New M2 Mac Mini: is 512GB Worth It?

[ugadawgs311]

I just purchased a new M2 Mac Mini with 256gb storage, but now I’m wondering if I should’ve spent the extra $190 for the 512gb hard drive. I don’t do much heavy computing, and my biggest chunk of files is my iTunes library (around 65gb). My rationale to go the cheaper route on the front end is that I’ll likely get external storage with the 256gb or 512gb, so why not save money now since I know I’ll rely on external storage anyways? I’m a little concerned about the slower read/write speed on the 256gb version though…

Is this short sighted? I’d hate to be kicking myself a year from now and be disappointed that I didn’t just spend the extra $190. Also, it seems crazy that now my main computer, iPad, and iPhone would all have the same hard drive space 😆

 

[satcomer]

The Follow the thread Thundelbolt 3 M.2 NVME Enclosures and get the quickest DIY setup in the thread and have more storage at the price you want!

 

[ovbacon]

I wouldn't worry about it since I'm going to assume you already have it at home... Just make your own external ssd or get one (be sure to get one that people indicate works properly). I use a Acasis Enclosure (TBU401E) with a Samsung 980 PRO 2TB on my mini M2, 16GB/512GB. It is as fast as my internal ssd.

I first got a SanDisk Extreme PRO as my external ssd but it failed on me really fast.

 

[steve123]

You should definitely upgrade ... there is a 2x difference in the performance (speed) of the internal storage. Which M2? Base or Pro? If you have M2 get at least 512 GB. If you have M2 Pro get at least 1TB.

 

[Ben J.]

You should definitely upgrade ... there is a 2x difference in the performance (speed) of the internal storage. Which M2? Base or Pro? If you have M2 get at least 512 GB. If you have M2 Pro get at least 1TB.

This are just your unsubstantiated opinions.
Upgrade? Not possible on apple silicon macs.

I owned a M1 mini for some time. 16/512. I now have M2 16/256.
The speed of the internal is half. I don't notice. Launching apps and booting is at least as fast as on the 512. I mean, how do you expect 1500MB/s r/w to impact that machine negatively. 3000 vs 1500MB/s is unnoticeable in realtime use. I have 2TB external drive with 1300MB/s r/w. It cost me less than 1TB internal would. I also have a 2TB 300MB/s external primarily for backup.

You have to manage a 256 boot drive actively, though. But moving big folders like movies, music etc to the external and using symbolic links to replace them, I'm keeping around 50-70% of my internal available space. It's important for general performance to have plenty free space, because it will be used for 'swap' or 'page' files when memory gets low.

@ OP: There is absolutely no reason to regret your purchase. Just get a reasonably fast, big external, and learn how to move data and using symlinks (aliases).

 

[ovbacon]

This are just your unsubstantiated opinions.
Upgrade? Not possible on apple silicon macs.

I owned a M1 mini for some time. 16/512. I now have M2 16/256.
The speed of the internal is half. I don't notice. Launching apps and booting is at least as fast as on the 512. I mean, how do you expect 1500MB/s r/w to impact that machine negatively. 3000 vs 1500MB/s is unnoticeable in realtime use. I have 2TB external drive with 1300MB/s r/w. It cost me less than 1TB internal would. I also have a 2TB 300MB/s external primarily for backup.

You have to manage a 256 boot drive actively, though. But moving big folders like movies, music etc to the external and using symbolic links to replace them, I'm keeping around 50-70% of my internal available space. It's important for general performance to have plenty free space, because it will be used for 'swap' or 'page' files when memory gets low.

@ OP: There is absolutely no reason to regret your purchase. Just get a reasonably fast, big external, and learn how to move data and using symlinks (aliases).

So right... I said it somewhere else, with Apple it is really easy to overspend and over buy on what you need and I also think that it is to easy for people to suggest their personal needs/wants to others as this is what you need. OP clearly will be fine with the base model and a decent external ssd. I was doing pretty ok with my old iMac 5K and the speed of that thing is nowhere close to a base model M1/2 (2015 iMac 5K: W:300MB/s R:1200MB/s - mini M2, 16GB/512GB W:3500MB/s R: 3000MB/s). So the base model will have around W:1750MB/s R: 1500MB/s which is faster than most regular users will ever notice.

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

If you're within the exchange window. Just do it. If not and you already setup. You're likely not going to notice the difference. I have the M2 Mac Mini 16/256. Unless you need to do a lot of large file copies you're not going to see much difference. Or other storage intense activities. So unless you're reading lots of files like video editing or writing to with editing large files like videos or lots of raw photos as examples. You just need to know how you use your mini. If you don't do much activity that will involve lots of reads and writes to storage you should be fine. And external drive is perfect for storing stuff if you plan on that. Or even to cloud.

 

[ovbacon]

If you want to get an easy off the shelve external ssd I hear that the samsung t7 2tb shield is good.

 

[steve123]

This are just your unsubstantiated opinions.
Upgrade? Not possible on apple silicon macs.

No. The performance difference is a well documented issue of design fact.

If OP is within the return period and performance or resale value is important, return and upgrade is my recommendation. It is true this is my opinion and substantiated by the facts.

 

[steve123]

Here is another inconvenient truth. The internal storage cannot be changed. So, when it wears out, you will require an expensive logic board swap. The endurance (TBW) of the storage will be higher with more internal storage and therefore the lifetime of the machine will be longer.

 

[ovbacon]

No. The performance difference is a well documented issue of design fact.

If OP is within the return period and performance or resale value is important, return and upgrade is my recommendation. It is true this is my opinion and substantiated by the facts.

The problem with recommendations to people you do not know is that you don't know their needs.... OP's msgs would indicate that a basic mini would be more than adequate. The fact that the 512GB is twice as fast as the 256GB might not actually make a difference to someone while it might to you and me. We also do not know anything about the how much usage is going to be on this thing and I have the feeling that it will be more than adequate for OP and will most likely last long enough.... but again that is hard to know... we also can't look in someone's wallet and price does matter. so no need to be so aggressive in your response because not everyone is mac illiterate.

 

[RokinAmerica]

OP, without knowing all of your specific use cases, I have been using SSD's for well over a decade now. I have not had one die on me while using it yet. Lack of power can eventually make one unreadable (I have 2 such, but I have 10 that I tested late last year that still are readable).

Speed wise, unless you are moving specific type of files from or to another drive, in day to day use, you will never see a difference in speed. I have my tunes on an external and they play as well as if they were on my NVMe (they are there also). SSD speed is a very specific case use for you to notice any speed difference, unless you're a benchmark junkie.

Also, with so much in the cloud now, there are less reasons for more storage.

My suggestion, go 512, get a quality external and you will, in most cases, never see a difference.

Enjoy the new Mini.

PS: Up until Jan of last year, my work requirements meant mucho storage on my pc's. I built this one just over 2 years ago, 1 NVMe, 3 SSD's and 2 HDD's along with an external NVMe and an external HDD. Now my 1 TB NVMe has 608 GB free, my 2 TB SSD has 1.33 TB free, etc.

We changed software and websites and now I no longer have to download, label, save everything, back it up and then upload it to our website. My crew just uploads from our remote loctions and uses phones or iPads.