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The two I installed this week are using 70GB and 90GB all set up for development with my files. I think there are plenty of people who needn’t spend on an extra

by jws 8y ago

The two I installed this week are using 70GB and 90GB all set up for development with my files. I think there are plenty of people who needn’t spend on an extra 128GB. Especially since the USB ports are plenty fast for bulk, non speed critical storage should you decide to archive something locally.

Someone1234 8y ago
128 GB doesn't work because it doesn't scale well with age. You can run MacOS or Windows on 256 GB almost indefinitely, even as they grow it would be five or more years before it becomes a headache, to keep 128 GB happy you have to babysit/rebuild semi-regularly. I'm yet to see an OS which doesn't bloat as it ages, even on mobile devices. 30 GB free won't be 30 GB the next major OS update, including rollback files, logs, and so on. OS bloat is also one of the few things you cannot offload to external storage. And I'm someone that ran off of a 128 GB SSD for almost two years. PS - Plus increased resale value will likely pay for itself.
- vetinari 8y ago
  On SSDs, you also want as much as free space as possible, to avoid wearing out due to write amplification the few free blocks that are constantly rewritten.
  - sjburt 8y ago
    Modern SSDs (last 5 years or so) will wear level by relocating infrequently written blocks.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  128 GB doesn't work because it doesn't scale well with age As a counterpoint, my 2011 MacBook Air has 128GB, and works just fine. Photoshop, coding, and lots of personal projects. Maybe 128GB isn't enough for gaming, but I don't think that's what the "mini" is for.
  - mattnewton 8y ago
    Counter counter point, my 128gb 2013 mbp I use for development has 90gb of “system” cruft somehow and I regularly have to shuffle files around, and have been thinking I need to re-image it since I can’t dig deeper into what the “system” bucket is made up of easily.
    - geden 8y ago
      https://whatsizemac.com https://whatsizemac.com - been invaluable over the years with my 256GB 2012 MBA.
    - gshubert17 8y ago
      I discovered that the Chrome browser had been storing every previous version as it updated them. I had over 20 GB of old versions of Chrome, which I recovered when I deleted them.
    - sanketskasar 8y ago
      GrandPerspective does it for me. Really intuitive interface to figure out what's taking how much of storage and delete it.
    - davidwparker 8y ago
      I have the exact same issue. I have 256gb in my MBP, but 162gb are used by system files. I can't seem to figure out what is being used and how to clear it out.
      - macintux 8y ago
        I’ve been very happy with Daisy Disk over the years. https://daisydiskapp.com/ https://daisydiskapp.com/
      - jerrysievert 8y ago
        Omni Disk Sweeper is free and works pretty well: https://www.omnigroup.com/more https://www.omnigroup.com/more
  - 8y ago
illumin8 8y ago
90GB out of 120GB when I've just barely installed the apps and files I need mean I'll run out of space in less than 3 months. It's a shame that 256GB isn't the minimum in these new, expensive Mac minis.

by jws 8y ago

Someone1234 8y ago

128 GB doesn't work because it doesn't scale well with age. You can run MacOS or Windows on 256 GB almost indefinitely, even as they grow it would be five or more years before it becomes a headache, to keep 128 GB happy you have to babysit/rebuild semi-regularly. I'm yet to see an OS which doesn't bloat as it ages, even on mobile devices. 30 GB free won't be 30 GB the next major OS update, including rollback files, logs, and so on. OS bloat is also one of the few things you cannot offload to external storage. And I'm someone that ran off of a 128 GB SSD for almost two years. PS - Plus increased resale value will likely pay for itself.

vetinari 8y ago
On SSDs, you also want as much as free space as possible, to avoid wearing out due to write amplification the few free blocks that are constantly rewritten.
- sjburt 8y ago
  Modern SSDs (last 5 years or so) will wear level by relocating infrequently written blocks.
reaperducer 8y ago
128 GB doesn't work because it doesn't scale well with age As a counterpoint, my 2011 MacBook Air has 128GB, and works just fine. Photoshop, coding, and lots of personal projects. Maybe 128GB isn't enough for gaming, but I don't think that's what the "mini" is for.
- mattnewton 8y ago
  Counter counter point, my 128gb 2013 mbp I use for development has 90gb of “system” cruft somehow and I regularly have to shuffle files around, and have been thinking I need to re-image it since I can’t dig deeper into what the “system” bucket is made up of easily.
  - geden 8y ago
    https://whatsizemac.com https://whatsizemac.com - been invaluable over the years with my 256GB 2012 MBA.
  - gshubert17 8y ago
    I discovered that the Chrome browser had been storing every previous version as it updated them. I had over 20 GB of old versions of Chrome, which I recovered when I deleted them.
  - sanketskasar 8y ago
    GrandPerspective does it for me. Really intuitive interface to figure out what's taking how much of storage and delete it.
  - davidwparker 8y ago
    I have the exact same issue. I have 256gb in my MBP, but 162gb are used by system files. I can't seem to figure out what is being used and how to clear it out.
    - macintux 8y ago
      I’ve been very happy with Daisy Disk over the years. https://daisydiskapp.com/ https://daisydiskapp.com/
    - jerrysievert 8y ago
      Omni Disk Sweeper is free and works pretty well: https://www.omnigroup.com/more https://www.omnigroup.com/more
- 8y ago

illumin8 8y ago

90GB out of 120GB when I've just barely installed the apps and files I need mean I'll run out of space in less than 3 months. It's a shame that 256GB isn't the minimum in these new, expensive Mac minis.