5400rpm?

[Sid The Kid]

Hi guys,

Can you tell me why does Apple still sell a computer with a 5400rpm in 2017? Even on the base model.

My 2005 HP Pavilion tower has a 7200rpm.

2005.

Thanks

 

[keysofanxiety]

You know why, you just want to hear somebody say it. Profit margins.

Not ideal for real-world performance as the drive is pretty much the biggest bottleneck to that computer. But the Flash drives perform extremely quickly so you'll get a good machine providing you BTO.

 

[Larry-K]

Hi guys,

Can you tell me why does Apple still sell a computer with a 5400rpm in 2017? Even on the base model.

My 2005 HP Pavilion tower has a 7200rpm.

2005.

Thanks

Because they can.

 

[jlseattle]

I posted about this before. I'm certain there is profit margins to think about. But I'm thinking more from a design perspective and the prospective user they think is going to use the machine. My suspicion is that the designers geared the 21" with the 5400 rpm drive for folks that don't or won't need the extra performance. I know it is ridiculous for a machine with otherwise decent hardware to have that drive installed. But I really think that they were thinking the users wouldn't need or see the benefit of a faster hard drive. Its sad.

Apple designers didn't realize that some users of the 21" iMac would be those that want the same performance of a 27" at a smaller scale. It would be like making the regular iphone slower versus the iphone plus. Not logical. I ended getting the 27" although I wanted the 21" because of that reason.

 

[rjsounds]

Funny this is, I still use my 2010 21.5" iMac with the 5400 rpm sata drive as my main production computer with Logic Pro X. I have no idea what it feels like to work with a 7200 rpm drive or even an ssd! I'm so used to just waiting 2 minutes for Logic Pro to open when I click it, or waiting 5 minutes for my computer to restart, etc.

Luckily.... this cool cat has a 2017 27" top end iMac with ssd drive arriving at the end of the month!!!

 

[redheeler]

Funny this is, I still use my 2010 21.5" iMac with the 5400 rpm sata drive as my main production computer with Logic Pro X. I have no idea what it feels like to work with a 7200 rpm drive or even an ssd! I'm so used to just waiting 2 minutes for Logic Pro to open when I click it, or waiting 5 minutes for my computer to restart, etc.

Even your 21.5" 2010 iMac has a 7200 RPM drive. Apple made the backwards switch to 5400 RPM 2.5" form factor in 2012 for space reasons in the new 21.5" design.

Now, almost four years later, and it's pretty bad Apple still sells these slow drives without an SSD on any new Mac at any price point. For several years I've been waiting for the Fusion drive or SSD to be made standard, because user experience for anyone who buys a brand new base model iMac for $1.3K should matter over advertising a lower starting price and generating more profit by upselling SSDs. But it seems Apple doesn't stand for that anymore...

 

[Sid The Kid]

You know why, you just want to hear somebody say it. Profit margins.

Not ideal for real-world performance as the drive is pretty much the biggest bottleneck to that computer. But the Flash drives perform extremely quickly so you'll get a good machine providing you BTO.

Well it's still ridiculous. They could just put a 7200rpm even on the base model and obviously just charge more. The person who really wants an iMac will still buy one even with the few more dollars needed because of the 7200rpm.

I'm not only targeting Apple but also other companies.

Would be so easy to put 7200rpm on every models and charge more. The customer won't have the possibility of having the 5400rpm one so will be obligated to buy the 7200rpm one.
[doublepost=1499732902][/doublepost]

I posted about this before. I'm certain there is profit margins to think about. But I'm thinking more from a design perspective and the prospective user they think is going to use the machine. My suspicion is that the designers geared the 21" with the 5400 rpm drive for folks that don't or won't need the extra performance. I know it is ridiculous for a machine with otherwise decent hardware to have that drive installed. But I really think that they were thinking the users wouldn't need or see the benefit of a faster hard drive. Its sad.

Apple designers didn't realize that some users of the 21" iMac would be those that want the same performance of a 27" at a smaller scale. It would be like making the regular iphone slower versus the iphone plus. Not logical. I ended getting the 27" although I wanted the 21" because of that reason.

I see. I think they think like "If you want better specs and performances just configure it the way you want and pay more." Like you want the 21.5" with good specs just pay and you will get it. 27" for even better performances and obviously more expensive.

 

[Larry-K]

Well it's still ridiculous. They could just put a 7200rpm even on the base model and obviously just charge more. The person who really wants an iMac will still buy one even with the few more dollars needed because of the 7200rpm.

I'm not only targeting Apple but also other companies.

Would be so easy to put 7200rpm on every models and charge more. The customer won't have the possibility of having the 5400rpm one so will be obligated to buy the 7200rpm one.

It is ridiculous, but Apple's sales never seem to suffer as a result.

I guess people are content to stare at the Apple logo while they wait.

I don't even know where they're getting these things, maybe an old garage in Eastern Europe?

 

[CWallace]

You know why, you just want to hear somebody say it. Profit margins.

I would not be surprised if the reason was to reduce HDD noise. As to why the 27" uses 7200RPM, I believe that's like the minimum speed for 3.5" drives now and/or the larger case allows better sound insulation.

 

[Caliber26]

I posted about this before. I'm certain there is profit margins to think about. But I'm thinking more from a design perspective and the prospective user they think is going to use the machine. My suspicion is that the designers geared the 21" with the 5400 rpm drive for folks that don't or won't need the extra performance. I know it is ridiculous for a machine with otherwise decent hardware to have that drive installed. But I really think that they were thinking the users wouldn't need or see the benefit of a faster hard drive. Its sad.

Apple designers didn't realize that some users of the 21" iMac would be those that want the same performance of a 27" at a smaller scale. It would be like making the regular iphone slower versus the iphone plus. Not logical. I ended getting the 27" although I wanted the 21" because of that reason.

Why didn't you just upgrade to the SSD option on the 21" iMac instead? Wouldn't the upgrade cost be about what you paid more for a 27" model?

 

[tech4all]

So they can become a trillion dollar company faster.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

And also Sid all 27" iMac models that have the original drive replaced need a heat sensor kit as sold by OWC. The 5400rpm drive overcame this heat sensor problem and the kit is not necessary.

 

[rjsounds]

Even your 21.5" 2010 iMac has a 7200 RPM drive.

Well butter my biscuit!

 

[padams35]

In the 2012 redesign Apple downsized the 21.5" hard drive from 3.5" to 2.5." Things haven't been the same since.

 

[Sid The Kid]

In the 2012 redesign Apple downsized the 21.5" hard drive from 3.5" to 2.5." Things haven't been the same since.

Why did they make that change?

 

[rjsounds]

Why did they make that change?

Probably because they made the iMac thinner and needed it to fit. I find it to be one of the most outrageous decisions the company has ever made. Especially where the point of having a desktop is to have a more powerful machine with more space. You don't even notice thinness since you're always looking at it has on. But hey, most of us want a thin computer and we're more than happy to sacrifice performance right?

 

[Sid The Kid]

But hey, most of us want a thin computer and we're more than happy to sacrifice performance right?

That sarcasm though.

 

[Larry-K]

That sarcasm though.

That's literally Apple's very profitable marketing strategy.

 

[Sid The Kid]

That's literally Apple's very profitable marketing strategy.

Of course. People like thinner and thinner things and less heavy and builky. Just like TVs.

 

[Larry-K]

Of course. People like thinner and thinner things and less heavy and builky. Just like TVs.

Which is why they switch to 60" screens and watch movies on their phones.

People who actually work for a living on their computers, rarely stare at the sides of them, although with a 5400RPM drive, you'll have plenty of time to do so.

 

[Sid The Kid]

Which is why they switch to 60" screens and watch movies on their phones.

People who actually work for a living on their computers, rarely stare at the sides of them, although with a 5400RPM drive, you'll have plenty of time to do so.

And now it's the revolution! Curved TVs! I don't often hear about 3D TVs anymore...

 

[Larry-K]

And now it's the revolution! Curved TVs! I don't often hear about 3D TVs anymore...

3D TVs? I wonder where they all went, probably taking up space in public storage.

 

[cynics]

Its an odd choice IMO even if profit margins is the reason. With any business decision there is some level of cost vs reward. Since we are extremely close to minimal material prices for basic hard drives the price difference between 5400rpm and 7200rpm drives is virtually non existent at least at a consumer level. And the performance difference is obvious.

Adding confusion to the matter Apple has been using PCIe SSD of the fastest variety for quiet a while. Longer than most other manufacturers actually. They could have been using SATA SSDs for much longer without catching much/any flack for it.

So to me its odd they would use complete polar opposites between their HDDs and SSDs.

Also Apple has a "device even you grandmother" can use marketing strategy across their line up. Someone that didn't know any better that just wants to try a Mac will be left with a somewhat terrible experience. They would probably come to the conclusion that "Macs are slow, PCs are fast".

To make matters even worse the base model 4K Retina iMac comes with a 5400rpm drive with the option to include FCPX. Yeah....good luck with that.....

 

[kohlson]

Some complementary combination of cost, heat, noise, and clear reason to upgrade. Apple does this with iPhones, too. The base model has barely enough storage to hold iOS, a picture, and the instagram app to upload it. The next step up is $100, which might be the singular most profitable part of the transaction. Then, iCloud comes with not enough free storage to back it up, so it's $1/month forever. Quite a business model.

 

[cynics]

Some complementary combination of cost, heat, noise, and clear reason to upgrade. Apple does this with iPhones, too. The base model has barely enough storage to hold iOS, a picture, and the instagram app to upload it. The next step up is $100, which might be the singular most profitable part of the transaction. Then, iCloud comes with not enough free storage to back it up, so it's $1/month forever. Quite a business model.

Now the iPhone (assuming buying a new 7) comes with 32gb. That is reasonable for most.

However you are right but Apples strategy was brilliant, borderline cunning. They offered the 6S with 16gb, 64gb or 128gb. Many people knew 16gb wasn't enough so they opted for 64gb. Used it for a year and now find themselves using more than 32gb. So their only option short of deleting tons of stuff is to upgrade again to the 128gb model.

Now Apple is sitting pretty. The 7S/8/whatever can come with 32gb/128gb/256gb again, OR 64gb/128gb/256gb. Regardless many people will need to upgrade to the second tier again.

What confuses me now with the 5400rpm drive will probably make complete sense (from a business perspective) in the future.

I think the issue is the 5400RPM HDD doesn't sound off enough alarms to the general consumer. People know their phone is out of space because it alerts them. However I don't think non techy people will know why their Mac is slow.