Storage Issue

I have recently got a DSLR camera and we be getting editing software.

I am out of storage though. Is it possible to get an external hard rive and edit my photos from that without taking up any storage on my mac?

I have also been looking into upgrading my SSD, if I do this will it effect my macs performance or lifespan?

Cheers

rossco302 said:

I have recently got a DSLR camera and we be getting editing software.

I am out of storage though. Is it possible to get an external hard rive and edit my photos from that without taking up any storage on my mac?

I have also been looking into upgrading my SSD, if I do this will it effect my macs performance or lifespan?

Click to expand...

Hello Rossco... - welcome to the forum! First, you've provided virtually no information to help us give advice: 1) What computer do you own (model & year); 2) What macOS is installed; 3) How much RAM is in the machine; and 4) How large is your current drive and how many GBs are free or available? All of this information can be obtained by clicking on 'About This Mac' (Apple left upper corner) - see the attached pics. Second, what photo editing software are you intending to run and about how many images will you be manipulating? Then comments and suggestions can be made - Dave
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Info

Thanks Dave,

Heres the info, any help would be great!

Wow it is a wonder it even fires up with such limited free space. Most SSD manufacturers, incluing Crucial, still recommend at least 10% of the drive capacity be kept free. I would suggest you urgently need a larger SSD, 120GB is tiny these days and for what you want to do, microscopic even. Pop over to OWC (macsales.com) or Crucial and look for say a 500GB SSD. Any chance you are also using Time Machine backups?


https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro-retina-display/2013-2014-2015

Hi again Rossco... - thanks for the information! I found your computer at EveryMac - scrolling down the specs to the SSD, you obviously have the 'small' one (see screen capture below) - Apple did not intend this drive to be upgraded, but there is an OWC link that might be of interest - thus, the size of this SSD is likely to really hamper your intended photo efforts.

The other issue is that the SSD is completely filled - usually 15%-20% 'free' drive space is recommended for some 'breathing room'. First, you have a lot of 'backup storage' - these may be Time Machine (TM) 'snapshots' if you intermittently use that Apple app - let us know. Second, you have the dreaded 'Other' storage category taking up a LOT of space - check LINK 1 and LINK 2 to better understand this term. I would first suggest that you respond to the TM question and also try to delete and/or off-load some of your personal information, plus delete any apps not being used. Finally, obtain OnyX from the Titanium Website - DL the one specific to your macOS and run in 'Automation Mode' - this should clear out a LOT of stuff that may be in 'Other' - good luck and let us know your results. Dave
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RadDave said:

Hi again Rossco... - thanks for the information! I found your computer at EveryMac - scrolling down the specs to the SSD, you obviously have the 'small' one (see screen capture below) - Apple did not intend this drive to be upgraded, but there is an OWC link that might be of interest - thus, the size of this SSD is likely to really hamper your intended photo efforts.

Click to expand...

Sorry but what do you mean when you say "but there is an OWC link that might be of interest - thus, the size of this SSD is likely to really hamper your intended photo efforts". Is it going to be impossible to upgrade the SSD?

Yes I think I use Time machine.

rossco302 said:

Is it going to be impossible to upgrade the SSD?

Click to expand...

The storage on your retina MBP is upgradeable...just a bit expensive. Use the link harryb2448 provided.

- Nick

rossco302 said:

Sorry but what do you mean when you say "but there is an OWC link that might be of interest - thus, the size of this SSD is likely to really hamper your intended photo efforts". Is it going to be impossible to upgrade the SSD?

Yes I think I use Time machine.

Click to expand...

Hello again - if you followed my link to EveryMac and then read the info there that I left in the screen capture, the statement is clear, i.e. Apple often states hardware cannot be ungraded, then there often seems to be a way - the link to OWC (Other World Computing) is the same place that Harry linked - contact then about a SSD upgrade for your laptop; as Nick said could be expensive.

But to address 'cleaning up' your current SSD, do you use TM often or just plugged an external HD into the MBPro infrequently? If the latter, then those TM 'snapshots' can add up and may account for the BU storage shown. Also, obtain the free app OnyX, as mentioned, to see how much of that 'Other' space can be recovered.

For your 'new' photo needs, you will still likely need a larger SSD, unless your projects are 'small scale' and you move them off to external storage. Dave