PCIe Flash Drive: why does the right size matters when buying a new MacBook

When purchasing a brand new MacBook, the available flash storage sizes that are most common among Apple Mac laptops as in the range of 128GB, 236GB and 512GB. It’s often difficult to pick the right size, because it’s sometimes hard to determine just how much space we need in most situations, as well as how much space is recommended for system operations like backups and other tasks. Choosing the right size is important for three main reasons:

Reliability

PCIe Flash storage is a type of solid state storage that offers high performance, minus the issues associated with spinning drives, such as fragmentation, corruption, and mechanical failure. Flash storage allows applications to use more memory, as faster storage allows for more reliable creation of virtual memory.

Capacity

While the smallest size available to most MacBooks is 128GB, choosing the smallest PCIe flash drive is a bad idea. 128GB is not nearly enough for the most common storage needs, including email attachments, Office documents, photos, videos, and even backups from mobile devices like iPhones or iPads.

256GB is as conservative as an entry-level user should go, to have enough storage for everyday use.

For users looking to store a lot of content, such as professional photographers or graphic designers working with big files in large volumes, 512GB is recommended.

Resale value

MacBooks are known for their longevity, with some still in working conditions since as far back as 2007, with some older devices, like the 2003 PowerBook and earlier, still in operations. The longevity of MacBooks, as well as most Apple devices makes them ideal to be resold when the time comes to upgrade to something newer.

Buying a MacBook with a larger size PCIe flash storage drive helps keep the resale value of the laptop higher than it would be if it came with an entry-level 128GB size drive. The more capable the drive, the higher the resale value.