Future Fusion Drive Upgrade Confusion?

[xlr8or]

I'm considering a new or refurb late 2012 Mac mini with the 1TB Fusion Drive. While speaking with the local Apple sales and service retailer about the future upgradability of the mini with the Fusion Drive, the service manager advised and cautioned the following via e-mail:

"The Fusion Drive in the iMacs and Mac minis are not upgradeable in the sense that they use Apple proprietary drive firmware rather than off-the-shelf hard drives that we typically use for upgrades. If a drive were to fail in or out of warranty it would need to be replaced with a like Apple part and thus could be repairable, but not upgradeable"

Isn't this contrary to the home-brewing of Fusion Drives by non-Apple, user-installed SSD and platter hard drives? I thought that if the Fusion Drive were to konk out post warranty, I would be able to put in my own SSD or spinning HD as a replacement. Confusion abounds . . . any thoughts on this conundrum?

Thanks in advance for the clarification and replies.

 

[RedRallyeZ]

I can tell you that I went with the standard 5400RPM 1TB drive and added my own crucial M4 & the OWC data doubler kit. After the terminal hack, mine is running perfectly fine. This seems to be the case with most of the DIY Fusions on this site.

The HDD's in Minis are not considered user replaceable/upgradeable by Apple, so the response to your email is not out of the norm.

 

[xlr8or]

So even though this is an Apple Authorized Retailer, they are pretty much giving me the party line from Apple, huh? I'm still probably going to wait until after the WWDC to see if any new hardware announcements are made for the minis. Thanks for this.

Anyone else have opinions or thoughts on this?

 

[philipma1957]

yeah the hdds and ssds will work I have a long thread on my 1.96tb fusion setup it uses a 960gb crucial ssd with a 7200 rpm 1 tb hgst.

both are not oem they will work fine. party line will always be use apple drives

(ie drives with the apple label which may or may not have different firmware)

I have put hundreds of drives in hundreds of minis most work fine. If you upgrade your mini use a samsung ssd with a hgst hdd links;



http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-MZ-7T...F8&qid=1368849498&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+ssd

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145875

or wait till next year and see what the model model allows

 

[xlii]

Any brand (and size) of ssd and hdd will work as a fusion drive. There are many in here who have done just that.

The Service Manager gave you pure B.S. What is true is that the drives you put in are not covered under applecare. But that is true for any upgrade you do yourself at home. The rest of your mini is still covered by applecare just the parts you added are not.

 

[opinio]

I'm considering a new or refurb late 2012 Mac mini with the 1TB Fusion Drive. While speaking with the local Apple sales and service retailer about the future upgradability of the mini with the Fusion Drive, the service manager advised and cautioned the following via e-mail:

"The Fusion Drive in the iMacs and Mac minis are not upgradeable in the sense that they use Apple proprietary drive firmware rather than off-the-shelf hard drives that we typically use for upgrades. If a drive were to fail in or out of warranty it would need to be replaced with a like Apple part and thus could be repairable, but not upgradeable"

Isn't this contrary to the home-brewing of Fusion Drives by non-Apple, user-installed SSD and platter hard drives? I thought that if the Fusion Drive were to konk out post warranty, I would be able to put in my own SSD or spinning HD as a replacement. Confusion abounds . . . any thoughts on this conundrum?

Thanks in advance for the clarification and replies.

what do they mean by repairable versus upgradable?

You do you repair a hard drive but not upgrade it? maybe I am reading that wrong.

 

[xlr8or]

I asked the sales person if they had seen any reliability issues with the Fusion Drives and below is the answer that I got. The retailer was the one that volunteered the bit about "not being upgradable". Here's part of the reply exchange:

"I personally haven't heard any feedback on the Fusion Drive, but I did discuss your question with our Service Director. He also indicated that he has heard no negatives about the performance of the drive. He did mention that one downside of the Fusion Drive is that, due to the construction of the drive, it is unable to be upgraded in the future."

I was skeptical about this answer and didn't think it jehaw'd with what I've seen on this forum and the Mac mini HDD upgrade videos out there on YouTube.

 

[philipma1957]

I asked the sales person if they had seen any reliability issues with the Fusion Drives and below is the answer that I got. The retailer was the one that volunteered the bit about "not being upgradable". Here's part of the reply exchange:

"I personally haven't heard any feedback on the Fusion Drive, but I did discuss your question with our Service Director. He also indicated that he has heard no negatives about the performance of the drive. He did mention that one downside of the Fusion Drive is that, due to the construction of the drive, it is unable to be upgraded in the future."

I was skeptical about this answer and didn't think it jehaw'd with what I've seen on this forum and the Mac mini HDD upgrade videos out there on YouTube.

yeah he just has to tow the party line here is the worlds biggest fusion for a mac mini


https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1568313/


works fine.


I clone it once a week and I run a tm for it.

there are some bigger ssd's 1tb vs 960gb

so you could make a 2.0tb fusion

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...kwCjCV1-CjCE&gclid=CMiFusSQobcCFcyf4AodsjUAJw

but my 1.96tb is the largest I have seen done. works great and never runs out of gas. truly a set it and forget item. by the way the crucial is back in stock in a month at www.macsales.com a.k.a. OWC


http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Crucial/CT960M500SSD/

 

[cjgonzales1900]

Any brand (and size) of ssd and hdd will work as a fusion drive. There are many in here who have done just that.

The Service Manager gave you pure B.S. What is true is that the drives you put in are not covered under applecare. But that is true for any upgrade you do yourself at home. The rest of your mini is still covered by applecare just the parts you added are not.

This is not true, Apple can and usually will void your warranty if you have changed anything out or into the Mini that isn't considered "User Replaceable". If something were to go out on your mini and you have upgrades installed, you will have to reinstall the original parts besides Ram with is user replaceable, in order for them to cover the mini under AppleCare.

 

[philipma1957]

This is not true, Apple can and usually will void your warranty if you have changed anything out or into the Mini that isn't considered "User Replaceable". If something were to go out on your mini and you have upgrades installed, you will have to reinstall the original parts besides Ram with is user replaceable, in order for them to cover the mini under AppleCare.

this is pretty much the bottom line truth. if you swap the hdd or add an hdd you voided warranty. apple can refuse service. but you should be able to swap back without detection.