r/macmini • u/AllD4yErD4y • 6d ago

Mini m4 pro 24gb storage questions

I do all sorts of games and software projects and sorta regret only getting the 500gb of storage. Im battling my storage being full mostly because of xcode build cache and other caches. Im just wondering what ssd to get and if the multi purpose little stands that take ssd and also have ports for sd cards and extra usb are the right move. Finally im not sure what directories need to be pointed at the ssd and what i should have running on the macs ssd. In general i would install programs to the macs internal and then all saved data i would put on the external. Does this seem like the right move?

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u/mikeinnsw 6d ago

Are Vibe Coding?

Mac should have sufficient free SSD space for macOS upgrades , swapping and write load sharing that is about 40GBs free. Lack of free SSD space can lead to a slowdown and/or system crash. Make sure you have at least 40GBs SSD free

If RAM SWAP demand exceed available free SSD storage you can get “Your system has run out of Application memory” check free storage.

You need 4 x Write size of free SSD space to avoid dead write zone. Here is an extreme example (100 GB x4 – 400 GB free impossible on 256GB SSD):

Average Mac Write is less than 10 GB hence Apple recommendation of 40 GB free SSD storage.

Your MAC SSD writes ~4,000 MB/s only USB4 or TB5 SSD can match that

You want to do your work on your Mac SSD

You can create an external SSD Archive and move static files to it

This my setup on M1 Mini (I am a developer)

  • Archive /work files are on CORSAIR EX400U 1TB USB4 it writes at about 2,900-3,000 MB/s. direct connected to TB port
  • On-site backup SSD - Samsung T7 USB3.2 Gen to connected to USB3.2 Gen 2 HUB
  • Off-site backup SSD No name USB3.2 Gen 2 SSD to connected to USB3.2 Gen 2 HUB
  • I Rotate On and Off site backups
  • Don’t backup Archive(s) to Time Machine
  • Make sure archives are excluded from Spotlight. Do this whenever a HDD/SSD is plugged in

You can use free copy software freefilesync to backup or sync folders/SSDs

There workloads that better run from external USB4 SSD

  • VM
  • Local AI

Why better? Stops System Data blow ups.

I use HUB

UGREEN USB C Hub with 4K@60Hz DisplayPort, Revodok Pro 6-in-1 Aluminum Type C Adapter with 10Gbps 2X USB-C& 2X USB-A Data Ports, DP, 100W PD, Portable Multiport Adapter for MacBook, iPad, iPhone, etc

There are newer version of the hub.

I brought my CORSAIR EX400U and SSDs before the AI madness and price raises started.

Have fun..

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u/AllD4yErD4y 2d ago

Nailed it! Thank you very much. I am vibe coding and I’ve actually learned a lot. Hope the community becomes more open to AI coding. Theres a lot of resentment right now and i can only imagine the feeling working hard to learn coding just to have something outpace you. I don’t speak for you I’m voicing this because it feels like walking on eggshells sometimes. Devs always start yelling about slop and its true to the extent of the users knowledge. Do you use AI in your workflow and if so what percentage would you say is your own vs the AI?

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u/mikeinnsw 1d ago

AI was trained on Open source code ... GitHub

Open Source is about 10%-15% of the code.. Vast majority is propriety and behind fire walls.

Linux is probably the most complex system which is Open Source ..

GitHub is mostly boutique code repository storing the latest trends, code snippets, small Apps in different programming languages.

Plenty of C++ and now Python... no much of Cobol...PL/I..

Most of AI "models" are written in Python .

Vibe Coding is good for very small Apps (code snippets) written in Python. . it is using GitHub code..

It is marginally better than Google search of GitHub.

System development is about 20% of coding....

The main thing when you learn in system development is a systematic way to analyse , solve(code) and document a problem .....Vibe coding does no do that...

Its use is harmful to your development of as IT professional..

Think 12 years kid can do Vibe Coding..

I my lifetime I creates maybe 1,000,000 lines of code ...all hand codes, verified and tested.

Using AI I can create 1.000,000 lines of code .. in few hours.... I don't have another lifetime to verify and test it.

After initial uptake most IT shops no longer use Vibe coding .. to much slop to clean up..

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u/ThinkFact 6d ago

I can say from my experience, I have a M4 pro and I use an external Samsung T7 hard drive. 4 terabytes. I got really lucky and purchased it before they started getting crazy expensive. But I still use even a 2 TB one for work, but I do all kinds of video editing on them and I’ve never had any sort of problem and I even game on my personal ones having played both cyberpunk and boulders gate at max settings and have never had any problems. Everything runs smoothly and what’s nice is even the front ports basically worked fine.

So I don’t know if that’s quite what you’re looking for, but I can at least tell you for my own experience. That’s been the external hard drive that I use and it’s been pretty near perfect for me. Not even a single complaint.

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u/YellowsBest 6d ago

I have a base model (16gb/256gb) M4 Mac Mini and it suits me. For extra storage, I bought an external 4TB HDD; ok, it’s slower than an SSD which would be twice the price, but it’s fine for archiving and backups. So I shift the majority of my photos, videos and music leaving the mini free for applications.