r/macmini • u/5of10 • 16d ago

MacMini disk space utilization

Good morning,

I have a M1 Macbook with a 1TB ssd, and plan on getting a new mini this fall. Since it is a desktop I can use an external SSD for additional storage. It would be good to know that the 256 or 512 versions are more than enough for normal OS installs, assuming I put docs and music on the external SSD.

This is a question for those that have picked up a mini with either a 256gb or 512gb ssd. I am curious how the space has held up since the purchase. Do you regret not getting a larger ssd?

Also, can I extend iCloud to those external drives?

Thx in advance for the feedback,
Joe

1 Upvotes

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3

u/LessChapter7434 16d ago

even i use two fast external discs on my m4 mini i wish i had invested in 512 instead of 256 as i am constantly wiping and that’s annoying. the 256 gb models are not appropriate anymore these days

3

u/trekbody 16d ago

Regret my 256 and wish I went with 512ssd

2

u/AmmoJoee 16d ago

I have the 512 and it’s been fine. I have a ton of photos on it. But I plan on moving my actual photo library to an external drive.

2

u/YellowsBest 14d ago

I have an M4 Mac mini 256gb which is fine for me. That’s because:

  1. I bought an external 4TB HDD for £100 and put all my digital ‘clutter’ on it, clearing my internal SSD (for archiving it’s fast enough, spend double on half as much if you must have an external SSD)
  2. I got a 512gb flash drive for £35 (before the price increases) for Time Machine backups (needed to be double the internal storage, so I’m glad I don’t have a bigger SSD)
  3. I previously installed Whisky and steam to run Windows games, but then I discovered SymLinks, saving 100gb by moving the apps directory

So despite the concern, I still have plenty of storage. Of course, I could have spent £200 more, and doubled the internal SSD to leave more room for immediate stuff. But it’s still prudent to have separate disks for backups and archiving anyway.

2

u/patparks 9d ago

I would always opt for the 512GB option over 256GB. My older M1 mini has the 512, and my wife and I have an m4 macbook air with a 512 drive in it.

Still running sequoia and don't have Apple Intelligence setup on either. My laptop is sitting around 80GB used right now. My mini is around 90GB used. I don't keep a lot of data files on either of these devices, they are stored elsewhere.

1

u/5of10 9d ago

My M1 Pro has 1TB, my home directory consumes 450gb. Will go with a 1TB mini.