AppleInsider Staff
Apple is now offering the Fusion Drive as a build-to-order option when ordering the most affordable 2.7GHz 21.5-inch iMac model, a change in availability from October when the system was limited to high-end versions and the 27-inch iMac.
The revision to the Online Apple Store's build-to-order options, first spotted by French blog MacGeneration and confirmed by AppleInsider, adds Apple's hybrid Fusion Drive as a $250 upgrade to the base model 21.5-inch iMac.
Introduced in October 2011 alongside the redesigned iMac, Apple's Fusion Drive is a hardware and software solution that promises the performance of a solid state drive with the storage capacity of a hard drive. Initial tests showed the hybrid drive to cut startup times in half while increasing read and write speeds significantly when compared to a traditional 5400-rpm hard drive.
The software driving the technology is built into OS X Mountain Lion and join a 128-gigabyte SSD with either a 1-terabyte or 3-terabyte HDD to form a single addressable volume. Integral applications and the operating system itself are permanently stored on the flash memory while other files are store on the slower spinning drive. The system monitors a user's operations and swaps frequently accessed files, folders or programs between the two to optimize performance. Transfers take place seamlessly in the background and require no user input.
Previously, the hardware that works in tandem with the Fusion Drive software was only available on the more expensive 2.9GHz 21.5-inch iMac model.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
125 Comments
That's the second time they've done that. Originally you couldn't get 512GB on the low end Macbook Pro if I recall. If you're nice you say it's because of production capacity constraints, if you're mean you say it's because they want people to buy the more expensive one.
I'm thinking apple have been racing and scrambling their way along. I'm looking to buy my first imac (27") and thinking the launch on oct 23 was rushed to beat the windows8 event in late October - get to the media first - and hence why November launch ended up as nov 30. They appear to scramble something by then. I'm thinking the product was not 100% ready to go re their production capabilities and assurances needed. Now they bring out fusion drive on entry imac. Based on customer feedback or just had to get some options out there (so they don't lose too many sales) and they'll take care of more options later. These are questions they i don't see being asked around the place (as most people seem to praise or abuse apple as opposed alto show some healthy scepticism at times - it's ok to ask and wonder people) Any views on my notions? I'm no expert but from a marketing and media analysis point of view I just wonder if my thoughts might sound probable to others Cheers
Is there a comparable technology on Windows PCs? I don't see anything like this on Dell's website. Their higher end systems just seem to add more TBs *edit* actually, I see a mention of mSata Caching SSD drive on their top Alienware system. I wonder how many PCs are shipped with this
Is there a comparable technology on Windows PCs? I don't see anything like this on Dell's website. Their higher end systems just seem to add more TBs
*edit* actually, I see a mention of mSata Caching SSD drive on their top Alienware system. I wonder how many PCs are shipped with this
Fusion Drive isn't a caching SSD or a hybrid HHD. Those solutions normally have a quite small SSD and that space doesn't count towards the total available storage to the user (e.g. 500GB HDD + 32GB SSD = 500GB available storage). The Fusion Drive is an automated tiered storage solution, which isn't a new concept as it has been in the Enterprise storage market for a long time, but is new to the PC market.
Most PC manufacturers are shipping higher end systems with an SSD for the OS and a larger HDD for data, they cannot combine them at this stage because Windows hasn't got the capability of a Fusion Drive concept.
[quote name="ScartArt" url="/t/155321/apples-fusion-drive-now-available-on-new-entry-level-21-5-imac-orders#post_2254528"] Fusion Drive isn't a caching SSD or a hybrid HHD. [/quote] ScartArt are you pretty well versed in this kind of stuff? What's your view of fusion drive. I'm not an IT expert but worried about the fact that the fusion system MOVES files and you may end up having blocks of data sitting split on the hdd and the ssd at the same time. Is the fact that some files will be MOVED from one to the other from time to time (depending on usage) cause any concerns of these files being compromised in your eyes? Does regular moving of files allow for corruption of files? I'm thinking this might have to be a wait and see kind of product launch Again, any views from more savvy people than myself here? I found an apple store employee who music edits had similar views to myself. Are these concerns valid? Cheers