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Mac Pro owner crafts an example Fusion Drive, shows the fearless how it's done

Jon Fingas — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 05:48:00 -0400

Mac fans not keen on picking up a new iMac to get that best-of-all-worlds Fusion Drive might not have to consider a full-on system swap if they're brave enough. Knowing how Apple's approach unites an SSD and a spinning hard drive in a single logical volume, developer Patrick Stein has used command line code to do just that inside his Mac Pro and prove that it works. His series of experiments with organized data shows the effect on storage speeds and that the pseudo-Fusion should even work with less common ZFS formatting. The publicly available instructions could well be tempting to Mac fans who want speed and storage all at once, although we might personally take a pass -- there's more than a fair share of risk in using an unofficial hack to recreate a storage technique that Apple hasn't even shipped.

Filed under: Storage, Apple

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Via: MacRumors, TechCrunch

Source: Patrick Stein (1), (2), (3)

Apple's Oct. 23rd event roundup: iPad mini, 4th gen iPad, new iMac, 13-inch Retina MBP and more

Joe Pollicino — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 19:30:00 -0400

Apple teased that it had "a little more to show" us prior to today's San Francisco event, but it's clear now that the phrasing was humble at best. Not only has the much-anticipated, rumored and leaked 7.9-inch iPad mini been officially revealed, but so has a smattering of new and refreshed offerings across its range of gizmos. The standard iPad is seeing its fastest refresh yet (about six months) to a Lighting port and A6X-packing fourth-generation model, and the iMac has ditched its optical drive to go Air-thin in its Ivy Bridge-driven seventh-generation. Mobile power users should be especially be pleased, too, as a 13-inch variant of the MacBook Pro with a 2,560 x 1,600 Retina Display is now a reality. Lest we forgot that the iBooks app and iBooks Author have both been updated -- right on cue with that book-like iPad Mini. Hop past the break for a full listing of all the news and all of our on-scene coverage that came out of today's event.

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Displays, Misc, Laptops, Tablets, Storage, Software, Apple

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Apple introduces 'Fusion Drive' as a build-to-order option for the new iMac

Myriam Joire — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:42:00 -0400

So you want the performance of a new-fangled SSD with the extra storage of a good 'ole HDD? Apple has you covered with Fusion Drive for its new iMac. Unlike existing standalone hybrid drives the company is apparently "fusing" together a separate SSD and HDD with custom software in Mountain Lion. Better yet, the OS and all the pre-installed applications live on the SSD by default, while your documents and media reside on the HDD. This sounds similar to the software RAID functionality in OS X, but cranked to the next level. Stay tuned for details as we find out more.

For more coverage, visit our Apple Special Event hub!

Filed under: Desktops, Apple

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Apple unveils next-generation iMac with slimmer design and Ivy Bridge, starting at $1,299

Jon Fingas — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:30:00 -0400

Who said Apple's event was all about the little things? Apple just unveiled its first redesign to its iMac desktop in three years. The new all-in-one makes the widely expected leap to Intel's Ivy Bridge Core i5 and Core i7 processors, but also represents a much leaner and meaner replacement for the 2009-era template -- its edges are just 5mm thick, and it's constructed with "friction stir welding" as well as a gapless, less reflective display that's laminated together with the glass. Screen sizes remain the same and include both a 21.5-inch, 1080p model and a 27-inch, 2,560 x 1,400 model -- sorry, no Retina displays this year. They share 720p-capable front cameras with dual mics as well as NVIDIA's GeForce 600-era graphics, up to 32GB of RAM and a panoply of storage options that peak at 3TB of spinning storage, a 768GB SSD or what Apple calls a Fusion Drive that mixes both 128GB of flash with 1TB or 3TB of conventional storage (a hybrid drive, for those of us who've seen it before). There's no optical drive unless you plug in a USB option.

The 21.5-inch model ships in November, and will set you back $1,299 for a 2.7GHz Core i5, 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive; pony up for the 27-inch model at $1,799 and you'll get a 2.9GHz Core i5 as well as the same memory and storage. Apple's larger iMac doesn't ship until December, however, which will give some impulse buyers at least a brief respite.