iMac setup

[TVreporter]

I may bite the bullet and get a 2017 iMac.

But everyone seems to recommend going the SSD route - but a 256 or 500gb SSD won’t store my growing photo/video collection (two small kids and I do photography as a hobby)

I use iCloud (2Tb option) but like to have the hard copies of my photos stored. If I have a HD for time machine backup, what type of drive should I use for photos/videos that I’d like to access on a daily basis? (Plus an easy setup my wife can use as she is not the most tech friendly).

Currently I have about 580GB of content but that will grow as the kids grow!)

I suppose I could wait until October to see what Apple may roll out but I’m getting restless. Relying on downloading photos to my iPad is not ideal.

Looking at an i7 for future proofing a bit.

Welcome any suggestions!

 

[Glmnet1]

You could get the 256 or 512gb SSD and buy an external drive for your pictures. Depending on your buget and the speed you need you could get a HDD or an SSD.

Waiting until October seems like a good idea, especially if you plan to get the i7.

 

[iTurbo]

I would either just get the Fusion drive option, or better yet, hold off for refresh to see the options at that point.

 

[MSastre]

I would stay away from a Fusion drive. Get either SSD and use an external drive to store videos and pictures.

 

[Mal Blackadder]

I would go for a SSD model and use a external HDD for storing your pics/videos on. I currently have the 5k 2017 model with a 2TB Fusion drive and there are times when I wish I had gone down the SSD route, you will notice OS updates taking a long time with a fusion drive. But I do find the 5k 2017 model to be a great machine and I recommend it.

 

[HDFan]

2 external HDs would be better. When you add additional photos clone the 2nd disk from the first and put it a safe deposit box. That way you have 2 backups (iCloud, disk).

 

[stillcrazyman]

No to Fusion drives. Get the most internal capacity (SSD) you can budget for. I do photography as a hobby as well. I have all my photos on an external Samsung T5 SSD. I've had external HDs for a while now. No issues accessing them for editing.

 

[TVreporter]

No to Fusion drives. Get the most internal capacity (SSD) you can budget for. I do photography as a hobby as well. I have all my photos on an external Samsung T5 SSD. I've had external HDs for a while now. No issues accessing them for editing.

Do you save any photos on the internal SSD? Can Photos load fast from an external SSD? My photo collection is up to 25,000 (not the biggest but it started slowing down my iMac 2011)

 

[stillcrazyman]

Do you save any photos on the internal SSD? Can Photos load fast from an external SSD? My photo collection is up to 25,000 (not the biggest but it started slowing down my iMac 2011)

A few years ago, I replaced the internal 3TB HD with a 1TB SSD from OWC. It's actually about the same speed as the external at around 450Mb/s read/write. Before I replaced the external, I would import my photos first to the internal SSD, cull and edit in DxO or Capture One Pro, then export to the external drive (speed was around 120Mb/s).

Yes, to answer your question, Photos can load it's Library from wherever you locate it - internal or external. The read/write speed will depend on the drive. SSD being much faster than spin HDs.

 

[David G.]

If you get a fusion drive iMac, you can replace the HDD portion of the storage setup with a SSD. If you get an SSD only iMac you have no ability to add an additional internal SSD, you are stuck with what you ordered.