The Storage Space Conundrum: A Legacy of Limitations

It's hard to believe it's been over 14 years since Apple first released the MacBook Air, one of its most popular and iconic notebooks. Back then, the base model came standard with an 80GB hard drive, which was comparable to many other PC notebooks in the same category at the time. However, users coming from the base model MacBook Pro, which featured a 200GB hard drive, were forced to decide which files to keep on their MacBook Air and which to store on an external drive.

This storage space problem has been an ongoing issue for Macs, even after six months of offering a smaller 64GB solid-state drive upgrade for an additional $1,000. In those days, users were essentially deciding what was most important to them: having more storage space or saving money. This dilemma still exists today, over a decade later.

To address this issue, Apple introduced the Fusion Drive in 2012 with the iMac and Mac Mini. The Fusion Drive combines a hard drive with a solid-state drive, aiming to get the best of both worlds: high capacity and high speed. It achieves this by automatically storing frequently used files on the smaller solid-state drive and moving rarely accessed files to the larger hard drive for long-term storage. While some users enjoyed the increased performance, others noted the poor integration of both drives, often experiencing the dreaded rainbow beach ball.

The mixed reception of the Fusion Drive is likely why Apple has not expanded it to other Macs and removed it from the Mac Mini lineup. Instead, Apple has chosen to continue leveraging solid-state drives as an up-sell opportunity, leaving customers to pay a premium price for more internal storage. The company wants to keep margins on hardware high, resulting in price hikes of their base model computers.

In 2018, Apple updated the Mac Mini, coming standard with a 128GB solid-state drive that replaced the 500GB hard drive. However, this change also resulted in a significant price hike from $500 to $800. While users were getting a quarter of the storage space, they were also paying an additional $300 for it. This pricing strategy puts Mac customers in an uncomfortable position.

When shopping for a Mac, users are faced with a similar dilemma. The MacBook Air is one of Apple's most popular notebooks, but its base model comes with only 128GB of storage space. Compare this to the HP Spectre x360, which costs $100 less and comes with a 512GB solid-state drive. Upgrading to that capacity on the MacBook Air would cost an additional $400.

The situation is further complicated when considering other Apple products. The iPhone's base storage has increased significantly over the years, from 16GB to 64GB, but users still have to pay for upgrades to expand their storage space. In contrast, the Mac Mini offers a better value, but at a higher price point. This leaves users with little choice but to repeatedly sift through the Finder and decide which files and apps are worth keeping and which should be deleted.

For professional users like video editors, this problem is even worse. Many have to carry around external drives or pay for cloud services to accommodate their large project files, making their workflow more complicated than it needs to be. While the recent 16-inch MacBook Pro offers a better deal per gigabyte than its predecessor, Apple's pricing strategy will likely continue to prioritize solid-state drives as an up-sell opportunity.

In conclusion, the storage space conundrum remains a persistent issue for Mac users, with Apple still choosing to leverage solid-state drives as a way to increase revenue. While the company has made some strides in improving storage capacity and speed, the pricing strategy continues to put customers in an uncomfortable position. As technology advances, it's essential that Apple and its competitors prioritize user experience and find ways to balance performance and affordability.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enIf you’re Mac owner, you’ve probably seenthis notification, warning that your startupdisk is almost full.It’s become such a common issue that Appleactually introduced a new feature in macOSto reduce clutter and optimize storage space.Now the obvious reason why users are runningout of space so quickly is due to Apple’stendency to equip their Macs with small drives,a problem that’s only gotten worse in recentyears.So in this video we’re going to find outwhy Apple appears to be stingy with storagespace, and how that has effected users.This is Greg with Apple Explained, and I wantto thank Clean My Mac X for sponsoring thisvideo.If you want to help decide which topics Icover, make sure you’re subscribed, andvoting polls like this one will show up inyour mobile activity feed.Now the Mac is a product that’s very popularamong content creators who require a lot ofstorage space for their video and photo files.Macs have always had fairly competitive basespecs compared to their PC equivalents, exceptwhen it comes to storage space.Take the MacBook Pro for example, the 13”base model costs $1,300 and has virtuallythe same specs as the $1,250 Dell XPS 13.The only difference is that the MacBook Pro,which is $50 more, has half the storage space.And upgrading the solid state drive to thesame 256GB as the XPS 13 would cost $200,something the vast majority of customers don’tdo.So they end up going home with a pro levelmachine capable of video editing, photo editing,and 3D rendering, but isn’t capable of holdingmany of those project files.Forcing users to either delete old files ormove them to external drives which can bean annoying, time consuming process.Now, I mentioned how Apple charges quite abit more than their competition for extrastorage space, and when you combine this withthe fact that base model Macs have significantlysmaller drives on average, you begin to understandwhat’s happening here.Apple is employing an up-sell strategy thatbecomes extremely profitable considering thehigh margins on their SSDs.Upgrading to a 1TB drive on the MacBook Procosts $600.Compare that to one of the best external 1TBSSD on the market, the Samsung T5, which retailsfor $180.More than a third less than what Apple ischarging.Now if you’re wondering why computers likethe iMac offer 1TB of storage for significantlyless than the MacBook Pro, it’s becausethe base iMac has a hard disk drive, ratherthan a solid state drive.So what’s the difference?Well, hard drives are pretty old technologythat go back to the 50’s.They have a spinning disk with a moving armthat uses magnets to store and retrieve data,and today you can get a high capacity harddrive for a very affordable price.But there are drawbacks.The speed of a hard drive depends on how fastit’s platter can spin, and although therehave been improvements over the years, spinninghard drives are still significantly slowerthan solid state drives.Also, hard drives are fragile.They contain moving parts that operate ata high level of precision, so dropping a computerwith a hard drive could result in corrupteddata.Lastly, hard disk drives are ridged and can’tbe reshaped to accommodate other components.Compare all that to the more modern solidstate drive which features no moving parts.It’s much more durable, accesses data muchfaster, operates in complete silence, andcan be molded to fit inside modern electronicsmuch easier.But the big drawback is its price.SSDs are significantly more expensive pergigabyte than hard drives.So while computers like the Mac Mini willreboot, launch apps, and open files much quickerthan its hard drive-based competitors, itwon’t have nearly as much space.For example the HP Z2 Mini features a 500GBhard drive standard, compared to the Mac Mini’s128GB solid state drive.That’s almost four times more storage onthe Z2, although it would perform much slower.I should also mention that you can upgradethe Z2 to a 256GB solid state drive, but it’dcost an additional $71, which would bringthe total to $912.Which is almost $100 less than the cost ofan equivalent Mac Mini.I’ve actually made the mistake of buyinga MacBook Pro with 256GB of storage space,which isn’t much at all for a video creator.So what I do is store my large project fileson an external drive, and use a Mac cleanerapp called Clean My Mac X to delete old files,apps, and hidden junk that I wouldn’t beable to find easily on my own.It has the best interface of any Mac cleaningapp I’ve used and the first time it scannedmy drive it found almost 30GB of unused filesthat I deleted with a single click.And what makes Clean My Mac X even more usefulis that it also locates and removes malwarewhich can sneak onto your Mac through thirdparty app downloads or internet extensions.It’s also easy to monitor what the app isdoing through the menu bar widget.So if you need to free up space on your Macjust click the link in the description andyou’ll be able to download a free trialof Clean My Mac X or you can get a premiumlicense for just $35, which is way cheaperin the long run compared to a monthly subscriptionservice.Now, the Mac’s storage problem wasn’ttoo bad until the rise of SSDs beginning withthe original MacBook Air released back in2008.It came standard with an 80GB hard drive,which was comparable to many other PC notebooksin the same category.But you could upgrade the MacBook Air to asmaller 64GB solid state drive for an extra$1,000.Now the cost of SSDs quickly dropped and Applewas able to offer the same 64GB upgrade for$600 about six months later, but it didn’tsolve the problem that 64GB of storage spaceon a notebook was extremely limiting, evenin those days.Users coming from the base model MacBook Pro,which featured a 200GB hard drive, were forcedto decide which files to keep on their MacBookAir, and which to store on an external drive.And as I mentioned earlier, this is an issuefor Macs that still exists today, over a decadelater.Now, Apple has tried to solve this storagespace problem with something called the FusionDrive, introduced in 2012 with the iMac andMac Mini.As the name suggests, the Fusion Drive combinesa hard drive with a solid state drive in aneffort to get the best of both worlds.High capacity and high speed.It achieves this by automatically storingfrequently used files on the smaller solidstate drive, while moving rarely accessedfiles to the larger hard drive for long termstorage.Now, reception of the Fusion Drive has beenmixed.With some users enjoying the increased performanceand others noting the poor integration ofboth drives.Saying they see the rainbow beach ball moreoften than with a tradition hard drive.And this mixed reaction is probably why Applehasn’t expanded the fusion drive to anyof their other Macs, and actually removedit from the Mac Mini.So with that semi-failed attempt at tryingto bring hard drives and solid state drivestogether, Apple’s had to deal with the realitythat most of their Macs will have to featuremore expensive solid state drives, which forcesApple and their customers into an uncomfortableposition.Apple wants to keep margins on hardware high,resulting in price hikes of their base modelcomputers.Or, they could keep prices the same and simplyinclude a smaller solid state drive that costsless.And I think Apple did a little bit of both.Remember back in 2018 when Apple updated theMac Mini?It came standard with a 128GB solid statedrive which replaced the 500GB hard drive,but it also received a significant price hike,from 500 to 800 dollars.So not only were users getting a quarter ofthe storage space, but they were also paying$300 more for it.And when it comes to the situation customersare in when shopping for a Mac, it’s equallyas disappointing.The MacBook Air is one of Apple’s most popularnotebooks, but look at how much storage spacecomes with the base model, just 128GB.Compare that with one of it’s top sellingcompetitors, the HP Spectre x360.It costs $100 less and comes with a 512GBsolid state drive.Upgrading to that capacity on the MacBookAir would cost an additional $400.And consider the fact that the 2012 15”MacBook Pro shipped with the same 256GB ofsolid state storage as my 2018 15” MacBookPro.But during that period, the iPhone’s basestorage increased by 300%, from 16 to 64GB.And when it comes to buying more storage space,the iPhone offers a better value than theMac.Upgrading from 128 to 256GB costs an extra$100 for the iPhone 11, but $200 for the MacMini.So Mac customers face a tough decision, riskpurchasing a lower-capacity base model thatcould run out of space very quickly, or spendan extra few hundred dollars on a larger driveto give yourself more breathing room.And although this sales approach is very profitablefor Apple, it has a detrimental effect onthe user experience.Not only are many users forced to deal withthis low storage alert on a regular basis,but they’re also forced to repeatedly siftthrough the finder and decide which filesand apps are worth keeping and which shouldbe deleted.For professional users, things are even worse.Many video editors, me included, have to carryaround external drives or pay for cloud servicesto accommodate our large project files thatmake our workflow more complicated than itneeds to be.So will this problem ever be solved?Well, it’s already started to improve withthe recent 16 inch MacBook Pro, which offersa better deal per gigabyte than the previous15 inch model that it replaced.But Apple is still charging significantlymore than the competition, which means they’relikely to continue leveraging SSDs as an up-sellopportunity, leaving customers to pay a premiumprice for more internal storage.Alright guys thanks for watching and I’llsee you next time.\n"