Back in 2013 when I bought my first MacBook I thought 256GB of storage was enough as I had to cough up more than $200 to increase the storage. Since I ran a local file server using Linux that hosts all of my files, I never needed extra storage on my local machines.

Fast forward to 2017 where almost everything is in 4k and now I am shooting images in RAW format that take up over 25MB per image. I’m using my MacBook more and more as I want to break ties with the desktop and become fully mobile. That’s when I realized that 256 was filling up more quickly as I ran multiple Linux distros in virtual machines and also used Adobe Premiere and Photoshop.

In a nutshell, I needed extra space

However, MacBooks don’t come with expandable storage and, it can be super expensive if you do want to add extra storage. Since I am planning to upgrade my MacBook to the upcoming 15” model, I would rather save $500 toward the new system. I found an easy solution. A USB 3.0 flash drive with an extremely low profile.

There are two contenders in this space: Samsung 128GB and Sandisk 128GB. The Sandisk while a bit cheaper, reportedly gets super hot that can cause damage to your system or even burn your skin. Since I will be running VMs from this drive I didn’t want any heat issues, so I went with Samsung.

As you can see in the picture above, the drive has a very low profile; you can barely notice it. The curvy design makes it easier to slide the laptop into a bag without pulling the drive off as it may get caught.

This may not be the solution you were looking for, but adding 128GB storage to my MacBook for just $40 is not actually a bad deal.

If you are interested in the drive, go for the Samsung and use the affiliate link as it won’t cost you an extra dime, but I may get a tiny commission that funds these articles.

If you have any good or bad experiences with the drive, please share in the comments below.