Apple's Beats brand in April unveiled the Powerbeats Pro, a redesigned wire-free version of its popular fitness-oriented Powerbeats earbuds.
Apple's New 'Fusion Drive' Not a Typical Hybrid Drive
Amongst the many new products Apple introduced today, they also announced a new storage option called Fusion Drive. Apple's website describes how the drive works:
Some thought the drive might be Apple's implementation of a Hybrid drive which uses SSD as a caching system, but it appears that Apple's system is distinct. The MacObserver digs into some details and clarifies:
Meanwhile, they note that all writes take place on the SSD drive, and are later moved to the mechanical drive if needed, resulting in faster initial writes. The Fusion will be available for the new iMac and new Mac mini models announced today.
With Fusion Drive in your iMac, disk-intensive tasks — from booting up to launching apps to importing photos — are faster and more efficient. That’s because frequently used items are kept at the ready on speedy flash storage, while infrequently accessed items go to the hard drive. The file transfers take place in the background, so you won’t even notice.
Some thought the drive might be Apple's implementation of a Hybrid drive which uses SSD as a caching system, but it appears that Apple's system is distinct. The MacObserver digs into some details and clarifies:
To be clear, this is not a caching concept, at least not in the current use of the word. Cache would imply that the data on the SSD is duplicated, and it's not. If you have a 1TB mechanical drive paired with the 128GB SSD, you have a 1.12 TB storage platform. This truly is the fusion of all the space on two separate disks.Ars Technica compares it to an enterprise feature called Automated Tiered Storage.
In a caching solution, like Intel's, files live on the hard disk drive and are temporarily mirrored to the SSD cache as needed. In an enterprise auto-tiering situation, and with Fusion Drive, the data is actually moved from one tier to another, rather than only being temporarily cached there.The Mac Observer reports that there are two separate drives that appear as one logical partition. As a result, if your Hard Drive fails, it could be replaced with a 3rd party drive and reconfigured as a Fusion Drive.
Meanwhile, they note that all writes take place on the SSD drive, and are later moved to the mechanical drive if needed, resulting in faster initial writes. The Fusion will be available for the new iMac and new Mac mini models announced today.
Buyer's Guide: iMac (Buy Now), Mac Mini (Buy Now)
[ 363 comments ]
Top Rated Comments
(View all)
85 months ago
This is actually not needed if apple went with 256GB as standard :rolleyes:
How would having a 256GB SSD replacing having a 1TB or 3TB hard drive?
85 months ago
Personally, an SSD boot drive and separate large HD seems more practical. No need to "fuse" them into one volume. Just seems like asking for trouble.
85 months ago
This feature is perfect during this HD to SDD transitional period. It'll keep things affordable while still supplying great performance.
85 months ago
and most likely that's exactly what it is. It has been available on PCs for a while.
read the article again. seems different
arn
85 months ago
Personally, an SSD boot drive and separate large HD seems more practical. No need to "fuse" them into one volume. Just seems like asking for trouble.
The fusion drive is just software to automatically handle that. Most consumers probably don't want to have to deal with having a boot drive and a data drive. Some things can be tricky to get onto an external drive, like iTunes and iPhoto libraries.
85 months ago
Very interesting, though I'm wondering what if one of those drives fail. Is your data retrievable from the other one?
Doesn't matter. We have Time Machine. :D
85 months ago
The Mac Observer (http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/digging-into-fusion-drive-details?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter) reports that there are two separate drives that appear as one logical partition. As a result, if your Hard Drive fails, it could be replaced with a 3rd party drive and reconfigured as a Fusion Drive.
85 months ago
Way cool technology aside, is anyone else curious how VMWare feels about the name?
85 months ago
Fusion Drive is the first "wow" moment I've had during an Apple PR event in a long time, probably not since the original iPhone launch (when it was more like one hour-long wow). It shows they are still doing some innovation beyond "making it lighter and thinner".
If they'd sell an internal combo drive that had SSD + HDD included in one 3.5" enclosure, I'd buy one right now.
If they'd sell an internal combo drive that had SSD + HDD included in one 3.5" enclosure, I'd buy one right now.
85 months ago
The Fusion will be available for the 27-inch iMac and new Mac mini models announced today.
According to Apple's specs page, it's also configurable on the high end 21.5" iMac as well.
[ Read All Comments ]
Apple has expanded mobile phone billing to additional countries and carriers, according to an updated support document on its website.
As of this week, the feature is now supported by...
Facebook harvested the email contacts of 1.5 million users without their knowledge or consent and used the data to build a web of their social connections, it emerged today. Business Insider reports...
Ahead of the annual New York International Auto Show, several automakers have announced new vehicles with first-time support for CarPlay, including the 2020 Toyota Highlander, 2020 Nissan Versa, and...
Amazon Echo devices have been able to use Alexa-based voice commands to control Apple Music since December, but the feature has been limited to Amazon's own devices until today.
Sonos One...
Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced three years ago in March 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test...
Apple Pay is now available as a payment option in the Uber Eats food delivery app for the first time, allowing users who make food orders to pay with a credit or debit card stored in the Wallet app.
...
Sleep tracking has become a popular activity for many people, since the practice can result in major benefits to your daily wellbeing, restfulness, stress levels, and mental health. There are many...
Apple has removed TikTok from its App Store in India to comply with a government demand to block downloads of the video sharing app over child safety concerns.
TikTok, developed by...
