SSD size not a true 512GB only 500GB!

[chama98]

I was looking at my Mac mini spec wise in the system report and I discovered this! a 500GB SSD instead of the 512GB advertised and bought. Anyone else had this?

I know it's probably nothing. But I feel robbed of 12GB! lol.

 

[dmr727]

One is being measured in decimal, and the other in binary:

How storage capacity is measured on Apple devices - Apple Support (SG)

The storage capacity stated on your device’s packaging or specifications may differ from the capacity reported by its operating system or apps.

support.apple.com

 

[chama98]

One is being measured in decimal, and the other in binary:

How storage capacity is measured on Apple devices - Apple Support (SG)

The storage capacity stated on your device’s packaging or specifications may differ from the capacity reported by its operating system or apps.

support.apple.com

not convinced.

 

[dwomac]

My Bad, Apologies.

Removed earlier wording as it was apparently erroneous and/or misleading. Much better if only accurate info is posted on Forum. I've therefore added a link below to what should be a better expalanation.

GB Vs GiB: What’s The Difference? - MASV

GB is the metric style of measurement with 1 GB = 1,000³ bytes. GiB is the binary method; 1GiB = 1024³ bytes. Read their impact on how we transfer files!

massive.io

Hopefully better now.

 

[chama98]

It’s quite confusing. I spoke to Apple earlier and they said it was also part of the os which, and I quote, ‘makes the Mac work’.

 

[ILoveCalvinCool]

I’ve got news for you about your RAM.

 

[chama98]

Go on….

 

[Ben J.]

It’s quite confusing. I spoke to Apple earlier and they said it was also part of the os which, and I quote, ‘makes the Mac work’.

I'm guessing you spoke to a young shop assistant at a computer store that sells apple stuff. You might as well have consulted a burger flopper. Most apple shop employees don't know anything about macs, these days.

 

[chama98]

No Apple support direct.

 

[Ben J.]

No Apple support direct.

So, a chatbot?
I'm just kidding, but it is difficult to find good support these days.
Best thing is to perfect your online searching skills, and for mac; avoid the all but dysfunctional 'Apple discussion forums'.

"…part of the mac OS…" 😂

 

[chama98]

Yeah that’s what I thought but I’m not in the mood for an argument. I am still within the period of return it and buy a new one!

 

[Tyler.Schmaltz]

Yeah that’s what I thought but I’m not in the mood for an argument. I am still within the period of return it and buy a new one!

"Actual formatted capacity" means that the storage device's formatting uses some of this storage space.

 

[chama98]

Ok. But I don’t quite understand. My old Mac Studio showed the full 512GB.

I know it’s 12GB but I feel slightly short changed.

 

[marmiteturkey]

Ok. But I don’t quite understand. My old Mac Studio showed the full 512GB.

I know it’s 12GB but I feel slightly short changed.

Don't waste your time. If you return your Mac, you will get another one that says exactly the same thing. You might at least take a moment to verify the views of others on this thread who are pointing out (quite correctly), that the discrepancy you see is due to decimal vs. binary reporting.

Do a little homework; it'll make sense and you'll save yourself a pointless trip to the Apple Store.

 

[MagicBoy]

not convinced.

Feel free to use maths to prove that. 😆

 

[NeonNights]

Humans use base 10 for counting:
10^1 = 10
10^2 = 100
10^3 = 1000

Computers use base 2, as in binary:
2^1 = 2
2^2 = 4
2^3 = 8
.
.
2^10 = 1024

Human version of 1000 is equivalent to a computer's 1024, thus 1000/1024 = 0.9765625 conversion rate.

512 GB x 0.9765625 = 500 GB to humans

Hope that helps.

 

[Macalway]

You are upset, contemplating a return, and 'in no mood' (your own words), over this.

Good luck

 

[bapegg]

This is normal with any type of HDD or SDD no matter what operating system used.

 

[heretiq]

Humans use base 10 for counting:
10^1 = 10
10^2 = 100
10^3 = 1000

Computers use base 2, as in binary:
2^1 = 2
2^2 = 4
2^3 = 8
.
.
2^10 = 1024

Human version of 1000 is equivalent to a computer's 1024, thus 1000/1024 = 0.9765625 conversion rate.

512 GB x 0.9765625 = 500 GB to humans

Hope that helps.

Best explanation in this thread 👆🏼. Thanks @NeonNights 🙏🏽. I love maths. 😊

 

[dukebound85]

not convinced.

LOL this is how computers have been since forever

 

[EugW]

Also, there is a hidden recovery partition that eats up several GB's worth of space.

 

[joevt]

GB = Digital Storage
GiB = Binary Storage

As a rough approximation to find GiB multiply GB by 1.07374 (Different figure required at TB level)

Apple disk report gives 494.38 GB (decimal) (530.8 GiB). Apple also advertise the device as having a SSD of 512 GB (decimal) (549.7 GiB). Note 512 GiB = 476.8 GB. I suspect that they are mixing up the suffixes (as nearly all IT organisations do) leaving customers confused. Perhaps we should all approach Apple (and the other miscreants) and ask for the additional memory or if at least they could use correct figures and suffixes.

Happy to be told I'm wrong.

I think you have your GiB and GB mixed up.

B = 1 (10^0, 2^0)
K = 1000 (10^3)
Ki = 1024 (2^10)
M = 1000*1000 (10^6)
Mi = 1024*1024 (2^20)
G = 1000*1000*1000 (10^9)
Gi = 1024*1024*1024 (2^30)
T = 1000*1000*1000*1000 (10^12)
Ti = 1024*1024*1024*1024 (2^40)

494.38 GB is the partition size (460.43 GiB).
The entire disk is 500.28 GB (465.92 GiB).
The reason you don't see 512 GB (476.84 GiB) or 512 GiB (549.76 GB) is probably because of SSD overprovisioning? For an SSD, the likely size is 512 GiB (a power of 2) like RAM would use. Is some of the size of the SSD taken by ECC? I suppose you need to look at the SSD chip specs.

 

[blufrog]

The SI unit for 1024 bytes is 1 kiB, but usually when people write kB/KB/kb, they mean 1024 bytes.

Certainly whenever I talk about capacities, I'm always using base 2, because computer science. Only lay people and weirdos use base 10 when talking about bits/bytes (manufacturers prefer base 10 because it allows them to inflate the capacity of their drives).

If a drive says it is "512 GB", I take that to mean I will see a reported disk size of 549.755 GB.

If it says "500 GB", I will expect to see 536.86 GB.

If I see 476.xx GB size, then that means the drive is really "480 GB".

The disk manager shows 524.3 GB, which is close enough for me to 512 GB to not launch a class action lawsuit. 🤣

Over-provisioning to allow for wear/failure of cells of the SSD are usually hidden from the working capacity and never seen. They are usually handled internally by the SSD management controller, so not sure why the capacity is different to that expected.

I'm too busy typing and didn't notice the disk manager actually shows a LARGER capacity than 512 GB.

container disk2 = 524.3 GB.

You are getting exactly what you paid for. The PARTITION isn't quite 500 GB, but that is because there is a trailing 5 GB partition for system stuff.

The file system itself consumes disk space, so you will lose a bit for that, and then there is the base 2 vs. base 10 thing, but that doesn't count here as I can guarantee the reported stats in the computer will all be base 2.

 

[Basic75]

LOL this is how computers have been since forever

No, not since forever. Back in the days KB meant 1024 and MB meant 1024 * 1024 etc, but with the trend to more lies in marketing more places switched to 1000.

 

[Basic75]

but that doesn't count here as I can guarantee the reported stats in the computer will all be base 2.

That has unfortunately not been universally the case for quite a while now, like Finder reports disk sizes in base 10.