Apple unveils Fusion Drive for new iMac and Mac mini

#1 Macworld

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 10:04 AM

Post your comments for Apple unveils Fusion Drive for new iMac and Mac mini here

#2 cincyflygrrl

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 10:20 AM

I have an MBA-11 128GM SSD paired with a Seagate 1TB drive attached that I connect to through my Airport Extreme. I think Apple would be so much more awesome if they added Fusion Drive smarts to future OS upgrades.

#3 cincyflygrrl

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 10:21 AM

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I have an MBA-11 128GM

Of course I meant GB, not GM.

#4 Coolmac99

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 10:42 AM

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I have an MBA-11 128GM Of course I meant GB, not GM.

I don't think they can add it to the AIR. This is actually a spinning hard drive + software if I am not mistaken.

#5 mactechinfo

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 10:51 AM

The fusiion drive is only available for one out of 3 Mac mini models, the 2.3Ghz quad core Mac mini with OS X (not the server model).

And even for that model its only available in 1TB not 3TB.

Note that there is no longer an option to buy large dual 7200rpm drives for any model of Mac mini.

#6 hayesk

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 10:58 AM

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There's no way that would be reliable enough to support as an official feature. Even if the drive was directly connected, I can't see them doing it. What happens if the drive is disconnected?

#7 Htom

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 11:00 AM

When will we be able to preorder iMac?

#8 ariellauthentic

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 11:26 AM

I wonder what happens to optimizations and data placement after a drive mirror restore from an external device. Is there new metadata that gets linked?

I also wonder what security model this has. When you use Ableton Live, by default your sound library is in ~/Users/<user>/Library/Application support. When you use those large sound loops often enough, do they get moved out of platter to SSD spaces and then lose permissions/become more easily accessed, or is all this optimization magic happening at a more fundamental device block level or... ???

What if the SSD only has 2GB free and you have a 4GB frequently access data file (favourite HD movie maybe)? Does the file system block-move to SSD portions of the data or does it lock it from being moved until its whole can be addressed?

I don't know if I want to give up that much "easy for a human to manage" intelligence to a storage/optimization algorithm. I would what use file integrity/recovery applications would be with this new layer of magic?

#9 leicaman

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 11:32 AM

Can't wait to see what the new Mac Pro will look like next year. I'm hoping a black NeXT-like cube!

Eric

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

#10 bubbamac

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 12:11 PM

So... will the Fusion Drive ™ be available for those of us with older Macs? Can I roll my own by getting a SSD for my MacBook Pro and combining it on my own by moving the hard drive to the CD/DVD bay?

I was just about to pull the trigger on a Momentus XT this morning... and now there's something better. I wonder how long it'll take the aftermarket to catch up?

#11 cincyflygrrl

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 12:40 PM

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There's no way that would be reliable enough to support as an official feature.

Mostly wishful thinking on my part. I appreciate your thoughts and those of others who chimed in.

#12 ingus

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 12:51 PM

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So... will the Fusion Drive ™ be available for those of us with older Macs? Can I roll my own by getting a SSD for my MacBook Pro and combining it on my own by moving the hard drive to the CD/DVD bay? I was just about to pull the trigger on a Momentus XT this morning... and now there's something better. I wonder how long it'll take the aftermarket to catch up?

What's describd in the article, is exactly what is claimed for the XT. Until performance comparisons are published there is no way of knowing if the Fusion Drive is "better" or just a new name on existing tech.

Until the teardown, we won't know just how upgradable these machines would be. It could be that the only practical way to install a hybrid drive is to order it that way.

I'm more of a "Woz" guy...

#13 huzzam

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Posted 23 October 2012 - 01:44 PM

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well, we can guess: the Momentus XT has 4GB of flash on its little SSD. The Fusion Drive has 128GB on its SSD. That's quite a jump, and means the drive can permanently leave A LOT on the SSD. The Momentus could barely (or not) store the OS and a few favorite apps.

~peter in oakland