Jun 25, 2020 First, click on the 'Apple' menu in the upper-left corner of the screen and select 'About This Mac.' In the window that pops up, click on the 'Storage' button. (Depending on your macOS version, this may look like a tab instead of a button). Jan 21, 2021 Here's how to check how much storage space you have left on your Mac using macOS. Click on the Apple logo in the top left of your screen and select About This Mac: Click on the Storage tab at the top of the panel. On macOS 10.12 Sierra, it will look like the panel below. Clear cache from Other Storage. As we mentioned above, most files in the Other category. How to find your hard drive usage & available space on Mac 1. Click the Apple logo on the top left 2.
Retina MacBook Air Q&A
Update Published November 9, 2020
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What custom processor options are available for the Retina MacBook Air?
For the 'Late 2018' MacBook Air -- the MacBook Air 'Core i5' 1.6 13' (Late 2018) and '2019' MacBook Air -- the MacBook Air 'Core i5' 1.6 13' (True Tone, 2019) -- Apple did not provide a custom processor option. Both shipped with a 1.6 GHz Core i5 'Amber Lake Y' (I5-8210Y) processor.
For the '2020' MacBook Air models, there are two stock models -- the MacBook Air 'Core i3' 1.1 13' (2020) and 'Core i5' 1.1 13' (2020) -- either of which could be upgraded to a 1.2 GHz Core i7 'Ice Lake' (I7-1060NG7) processor via custom configuration.
What type of RAM does the Retina MacBook Air use? Can it be upgraded?
The 'Late 2018' and '2019' Retina MacBook Air models shipped standard with 8 GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM onboard.
The '2020' Retina MacBook Air models shipped with 8 GB of faster 3733 MHz LPDDR4X SDRAM onboard.
At the time of initial system purchase, all Retina MacBook Air models could be upgraded to 16 GB of RAM for US$200, but these notebooks cannot be upgraded later.
What type of internal storage does the Retina MacBook Air use? Is it possible to upgrade it?
All Retina MacBook Air models use onboard PCIe-based storage. All models could be upgraded at the time of initial system purchase. It is is not possible to upgrade the internal storage after purchase.
The MacBook Air 'Core i5' 1.6 13' (Late 2018) could be upgraded to a 512 GB or 1.5 TB SSD. The 512 GB storage was an extra US$400 or US$200 increase from the 128 GB and 256 GB options, respectively; and the 1.5 GB storage was an extra US$1200 or US$1000 increase from the 128 GB and 256 GB options, respectively.
The MacBook Air 'Core i5' 1.6 13' (True Tone, 2019) could be configured with a 256 GB, 512 GB, or 1 TB SSD at additional cost. 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB of storage were available for an extra US$200, US$400, and US$600 from the base option originally configured with a 128 GB SSD. 512 GB and 1 TB of storage were available for an extra US$200 and US$400 for the higher-end default option originally configured with a 256 GB SSD.
The '2020' MacBook Air models -- the MacBook Air 'Core i3' 1.1 13' (2020) and 'Core i5' 1.1 13' (2020) -- also have storage that could be upgraded at the time of initial system purchase.
Specifically, the entry-level '2020' MacBook Air was configured by default with a 256 GB SSD, but it also could be configured with a 512 GB, 1 TB, or 2 TB SSD for an additional US$200, US$400, and US$800, respectively. The higher-end stock model is configured by default with a 512 GB SSD, but it also could be configured with a 1 TB or 2 TB SSD for an additional US$200 and US$600, respectively.
How do you connect external storage to the Retina MacBook Air? Which is the best option?
Storage For Macbook
The Retina MacBook Air models have two Thunderbolt 3 ports (USB-C connectors) and can directly use any USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 storage.
It also is possible to use an older USB 3.0 (USB-A connector) or Thunderbolt 2 hard drive with an Apple USB-C to USB adapter (MJ1M2AM/A) or an Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C to Thunderbolt 2) (MMEL2AM/A) adapter, respectively. However, for maximum performance, it is best to use Thunderbolt 3-based storage.
One good option is the affordable, highly portable OWC Envoy Pro EX from site sponsor Other World Computing.
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Find Storage On Macbook Air
So, your Mac is running out of storage. You try to figure out what's taking up your disk space by clicking the Apple logo on the top-left of the screen, selecting About This Mac, and hitting the Storage tab.
To your surprise, you see a yellow bar representing 'System' that seems to occupy way more space than you think it should. In the example above, it only shows 207 GB, but take a look at this Apple discussion — some Mac users report that System Storage takes an astonishing 250 GB.
Worse yet, you have no idea what's included in 'System' storage, because clicking the 'Manage' button brings you to this System Information window… and the 'System' row is greyed out.
Why does my Mac system require so much space?
What does it contain?
Is it safe to remove some of those system files?
How do I regain more storage space?
Questions like these may easily get to your head. Although my Mac now has a good amount of disk space available, I'm always wary of files that are taking up more space than they should.
I have no idea why 'System' is greyed out while 'Documents,' 'System Junk,' 'Trash,' etc. allow you to review the files based on size and type. My hunch is that Apple does this on purpose to prevent users from deleting system files that could lead to serious issues.
What Files Are Included in System Storage on Mac?
During my research, I found many people report that Apple counts iTunes backup files and app caches (e.g. Adobe video cache files) in the System category.
Since it's greyed out and we are unable to click on that category for deeper analysis, we'll have to use a third-party app to assist.
CleanMyMac X is perfect for this kind of analysis. Since I tested the app in our best Mac cleaner review, it immediately came to my head when I saw 'System' was greyed out in Storage. Note that CleanMyMac isn't freeware, but the new 'Space Lens' feature is free to use and it allows you to scan your Macintosh HD, and then show you an in-depth overview of what's taking up disk space on your Mac.
The '2020' Retina MacBook Air models shipped with 8 GB of faster 3733 MHz LPDDR4X SDRAM onboard.
At the time of initial system purchase, all Retina MacBook Air models could be upgraded to 16 GB of RAM for US$200, but these notebooks cannot be upgraded later.
What type of internal storage does the Retina MacBook Air use? Is it possible to upgrade it?
All Retina MacBook Air models use onboard PCIe-based storage. All models could be upgraded at the time of initial system purchase. It is is not possible to upgrade the internal storage after purchase.
The MacBook Air 'Core i5' 1.6 13' (Late 2018) could be upgraded to a 512 GB or 1.5 TB SSD. The 512 GB storage was an extra US$400 or US$200 increase from the 128 GB and 256 GB options, respectively; and the 1.5 GB storage was an extra US$1200 or US$1000 increase from the 128 GB and 256 GB options, respectively.
The MacBook Air 'Core i5' 1.6 13' (True Tone, 2019) could be configured with a 256 GB, 512 GB, or 1 TB SSD at additional cost. 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB of storage were available for an extra US$200, US$400, and US$600 from the base option originally configured with a 128 GB SSD. 512 GB and 1 TB of storage were available for an extra US$200 and US$400 for the higher-end default option originally configured with a 256 GB SSD.
The '2020' MacBook Air models -- the MacBook Air 'Core i3' 1.1 13' (2020) and 'Core i5' 1.1 13' (2020) -- also have storage that could be upgraded at the time of initial system purchase.
Specifically, the entry-level '2020' MacBook Air was configured by default with a 256 GB SSD, but it also could be configured with a 512 GB, 1 TB, or 2 TB SSD for an additional US$200, US$400, and US$800, respectively. The higher-end stock model is configured by default with a 512 GB SSD, but it also could be configured with a 1 TB or 2 TB SSD for an additional US$200 and US$600, respectively.
How do you connect external storage to the Retina MacBook Air? Which is the best option?
Storage For Macbook
The Retina MacBook Air models have two Thunderbolt 3 ports (USB-C connectors) and can directly use any USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 storage.
It also is possible to use an older USB 3.0 (USB-A connector) or Thunderbolt 2 hard drive with an Apple USB-C to USB adapter (MJ1M2AM/A) or an Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C to Thunderbolt 2) (MMEL2AM/A) adapter, respectively. However, for maximum performance, it is best to use Thunderbolt 3-based storage.
One good option is the affordable, highly portable OWC Envoy Pro EX from site sponsor Other World Computing.
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Suggest a New Q&A | Sign Up for Bimonthly Site Update Notices
<< Retina MacBook Air Q&A (Main)
EveryMac.com is provided 'as is' without warranty of any kind whatsoever. EveryMac.com, and the author thereof, shall not be held responsible or liable, under any circumstances, for any damages resulting from the use or inability to use the information within. For complete disclaimer and copyright information please read and understand the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy before using EveryMac.com. Use of any content or images without expressed permission is not allowed, although links to any page are welcomed and appreciated.
Find Storage On Macbook Air
So, your Mac is running out of storage. You try to figure out what's taking up your disk space by clicking the Apple logo on the top-left of the screen, selecting About This Mac, and hitting the Storage tab.
To your surprise, you see a yellow bar representing 'System' that seems to occupy way more space than you think it should. In the example above, it only shows 207 GB, but take a look at this Apple discussion — some Mac users report that System Storage takes an astonishing 250 GB.
Worse yet, you have no idea what's included in 'System' storage, because clicking the 'Manage' button brings you to this System Information window… and the 'System' row is greyed out.
Why does my Mac system require so much space?
What does it contain?
Is it safe to remove some of those system files?
How do I regain more storage space?
Questions like these may easily get to your head. Although my Mac now has a good amount of disk space available, I'm always wary of files that are taking up more space than they should.
I have no idea why 'System' is greyed out while 'Documents,' 'System Junk,' 'Trash,' etc. allow you to review the files based on size and type. My hunch is that Apple does this on purpose to prevent users from deleting system files that could lead to serious issues.
What Files Are Included in System Storage on Mac?
During my research, I found many people report that Apple counts iTunes backup files and app caches (e.g. Adobe video cache files) in the System category.
Since it's greyed out and we are unable to click on that category for deeper analysis, we'll have to use a third-party app to assist.
CleanMyMac X is perfect for this kind of analysis. Since I tested the app in our best Mac cleaner review, it immediately came to my head when I saw 'System' was greyed out in Storage. Note that CleanMyMac isn't freeware, but the new 'Space Lens' feature is free to use and it allows you to scan your Macintosh HD, and then show you an in-depth overview of what's taking up disk space on your Mac.
Step 1:Download CleanMyMac and install the app on your Mac. Open it, under 'Space Lens' module, first click the yellow 'Grant Access' button to allow the app to access your Mac files and then select 'Scan' to get started.
Step 2: Soon it'll show you a folder/file tree and you can hover your cursor over each block (i.e. a folder). There you can find more details. In this case, I clicked 'System' folder to continue.
Step 3: The file breakdown below indicates that some Library and iOS Support files are the culprits.
The interesting part is that the System file size shown in CleanMyMac is much smaller than the size shown in System Information. This puzzles me and makes me believe that Apple definitely has counted some other files (not real system files) in the System category.
What are they? I have no clue, honestly. But as reported by other Mac users who experienced the same issue, they said Apple also considers app caches and iTunes backup files as System files.
Out of curiosity, I ran CleanMyMac again for a quick scan. That app found 13.92 GB in iTunes Junk. Further review revealed that the junk files are old iOS device backups, software updates, broken downloads, etc.
But even after adding this amount to the original system files returned by CleanMyMac X, the total size is still a bit less than what's returned in System Information.
If cleaning the System Storage is still not enough to bring your Mac available disk space to a normal level (i.e. 20% or more), see below.
What Else Can I Do to Reclaim More Disk Space?
There are tons of ways out there. Here are a few of my favorites that should help you get back a decent amount of space quickly.
1. Sort all files by size and delete old large files.
Open Finder, go to Recents and look at the Size column. Click on it to sort all recent files by file size (from large to small). You'll have a clear overview of what items are eating up a large amount of space, e.g. From 1 GB to 10 GB, and from 100 MB to 1 GB.
On my MacBook Pro, I found a few large videos that could be transferred to an external drive.
Note: If the Size column doesn't show up, click on the Settings icon and select Arrange By > Size.
2. Remove duplicate files.
Don't forget those duplicates and similar files! They can stack up without you being aware of it. Finding them is sometimes time-consuming. That's what Gemini 2 is designed for. Simply select a few frequently used folders (e.g. Documents, Downloads, etc.) in the main zone of Gemini.
It then scans them and returns all the duplicate files that might be worth removing. Of course, it's always a good practice to review them before doing so. You can also read more from our detailed Gemini review here.
Wrapping It Up
Ever since Apple introduced the Optimized Storage feature, Mac users got the option of saving space by storing content in the cloud. Apple also has several new tools that make it easy to find and remove unneeded files.
That bar under the Storage tab is beautiful. It does allow you to get a quick overview of what's taking up the most space on our hard drive. However, it still lacks insights into the 'System' category as it's greyed out.
Hopefully, the guides above have helped you figure out the reasons you've got so much 'System' data, and most importantly you've reclaimed some disk space — especially for new MacBooks pre-installed with flash storage — every gigabyte is precious!