How many GB and TB can a MacBook Pro support?

For internal disk, these are soldered onto the motherboard these days at manufacture time, and can’t be changed later. The largest configuration disk as sold by Apple today for laptops is 8 TB.

For internal RAM memory, that is now integral part of the CPU chip, and likewise has to be chosen before manufacture time, and can’t be changed later. The largest configuration memory as sold by Apple today for laptops is 128 GB.

Each model laptop may have its own (lower) limits, especially older models.

You may need to buy directly from Apple to configure for maximum specs (BTO, MTO). The physical stores will only have what they think are the best selling configurations in their inventory.

For external disks, the maximum capacity is limited only by the file system (8 exabytes for HFS+ or APFS, aka 8 billion GB).

For the current Mac notebook lineup, the answer depends on which System On Chip (SoC) is in the notebook that you buy.

MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros with plain M4 chips:

• 16, 24, or 32 GB of RAM
• Up to 2 TB of internal SSD storage

MacBook Pros with M4 Pro chips:

• 24 or 48 GB of RAM
• Up to 8 TB of internal SSD storage

MacBook Pros with M4 Max chips:

• 36, 64, or 128 GB of RAM
• Up to 8 TB of internal SSD storage

Pcfreak wrote:

The reason I'm asking this question is that I have a MacBook Pro from 2015 and 2017 and I can't mount the 2TB external HDD.

I would encourage always including some background, such as what symptoms you are encountering, and also including information on what hardware and software is involved, in addition to what you think might be the cause.

Storage addressing limits are not a factor.

Volume formats can be an issue here, as can be storage corruptions.

More common can be mechanical issues and faults, including cable and storage failures, malfunctioning or incorrect dongles, and insufficient USB or external power for a USB-connected device, however. Among other potential causes.

If the storage vendor offers hardware diagnostics, retrieve those diagnostics and test the unspecified storage device.

Also test the storage device with a different computer, and a different cable. See if the problem stays with the Mac or moves with the device.

Test the Mac host port with a different device connected, too.

<< can't mount the 2TB external HDD >>

Staring in MacOS X 10.4 Tiger, the largest drive size was increased to a number so large, you can not possibly exceed it with current technology.

As Urquhart1244 noted: (8 exabytes for HFS+ or APFS, aka 8 billion GB).

Not being able to mount a drive is NOT caused by size limitations in MacOS.

Pcfreak wrote:

I have a question about how many GB and TB can a Mac support?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Tilte: support GB and TB

?

—Internal (?) have a look yourself— Mac - Apple

— external(?) hardly seems like there is some limit....

If you have an issue w/ an external try First Aid

• Disk Utlity>View>Show All Devices and run the First Aid.

• You can try a different cable

• a different port

• different enclosure

ref: Repair a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac

Repair a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac

Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

Apple's MacBook has not been made since July 2019. Do you mean a Macbook Pro, Macbook Air, or any Mac?

The maximum RAM and storage capacity available depends on the Mac Model. If you tell use what model you are considering, we can better help you with specs and what is available. Otherwise, we are guessing.

2TB shouldn’t be a problem. The issue is not the capacity size.

Is this a new (empty) disk? Is it partially filled with data from another computer? What computer was that?

Do you know the file system on that external disk? (FAT, exFAT, NTFS, HFS+, APFS, etc.)