One SSD drive, and software that you cannot buy anywhere else. Nobody is selling that combination cheaper. No other company actually sells it at all.
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Fusion Drive Now Available as Option for Low End 21.5" iMac
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One SSD drive, and software that you cannot buy anywhere else. Nobody is selling that combination cheaper. No other company actually sells it at all.
They do not form the sweet spot of Apple's target demographic. They don't buy nearly as much as those who are tech naive and like to spend money on a new system from Apple when they need more power.
In other words, they should have waited longer before getting ****ed by Apple.
Yes. $80-100 for 128GB SSD these days. That's not the issue. iMac and even windows All in ones are not user friendly to replace internal parts.
Sure I guess u can start daisy chaining external SSD drives on the outside but it's not as clean a look as an internal SSD option.
It's Apples and other manufactures decision to do it. Same as the iPhone non expandable memory. They want to upsell their products.
Look at Luxury car pricing. There are some options i really couldn't care less for. But they force those options on u.
Actually you could get a SSD drive upgrade on a 21.5 iMac before. It was the just with the introduction of the new model that the fusion/SSD was not allowed in the 21.5 configuration.
Dude, a friendly advice... you probably need to check your hearing if you put your computer in your bedroom or somewhere quiet and you still can't hear the hard drive.
Last time I put a computer in the bedroom, any traditional HDD are audible at night when it is very quiet, even a quiet MBP 5400rpm HDD about 3 meters away from where I sleep is audible. I cannot sleep/turn off the computer due to a lot of reasons but for sure it is A LOT louder than my watch's second hand which I still can hear when I tried to sleep. During not-sleeping-hours it depends, but if you're not listening to music and you don't live in a noisy neighbourhood you should still hear it. So if you can't or anyone can't on this forum, maybe it's the hearing problem? Been listening to too much headphone recently maybe?
Dell makes plenty of them. These, for example, come with a 7200 rpm drive standard: http://www.dell.com/us/soho/p/xps-15-l521x/pd The machine I am currently typing on has a 500 gig 7200 RPM drive.
There are plenty of 7200 RPM 2.5 inch drives available in high-end machines, and then there are the el-cheapo 5400 rpm drives that some companies use. The form factor had nothing to do with it - maximizing profit had everything to do with it.
So... by your logic we can't complain if Apple sell their base Mac Mini at US$3000 because "software (Mac OS X) that we cannot buy anywhere else. Nobody is selling that combination (Computer + Mac OS X) cheaper. No other company actually sells it at all." ?
It most definitely isn't a "gimmick." Whether or not you get/have a Fusion drive or go the do-it-yourself route for hybrid, both serve a solid purpose, and provide clear and proven benefits. What you ignorantly call a gimmick would be better described as a brand name. Apple has it's own version, and simply calls it Fusion.
You're either incredibly ignorant, or a Windows admin, or both.
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1. A 256GB SSD upgrade for an iMac back in 2010 and 2011 cost $600.
2. A 512GB SSD upgrade for a MacPro cost $1000 EACH up until today, while out there it costs how much? Yep .. four hundred stinking dollars!
3. A 768GB SSD upgrade on iMac costs $1300 and even then you lose HDD.
All those options give you no Fusion Drive at all. Not out of the box, at least.
So .. What kind of software or combination back then which justify those prices, really?
It's a little more than that. You should look into its performance data. Plus, of course you could try these options yourself...just like you can change your own oil in your car...or you could pay a little extra to have someone else do it. That's exactly what Apple did here, the price will go down.
It's not the default drive on iMac, so for now, there's not too much harm in having the option for consumer-level Macs.
No need for ad hominem insults is there. But I guess that is what I should expect when your only argument against it being a 'gimmick' is to say "It most definitely isn't" well you must admit that that is not even an argument at all.
You have to give some reasoning. It's a gimmick because it's meant to satisfy the average consumer who will not open their imac up and now apple is able to get away with putting a paltry 128GB SSD in it which doesn't leave much wiggle room for dedicated use of the SSD, it's just meant to boot up quick and handle smallish (less than 4GB files) with an impression of speediness.
There's nothing inherently wrong with it other than that it is a step backwards. At the very least it should have a 256GB SSD.
I might have bought the base model iMac when they were announced, if they had the Fusion Drive option.
As things turned out, I bought the top-range Mini. It was available immediately, it had the Fusion drive, and you could upgrade the RAM.
The base iMac with 16Gb and Fusion would have been within my budget, (though I'm still peeved at no FireWire, audio in or Infrared, to say nothing of the optical drive).
Apple could have just posted a technical note on their website saying "Oh, here's a neat trick you can do with CoreStorage". But they didn't. They said "Here's a combination drive we're selling as an option."
Is it expensive? Marginally -- but a lot less than iMac SSDs in the past. (And although I've built my own hardware and taken loads of things to bits, frankly the idea of opening up or rather putting back together the iMac scares me, so I'm happy to pay for "installation".)
Did Marketing give it a high-fallutin name? Of course.
Has it encouraged loads of people to format their own SSD/HDDs together into a Fusion drive? Yes.
Having used thew Fusion for some time now (and I'm definitely well into the HDD in terms of used space), I have to say it's brilliant. You can't tell which device is being used -- it's essentially like having a 1.1Tb SSD. And THAT is worth $250.
As things turned out, I bought the top-range Mini. It was available immediately, it had the Fusion drive, and you could upgrade the RAM.
The base iMac with 16Gb and Fusion would have been within my budget, (though I'm still peeved at no FireWire, audio in or Infrared, to say nothing of the optical drive).
Apple could have just posted a technical note on their website saying "Oh, here's a neat trick you can do with CoreStorage". But they didn't. They said "Here's a combination drive we're selling as an option."
Is it expensive? Marginally -- but a lot less than iMac SSDs in the past. (And although I've built my own hardware and taken loads of things to bits, frankly the idea of opening up or rather putting back together the iMac scares me, so I'm happy to pay for "installation".)
Did Marketing give it a high-fallutin name? Of course.
Has it encouraged loads of people to format their own SSD/HDDs together into a Fusion drive? Yes.
Having used thew Fusion for some time now (and I'm definitely well into the HDD in terms of used space), I have to say it's brilliant. You can't tell which device is being used -- it's essentially like having a 1.1Tb SSD. And THAT is worth $250.
128Gb HD in any Mac's should be legaly Banned!!! what a joke!!!
Can you read?
It is a fusion drive of 1TB Hard Drive and a 128GB SSD fused into a single drive of a total capacity of 1.128TB.
I didn't say it was easier than magnets, just possible without heat.
But the point you and so many people miss on this wacky thread miss, is that the 5400 rpm drives, when in Fusion, aren't going to appear slower! Getting hung up on the speed of drive or the danger of having two drives is really a waste of worry.
The Fusion drive is best for those not wanting to micro-manage their data across two drives. The point of the software is so that you don't have to do anything yet get near-SSD speeds. This is a new technology that most people will appreciate. Not everyone writes scripts and I'd guess that you wouldn't be able to duplicate Fusion Drive's native efficiency at doing so.
The 2012 iMac's take a retina blade SSD. A 120GB one costs $200 at OWC for instance. This is not a typical 2.5" drive so I don't get your point. You pay $250 to have the blade installed. Or get the NonFusion 21.5" iMac, pay $200 plus some guitar pics, tape, etc., and do it yourself via a steady hand and some Terminal commands.
I agree this is a crazy thread. Spin speeds to not equate, under all conditions, to data reads. Regardless, I would bet that Fusion drive speeds are equivalent regardless of 5400 vs. 7200 rpm HDD's backing it. 7200 rpm may be a minimum requirement when not fused to a SSD but that is not what this thread is about.
So if the drive fails you get a replacement machine, how is that not providing support?
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They would not have saved anything.
They would have spent less money and got a lower speced machine.
Less money = lower spec machine
About 300 posts as I write this should tell everybody that this mostly whining
is from a total minority.
If you are new to the way Apple launches its products please learn for the future:
1) Never buy a first generation of anything Apple and wait for the bug reports to come in. This NEW iMac 21.5 inch is a 1st generation and so is Apple's Fusion Drive offering! (Regardless of whether it's old technology)
2) Usually within 3 to 4 months you get the revised product with better specs for the same price or additional options and the after market comes up with solutions or figures out how to address individual
requirements and work arounds.
3) If you buy ANYTHING (not only Apple) because you need it right now: STOP looking back when new stuff comes along. Your "old" stuff still works and does what you bought it for.
4) Do not assume that you are the only one with specific things Apple should address. Apple covers the widest consumer spectrum possible for THEIR market, not yours.
5) Stop posting that you are getting screwed or #$#$@5 by Apple. You do not know their inner calculations, profit margin requirements or supply chain issues. The fact that they are in BUSINESS to make money should also not come as a surprise.
And, how much money they should make is not your decision.
All they are doing is put out a product for you to buy. Be that what THEY WANT to put out at that time or what THEY DECIDE is technically tolerable for what they want to ship (user experience)
You have the option NOT to buy or outwait the product cycle and revisions.
Anything else is typical entitlement generation BS. We want it all and we want it now. (Let's add for FREE and FOREVER)
is from a total minority.
If you are new to the way Apple launches its products please learn for the future:
1) Never buy a first generation of anything Apple and wait for the bug reports to come in. This NEW iMac 21.5 inch is a 1st generation and so is Apple's Fusion Drive offering! (Regardless of whether it's old technology)
2) Usually within 3 to 4 months you get the revised product with better specs for the same price or additional options and the after market comes up with solutions or figures out how to address individual
requirements and work arounds.
3) If you buy ANYTHING (not only Apple) because you need it right now: STOP looking back when new stuff comes along. Your "old" stuff still works and does what you bought it for.
4) Do not assume that you are the only one with specific things Apple should address. Apple covers the widest consumer spectrum possible for THEIR market, not yours.
5) Stop posting that you are getting screwed or #$#$@5 by Apple. You do not know their inner calculations, profit margin requirements or supply chain issues. The fact that they are in BUSINESS to make money should also not come as a surprise.
And, how much money they should make is not your decision.
All they are doing is put out a product for you to buy. Be that what THEY WANT to put out at that time or what THEY DECIDE is technically tolerable for what they want to ship (user experience)
You have the option NOT to buy or outwait the product cycle and revisions.
Anything else is typical entitlement generation BS. We want it all and we want it now. (Let's add for FREE and FOREVER)
No one got F'd. Apple's holiday return policy means anyone who wants to return their Mac and buy a low end w/ Fusion can still do so until tomorrow.
That's normal when a new machine is released. It can take a week or two to get the part in - so yes, Apple can replace both the HDD and the SSD part of the fusion drive no problem.
It's their policy, however, that if it fails within the first month, just to issue a new machine for the customer's benefit. If you'd prefer them to repair your 2 week old machine they will, but given that it's a new model you'll be waiting upwards of 2 weeks for the part.