Photo Library on internal or external drive?

Question

Level 1

11 points

Photo Library on internal or external drive?

I currently have a 2011 iMac (1TB HDD) and a 2017 MacBook Pro (512GB SSD). I use the Photos app on the iMac for all family photos and video. I am looking to consolidate to a single Mac with more storage capacity for photos and use iCloud Photo Library to sync / access photos on multiple devices. I'm considering the following options:

1) Buy a new iMac with a 2TB SSD - put my main Photo system library on this internal SSD and back up to an external HDD via Time Machine. Switch on iCloud photo library with "download originals to this Mac" switched on for the iMac so that I have full copies both locally and in iCloud. I'm confident this will work well but will be pricey.

2) Buy an external SSD (looking at Samsung T5 2TB) to the current MacBook Pro. Move my system photo library to this external SSD. Buy another HDD for Time Machine back up. Switch on iCloud photo library to sync the photos stored on the external SSD. So far, so good, I think. However what I need to know is this - if I select "download originals to this Mac" on the MacBook Pro, will it automatically download photo originals to the system photo library on the external SSD (which is what I want) or would it download them to the internal drive of the MacBook Pro? I can't find this answer anywhere so would appreciate any help.

As well as this question - any recommendations on options 1 or 2 and what would work best? Thanks.

MacBook Pro TouchBar and Touch ID, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3)

Posted on Apr 5, 2018 1:59 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Apr 5, 2018 5:36 AM in response to interbear

either is fine as long as the External drive meets these requirements - Where is it safe to store a Photos Library? Requirements for the external drive - and is always available prior to launching Photos

iCloud Photo Library (and all other system functions like the media browser) work only with the system library so that can be either on the internal or external drive, your choice

To me #1 is better since you have a fixed set up and do not need to connect and disconnect the EHD and you have two Macs with one fixed and one portable but it is much more pricy too so in the end you are trading convenience for cost

LN

Reply

Answer 2

interbear Author

Level 1

11 points

Apr 5, 2018 5:39 AM in response to LarryHN

Thank you for the response Larry, appreciate it.

So it seems both options would work for me. I agree that option 1 is the more seamless, integrated approach but it's potentially expensive especially if I go SSD. I would probably need to sell the MacBook Pro to fund the new iMac. It's feasible though as the majority of my mobile requirements could then be handled via iPad.

One supplementary question - the link you provided on "where is it safe to store a Photos library" is very useful. But it only mentions HFS+ as the right format for an external drive to work with iCloud Photo Library. Wouldn't the new APFS also work? I was thinking I could format the external SSF to APFS so that it's the same format as the integral SSD on the MacBook Pro.

Reply

Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

195,013 points

Apr 5, 2018 5:52 AM in response to interbear

However what I need to know is this - if I select "download originals to this Mac" on the MacBook Pro, will it automatically download photo originals to the system photo library on the external SSD (which is what I want) or would it download them to the internal drive of the MacBook Pro? I can't find this answer anywhere so would appreciate any help.

The originals will download to the drive, where you are keeping the Photos Library. But Photos will still use some storage on the system drive as well. I am finding plenty of working copies in the folders

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.photos.ImageConversionService/

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.MediaLibraryService/Data/Library/Caches/com.apple .iLifeMediaBrowser.ILPhotosTranscodeCache/

/Library/Containers/com.apple.MediaLibraryService/Data/Library/Caches/com.apple. iLifeMediaBrowser/

These folders contain edited versions for the Media Browser or converted images and videos for items, that have been imported from mobile devices with iOS 11, that are using the new space saving codecs HEIC and HEVC.

Reply

Answer 4

interbear Author

Level 1

11 points

Apr 5, 2018 6:47 AM in response to léonie

Thanks Léonie,

Good that the originals will download to the external drive as that's where the system Photos Library would be held in that scenario. Strange though that other copies end up on the internal drive anyway - you say "plenty", are you able to quantify that ie. per 100GB of media on the external drive, approx how much is replicated on the internal drive?

The good news is that it seems both of my potential ways forward will work. So I need to decide which route is best. The best for seamless ease of use would be investing in a new iMac with a bigger SSD drive and selling the 2017 MacBook Pro to fund it. The best for value would be keeping the 2017 MacBook Pro and adding an external drive to it for the Photos library. My logical head tells me to go for the latter approach, it's probably more flexible also.

Reply

Answer 5

léonie

Level 10

195,013 points

Apr 5, 2018 7:10 AM in response to interbear

are you able to quantify that ie. per 100GB of media on the external drive, approx how much is replicated on the internal drive?

It is hard to say, sorry. It will depend on the amount of media item using the HEC/HEVC codec. Currently I am having a copy of each and every I video and image I converted to HEIC or HEVC in the user library on my system drive.

I am using a mixture of your two options. My MacBook Pro has a Photos Library with only my Favorite photos and Videos. I am trying to keep this library small, so it will fit nicely on the MacBook Pro. The library has currently a size of 230GB and is syncing with iCloud. So I am still having plenty of storage for my music, videos, books on the 1TB SSD.

And I am having a larger library as an archive on a portable 3TB drive,where all other media files are archived. And a clone of this drive on a second 3TB drive.

Reply

Answer 6

interbear Author

Level 1

11 points

Apr 7, 2018 1:17 AM in response to léonie

Thanks for the advice. I’ve decided to use the newer MacBook Pro and add an external SSD as the primary storage for my Photos and iTunes library. Will invest in a Samsung T5 SSD for this purpose, either 1TB or 2TB, which should cover me capacity wise for some time. This also makes it easier to transition should I switch to a new Mac sometime in the future, which will inevitably happen at some point.

Reply

Answer 7

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Apr 5, 2018 6:38 AM in response to interbear

Yes APFS will work, I though the user tip had been updated - I will check with the author

LN

Reply

Photo Library on internal or external drive?

Similar questions