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Do new iMacs have SATA3 ?

philipma1957 said:
you are correct the other gentlemen read the blog wrong.. the comment part of the blog is about 2010 not 2011 and that quote refers to a question about 2010
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You would think so, but the date on the blog posts are from today so I've responded to OWC Michael and have asked him some questions about what exactly he saw in system profiler and how since the blog mentions that "OWC will be getting their soon".

How did he check the system profiler? Did he look at negotiated speed or actual possible speed?
 
philipma1957 said:
you are correct the other gentlemen read the blog wrong.. the comment part of the blog is about 2010 not 2011 and that quote refers to a question about 2010
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Peter D. asked the following question at 1:22 PM on May 3, 2011: "Will these new iMacs support your new 6G SSD?"

OWC Michael responded at 2:33 PM: "In checking system profiler, we found that the SATA bus is 3.0Gb/s. So while they would certainly be compatible, they would be limited to 3Gb/s speeds."

These are the two 2011 models they used to gather the fact that there is only SATA 3.0Gb/s speeds:

myK9G.png
 
I see the tear down pics are definitely from the 2011 iMac but I'm still unsure that the comments on other blog with the 2011 specs could just be a reference in error to the speeds on the 2010 iMac.

Or I hope that this is the case:

theSeb said:
How did he check the system profiler? Did he look at negotiated speed or actual possible speed?
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I would really like to see SATA III so I'm hoping.

Finally I didn't quite see if there were mounting points already in the chassis for an additional SSD? Can anyone enlighten me please?
 
ndraves said:
I see the tear down pics are definitely from the 2011 iMac but I'm still unsure that the comments on other blog with the 2011 specs could just be a reference in error to the speeds on the 2010 iMac.

Or I hope that this is the case:



I would really like to see SATA III so I'm hoping.

Finally I didn't quite see if there were mounting points already in the chassis for an additional SSD? Can anyone enlighten me please?
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Sorry for the confusion in linking to the 5th comment, you should be looking at the first comment by Peter which refers to the new models and Michael's response.

The 4th and 5th comments are about the 2010 iMac turnkey service and the SATA speed of the previous model.

I'd also like to see a screenshot of System Profiler of the 2011 iMac, which will put to rest whether it is SATA II or III.
 
well i asked and there was no answer and my question vanished from the owc blog. so i think this is lets not rush to judgement. when the 2010 mac pros came out there was a lot of confusion as to what ram worked on them. owc used to say the 1066 and 1333 could not be switched now they say it can. in a day or two this will be answered correctly.


well the owc blog. it just came up with the bad answer to me and one other. a sata iii ( 6gb) owc ssd reads at stata ii (3gb) speeds. sooo that means hello t-bolt for fast speed. kevin you read it correctly!

if this is true and you don't want t-bolt the 2011 imac is crippled.


the blog with the new bad news


http://blog.macsales.com/9974-apple-releases-new-imacs-with-thunderbolt/comment-page-1#comment-37559
 
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This clarification looks fairly conclusive. All I can say is WHY!!

It seems that if this is indeed as it looks then Apple have come up with such a great machine only to have it constrained by not being able to slot in a SATA III SSD.

But then again if the Apple SSD only supports speeds handled by SATA II and they don't like people opening up the iMac (unlike the MP) then it make some sort of perverse sense.
 
theSeb said:
My question has been answered in the OWC blog.. SATA II. Really? Wtf?
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Thanks for getting onto that.

Does anyone know what speeds Apple's own SSD get to. I this just a case of their own SSDs aren't that fast so they didn't bother?
 
Agreed, very disappointing!

I'm curious then, will the Thunderbolt port be the best bet to get the full speed from a SATA III drive? It may make the most sense to wait for a proper external drive with a SATA III SSD and just keep the internal HD as is. Thoughts?
 
ndraves said:
Thanks for getting onto that.

Does anyone know what speeds Apple's own SSD get to. I this just a case of their own SSDs aren't that fast so they didn't bother?
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Apple's SSDs that have been supplied in the 2010 iMac and 2011 MBP are SATA II, but the 2011 MBP has SATA III ports.
 
ndraves said:
This clarification looks fairly conclusive. All I can say is WHY!!

It seems that if this is indeed as it looks then Apple have come up with such a great machine only to have it constrained by not being able to slot in a SATA III SSD.

But then again if the Apple SSD only supports speeds handled by SATA II and they don't like people opening up the iMac (unlike the MP) then it make some sort of perverse sense.
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Also if real speed is your need it forces t-bolt usage.

So It looks like I have to wait until the summer.

To make sure that a raid0 t-bolt will run fast speed and boot.

Well in a way if you just leave the stock 1tb in you save the money for an addon t-bolt raid0 box. of course it is an f u to form, oh well


to archangel37 see above.

"Agreed, very disappointing!

I'm curious then, will the Thunderbolt port be the best bet to get the full speed from a SATA III drive? It may make the most sense to wait for a proper external drive with a SATA III SSD and just keep the internal HD as is. Thoughts?"
 
philipma1957 said:
Also if real speed is your need it forces t-bolt usage.

So It looks like I have to wait until the summer.
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I still prefer the idea of having the boot drive in the computer (I know there isn't a real need for this). No other PSUs etc. There's just more to go wrong with an external enclosure and if it's the boot drive then that can become a massive PITA.
 
ndraves said:
I still prefer the idea of having the boot drive in the computer (I know there isn't a real need for this). No other PSUs etc. There's just more to go wrong with an external enclosure and if it's the boot drive then that can become a massive PITA.
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That's an excellent point. Thunderbolt can provide 10W of power. I'm curious whether this would be enough to power a OWC SSD, for instance. If so, that would cure one issue regarding the other PSUs.
 
Thats really strange given the fact that the MBPs are reportedly undergoing a silent hardware revision in which both the HDD and OD ports are now SATA III. (It used to be HDD=SATA III & OD=SATA II at launch)

Why would they seriously nerf the iMac like that.
 
archangel37 said:
That's an excellent point. Thunderbolt can provide 10W of power. I'm curious whether this would be enough to power a OWC SSD, for instance. If so, that would cure one issue regarding the other PSUs.
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Even if there wasn't the need for a power cable (10W should be enough??) I can still see myself moving some papers or something on my desk and knocking out the cable or something. Not good for your boot drive.

Recently was nearly all the way though transferring a 50GB BD rip to an external HDD and knocked the USB out and had to start again. That was irritating enough!
 
The new iMacs having only SATAII speeds is shocking news. I'm hoping for a second opinion from another reliable source such as iFixit before totally believing.
 
ndraves said:
Even if there wasn't the need for a power cable (10W should be enough??) I can still see myself moving some papers or something on my desk and knocking out the cable or something. Not good for your boot drive.

Recently was nearly all the way though transferring a 50GB BD rip to an external HDD and knocked the USB out and had to start again. That was irritating enough!
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yeah they don't screw in like a dvi does.

what gets me is this machine is the peak or prime mac example of form. a lot of people will tag the boot drive on especially if it is double the speed of a hard to get to internal. so good by to form.


My self I will tag on a boot drive I am not much with form.
 
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