Why MacBooks Have Low Storage and What are Best Macbook Storage Alternatives?

Want more storage on Macbook Pro? Well, here are some good solutions for you. When it comes to premium laptops, Macbook is a benchmark in the industry. Be it development, music production, video editing, photo editing, education or any other requirement, MacBooks are pretty solid machines to work on.

Apple’s MacBooks are not designed to be your only computer. They are basically an extension of your smartphone, iPhone to be precise, and lay more emphasis on portability and speed instead of storage. The whole macOS, iOS, and iPadOS ecosystem syncs perfectly.

But there are several other reasons why Apple’s MacBooks offer low storage despite the premium price, including the ones above. When you enter into Apple’s ecosystem, you will get a better idea of why the Macbook has low storage and why it is okay for Apple users. Let’s discuss more on that.

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3 Reasons Why Macbooks Have Less Storage

Apple gives you low storage and there are some valid reasons for that. Let’s talk about them:

1. MacBooks are an extension of an iPhone

Think of your MacBook as an extension of an iPhone instead of a device that competes with other laptops, and you will start to see why the storage is so low. 

If you are not convinced, think about this. A device that is powerful enough to carry out complex tasks and lasts an entire day on a single battery charge. What comes to mind? iPhones and MacBooks.

The iMac, on the other hand, is a better choice when it comes to an Apple computer. On the other hand, if you need a powerful machine for creative work as well as for gaming, you can check these best gaming laptop under 2000.

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2. Macbook uses SSDs instead of Hard Drives

Hard disk drives are engineered in a way that there are lots of moving parts. These parts move back and forth when reading or writing data. HDD is big in size and slows in speed and Apple doesn’t like any of them. There is no reason why Apple should use HDD instead of SSD. The Macbook’s gorgeous, slim design and ultra-fast processing are what make Macbook The Macbook.

SSD or solid-state drive solves this issue. It uses memory on-chip instead and can easily be wiped out. Below is the difference between HDD & SSD. 

Apart from the difference in how HDD and SSD work, the main difference is the price point. HDD is cheaper, whereas SSD is much more expensive than HDD. MacBooks use SSDs to provide a seamless performance through faster fetching of data, but due to the high prices, you see MacBooks with lower storage versions to cater to budget-conscious users. The extra SSD storage will increase the cost of the product.

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3. Apple’s Marketing Strategy

This is another big reason why Apple launched low storage Macbook. By releasing a low storage variant, Apple is able to sell other expensive variants with more storage at premium pricing. Using basic consumer psychology, since the low-end variant seems like a steal, consumers are willing to pay more for the extra storage.

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How Much Storage Do You Need on Macbook?

For the uninitiated, 128GB seems like a lot of storage. Do you really have to worry about low storage?

Yes, and here’s why:

1. The entire 128GB is not available to the user. From 128GB, almost ~15GB is used by the system itself. You cannot remove anything from System Storage. You better not do that. Apart from that, if you are into music production, video editing or any other creative task that requires additional storage for saving raw files, the 128GB storage option is not enough.

2. Considering the Full HD, 4K video/photo qualities, even with average use, you will soon fill up 128GB or even 256GB of space. But if you only want surfing, 128GB is enough for you.

So, if you are hoping to use the Mac extensively, you need to consider that anything below 512GB is not going to be enough. Also, you cannot upgrade your SSD on the latest MacBook versions, so this is a decision you have to make at the time of purchase. If you are in the market looking to buy a new laptop, here are things you should consider before buying a laptop.

Basically, it all depends from person to person. If you are buying a Macbook for web surfing, working on Excel, writing emails, or watching Netflix, you are good to go with low storage but if you are into the creative niche and play around with a lot of heavy videos, and audio files, either get the 1TB version or buy cloud storage, SSDs and create your own server.

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How to Get More Storage on Macbook Pro – 6 Alternatives for Macbook Storage

1. Buy External SSDs

If you do end up choosing a low-storage variant of the Macbook, you can use SSD drives that are cheaper than buying extra storage up front. Back up your data to the external SSD using Time Machine. But hard drives are hard to manage as they are fragile and physical damage to the SSD will lead to loss of data.

2. Use Cloud Storage Services

You can sign up for cloud storage services and make use of the limit. Google Drive, iCloud and Dropbox have expensive plans on a monthly basis. For cheaper pricing, you can get pCloud Storage. If you want 500GB or even 2 TB storage, you can get it from pCloud which offers encrypted cloud storage and they also have lifetime plans.

With pCloud Lifetime plans, you don’t need to pay monthly instead pay only once and get 2TB of cloud storage that you can use to store videos, audio, pictures, and important documents and access them on iPhone, Android, Macbook, or Windows laptop anywhere and anytime you want. pCloud also has a Crypto Folder which is an encrypted folder for top-notch security of your Crypto portfolio.

Get pCloud Storage for Macbook

3. Plan to Buy More Storage Variant

If you have your heart set on a MacBook, save until you can afford at least the 512 GB or even 1TB variant. This will save you running costs and also the effort it takes to keep offloading storage onto other external devices. But do it if you have some specific reasons for more storage. Otherwise, cloud storage is a wise choice because of the price differences and universal access.

4. Use Cleaning Apps

If you cannot manually optimize storage, there are some free apps that help you do this. Cleaning software finds all duplicate files, temporary and cache files that are obscure, and deletes them on your behalf. But this is not going to make any significant difference if you are looking for space to store video footage recorded in 4K or even Full HD resolution. Optimizing storage only cleans the junk and does not shoot up the storage size.

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5. Rely on Manual Cleanups

You can also set aside a regular cleanup time to make sure you keep 10% of your disk space free at all times. The regular culprits are screenshots, unused apps, large files in your download folder, and an overflowing Trash folder. Set your Trash to empty itself automatically. Follow Apple’s recommendation to reduce clutter and optimize your storage.

To automatically clean the Trash, Go to > About This Mac on Finder > Storage > Manage > Turn on Empty Bin Automatically.

You can also change the default location of files like downloads and screenshots to locate and delete them faster.

6. Quit Apps and Tabs that you are done using

Any apps or browser tabs that are not currently in use should be closed. These contribute to hogging up your memory and can also slow down your laptop. The same goes for apps. If you have apps that you are not using anymore, delete them and get some free space. Running background apps also affects the battery life of the device.

How to Get More Storage for Macbook: In summary

A 128GB variant is just a play to get you to spend more money. If budget is an issue, you’re better off with a Windows laptop that employs HDD. Windows laptops are not inferior at all. Infact, you can get better specs and storage in Windows with less or similar prices to a Macbook. But if you would rather want portability, sleek design and most importantly MacOS or stay in the Apple ecosystem, go for a cheaper Macbook that fits best in your budget and invest in Cloud Storage as an extension to the storage. 

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All these are practical ways to get more storage for Mac. You can evaluate all the options and make the decision that goes easy on your pocket and doesn’t bother you.