How to pick the right combination of internal and external SSDs for the Mac

Apple's prices for built-in SSDs remain far more expensive than the general marketplace.

- GLENN FLEISHMAN

It's exciting as a Mac user to live in a time when you can purchase an M2 Mac mini at the starting price of $599 that's vastly faster than nearly any computer you might have previously owned except certain higher-end M1 Macs. But the problem isn't the base price. It might seem reasonable to leap from 8GB to 16GB of RAM for an extra $200. But if you want to jump from the baseline 256GB SSD-inadequate for 2023, or even 2018-you can pay a bundle.

Apple charges $200, $400, and $800 to shift upward to 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB, respectively. While those are even increments, they're far above the prices paid in the marketplace. There's no way to crack up an M-series Mac mini, Mac Studio, or iMac to add more memory or storage, so what you choose for RAM is what you're stuck with. But is that the case with an SSD?