MacBook Pro Hard Drive Capacity Says 297 GB but Advertised 320 GB

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MacBook Pro Hard Drive Capacity Says 297 GB but Advertised 320 GB

I Recently purchased a MacBook Pro 2.57 GHz, 320 GB and was wondering why it says the capacity is only 297 GB instead of 320 GB?

Thanks for the help-

MacBook Pro 2.53 GHz 320 GB, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Nov 11, 2008 7:40 PM

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Answer 1

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Aunty June

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109 points

Nov 11, 2008 7:49 PM in response to tavyland

this is normal.

I'm sure someone can link you an explanation of why.

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Answer 2

Nov 11, 2008 8:09 PM in response to tavyland

It is normal yes. You can get a slight understanding by perhaps reading this article. [Wikipedia: Gigabyte and Customer Confusion|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabyte#Consumer_confusion] An example of this would be an iPod Touch 8GB, which actually only holds 7.01GB worth of music/video/photos. The companies would rather not say 7.01GB on their boxes and advertisements, they would say 8GB.

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Answer 3

Brando21

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5 points

Nov 11, 2008 9:46 PM in response to tavyland

Its because the 23Gb you lose is the apple software and all the programs that come installed

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Answer 4

tavyland Author

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Nov 11, 2008 10:17 PM in response to Brando21

Thanks but it's saying I have 266 GB available and when I individually add up the programs, system software, etc. it comes close to the 297 GB capacity, hence the confusion why it won't add up to 320 GB

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Answer 5

Brando21

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5 points

Nov 11, 2008 10:20 PM in response to tavyland

are u sure because i know that when i turned mine on it said i had 297GB available and when i added then up it came to 320 thats doesnt make sense because i know i just had 297 because i downloaded movie

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Answer 6

tavyland Author

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Nov 11, 2008 10:22 PM in response to jlocalled

I appreciate posting that article- it was really informative and explained it well. Stated hard drive size is definitely misleading vs. actual....

Thanks again-

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Answer 7

tavyland Author

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Nov 11, 2008 10:25 PM in response to Brando21

What does it say for "capacity" ?

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Answer 8

Nov 11, 2008 10:32 PM in response to tavyland

Hi : A 320gB drive will have a capacity of 297gB. Please see the Wikipedia article above for details.

Stedman

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Answer 9

Nov 12, 2008 4:34 AM in response to tavyland

The difference between the 266 and the 297 is attributed to the hidden files you do not see. For instance OSX uses swap files that are hidden (/var/vm directory) Those could add a few gig depending when you last rebooted. Likewise there's other files that the system uses that you don't see in a finder window (by default).

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