Window User Changing to Mac - Questions

[straightryder]

I'm am a content creator doing photos and video... using Adobe LR, PS and editing video in PrePro and using AE.

So I would like to switch to Apple. I'm looking at the MacBook M2 16" and I have a couple questions about the workflow due to the my paranoia about the lifespan/ TBW in regards to the soldered drive on the new MBPro M2's. I keep hearing horror stories and for some reason my eyes just keep seeing these stories online and on YouTube about drive failure.

1) From what I've researched - correct me if I'm wrong - is that the Software will live on the internal drive of the MacBook and all the projects media files/ cache folders will be stored on a fast external NvemE ssd Thunderbolt 4 enclosure such as the Acasis and you just work off that to preserve the lifespan of the onboard drive... correct?

I know its such a newbie question its just I really want to make sure I got the right idea of before I go all in.


Thanks.

 

[BeatCrazy]

You can do what you describe, or you can store everything on the internal SSD.

It's really no different than Windows in this regards.

If you're paranoid about drive failure, you should be doing backups regardless.

 

[Big Bad D]

Set it up however you prefer and depending on capacity of the internal drive. I would suggest to stop reading all the horror stories, the majority of users have no problems. It’s a long time since I made the PC to Mac switch, but it was intuitive and not difficult.

 

[orionquest]

Stories are wonderful and entertaining. The reality is very different.
Whatever you are doing now on windows you should be able to config the same way on MacOS.

 

[satcomer]

Once your Mac it will a little different, if I can give you once piece of advice, stay far away from subscription on Mac because that to me is evil! So instead of office I went with the open source software LibreOffice especially when I was army and it never failed with work documents and even tax forms!

In the top finder there is another open source application (that is Universal too) is Meteorologist that lives in Finder bar!

Also their is another donation ware called Onyx to run all maintenance scripts because I sleep my Mac at night about once every three months to keep my Mac running well!

Plus lastly I stay far away from intel versions by this point because to me that software is ancient and the developer skipped away!

 

[maflynn]

1) From what I've researched - correct me if I'm wrong - is that the Software will live on the internal drive of the MacBook and all the projects media files/ cache folders will be stored on a fast external NvemE ssd Thunderbolt 4 enclosure such as the Acasis and you just work off that to preserve the lifespan of the onboard drive... correct?

You use the Mac much as you would with a windows machine. So if you have a NAS for your windows machine, you can use the same SAN for your Mac. If you want to keep the data internally and configure the Mac with a larger SSD you can.

The Mac like the PC, is just a tool and it will largely let you work the way you want to work

 

[Gudi]

1) From what I've researched - correct me if I'm wrong - is that the Software will live on the internal drive of the MacBook and all the projects media files/ cache folders will be stored on a fast external NvemE ssd Thunderbolt 4 enclosure such as the Acasis and you just work off that to preserve the lifespan of the onboard drive... correct?

False. You put the projects on an external ssd, because they're either too large for your internal storage or because you want to be able to move them quickly between different machines. It's not a coping mechanism for your lifespan paranoia. For that you make backups and buy AppleCare.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I'm am a content creator doing photos and video... using Adobe LR, PS and editing video in PrePro and using AE.

So I would like to switch to Apple.

Why? All of those apps are cross-platform. The only reason you'd need to switch platforms is because you want greater ProRes support than you are getting currently (there is some support in Windows, but it's an Apple codec so you're only going to get so much).

I'm looking at the MacBook M2 16" and I have a couple questions about the workflow due to the my paranoia about the lifespan/ TBW in regards to the soldered drive on the new MBPro M2's. I keep hearing horror stories and for some reason my eyes just keep seeing these stories online and on YouTube about drive failure.

SSDs fail all the time. Macs with soldered on drives aren't exempt from this. The only issue is that if your drive dies, you have to replace the logic board and, conversely, if a logic board component fails and you have to replace your logic board, you also lose your drive. Regular back-ups will alleviate some of this. Otherwise, that's just part of the cost of being a Mac user in the Apple Silicon/M-series era. I know of very few Windows laptops that have this limitation.

1) From what I've researched - correct me if I'm wrong - is that the Software will live on the internal drive of the MacBook and all the projects media files/ cache folders will be stored on a fast external NvemE ssd Thunderbolt 4 enclosure such as the Acasis and you just work off that to preserve the lifespan of the onboard drive... correct?

You could do it that way, but you, by no means, have to. From the standpoint of working within the operating system, it's not different from a PC in any respect other than that your SSD is soldered onto the logic board. Apple Silicon Macs (Macs with M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, etc.) won't boot if the internal drive dies. Intel Macs (even ones with soldered on SSDs) could still boot to external drives and Internet Recovery. This is just how Apple Silicon Macs are designed.

I know its such a newbie question its just I really want to make sure I got the right idea of before I go all in.


Thanks.

Again, I'm not entirely sure why you're switching platforms if your applications are already cross-platform and if the one thing you seem to be worried most about (the drive not being removable) is inherent to the hardware platform you are switching to.

 

[satcomer]

Yea but you Windows guys never noticed a web programmer used a picture shareware program and then put color correction for videos and it is called PixelMator Pro!

They even made videos about it: