Key Takeaways
- Some Mac models like the cheapest Mac mini or MacBook Air still offer a mere 256GB of storage. This is insufficient for most people.
- Apple’s increased RAM to 16GB is impressive, but a larger SSD remains crucial for storage-dependent tasks.
- Investing in more storage is a good idea, consider splurging for 512GB or 1TB to ensure you’re not constrained by storage limitations during your Mac’s lifespan.
With the launch of new Mac models with M4 chips, Apple stopped selling any Mac with less than 16GB of RAM. It was a long-overdue upgrade. But if you think the move automatically makes the new base Macs a must-buy, think again.
Which Macs Still Have 256GB of Storage?
While every Mac sold directly through Apple now has a minimum of 16GB of RAM, for some models, the SSD size has been pegged at the same 256GB it’s been for several years.
Consumer-focused Macs—the base MacBook Air, Mac mini, and iMac—still start at 256GB of storage. The more pro-level Macs have all been upgraded to at least double that. Where buyers on a budget used to ask if 8GB of memory was enough, they’re now asking whether 256GB of storage is.
Why 256GB Is Not Enough
When I bought a base MacBook Air in 2021, I was concerned about whether it would have enough RAM. As it turned out, I’ve spent far more time managing the storage than I have worrying about the memory.
Even though I don’t typically work with massive files, the storage just gets eaten up naturally over time. You also get less than you’d expect from the outset when your Mac is new..
macOS takes up around 22GB of space, and if you enable Apple Intelligence it’ll download around another 5GB of files. It’s normally recommended to keep 10-20% of the internal drive free for the OS to function properly. Throw in the free Apple apps like Pages, Numbers, and iMovie, and that’s several more gigabytes. Download the full GarageBand sound library, and it’ll need another 17GB of space.
Plus, there are iPhone backups, mysterious System Data, the contents of your Photos library and other iCloud files, and all the third-party apps you need. Your drive will be close to half full before you’ve even gotten started.
256GB has been tight for a while, but the problem is worse with the new M4 Macs.
Doubling the amount of RAM makes the base Macs more capable than they’ve ever been. Gaming is more viable on a 16GB Mac, yet a title like Death Stranding: Director’s Cut needs 77GB of space, nearly a third of a base-spec SSD. The extra RAM makes serious video editing more possible. You could also run Windows in a virtual machine or install an AI chatbot locally.
But you need storage space to do all of these things. On a base Mac, storage is the new bottleneck. I’d assume this will be the last generation of Macs to have such small SSDs.
How Much Storage Do You Need?
It’s getting harder to recommend a 256GB Mac. The longer you use a computer, the more files and programs you’re going to amass. And there’s a good chance your Mac will last for a long time. Even if you think you could live with 256GB today, will it still be enough in five years?
If you’re on the tightest budget, you could still make a case for it for the desktop-based Mac mini or iMac where it’s more convenient to use external storage. The Mac App Store lets you install apps larger than 1GB to an external drive, and you could offload a lot of your larger files there as well.
But it’s not an option for a MacBook Air unless you never move it from your desk (in which case, you should be buying the best value Mac anyway).
It’s better to ignore the base model—and the base price—and factor in the extra $200 for the larger storage. 512GB should be fine for most people and what you might loosely class as “normal” use. But if you do a lot of video editing, want to keep several games installed at the same time, or are just concerned that you might run out of space at some point, 1TB or more is worth looking at.
More Storage Is Worth the Investment
Mac storage upgrades are expensive, which can be off-putting. But they can also be a good investment.
A Mac should easily last at least five years, and often a lot longer. Spending a little more on a bigger SSD now can save you from having to spend a lot more on a full upgrade even when the rest of the computer is still going strong.
