How does the storage work?

[Brixmis-7]

Hi all,

My first post so please be gentle. I have a Macbook Pro (2011 build) with a 2 TB drive which is half full. My good lady decided the the Mac was past its best and went out and purchased a Mackbook Air with 128GB storage as a surprise for me.

My broadband is a slow ADSL connection that is ok for domestic use and Fiber/cable is not available in the area.

While I am happy with the Air, the storage is an issue. I have purchased 2TB USB3 mobile drive and 2TB cloud. The cloud will take an estimated 10 days to upload my 1TB of data.

Am I missing a trick here or can anyone suggest a way to make the Air as convenient as the Pro? Also, why have computers in general reduced their storage? Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Storage has reduced because it's switched from spinning hard disks to solid-state Flash storage. Flash is far more expensive, hence the reduction - reduce the storage capacity to keep the average selling price in the same range. Further, if that 2011 MacBook Pro has a 2 TB HDD, that was done as a later upgrade - the maximum HDD available as standard configuration from Apple in 2011 was 750 GB.

You're also comparing a MacBook Air to a MacBook Pro. MBA has always been value-priced relative to the MBP, so Apple has never offered larger-sized Flash storage. Even today, the maximum Flash configuration for MBA is 256 GB, while the maximum Flash configuration for today's MBP is 2 TB.

 

[Brixmis-7]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Yes I upgraded the HDD. So the answer is the external 2TB HDD and back up to a cloud.

 

[ftaok]

You might want to assess what you're keeping on the on-board storage that requires such large storage. Do you really need all of your files with you at all times?

For me, I have a 256GB MBA that holds all of my stuff, except for my iTunes library. I keep all of my photos on the MBA, but I run them through JPEGmini to reduce the file sizes. (note - I do keep the originals backed up on a hard drive at home).

My iTunes is kept on a 200GB microSDXC card (using the NiftyDrive) and it sits in the SD slot all the time. The NiftyDrive is perfectly flush.

This system has been working for me for years. I don't expect to ever need more than 456GB of storage on this MBA.

 

[Brixmis-7]

Thanks fo

You might want to assess what you're keeping on the on-board storage that requires such large storage. Do you really need all of your files with you at all times?

For me, I have a 256GB MBA that holds all of my stuff, except for my iTunes library. I keep all of my photos on the MBA, but I run them through JPEGmini to reduce the file sizes. (note - I do keep the originals backed up on a hard drive at home).

My iTunes is kept on a 200GB microSDXC card (using the NiftyDrive) and it sits in the SD slot all the time. The NiftyDrive is perfectly flush.

This system has been working for me for years. I don't expect to ever need more than 456GB of storage on this MBA.

[doublepost=1509221786][/doublepost]Thanks for your reply. I use my MBA as a desk top at home (I'm retired). Having not looked at any other computer since purchasing my MBP, it came as a shock to see the reduced onboard storage. Having seen these reply's, I am happy with my setup. I only posted incase I was missing something obvious.

Thanks again.

 

[Boyd01]

The wifi on the MacBook Air is very fast, so if you spend much of your time at home then consider setting up a network drive that you can access wirelessly. First, make sure your router is capable of 802.11ac wifi speed, you might need to upgrade. Then you could use almost any computer as a fileserver, it's especially easy with another Mac - just turn on filesharing in System Preferences. I'm using a base model 2014 Mini as a server, and get over 60Mbytes/sec accessing it wirelessly from my MacBook Air. For comparison, a typical bus-powered USB 3.0 external disk for your MBA might be 100Mbytes/sec. So the wireless network is a bit slower, but still about twice the speed of a USB 2.0 disk and it frees you from wires.

My main use for the server is my large iTunes media library, it just runs iTunes with home sharing 24/7 and I can access about 1200 DVD's and 3000 songs from my apple TV's, Macs and even iPhone.

 

[Brixmis-7]

Boyd, interesting, may keep the Old Pro going as a server then. Thanks for your time

 

[Rok73]

Even today, the maximum Flash configuration for MBA is 256 GB, while the maximum Flash configuration for today's MBP is 2 TB.

*512GB

 

[mw360]

You might want to consider a 'Cloud NAS' like this one...
(I'm not endorsing this product - it could be garbage for all I know - but just using it as an example)

https://www.wdc.com/en-gb/products/...MIztX1-Kqa1wIVij4bCh2dGAGbEAYYASABEgL4gvD_BwE

It's an external HD which sits on your wifi network so you can access it at home at a decent network speed, but it also syncs the contents to a cloud server so you can also access the files while you're out and about. Obviously exercise caution if your content is very sensitive.