UnitedWeFall
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Q: New Macbook Pro, 30GB of space used - what is using it?

I just turned on my new 256GB Retina Macbook Pro for the first time and noticed 30GB of space is used! That seems like a lot. Does anyone know what is using it - surely the OS doesn't use that much?

 

Thanks!

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Nov 7, 2012 2:49 PM

by thomas_r.,Solvedanswer
thomas_r. thomas_r.
Level 7 (30,944 points)
Mac OS X
A:

A fresh Mountain Lion install, without any of the iLife apps or anything else, should be about 15 GB. (Of course, that's on a mid-2010 MacBook Pro... it's possible that number will be slightly different on a new retina MBP.) With iLife, it will, of course, take up more space.

 

You need to stop removing things from the system, especially using tools like Monolingual to chop bits out. That can cause certain applications to fail to be updated in the future or to stop working entirely. You could reinstall ML fresh, without iLife apps, to reduce the size a bit.

 

However, if you're finding 256 GB so tight that 30 GB is too much, you should probably return it and get one with a larger drive.

Posted on Nov 7, 2012 3:15 PM

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Q: New Macbook Pro, 30GB of space used - what is using it?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Nov 7, 2012 2:51 PM in response to UnitedWeFall
    Level 10 (271,794 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 7, 2012 2:51 PM in response to UnitedWeFall

    Your OS and other pre-bundled software.

  • by stedman1,

    stedman1 stedman1 Nov 7, 2012 2:52 PM in response to UnitedWeFall
    Level 9 (74,253 points)
    Apple Watch
    Nov 7, 2012 2:52 PM in response to UnitedWeFall

    See below for an explanation.

    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2419?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

  • by UnitedWeFall,

    UnitedWeFall UnitedWeFall Nov 7, 2012 3:01 PM in response to stedman1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 7, 2012 3:01 PM in response to stedman1

    I understand this (I'm not a basic user, but I'm newish to OS X).

     

    However what I don't understand is how a fresh install takes up so much space. Even after I removed iMovie, Garage Band, used Monolingual to delete languages, etc, it still uses 25GB of space.

     

    Basically what I'm asking is if anyone knows of anything else that can be deleted.

     

    Thanks again

  • by Dale Weisshaar,Helpful

    Dale Weisshaar Dale Weisshaar Nov 7, 2012 3:10 PM in response to UnitedWeFall
    Level 6 (15,865 points)
    Nov 7, 2012 3:10 PM in response to UnitedWeFall

    Here's freeing up disk space.

    Not sure why you are so worried though...you still have 231GB's left.

     

    DALE

  • by thomas_r.,Solvedanswer

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Nov 7, 2012 3:15 PM in response to UnitedWeFall
    Level 7 (30,944 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 7, 2012 3:15 PM in response to UnitedWeFall

    A fresh Mountain Lion install, without any of the iLife apps or anything else, should be about 15 GB. (Of course, that's on a mid-2010 MacBook Pro... it's possible that number will be slightly different on a new retina MBP.) With iLife, it will, of course, take up more space.

     

    You need to stop removing things from the system, especially using tools like Monolingual to chop bits out. That can cause certain applications to fail to be updated in the future or to stop working entirely. You could reinstall ML fresh, without iLife apps, to reduce the size a bit.

     

    However, if you're finding 256 GB so tight that 30 GB is too much, you should probably return it and get one with a larger drive.

  • by UnitedWeFall,

    UnitedWeFall UnitedWeFall Nov 7, 2012 3:17 PM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 7, 2012 3:17 PM in response to thomas_r.

    Thanks all, appreciate the feedback

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Nov 7, 2012 3:22 PM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 10 (271,794 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 7, 2012 3:22 PM in response to thomas_r.

    A fresh install of Mountain Lion, Tom, is more like 25 GBs once you start up the first time. Have done three just this past week. Had to get a 32 GB flash drive for it. That does not include iLife or any trial software.

  • by sidonsoft,

    sidonsoft sidonsoft Nov 7, 2012 3:40 PM in response to UnitedWeFall
    Level 2 (275 points)
    Nov 7, 2012 3:40 PM in response to UnitedWeFall

    UnitedWeFall,

     

    I feel you

    Screen Shot 2012-11-08 at 10.39.41 AM.png

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Nov 7, 2012 4:45 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 7 (30,944 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 7, 2012 4:45 PM in response to Kappy

    A fresh install of Mountain Lion, Tom, is more like 25 GBs once you start up the first time.

     

    Actually, I just did this earlier today, and what I got was 15 GB. (Okay, actually closer to 16 GB now that I check it.)

     

    Screen Shot 2012-11-07 at 7.41.25 PM.png

     

    I installed it from my 10.8 installer, which I saved from when I upgraded, and then updated it to 10.8.2. I didn't install any iLife apps on it. How did you do your install?

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Nov 7, 2012 7:38 PM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 10 (271,794 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 7, 2012 7:38 PM in response to thomas_r.

    I did it with the installer application. The installed system was put on an internal hard drive. It initially occupied about 9 GBs according to Get Info. I didn't think that was right expecting a larger number less than 15 GBs because you could generally fit OS X onto a 16 GB flash drive with room to spare. So, I booted it to be sure it was OK. I then returned to my regular system and did another Get Info. It was now up to 25 GBs.

     

    So, I cloned it to another drive. 9 GBs until after I booted it. Popped up to 25 GBs. I had to put the darn thing on a 32 GB flash drive.

     

    So, I'm puzzled as to why we got two such different results.

  • by thomas_r.,

    thomas_r. thomas_r. Nov 7, 2012 7:47 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 7 (30,944 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 7, 2012 7:47 PM in response to Kappy

    That is puzzling. Mine started out around 12-13 GB, if I recall correctly, and was up to close to 16 GB by the time I had rebooted and installed all the updates. I wonder if hardware is the difference, though almost 10 GB of difference seems excessive.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Nov 7, 2012 7:55 PM in response to thomas_r.
    Level 10 (271,794 points)
    Desktops
    Nov 7, 2012 7:55 PM in response to thomas_r.

    I don't know why hardware would matter. OS X installs everything for all hardware regardless of model, so it should be the same for you as for me. Oh well, another one of those dark mysteries yet to be revealed.