2019 iMac Fusion drive - am I mad to consider one?

[a2jack]

Thanks for the replies. If I was going to spend £180 on the 2tb Fusion upgrade though, then I might as well shell out another £90 for the 512 SSD.

I'm waiting for the teardown's and full reviews. If they're good, and I can find the extra cash then I'm resigned to the 512 SSD upgrade.

The Mini is back in the running though - sounds like the audio issues have been sorted with an OS update. The only black mark against that now for me is the difficulty in user-upgradeable RAM.

Agree... Access is a PIA in the new MMs, and that's why I'm waiting. I don't want to have to go that deep into an expensive new machine just to upgrade.

However, the new the new 27" iMac is worse, as I would not want to dig into that one just to replace that deal killing F-drive, or pay the big bucks for those wimpy Apple ssd's.

My Solution: Buy a nice referb i7 2012 Mini, load it up with goodies, and wait them out. Next release Mini will "For Sure" be more upgrade friendly.

I've had the money set aside in the bank for over 6 mos to buy my new 27" Mac. I won't do it now.
Waiting... a2

 

[Brian Y]

2TB fusion works out around the same price as getting the 256G SSD + a 4TB external drive.

I know which I'd rather have.

 

[ssls6]

Something to consider......My MBP has email, slack, messages, calendar, & safari open. If I open a terminal and get a count of open files, I have 6600 files open (operating system and the apps listed above). This is the real benefit of an SSD. Don't be fooled by raw speed writing/reading...look at IOPS.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"The Mac Mini has a few drawbacks - no gpu, audio issues with USB interfaces that have stopped me jumping in and getting one."

According to reports from others that I've read, the release of 10.14.4 seems to have fixed the USB audio problems.

Do you KNOW how much RAM you'll need?
If it's 8gb or 16gb, just buy it pre-installed.
More than 8gb? It -might- be worth installing it yourself (but it's not what I'd call "an easy job").

 

[familychoice]

Something to consider......My MBP has email, slack, messages, calendar, & safari open. If I open a terminal and get a count of open files, I have 6600 files open (operating system and the apps listed above). This is the real benefit of an SSD. Don't be fooled by raw speed writing/reading...look at IOPS.

Yeah, the difference when using the external SSD with my MBP is incredible.

Seems to be a lot of reports about Fusion drives failing too.

OP wrote:
"The Mac Mini has a few drawbacks - no gpu, audio issues with USB interfaces that have stopped me jumping in and getting one."

According to reports from others that I've read, the release of 10.14.4 seems to have fixed the USB audio problems.

Do you KNOW how much RAM you'll need?
If it's 8gb or 16gb, just buy it pre-installed.
More than 8gb? It -might- be worth installing it yourself (but it's not what I'd call "an easy job").

Yeah I noticed reports the audio had been fixed.

The tricky Mini RAM upgrading is putting me off that one at the moment. I could probably get away with 8gb, but would prefer 16. With the iMac I'd do this myself...with the Mini it's not something I'd want to do. So I'd have to cost in the £180 for the extra 8gb upgrade. Along with the 512 SSD upgrade, the cost of the Mini starts creeping up to the price of the iMac, and when you consider that comes with keyboard, mouse, GPU and a lovely screen...

 

[iTurbo]

Does it work as system drive too? Because when I had 2013 27-ich iMac I bought Transcend StoreJet 500 (TB2 connection) and I always had problems after updating macOS - it would not boot from external SSD after the update, I had to go to Recovery mode and set it everytime as startup drive.

Yes. I used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone my iMac's stock Fusion drive onto the Samsung T5. The only caveat is that I have to hold down the option key to startup from it and choose it manually. For some reason it does not show up in System Preferences > Startup Disk. But after that, it works great and is likely even faster than the Fusion Drive. The T5 has a USB-C connector, but comes with a USB-C to USB-A cable and is connected via USB3.

I've even used it plugged into my '13 MBA and started up just fine on the cloned iMac backup. Which is weird, but it works great. I believe the Samsung X5 drives use a Thunderbolt interface and are much faster than the T5.

 

[Colonel Blimp]

Maybe you already purchased but as a 2015 iMac owner with a maxed out computer on everything except the 3TB Fusion drive (instead of spending $900 more at the time for a 1TB SSD), that's the main reason I'm buying a new iMac. When you first reload the OS, it's okay and if you stick to normal activities...it's okay. Just okay. Once you start really using the Mac with a lot of startup / menu items, large Final Cut Pro or photoshop projects that exceed the 128GB Fusion SSD on-board and use the 7200RPM drive, it gets slow. The iMac I had before reloading it for the 10th time took about 21 minutes from booth to getting started.

What!? I have the same maxed-out 2015 iMac as you, with the same 3TB Fusion Drive, and I’ve never experienced anything like what you describe. Something is seriously wrong with your iMac.

Any feedback welcome - but please be gentle with me!

No, I don’t think you’re mad at all to consider a Fusion Drive. I’ve been using a 3TB Fusion Drive in my 2015 iMac for the last three and a half years, and I couldn’t be more pleased with it. It’s lightning fast for how I use it, it’s got lots more storage (although still not enough for me), and it’s a great value.

I would not recommend getting the 1TB Fusion Drive because of its 32GB SSD (as others have already remarked). If you can possibly spring for the 2TB Fusion Drive with its 128GB SSD, I think you’ll be delighted with its performance. The 2TB Fusion Drive costs £90 less than the 512GB SSD, and it has four times the storage.

The real question you have to ask yourself is, how much storage are you likely to want to use? 256GB, which is the only all-SSD option that is cheaper than the 2TB Fusion Drive, is not much room.

You say you want to replace a Windows desktop. Might you want the option of using Boot Camp? Bear in mind that, as supported by Apple, the Boot Camp partition must be installed on the internal drive. (There are, reportedly, unsupported hacks to allow Boot Camp to run on external drives, but whether they work with the 2019 iMacs, and how reliably, and how much of a bother they are, I have no idea.) 256GB is not much room in which to squeeze your macOS partition and a Windows partition.

As I posted elsewhere today, based on all the comments (many of them knee-jerk) that I’ve read about Fusion Drives in these forums over the years, my best guess about most of the folks who decry Fusion Drives is that either:

1. They used an iMac with a 1TB Fusion Drive, which has only a 32 GB SSD (24 GB in the 2015 iMac!), or
   
2. They have a rare use-case that requires performing many reads and writes outside of the 128GB SSD (e.g. doing heavy-duty database access within a virtual machine that’s so large it won’t fit into the 128GB SSD), or
   
3. They have never actually used a Fusion Drive and decry them on ideological grounds. (All hail the Solid-State Master Race!)

There will be a few others who have experienced mechanical failure or other malfunction. (For what little my one data point is worth, my 3TB Fusion Drive has been working a treat these past three and a half years). You should certainly get AppleCare with your iMac and perform regular backups to an external drive, regardless of what internal drive you get, and then you won’t have to worry about possible mechanical or electrical failure for three years.

I just ordered a new 2019 iMac myself, and based on my experience with the 3TB Fusion Drive in my 2015 iMac, I had absolutely no hesitation of any kind whatsoever in configuring a 3TB Fusion Drive this time around also. My only regret was that Apple don’t offer a larger Fusion Drive.

 

[tomscott1988]

I had a 2010 Mac Pro with a raid 0 2x 256 on 2 pci cards that ran 1000mb/s

I picked up a base line 2017 imac preowned because it was super cheap, has the 1tb fusion 24gb nvme portion.

Just to try it out I migrated over and in all honesty I’ve not noticed a great deal of difference it works really well, time I notice is on boot when it loads my bootable items where they can continue to pop up for a while...

I’m a photographer and videographer and with lightroom and premier/after effects it works very similarly.

That being said you have 2x TB3 ports and it’s not difficult to attach an ssd as a boot although you won’t get trim. I plan on buying a Samsung X5 which will run over 2000mb/s and will support trim through TB3.

If I was ordering new I would be buying an ssd, the hassle it is to change and loosing a port with external storage as an option. The chassis runs hot and the spinning drives tend to fail so... I wouldn’t bother

 

[familychoice]

No, I don’t think you’re mad at all to consider a Fusion Drive. I’ve been using a 3TB Fusion Drive in my 2015 iMac for the last three and a half years, and I couldn’t be more pleased with it. It’s lightning fast for how I use it, it’s got lots more storage (although still not enough for me), and it’s a great value.

Thanks for the details reply, lots of useful information there, and good to hear another perspective on the Fusion drive.

Storage wise - I do use a fair bit, but I back everything up on external SSD's anyway, so a 512gb SSD would be sufficient for my day job software and working files. I prefer to have a smaller dirve anyway, as it forces me to keep things backed-up, organised and uncluttered.

I have an external bootable SSD with music software that I use with my Macbook Pro, so I'd plug this into the iMac and keep the internal drive clear for work stuff.

Windows - I wouldn't run this on the Mac. One of the reasons for going back to Mac OS is I'm not a fan of Windows 10 (I have Win 7 on my current Dell desktop), so that's not an issue.

I think the sensible option for me is to go for the base model, 512gb upgrade, and when funds are available I'll stick some extra RAM in. I'll have to think about Applecare - we get 6 years cover in the UK for electrical equipment, but obviously I'd have to lug the machine to a Store which is more hassle.

I'm waiting to see if a new job comes in (I'm self-employed), and if so this will give me the cash I need to get the iMac, otherwise I'll be fence-sitting for a while.
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If I was ordering new I would be buying an ssd, the hassle it is to change and loosing a port with external storage as an option. The chassis runs hot and the spinning drives tend to fail so... I wouldn’t bother

I think that's the thing that worries me more than the speed difference. I'd be tempted to go for the 2TB Fusion upgrade as Colonel Blimp advised, but more heat and reports of shorter lifespans for the drives are a bit of a concern. If they could be swapped out it wouldn't be so much of an issue, but that's the limitation of an all-in-one I guess.

 

[Colonel Blimp]

Thanks for the details reply, lots of useful information there, and good to hear another perspective on the Fusion drive.

Storage wise - I do use a fair bit, but I back everything up on external SSD's anyway, so a 512gb SSD would be sufficient for my day job software and working files. I prefer to have a smaller dirve anyway, as it forces me to keep things backed-up, organised and uncluttered.

I have an external bootable SSD with music software that I use with my Macbook Pro, so I'd plug this into the iMac and keep the internal drive clear for work stuff.

Windows - I wouldn't run this on the Mac. One of the reasons for going back to Mac OS is I'm not a fan of Windows 10 (I have Win 7 on my current Dell desktop), so that's not an issue.

I think the sensible option for me is to go for the base model, 512gb upgrade, and when funds are available I'll stick some extra RAM in. I'll have to think about Applecare - we get 6 years cover in the UK for electrical equipment, but obviously I'd have to lug the machine to a Store which is more hassle.

I'm waiting to see if a new job comes in (I'm self-employed), and if so this will give me the cash I need to get the iMac, otherwise I'll be fence-sitting for a while.
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I think that's the thing that worries me more than the speed difference. I'd be tempted to go for the 2TB Fusion upgrade as Colonel Blimp advised, but more heat and reports of shorter lifespans for the drives are a bit of a concern. If they could be swapped out it wouldn't be so much of an issue, but that's the limitation of an all-in-one I guess.

It sounds like you’ve thought your storage usage through, and based on how you use your Mac, if you’re prepared to spring for the 512GB SSD upgrade, then that might indeed be the best choice for you.

As for upgrading the internal storage after purchase, be aware that it is possible, but a bit of a hassle. Other World Computing sell internal SSD upgrade kits for the 2013-2017 iMacs, for example, and the 2019 iMacs should be no different. I’ve seen some readers here recommend buying the cheapest storage option from Apple (either the 1TB HD or the 1TB Fusion Drive, depending on your iMac model) and then upgrading to an internal SSD yourself.

 

[familychoice]

It sounds like you’ve thought your storage usage through, and based on how you use your Mac, if you’re prepared to spring for the 512GB SSD upgrade, then that might indeed be the best choice for you.

As for upgrading the internal storage after purchase, be aware that it is possible, but a bit of a hassle. Other World Computing sell internal SSD upgrade kits for the 2013-2017 iMacs, for example, and the 2019 iMacs should be no different. I’ve seen some readers here recommend buying the cheapest storage option from Apple (either the 1TB HD or the 1TB Fusion Drive, depending on your iMac model) and then upgrading to an internal SSD yourself.

Thanks again for the info - just had a quick look at the SSD upgrade video...terrifying! I think I'd stump for the Apple extra, just to avoid the stress! I updagraded the RAM in my Macbook Pro (mid 2012) - that was stressful enough, and one of the screws never quite seated properly so I think it's probably beyond my skillset

1 - 2tb would be ideal, but I can live with 512gb and external backups - it's really the price that's putting me off at the moment, but after looking at a few Windows options and considering the iMac screen, it's really not that bad. Once I get some funds through I'll most likely get one.

 

[kevo0822]

Maybe things are different with the 2019 models, but I "downgraded" from a 2TB Fusion on my 2015 retina iMac to a 1TB Fusion drive on my 2017 retina iMac and the differences are STARK. First of all, the spinning drive is 5400 rpm, not 7200. Second, the 28GB (or whatever the flash portion is) pales in comparison to the 128GB on the 2TB Fusion Drive. The difference is apparent to me on a daily basis. When I had an iMac with the 2TB Fusion Drive, I hardly noticed a difference between Flash and Spinning storage (because most things I used were stored on Flash anyway)... but switching to the 1TB Fusion, I frequently load things from the HDD and it is SLOW. I'm quite displeased by it and still rather stunned that Apple continues to sell this when Flash memory has become cheap enough to easily justify the cost of a 128GB Flash drive with the 1TB Fusion. Just my thoughts.

 

[Colonel Blimp]

Thanks again for the info - just had a quick look at the SSD upgrade video...terrifying! I think I'd stump for the Apple extra, just to avoid the stress! I updagraded the RAM in my Macbook Pro (mid 2012) - that was stressful enough, and one of the screws never quite seated properly so I think it's probably beyond my skillset

Something else to bear in mind about those Other World Computing SSD upgrades is that they are SATA 3, which at only 600 MB/s is much slower than the more costly NVMe SSDs that Apple use in their newer iMacs.

See this article at Ars Technica and scroll down to the section, “SSDs: Getting the most from PCI Express.” Note especially the difference in read speeds in this chart between the SATA 3 SSD in the 2012 iMac and the NVMe/PCIe 3.0 SSD in the 2017 iMac. That’s almost a sixfold difference in read speed!

Maybe things are different with the 2019 models, but I "downgraded" from a 2TB Fusion on my 2015 retina iMac to a 1TB Fusion drive on my 2017 retina iMac and the differences are STARK. First of all, the spinning drive is 5400 rpm, not 7200. Second, the 28GB (or whatever the flash portion is) pales in comparison to the 128GB on the 2TB Fusion Drive. The difference is apparent to me on a daily basis. When I had an iMac with the 2TB Fusion Drive, I hardly noticed a difference between Flash and Spinning storage (because most things I used were stored on Flash anyway)... but switching to the 1TB Fusion, I frequently load things from the HDD and it is SLOW. I'm quite displeased by it and still rather stunned that Apple continues to sell this when Flash memory has become cheap enough to easily justify the cost of a 128GB Flash drive with the 1TB Fusion. Just my thoughts.

The 1TB Fusion Drive in the 2019 iMacs uses the same 32GB of flash storage as in the 2017 iMacs. (As stingy as that is, it’s an improvement over the 1TB Fusion Drive in the 2015 iMacs, which had only 24GB of flash storage!)

 

[Ubele]

One thing I rarely see mentioned: I have Apple’s 2 TB iCloud storage plan. From what I understand, to use that, your files have to be on the system drive. Aside from my ripped DVDs, which are on an external drive, I have about 850 GB of files, including my Photos and iTunes libraries. If I moved those libraries to an external drive, I’d have about 500 GB of files. A lot of those are application installation files, RAW photo files, etc., which I could move to an external drive — but then I couldn’t have them backed up in the cloud. So that would increase the number of external drives required, for both local and off-site backups. I like the convenience of having everything on one drive, which I back up the cloud, to a Time Machine backup drive, and to a clone drive, which I store offsite.

So what do I do currently? I created a 2.2 TB Fusion drive for my 2012 Mac mini. I also created a 1.2 TB Fusion drive for my wife’s 2012 Mac mini. They’ve been running fine for three years, and both are running Mojave. I’ve been building PCs and Macs since the late 1980s, for home and for work, with internal and external drives, and I’ve had maybe half a dozen HDDs fail in all that time. The reason I switched to Fusion drives for our Mac minis was because of speed, not because I’ve found HDDs to be unreliable. Yes, logically, a Fusion drive has two points of failure vs. a single HDD or SSD. But for the useful lifespan of a computer, is a Fusion drive more likely to fail? I haven’t seen any statistical evidence to support that, just individual cases where that has happened. If my next computer is an iMac, and my funds are limited, I’d have no hesitation getting one with a 2 TB or 3 TB Fusion drive. (I’d avoid the 1 TB Fusion drive because of the small SSD). “Spinners are old tech!” and “No company should be selling a computer with an HDD in 2019!” aren’t logical reasons to avoid a Fusion drive.

Selling the base model 21.5” iMac with a 5400 RPM HDD just to claim a low entry-level price point is a different story, though. The only reason I’d buy one is if I were really strapped for cash and planned to boot from an external SSD. Most of the target audience for that model model probably doesn’t understand that, though — they just think they’re getting an inexpensive Mac and likely will be disappointed with its performance. That goes against Apple’s supposed philosophy of not selling products on the basis of low cost if they don’t provide a good user experience.

If anything I’ve stated is incorrect, please correct me!

 

[familychoice]

.. but switching to the 1TB Fusion, I frequently load things from the HDD and it is SLOW. I'm quite displeased by it and still rather stunned that Apple continues to sell this when Flash memory has become cheap enough to easily justify the cost of a 128GB Flash drive with the 1TB Fusion. Just my thoughts.

Yeah I've completely ruled out the 1TB Fusion, it'll be the 512gb SSD or 2TB upgrade.

Something else to bear in mind about those Other World Computing SSD upgrades is that they are SATA 3, which at only 600 MB/s is much slower than the more costly NVMe SSDs that Apple use in their newer iMacs.

Good to hear, makes the mark-up a bit less steep.

I think for the speed, less heat and reliability it makes sense to go with the 512gb SSD, and not doing it myself will save a bucketload of stress.

One thing I rarely see mentioned: I have Apple’s 2 TB iCloud storage plan. From what I understand, to use that, your files have to be on the system drive.

Good point, didn't know this, though I tend to do most of my storage back-ups offline.

 

[JokerPower]

Only SSD.

It’s a shame that Apple still puts outdated low-end 5200 RPM HDD in 2019 (!!!).

 

[Abbas]

I picked up the high-end iMac from Apple Store yesterday with a 2TB Fusion Drive and honestly, don't find it the least bit slow. This machine replaces a 2015 MPB with 512GB SSD and the speed differences are negligible. Yes, there are times when the SSD is faster but I am happy with the FD drive at the moment. Have 14 days to decide but so far, it doesn't look like it's going back.

 

[mpe]

You won't notice any difference when the machine is new.

It is only when you write approx 100GB of data on it. Then the CoreStorage layer will start doing its smartness and start moving data between HDD and SSD drives (yes, in both directions). Depending on your use pattern you'll either start seeing a performance drop in large writes or more likely won't notice any difference at all.

 

[Abbas]

You won't notice any difference when the machine is new.

It is only when you write approx 100GB of data on it. Then the CoreStorage layer will start doing its smartness and start moving data between HDD and SSD drives (yes, in both directions). Depending on your use pattern you'll either start seeing a performance drop in large writes or more likely won't notice any difference at all.

I'm ok with the main apps staying on the SSD and the larger files such as video assets for FCPX or images move to the spinner. Worst case scenario is that I open it up and replace the FD with an SSD a couple of years down the road.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Best Options:-=

1. SSD

2. Fusion subject to a 128GB Blade Drive.

3. Platter and terribly slow optoiomn.

 

[Scottie-03]

I'm looking to replace my 9 year old Windows desktop with a 27" iMac. Funds are tight, so I'm considering the entry level options:

3.0GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
Radeon Pro 570X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory
1TB Fusion Drive storage
£1,749.00

I'd be using it for web and light graphic work, though I have a bootable 500gb external USB SSD with music (hobby) software I'm currently using with my 2012 non-SSD Macbook Pro, which works really nicely. I also have a second 500gb external USB SSD I use for storage.

I'd upgrade the RAM myself at a later date.

I realise the Fusion drive is going to be a bit of a bottleneck - but my queries are:

Is the 27" 1TB Fusion Drive 5400, or 7200? I've read conflicting reports, and I'm guessing this would have an effect on how much a bottleneck it'll be.

Would there be much difference in speed using an external Samsung Evo drive, compared to an internal Apple SSD?

I've read on here about bootable external SSD's 'degrading' - is this a common issue?

I realise I'm going to get laughed at for even considering the 1TB Fusion Drive, but I'm wondering if it's really that bad - or if I could live with it. Bearing in mind I'm using a 9 year old Dell that's on it's last legs.

My affordable upgrade options are:

Another £90 for the 256 SSD, or purchasing an external Samsung SSD (internal drive inside a third-party case). These are incredibly good value - last one I bought in an Amazon sale and for 500gb it was around £70 including a case. In an ideal world I'd opt for the 500gb SSD upgrade but it's another £270 and I can't afford it.

So with the 256 SSD upgrade I'd boot from that, and use an external drive for storage, or if I went for the Fusion Drive I could boot from an external SSD, and use the Fusion for storage.

Or if the Fusion drive really wasn't that bad...and maybe improved a bit since the 2017 model...and maybe it's a 7200 in this model...maybe I could grit my teeth and live with it.

Any feedback welcome - but please be gentle with me!

I'm in the same boat as you, going to purchase a 2019 iMac 27" Entry Level model. I'm on a budget but after seeing the response about "Don't get one with the Fusion Drive" I'm waiting an extra month to save for the SSD!

 

[Freida]

Don't, just don't, please. I currently bought the 2019 iMac to test and thought maybe its not that bad. This crap is going back next week. The fusion drive is simply the worst thing ever invented and its shocking that Apple still puts that crap in.
If I were in your situation I would rather buy NOTHING than fusion.
Exaggeration aside - it is bad. You feel it everytime you wake up the computer or everytime you do something. Not to mention the sound that comes with it (which I have long forgotten).
If your funds are really that tight then see if you can find a friend at uni who can help you buy it with a discount OR just buy refurb OR just get the smallest ssd (256gb) or just be brave and replace the ssd yourself. Tons of youtube videos how to do it if you are brave
Regardless, don't buy such expensive machine and then cripple it with this one thing. I assume you will want this to last you a long time so think ahead also.
Spinning drives are thing of a past. Unless you have external RAID setup they are DOA

I'm looking to replace my 9 year old Windows desktop with a 27" iMac. Funds are tight, so I'm considering the entry level options:

3.0GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
Radeon Pro 570X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory
1TB Fusion Drive storage
£1,749.00

I'd be using it for web and light graphic work, though I have a bootable 500gb external USB SSD with music (hobby) software I'm currently using with my 2012 non-SSD Macbook Pro, which works really nicely. I also have a second 500gb external USB SSD I use for storage.

I'd upgrade the RAM myself at a later date.

I realise the Fusion drive is going to be a bit of a bottleneck - but my queries are:

Is the 27" 1TB Fusion Drive 5400, or 7200? I've read conflicting reports, and I'm guessing this would have an effect on how much a bottleneck it'll be.

Would there be much difference in speed using an external Samsung Evo drive, compared to an internal Apple SSD?

I've read on here about bootable external SSD's 'degrading' - is this a common issue?

I realise I'm going to get laughed at for even considering the 1TB Fusion Drive, but I'm wondering if it's really that bad - or if I could live with it. Bearing in mind I'm using a 9 year old Dell that's on it's last legs.

My affordable upgrade options are:

Another £90 for the 256 SSD, or purchasing an external Samsung SSD (internal drive inside a third-party case). These are incredibly good value - last one I bought in an Amazon sale and for 500gb it was around £70 including a case. In an ideal world I'd opt for the 500gb SSD upgrade but it's another £270 and I can't afford it.

So with the 256 SSD upgrade I'd boot from that, and use an external drive for storage, or if I went for the Fusion Drive I could boot from an external SSD, and use the Fusion for storage.

Or if the Fusion drive really wasn't that bad...and maybe improved a bit since the 2017 model...and maybe it's a 7200 in this model...maybe I could grit my teeth and live with it.

Any feedback welcome - but please be gentle with me!

 

[Lingfried]

I see this is an old thread but i'm just getting into the game. I built a home recording studio and armed it first with a UA Apollo x6. I started out thinking I would try to pick up a used mac on ebay but that search launched me head first into the world of i5 vs i7, fusion vs ssd, 21.5 vs. 27 etc. So this is where I wound up after reading a ton of forums like this and spending hours on the phone with UA and Mac. I went for the base level 27" Mac but bit the bullet and swapped out the 1TB Fusion drive for a 1TB SSD. Keeping just 8GB of RAM for now knowing i'll most likely upgrade that off market to 16 or 32. Question: How did I do? I blew through a budget but figured the extra $425 on the SSD drive was worth it considering it will be financed over 18 months. Bought the 27" so i could I could upgrade RAM myself. Stayed with the i5 bc of all the noise issues i've read about the i7. That was my thinking. Let me know what I should be thinking about next.

 

[cltd]

I have iMac 27 late 2013 with 1,1 TB fusion drive (128 GB SSD + 1 TB HD). Worked for 7 years as a daily workhorse, never ever had any problem with FD. Never felt that it's slow or something. I have Macbook Pro 256 GB SSD and never felt comfort difference between iMac and MB Pro.
Ironically, I maxed specs to have futureproof iMac (i7 3.5 ghz, GeForce GTX 775M, 24 GB ram) but it was killed by GPU overheat. GeForce failed, not fusion drive

 

[Juicy Box]

I maxed specs to have futureproof iMac (i7 3.5 ghz, GeForce GTX 775M, 24 GB ram) but it was killed by GPU overheat. GeForce failed, not fusion drive

I wonder if the extra heat from the HDD had any influence on the GPU failure.

This was an issue with the previous iMac generation.