What is the most efficient order to install Mac OS with Boot Camp and large application suites?

Question

I’ve been using Macs for a long time. In the past to optimize performance and save wear and tear on the disks it was recommended that when building a Mac OS image you should install the OS followed by applications in the order you most frequently used them. For me this has always been OS followed by Adobe suite, then Microsoft Office suite.

Even though disks have gotten faster, fragmentation isn’t as important a factor as it once was and several of my machines now use SSD drives, I still follow this rule out of habit.

Does this have any effect on modern Macs and how does Boot Camp, Windows and Windows applications come into play? I rarely use Windows or Windows apps where on the disk should they be? The beginning or later on the disk?

Answer 1

SSDs simply do not conform to this paradigm at all.

There is no inside or outside, early or late, beginning or end, partition border, or any of the old things you associate with spinny rust Hard Drives.
SSDs allocate storage of any data sector entirely where their wear-levelling algorithms decide is 'next favourite'.
It is well beyond the prediction of us mere mortals.

Additionally, modern OSes, Mac & Windows, are optimised to this SSD behaviour & so don't even make any attempt to 'categorise' or 'optimise' data placement at all - often to the detriment of old HDs still in use as boot drives [best get them replaced as soon as poss].

Feel free to put anything on, in any order, at any time.