Have you actually benchmarked the speed? Sandisk extreme pro is USB 3.1 gen 2 so it's at minimum 50% slower than the internal SSD. If you go with 512GB or even larger the internal SSD is even faster.
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M1 Mac owners who have more than base storage... why?
- Thread starter Hexley
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The new one has 2000MB/s USB Gen 2 2x2. If thats nit supported xou can get a Thunderbolt 3 Drive with an NVME. The Apple SSD isn’t something special most NVME drives are able to achieve faster speeds. You could get a NVME 1TB with 3500 MB/S read speeds for 70€ Evo 970.
Because I don't want to carry something else.
Well I don’t use any external for “core” storage (ie OS or home folder).
I keep project files (so source code, VM images, etc) on the external m2 I mentioned.
Ive never used a bus powered external drive that hasn’t disconnected randomly at least once in its lifetime. It’s quite annoying when your project files and a running VM are on that drive. I can’t imagine it being less annoying if its your home folder or the whole boot drive that suddenly disconnects.
And of course the oft mentioned hassle of having to carry another device, more weight, it’s harder to use in tight spaces, etc etc.
I use an external drive for work so that when my daily machine has a problem I can literally just unplug, plug it into the laptop that’s laying around somewhere, log in and off I go.
Because you have to carry the external storage around? And it's not very convenient?
Because...
#1 - external "up to" 1050MBps doesn't reflect reality
#2 - internal SSD is a helluva lot faster
#3 - externals are inconvenient to use on a regular/normal basis while working away from a desk. Not impossible, but internal storage is far more convenient
#3a - I don't need to penny pinch - The cost of going from 256 or 512 to 1T internal vs cost of an external SSD is immaterial to me relative to the convenience/annoyance factor.
MBP internal:
Sandisk Extreme 1T External (rated up to 1050MBps)
I’m waiting on delivery of an M1 MBP 16GB/2TB, which will be replacing my 2015 MBP 15in 16GB/2TB. So, opposite of base model...
As to the why, I do a lot of audio recording outside and about using a Blue Yeti Pro USB mic. Sometimes 3 Blue Yeti Pro’s and a Blue Snowball mic when indoors at my friends studio. I like keeping everything local, not having to worry about yet another cable or something using a USB Port. The Blue Yetis and the Snowball mic get all their power over USB, which is great! But I’ve found I need my MBP to be plugged in to get the best performance. Fine for one mic on the go, and everything works even better in the studio. Being able to pack up and carry most everything in one trip is great. Adding a drive to my bag means I need to take more care and make more room. More cables in a bag of cables...
I’ve also been burned before on failing external drives. Actually, many times now that I look back. But quite surprisingly not so often on the drives in my Macs. And very early on (with Windows) I lost all of my recording library...
When at home I keep my laptop docked and connected to a hub with multiple external drives for storage, media, and 3 Time Machine Backups. Plus 2 CCC backups of my recordings (which is in addition to my Time Machine backups). Knowing I’ve got the maxed out model today and that it just can’t be upgraded at all, is fine for me now and will be even better for me 5 years from now. The only reason I’m replacing my 2015 MBP is because of the battery. Still works great otherwise! I’m hoping to get as much use out of this new M1 MBP, hopefully more.
Anyway, sorry for the long post. External storage can be cheap in price & in quality, and to your point initially about basically offloading everything to either an external drive or to the cloud, sometimes I’m somewhere where I might not have an internet connection and might only have my backpack with my laptop and a mic. Having my entire recording library going back close to 15+ years, and not worrying about another piece of equipment is extremely handy for me. I’m a digital pack rat lol
As to the why, I do a lot of audio recording outside and about using a Blue Yeti Pro USB mic. Sometimes 3 Blue Yeti Pro’s and a Blue Snowball mic when indoors at my friends studio. I like keeping everything local, not having to worry about yet another cable or something using a USB Port. The Blue Yetis and the Snowball mic get all their power over USB, which is great! But I’ve found I need my MBP to be plugged in to get the best performance. Fine for one mic on the go, and everything works even better in the studio. Being able to pack up and carry most everything in one trip is great. Adding a drive to my bag means I need to take more care and make more room. More cables in a bag of cables...
I’ve also been burned before on failing external drives. Actually, many times now that I look back. But quite surprisingly not so often on the drives in my Macs. And very early on (with Windows) I lost all of my recording library...
When at home I keep my laptop docked and connected to a hub with multiple external drives for storage, media, and 3 Time Machine Backups. Plus 2 CCC backups of my recordings (which is in addition to my Time Machine backups). Knowing I’ve got the maxed out model today and that it just can’t be upgraded at all, is fine for me now and will be even better for me 5 years from now. The only reason I’m replacing my 2015 MBP is because of the battery. Still works great otherwise! I’m hoping to get as much use out of this new M1 MBP, hopefully more.
Anyway, sorry for the long post. External storage can be cheap in price & in quality, and to your point initially about basically offloading everything to either an external drive or to the cloud, sometimes I’m somewhere where I might not have an internet connection and might only have my backpack with my laptop and a mic. Having my entire recording library going back close to 15+ years, and not worrying about another piece of equipment is extremely handy for me. I’m a digital pack rat lol
It's all theoretical speed on paper (look at post above for real world benchmark), not to mention to achieve anywhere close to that number you will need a decent Thunderbolt 3 enclosure first. That itself is at least $120+ if not more. Also, you are not going to get 3500 MB/s from any external drive, I tried many, and would be lucky to even get 1500-1900 mb/s. It's misleading to say the external ssd can perform as well as Apple internal SSD.
And inconvenient. I live in Apple's dongle land already...and now I should permanently occupy 50% of the ports with some SSD that is less than half as fast as the internal one?
oof random disconnects would be horrible.
haven’t seen too many on a 2TB usb NVMe but definitely seen a few - you’re right.
am grateful for the response and info, ty
They are a pita, I’ve rarely experienced them with my 1TB SSD, but I did have one happen the other day, about three quarters of the way through transferring a few hundred GB..... I was not pleased.
That’s why I like enough on-device storage to handle all of my files/photos/video/apps while leaving a decent amount of headroom for some more temporary items.
OFC you won't get 3500MB/S from an external drive, but the upgrade costs are so rediculous and you won't notice that much of a difference in speed. But ofc if you transfer every day 500gb of data then you would notice it. The MBA M1 is just my streaming and coding machine. My movies and other stuff is on an external drive and on my main Windows PC. With iCloud and optimized storage I still have plenty of storage left. If the MB is your main computer get the 1TB option, even the 512 wouldn't be enough for me.
If I need some data I just plug my SSD in and im good to go.
Whats your intention running a benchmark all day long, this is not slow at all. You can also get a Thunderbolt 3 drive.
I think if you plan on owning the M1 system for a while upgrading the SD and/or memory is not a bad idea. But do that knowing that the M1 is the 1st of a new generation of Mac processors. I anticipate the SOC on a 14" or 16" MBP will be quite a bit more powerful. So I am purchasing the base MB Air as a first step, but will likely add a 14" when they become available.
not slow is relative. The point is internal SSD is MUCH faster than any external hard drive you are going to be attaching, and to claim it's 'as fast as' Apple's internal SSD is just not factual.
Also ram is limited regardless you go with 8GB or 16GB model, so there will be swapping going on to the internal SSD. You don't want to have the SSD filled close to max and that will really impact the performance of whole system.
@pugxiwawa The Samsung X5 is as fast as my 256GB internal one. But everyone has to decide. I only store stuff that I don't need regularly for me 16GB RAM is more important but that's just my opinion.
www.tomshardware.com
Samsung 1TB Portable SSD X5 Review: Leading Edge Performance
Samsung's 1TB Portable SSD X5 brings the speed of the Thunderbolt 3 interface and the NVMe protocol to a speedy external SSD.
It’s an additional $200 for a machine I’ll use for at least the next 5 years. That’s $3.33 a month.
512GB guarantees I will have enough space for the software I need to install and working files. For larger storage, I have a personal cloud, which also allows sharing files between my laptop, iPad, iPhone, and iMac.
512GB guarantees I will have enough space for the software I need to install and working files. For larger storage, I have a personal cloud, which also allows sharing files between my laptop, iPad, iPhone, and iMac.
... I'm sure plenty of people choose more memory and more storage space. It's not like they make you choose one or the other.
Also consider your external input devices and speakers. May want to upgrade that webcam while you’re at it.
Yes Samsung X5 is fast, but still not as fast as internal SSD. I have one and used it as my iMac boot drive. It works fine. But how much is the X5? Once you factor that in I think it makes sense to just go with Apple's upgrade.@pugxiwawa The Samsung X5 is as fast as my 256GB internal one. But everyone has to decide. I only store stuff that I don't need regularly for me 16GB RAM is more important but that's just my opinion.
Samsung 1TB Portable SSD X5 Review: Leading Edge Performance
Samsung's 1TB Portable SSD X5 brings the speed of the Thunderbolt 3 interface and the NVMe protocol to a speedy external SSD.
This sums up my thoughts rather nicely. ... I ordered the Mac Mini M1 with 16GB RAM and 2 TB Storage two weeks ago (coming from Mac Mini 2012 16GB 512GB SSD). I just wanted to have all my photos stored on the Mini with no hassles and also be (for a certain time) future proof.
Real life example, trying to get anything done while travelling. Painful as anything to stop what you're doing, eject a drive and start over later. Can't leave an external drive hanging off while juggling stuff.
My specific case is photography - travel, take a lot of photos, want to edit and cull while getting in and out of trains, plains, coffee shops, you name it. Also travel with some previous projects that I'll be working on.
Try that with an external drive: absolute nightmare. Every time you want to shut down/pause, you can't really trust doing it with sleeping with an external drive and sticking it in a bag.
Doing something that takes a lot of time? No way you want to stop it, quit your main program, eject, then repeat the process again - not efficient unless you have a stable place and a chunk of time.
I've also had some things underway I can't afford to interrupt and sit there praying it will finish in time for me to get on a plane or whatever.
My specific case is photography - travel, take a lot of photos, want to edit and cull while getting in and out of trains, plains, coffee shops, you name it. Also travel with some previous projects that I'll be working on.
Try that with an external drive: absolute nightmare. Every time you want to shut down/pause, you can't really trust doing it with sleeping with an external drive and sticking it in a bag.
Doing something that takes a lot of time? No way you want to stop it, quit your main program, eject, then repeat the process again - not efficient unless you have a stable place and a chunk of time.
I've also had some things underway I can't afford to interrupt and sit there praying it will finish in time for me to get on a plane or whatever.
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I’m not sure what you clicked but your quotes are messed up.
The external is a bit faster on my Intel MBA, not sure why. Also tried with the 5GBps and 10GBps ports on my Caldigit TS3+ - the M1 MBP showed similar speed for 10G, and half that for 5G.