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2TB Fusion Drive or 512GB SSD?
- Thread starter tomdwan
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U right, if iMac can upgrade SSD to the future I would buy FD, but last time I was upgrade my iMac 27 2012 and broken monitor glass :'(
This is true. My current iMac's Hard Drive died in the 3rd year. Thank goodness I had AppleCare as it was a free replacement. That's why I'm going all SSD on my new iMac.
While I also believe the SSD's are more reliable than HDD's, just so that you do not get the idea that SSD's are indestructible, let me tell you something you do not see or hear every day.
On the 2017 iMac I received yesterday which was configured with a 2TB Fusion Drive (128gb ssd + 2tb hdd) after just some hours of working with it it froze, then unable to boot and using network recovery mode I discovered that neither the disk utilities or system profiler was able to find the SSD part of the fusion drive. Apparently the SSD died (no data loss since I did not even manage to copy my data to the iMac before ssd failure)
As a conclusion, just wanted to warn that you should really make sure you have ALWAYS a backup since SSD's are also not fail proof and they DO fail from time to time, even prematurely sometimes, like mine did after around about 5h of usage.
On the 2017 iMac I received yesterday which was configured with a 2TB Fusion Drive (128gb ssd + 2tb hdd) after just some hours of working with it it froze, then unable to boot and using network recovery mode I discovered that neither the disk utilities or system profiler was able to find the SSD part of the fusion drive. Apparently the SSD died (no data loss since I did not even manage to copy my data to the iMac before ssd failure)
As a conclusion, just wanted to warn that you should really make sure you have ALWAYS a backup since SSD's are also not fail proof and they DO fail from time to time, even prematurely sometimes, like mine did after around about 5h of usage.
I debated that same question. The SSD is super fast versus the spinning disk Fusion drive. I would get an external aftermarket drive if you need more space and attach via USB-C (the new superfast connection with the new iMacs).
I did two iMacs one was a 21" with 1tb fusion and it was slow (they put a 5400 spinning drive) and an 27" with a 1tb fusion (it was laggy but not unuseable). I compared to my 2015 13" MacBook pro that has an SSD and it was faster in responding than either the 21" or the 27" with the caby lake processors. That communciated to me that the SSD is the only way to go. So I'm getting the i5 3.8 with the 8gb video card and 512 SSD. I'm VERY excited. Most my stuff is on the cloud so I don't need to have as much space on my hard drive. But if needed I'll buy a samsung ssd at some point in the future. I also am going to upgrade the ram at some point from 8gb to more. My laptop is 8gb and I get good performance out of it so we'll see once I work with the iMac a while.
I did two iMacs one was a 21" with 1tb fusion and it was slow (they put a 5400 spinning drive) and an 27" with a 1tb fusion (it was laggy but not unuseable). I compared to my 2015 13" MacBook pro that has an SSD and it was faster in responding than either the 21" or the 27" with the caby lake processors. That communciated to me that the SSD is the only way to go. So I'm getting the i5 3.8 with the 8gb video card and 512 SSD. I'm VERY excited. Most my stuff is on the cloud so I don't need to have as much space on my hard drive. But if needed I'll buy a samsung ssd at some point in the future. I also am going to upgrade the ram at some point from 8gb to more. My laptop is 8gb and I get good performance out of it so we'll see once I work with the iMac a while.
I got the i7 with Radeon Pro 580 graphics card so the price was already quite high and decided not to go further and remain with the default 2TB fusion drive. The way I see it is a 128GB SSD with a free 2TB drive inside. The option to upgrade to SSD only is 240€ so it was too much.
Just for your information, the 2TB fusion on the iMac came with a Seagate Barracuda 2 TB ST2000DM001 (7200rpm)
P.S. since the 128GB SSD of the 2TB Fusion Drive failed after 5h of operation, I re-installed OSX on the HDD while the replacement arrives.
Just for your information, the 2TB fusion on the iMac came with a Seagate Barracuda 2 TB ST2000DM001 (7200rpm)
P.S. since the 128GB SSD of the 2TB Fusion Drive failed after 5h of operation, I re-installed OSX on the HDD while the replacement arrives.
Apple is replacing the iMac because of the SSD failure, as expected since I used it for less than one full day after it arrived at my door.
(actually it is the whole order so even current trackpad, keyboard will go and receive all new, they said I should pack everything as I received it since they are going to ship the replacement exactly as the original)
In the short time I used the iMac I had no problems with performance, everything went smoothly and fast as expected since you are still using a 128gb ssd in the fusion anyway so it's fast. Now until replacement arrives I reinstalled macOS on the HDD and of course you notice you are not using a ssd but still usable actually.
The screen to my eyes gives such a good quality image, I could spend hours just starring at it without doing nothing.
Despite configuring with i7 cpu, I have no problems with fan noise/speed, I can barely hear it during normal usage.
So overall, despite the ssd failure in the fusion drive, I still do not regret choosing it instead of 512gb ssd
I think it was a matter of bad luck. It can happen to anybody. Just like buying something from a dysfunctional batch from a company at the store. It can be anything. You take the refund or buy another one.
Why did you install MacOS on HDD if you need to send the computer back to Apple?
Yes, was bad luck, not really worried about it. I installed macOS so I could still use this iMac until the replacement arrives
That is actually a pretty common failure mode of SSDs the controller chip is as likely to fail as the memory chips. When it does the drive just disappears.
Yes, seems that UPS is going to deliver the replacement today already (lightning fast!) so cross fingers they will not pass before I arrive at home. The currently broken one I will pack as it was and give it to the UPS person if possible when delivering the replacement, if not I'll have to leave it in a UPS office myself.