Apple affords fairly good costs on the usual configurations of its Macs. $599 for a M4 Mac mini? $999 for a brand new M4 MacBook Air? $1,299 for a brand new M4 iMac? These are attractively priced. However these costs contain just a few sacrifices, most notably the beginning storage of simply 256GB. 1 / 4 of a terabyte would possibly sound like lots, however a lot of what we do on the Mac includes giant recordsdata–high-resolution photos, movies, video games (actually the largest wrongdoer), and much more. 256GB runs out rapidly.
Apple does give clients the choice to improve storage on the level of buy, after all, however their costs are steep. Upgrading from 256GB to 512GB (the minimal quantity we suggest) is an additional $200/£200, and leaping to a terabyte is one other $200, turning a pretty entry-level providing into an expensive one.
However for those who don’t wish to plunk down the additional cash, you possibly can nonetheless develop your Mac’s storage with out paying Apple’s exorbitant costs. The options listed below are principally exterior storage options–in different phrases, you’ll want to hold and plug in an additional machine–however the compromise can assist you meet your finances.
Exterior SSDs and laborious drives
Foundry
Professionals
Greatest worth/capability ratio
Massive vary of capacities out there
Cons
Yet another factor to hold or muddle your desk
Sooner efficiency normally means larger costs
An exterior storage machine affords the perfect mixture of worth and capability. For instance, you will get a 1TB LaCie Cellular Drive for about $80/£56 on Amazon that connects to your Mac through USB-C. LaCie sells that very same drive with 5TB of storage for lower than $170/£115–nonetheless decrease than the improve to 512GB of inner storage on a Mac.
With exterior drives, you possibly can go for a tough drive or a solid-state drive (SSD). SSDs (that are used internally on the Mac) are sooner and higher-priced than laborious drives. You too can select between desktop drives which have a bigger design and require you to plug it into an influence outlet, or moveable drives which are sufficiently small to slot in a bag or pocket and are powered by the Mac’s Thunderbolt or USB port.
Exterior drives use both USB-C or Thunderbolt to hook up with the Mac. Thunderbolt drives are costlier however sooner, whereas cheaper USB-C-only drives typically help slower information switch charges. Study extra concerning the variations between Thunderbolt and USB.
Macworld has guides to the perfect exterior SSDs and the perfect exterior laborious drives that will help you discover the perfect machine for you.
USB flash drives
Unsplash
Professionals
Cons
Sturdiness points
Awkwardly protrudes from the USB port
Usually referred to as “thumb drives” or “reminiscence sticks,” a USB flash drive is basically a stick of flash reminiscence that plugs right into a USB port. They’re small and simple to stash in a bag or pocket. They’re out there in capacities as excessive as 2TB, however 128GB and 256GB capacities are mostly discovered, typically for lower than $30, reminiscent of this Samsung flash drive.
USB flash drives range in worth primarily based on capability and velocity. Some have further options reminiscent of a USB-A plug on one finish and a USB-C plug on the opposite, or built-in encryption.
You possibly can depart a USB flash drive plugged in, but when you’ll continuously learn and write to the drive, you’ll wish to go for a conveyable or desktop drive as a substitute. USB flash drives are extra vulnerable to carrying out than a full-fledged drive as a result of flash reminiscence has restricted sturdiness and USB flash drives don’t have the measures in place to take care of correct well being. Additionally, they have a tendency to make use of lower-quality components to allow them to be low cost and handled as commodities (for instance, the nook close to my house sells USB flash drives).
Whilst you don’t wish to depend on USB flash drives are main storage, they’re helpful for, say, storing pictures or movies from a shoot, file administration if you wish to maintain recordsdata for a mission separate from all the pieces else, backups, and extra.
SD playing cards
Professionals
Cons
Requires a Mac with an SDXC card slot or a separate USB card reader
Sturdiness points
SDXC playing cards are reminiscence playing cards typically utilized in cameras and different moveable gadgets, however it’s also possible to use them on the Mac. Solely two Macs (MacBook Professional and Mac Studio) have built-in SDXC Card slots, nonetheless. For each different Mac, you have to purchase an SD Card adapter, which is cheap at about $10/£10. You too can discover hubs and Thunderbolt docks with card slots for those who plan to purchase one anyway.
SDXC playing cards are good for makes use of much like USB flash drives: file transfers, particularly storing recordsdata for initiatives, backups, and extra. They’ve comparable points relating to the reminiscence chips carrying out; they’re extra dependable as a result of they use higher-quality reminiscence, however they aren’t ultimate as a drive that’s at all times linked, and you might be continuously studying and writing recordsdata to.
In case you plan to make use of an SDXC card as a technique of transferring recordsdata between Macs or different gadgets, contemplate shopping for one other card as a backup. I’ve had situations the place the metallic contacts for the cardboard get worn out or broken from frequent insertions into gadgets. These playing cards did have a number of years of mileage on them however perceive that they’re delicate relative to different storage gadgets talked about right here.
Playing cards can be found in capacities between 32GB and 2TB and can be found at completely different speeds. The upper capability/sooner playing cards might be costlier than an exterior SSD drive of the identical capability, as you’re paying a premium for the extraordinarily small dimension.
Community-attached storage
Professionals
Conveniently accessible storage for a lot of gadgets
Cons
Speeds restricted by the community
Setup isn’t easy
In case you’re not aware of network-attached storage (NAS), consider it as cloud storage, however particularly to your house. A NAS machine connects to your private home community, and your Macs, iPhones, iPads, and even Home windows PCs and Android gadgets can entry it each time crucial. A NAS machine is an efficient method to retailer recordsdata that should be accessed by a number of gadgets or customers, or it may be a means for particular person customers to maneuver recordsdata from a tool to release area.
As a result of the NAS machine connects to a community, the setup isn’t so simple as plug-and-play, however it’s not too troublesome. As soon as it’s up and working, you possibly can entry it both by the Community menu within the Finder, or by an app, browser, or each. Some NAS gadgets can present entry if you’re away from house, however this will likely require utilizing a paid service from the machine’s firm.
NAS gadgets vary from ones with mounted laborious drives beginning at 2TB for $150/£150 to drives with a number of detachable laborious drives with capacities over 8TB and different options for a number of lots of of {dollars}. Take a look at our picks for the perfect NAS drive for Mac for those who’re .
Cloud storage
Screenshot
Foundry
Professionals
Accessible wherever there’s web entry
Most companies are usually not platform-specific
Cons
Payment-based service
Web entry required
Speeds affected by web connection
Cloud storage is offered by a service on-line for a charge, normally a subscription. Apple affords iCloud, which incorporates iCloud Drive together with different companies. Different common cloud storage suppliers embrace Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Field. Study extra about the perfect cloud storage companies for the Mac.
What’s nice about cloud storage is that it’s accessible by virtually any machine that has an web connection. However as a result of your capacity to entry it’s reliant on the web, cloud storage shouldn’t be used as main storage. It’s good for storing recordsdata you wish to entry however not ones you utilize continuously, issues like backups, picture and video storage, and file transfers. But it surely’s an effective way to release area in your Mac’s drive.
Additionally, since it’s important to pay a recurring charge, you’ll want to determine how the price advantages you. Many companies have a free tier with a small allocation of storage; for instance, iCloud Drive affords 5GB free. That limits what you are able to do.
Mac mini and Mac Studio SSD upgrades
Professionals
Cons
Difficult set up
Might void the Mac guarantee
The M4 Mac mini and the Mac Studio have inner SSDs which are put in in slots, which makes them upgradeable however Apple doesn’t formally help upgrades after buy by the corporate, a 3rd celebration, or by do-it-yourselfers. Some small corporations have launched SSD improve kits, reminiscent of Increase Mac mini and PolySoft Companies with video directions on their web sites.
The installations for these kits aren’t trivial but when your mechanical aptitude is proscribed, you must be capable to do that. There’s a danger of damaging your Mac and this set up may void your guarantee, particularly if there’s apparent proof of your work.
When you have an M2 Mac mini there are different methods to improve its reminiscence. Study extra.
