my M1 Macbook Air to be an even swap with my POS 2017 Macbook Pro trade-in and I did not want to wait for extended build time. Damn it feels so cramped and I have to tote an external samsung t7 with me. In 2021, Apple should make the default ssd 512gb. I would trade it in but Apple is not accepting M1 trade-ins yet.

Why do you need an external drive with you all the time? Surely 256GB is enough for your apps, some offline media, and enough left over for whatever you’re working on.

Yeah you can’t store all your media and all your past projects on a 256GB SSD but I don’t see why you need to. That’s what networked storage is for. I used to use my laptop as my “everything” device when it comes to storage but that’s exhausting. You’ll never have enough no matter what and you’ll be deleting things you’ll later regret. It’s much better to keep it light and use external storage or networked storage.

I do music, photos, and video stuff for fun. There is no reason to have past projects or files on my local device if I’m not working on them.

 

[thingstoponder]

If they made 512GB standard it would cost Apple 10$ more and they would think hard about to raise entry prices above psychological limits.
In short it will happen, maybe with a redesign to hide a price jump, maybe without both, maybe this year maybe next.
(and of course soon after people will start lamenting Apple for gouging users by charging xxx to turn that "unusable" &"pathetic" config into one with "bare minimum" of 1TB)

The 2015 rMB had a base of 256GB while the no-touchbar 13" pro was available with just 128GB for 2 more years.

I really really doubt OEMs are paying 10$ for 256GB of quality NAND.

And it’s not just raw prices they’re paying, it’s also that people will no longer buy upgrades if there’s a higher base spec which is where they make their margins. They’re a business. They also no longer can sell CPU upgrades because you no longer have to spec up your CPU to get higher performance. The new base line M1 kills even the specced up Intel CPUs of before. Yeah it’s annoying paying high RAM/SSD upgrades but it’s not the end of the world.

 

[thingstoponder]

it is odd imo that the 500gb (granted hdd vs ssd) has been around since the iPhone was around at 4gb

Now we have 1TB iPhones and still 256/512 SSD computer drives

It used to be easy to do local backups of iOS devices on machines, now not as easy, especially if more than one iOS device

I feel 1TB should be the base on every computer at this point in 2021

It’s not odd at all. You’re comparing Apples to oranges. The iPod had 160GB of storage much before the iPhone did. Why? Because it’s HDD.

There is no 1TB iPhone. If you’re buying a $1299 512GB iPhone then why would you expect to be able to back it up on $999 256GB Macs? Why back up on an internal drive anyways? That’s a waste of space. Just use an external HDD and back it up on the same drive you use for Time Machine. Or use the cloud like everyone else. Local backups are a pain.

 

[4743913]

Why do you need an external drive with you all the time?

nothing for "work". All my fun stuff takes up lots of space. Logic Pro takes 100gb, Photos library, my Steam games and Crossover games.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

I really don't understand this thread.

• I use Gmail - no mail or attachments stored locally
• I use Photos with iCloud storage
• All my 1000+ movies are on my NAS/Plex server
• All of MY music is backed up on my NAS, and also stored with Apple Music for access from all I devices.
• Time machine backups stored to an auto mount SMB share on my NAS
• When on the go, I make extensive use of Google drive. When at home my Mac auto mounts a NAS share with 20TB+
• I make extensive use of SaaS software.
• My /Applications directory is 14GB
• I currently have 200GB/256GB free on my M1 MBA

I have no idea how people manage to use up so much space. The only reasonable explanation is with very large desktop-only software and/or people who work with very large files and need the speed provided by local storage. For everyone else - join the modern "cloud" era.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Eh no complaints here, I'm a software developer with nearly 20 years in and with cloud storage I have no problem using a 256 GB MBA as my portable machine and getting the job done. I have a fully loaded iMac 27" 2020 for any heavy lifting.

Yea, but other people in this thread have prejudged that if you can get away with only 256GB of local storage you could only be some light/noob non-power user.

I disagree. With the maturation of all the current cloud services, and many SaaS apps taking over what I formerly used as local apps, I need less local storage than I did 5 years ago.

IT professional of 15 years here. But I suspect that accounts for it - us highly technical users offloaded our local storage requirements long ago.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Not all of us are comfortable adding to our list of subscriptions.

 

[4743913]

I really don't understand this thread.

• I use Gmail - no mail or attachments stored locally
• I use Photos with iCloud storage
• All my 1000+ movies are on my NAS/Plex server
• All of MY music is backed up on my NAS, and also stored with Apple Music for access from all I devices.
• Time machine backups stored to an auto mount SMB share on my NAS
• When on the go, I make extensive use of Google drive. When at home my Mac auto mounts a NAS share with 20TB+
• I make extensive use of SaaS software.
• My /Applications directory is 14GB
• I currently have 200GB/256GB free on my M1 MBA

I have no idea how people manage to use up so much space. The only reasonable explanation is with very large desktop-only software and/or people who work with very large files and need the speed provided by local storage. For everyone else - join the modern "cloud" era.

So basically when you lose your internet connection, you stare at a blank screen. got it.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

I concur.

256GB is just greedy, in my opinion.

That’s why I upgraded to 512GB with my M1 MBP, but it’s now been returned for refund due to several issues (UK Consumer Law.)

Now eagerly awaiting the MBP refresh, and I hope it retains the Touch Bar as I really grew to like it.

 

[Casey Royals]

If you sync your phone to your computer you can try deleting old back-ups... I removed nearly 200GB of back-ups from one of the user accounts on my iMac when downsizing from the internal 2TB hard disk to a 512GB Thunderbolt 3 SSD.

 

[JouniS]

I have no idea how people manage to use up so much space. The only reasonable explanation is with very large desktop-only software and/or people who work with very large files and need the speed provided by local storage. For everyone else - join the modern "cloud" era.

One example:

• 162 GB photo library. I used to travel a lot before Covid, and the WiFi at the average hotel / airport / plane / train was not good enough for cloud storage.
• 35 GB Ubuntu virtual machine for software development and testing.
• 14 GB of research papers, git repositories, and test suites on the macOS side.
• 26 GB Steam library, as I used to play Civ 6 and Kerbal Space Program on long-haul flights.

At one point, I tried storing data on an external drive, but it was too inconvenient without a desk. External drives are still large enough to require support. You can't simply leave them hanging from the port.

 

[Zazoh]

So basically when you lose your internet connection, you stare at a blank screen. got it.

I don't know about you. If the Internet is down my life is a blank screen.

Everything I do including my work relies on a connection. I literally moved from a place in the country with satellite internet to the larger city where I use a Giga Fiber connection.

Also within the 256 GB realm of space, content lives to be worked before putting it out there where someone can consume. So, when I get on a plane, I can still Create in real time when I land, if the plane doesn't have WiFi.

The Internet is as important as Electricity, I can only live without them for a few hours. But like @4743913 My banking, dr appointments, utilities all on line.

 

[hans1972]

I think for many general users, 256GB is still viable - especially if you've fully embraced the Apple ecosystem so you can offload photos, music and documents into iCloud. There are things that Apple could do that would help though - one of my daughters was running out of space on her MBA's 256GB SSD recently - I checked it with DaisyDisk and her local iPhone/iPad backups were taking up nearly 200 of that 256GB. I think once you're getting close to your storage capacity, MacOS should offer you suggestions and options like to delete iOS device backups and offload photos/music etc where you've not already configured it to do so.

macOS might not suggest it but there is a tool to manage your storage:

-menu
About this Mac
Storage
Manage

 

[hans1972]

256 GB seems to be the industry floor though.

Plenty of Microsoft Surface computers with 128 Gb SSD.

surface pro 128gb - Best Buy

Shop for surface pro 128gb at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up

www.bestbuy.com

You can even get them with 4Gb of RAM!

 

[hans1972]

256gb was a reasonably tight fight for most people 6-7 years ago even when 128gb was the silly standard.

Most people need less space locally than in a long time:

- Streaming services for movies
- Streaming services for music
- iCloud Photo Library / Google Photo for photos and videos
- iCloud Drive / OneDrive / Dropbox / Google Drive for files

Almost everyone I know who uses a Mac would do fine with 128Gb SSD since they all use the above services.