Late 2014 Mac Mini Gained Option for 2TB Fusion Drive in December

When the newest Mac mini first launched in October of 2014, Apple did not give the option for it to be configured with a 2TB drive, much to the disappointment of many Mac mini fans.

As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple reversed its decision to only offer 1TB of storage space in December and quietly updated the Mac mini build-to-order options, adding an option for a 2TB Fusion Drive for an additional $100. Before the change, users could only choose a 1TB Fusion Drive or 1TB of PCIe-based flash storage.

macmini2tboption

Though the return of a 2TB storage option will likely please some potential Mac mini buyers, the new 2014 machine has not been well received due to its soldered RAM and lack of a quad-core processor option.

Apple's Mac mini can be purchased from the company's online store, with pricing starting at $499. The high-end 2.8GHz option with a custom 2TB Fusion Drive and 8GB of RAM is priced at $1,099.

Related Roundup: Mac mini

Tag: Fusion Drive

Buyer's Guide: Mac Mini (Buy Now)

Top Rated Comments

(View all)

PowerBook-G5

54 months ago

I think that I can say this for many potential Mac Mini buyers:

QUAD CORE! QUAD CORE! QUAD CORE!

If only they'd silently add that option...

Rating: 19 Votes

farewelwilliams

54 months ago

nah, once you go ssd, you can't go back to fusion/regular hd.

Rating: 9 Votes

yjchua95

54 months ago

Stick a quad core i7 and Iris Pro graphics and we'll thank you.

Rating: 7 Votes

Yvan256

54 months ago

Wow, really? Do you know what conventional HDDs come with these days?

Top models go up to 5TB, some even beyond, that's very recent, yes, but 2TB is all you can get?

The Mac mini uses a 2.5" hard drive. Those 5TB hard drives are 3.5".

On another note, I wish even the low-end Mac mini would at least ship with a 128GB SSD instead of an extremely slow, low-end 500GB HDD.

Rating: 6 Votes

JustThinkin'

54 months ago

Fusion will break at some point because of the spinner drive which will have to be replaced.

SSD should last for the life of the machine and probably 25 years more.

Ho Ho Ho somebody has a sense of humor! SSDs started out less reliable than HDDs, if anything. Only a few companies (such as Samsung) took reliability and longevity seriously enough that SSDs could even begin to live up to their promise.

BTW, how are those files doing that you archived to CDs or DVDs 10 or 12 years ago? You say you can still read some of them? Almost half your photos and documents are still accessible? Very good!

Rating: 3 Votes

DJC631

54 months ago

The current Mini is still ****

Rating: 3 Votes

kwikdeth

54 months ago

As for nobody noticing this until now, it's because many people aren't buying the product any more. It's fairly clear that Apple was trying to kill of the Mini when they gutted its features last autumn. If they're going this far then why not make it the size of an Apple TV? At least do something better than same old box but slower. Ridiculous.

Theyre testing the waters much like with the low-end 21" mac to see how well they sell. If they do, then theyll repackage the machines into smaller, less upgradeable packages (see Intel's NUC machines for an idea), or, if you really wanna get conspiratorial, if people will accept osx running on slower hardware as a means of easing a transition to using ARM cpus in their computers.

----------

Not if your desktop drive was an old Maxtor! They tended to be a little slower than the competition, so you might wish you had a different model. But you never had an excuse to replace them, because those stubborn things would never die!

Agree on all your points, however. I wonder if 2.5" drives tend to last any longer in desktops (since they're a little more rugged)? Not sure if people have been using them quite long enough (or frequently enough) in desktops to know yet.

I still have a working 6Gb IDE maxtor from my old G3 minitower. Still works fine. Damn thing is like 17 years old.

Rating: 3 Votes

macduke

54 months ago

Yeah, as someone who daily uses a Fusion Drive in my 2013 work iMac and a 512GB SSD in my personal 2012 rMBP, I have to say that the rMBP wins hands down in terms of drive speed. Even though the iMac is faster in every other regard (fairly top of the line 27"), apps load slower, as do other tasks like saving large PSDs. This is especially true later on as the devices fill up.

As for nobody noticing this until now, it's because many people aren't buying the product any more. It's fairly clear that Apple was trying to kill of the Mini when they gutted its features last autumn. If they're going this far then why not make it the size of an Apple TV? At least do something better than same old box but slower. Ridiculous. I was thinking about picking one up whenever we get gigabit fiber to run server software on, but a little Linux box makes much more sense now. If you're considering a Mac Mini and are somewhat knowledgable about computers, just build a hackintosh. There are lots of instructional videos online. I feel like OS X has degraded in quality to the point where I'm fiddling with it enough already, so a hackintosh shouldn't be much different.

Grumble grumbleI'm feeling a bit salty today about Apple stuff forreasons.

Rating: 2 Votes

Mal67

54 months ago

Poor sales of the 2014 Mini are because of Apple's boneheaded decision to solder the RAM and remove the quad-core option (and use non-standard screws to keep owners out). They have only themselves to blame.

I'll bet the refurb 2012 Mini sales are out-selling the 2014's by a good bit.

Hopefully poor sales won't be perceived as a lack of interest leading Apple to get rid of the mini.

Rating: 2 Votes

josh995

54 months ago

I love my macs, but I think it's absolutely ridiculous that desktop computers (specifically the mini and 21") are unable to have their RAM upgraded at a later date. I can sort of understand MacBooks, I guess (maybe...not really)... but desktop computers should always be upgradeable. I mean I know "technically" you can but you all know what I mean.

Rating: 2 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]