Fusion Drive Now Available as Option for Low End 21.5" iMac

Why wasn't it an option in the first place?

Early adopters are screwed again.

Why wasn't it an option in the first place?

Should be standard in my opinion. Option to go fully SSD.

Why wasn't it an option in the first place?

Maybe because the high end ones didn't sell.

how generous.

The iMac storage options are pure BS. What about offering a couple of SSD-options instead, like 256GB and 512GB (in all iMac models)? I for one am not gonna get any fusion drive ever in an iMac. I want SSD. It's safer, cooler, less noisy, faster/always fast etc., pretty much completely superior to HDs in every way expect storage size, but a lot of people don't need 1-3 GBs of internal data in their iMacs!!

Early adopters are screwed again.

Great news, but yeah kinda ticked now. Would have changed how I ordered.

Still wish there was just a SSD or Flash Drive option. Some people don't require 1TB and don't want ANY mechanical HDD and the noise, heat and higher failure time that come along with them.

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The next question is, is the connector standard on all Logic boards so that you can D.I.Y. ?

I remember reading in one of the first base teardowns that it did not have the socket connector.

"Fusion drive" is just a gimmick. Very transparent to the user, but it's pretty much an mSATA SSD and HDD combo. That will go away once SSD's are more affordable.

Your iMac has a 2.5" HDD slot, so if you just have an SSD in there, you can upgrade it yourself and make it into a "fusion drive". There are plenty of tools out there and people have made it work on systems that didn't come with it by default.

Are you for real? Before you had to pick the high end 21.5'' to have the option to add the Fusion drive. Now you don't need to. Buying the low end + Fusion drive is cheaper than buying high end + Fusion drive.

See, very easy to explain. Now you go think about it.

You didn't explain a thing. Before, you paid the money for an iMac without Fusion drive and got an iMac without Fusion drive. You got exactly what you paid for. Today, you get exactly the same computer for exactly the same money.

Even if the Fusion drive was added for free, and new customers would get more for the same price, you still wouldn't be screwed, because you still got exactly what you paid for. Which was more than you got for the same money with the previous model.

Claiming that someone is "screwed" because Apple offers an improved product or more choice is just idiotic.

I think it's only Apple, so it's looks to be software driven... as I understand it, but no doubt someone will correct me if I am wrong; which I don't mind :)

That was the point. It is stupid to rant about the price that Apple charges for a Fusion drive, when nobody else offers it at all.

Man there is so much disinformation on this thread. People, please go read over some posts in the iMac forum before spreading more FUD.

The imac's don't ship with a 128 GB SSD alone - it also includes the HDD.
The fusion drive is not dangerous, it is fast, big, and as reliable as any HDD.
The new imac's are not that hard to upgrade yourself and require no heat gun.
5200 rpm HDD are not necessarily slower than 7200 rpm HDD's because revolutions per minute belays no information about disk density.