With photo galleries and music collections continuing to grow, it's no wonder that when most of us buy a new Mac, one of the factors that has influenced our decision is that the particular model you can buy is the last price. In its day, we would have mentioned the size of the hard drive, but nowadays there are a few computers that incorporate one, since manufacturers bet on flash memory previously.
Flash memory is always called SSD (state disk drive). Initially, SSDs were small and expensive, but over time, the amount of space you earn with your money has increased.
With the range of Apple Macs, you can choose from a variety of SSD configurations, ranging from 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB as standard on options like 2TB, 4TB or 8TB of flash memory. Even the entry level model of the Mac mini, the cheapest Mac sold by Apple, features 256GB of storage.
Then there is the Mac anomaly. The iMac is the only Mac sold by Apple with a hard drive, and it performs as standard on both models of entry. The dual-core input model of the Mac and the quad-core model include a 1TB hard drive. This may seem like an attractive option, 1TB of storage for € 1,305.59, but here we will prevent you from making a big mistake!
We are disappointed to see that Apple continues to sell iMac hard drives. There are many reasons why choosing a hard drive may not be appropriate, and more likely to explain why it might even damage your experience. Next, let's use these reasons why you shouldn't choose a hard drive.
And what about Fusion Drive?
Before we get past all the problems with hard drives, we have to mention the other type of storage used by Apple. In 2012, Apple launched Fusion Drive. Fusion Drive is a hybrid drive that incorporates hard drive in low flash memory, so users benefit from SSD speed and plenty of space. We used to refer to it as the best of the house, but now that you can have a Mac with a large SSD for good, the obstacles outweigh the benefits.
Why not buy a Mac with a hard drive
There are many reasons why you should not buy a Mac with a hard drive. We review them below.
SSDs are fast
If you've ever used a Mac (or PC) with flash memory, you'll see that it opens almost instantly. You open the Mac and then a few seconds later it opens and you can start using it. This is not the case if you have a Mac with a hard drive. It gives you time to go make yourself a cup of coffee before it opens. If you've ever used a Mac with flash memory, you'll be disappointed to see how long it takes for a Mac with a hard drive to turn on.
It's only 5400 rpm
The iMac hard drive is not a solid hard drive – it's just 5400 rpm. There are some 7300 rpm or 15000 rpm hard drives. The higher the number, the faster the disk will be ("rpm" means "change per minute.) These 5400 rpm hard drives, like those used by Apple, provide a reading speed of 100 MB / s, so it will also take longer to respond when moving files from one site to another.
Strong driving is unreliable
Another restorative power in choosing a hard drive is that hard-working drivers are not reliable. They are mechanical disks, and not solid-state, so they have moving parts that can break. The only reason laptops start providing SSDs right away is because carrying a laptop can also break the hard disk and lose all the data. Although SSDs are not completely removable, they are more powerful than a hard drive.
There are other ways to get more storage
You may think that you need more storage on your Mac. It makes sense if you have a large collection of photos and music or working with heavy files. We totally understand that, if you choose whether to choose between 1 TB or 128 GB, you will choose 1 TB, especially if it has the same price. But there are better options: you can buy a separate hard drive and use it to store your photos and music (anything that takes up a lot of space); or you can use cloud storage. I have 2TB of iCloud storage and 128GB SSD on my MacBook Pro. Of course, I'd like to have more space on my Mac, but I have more in the cloud, enough with my 265GB photo gallery. And as I use iTunes Match, my music library is also on the cloud. That not only opens up the space on my Mac, but all the content is available on any of my devices.
External memory may be a better option
Coming back to those who work with the most heavy files (video editors, animators, image editors, image editors and the like), this would have to be considered a very small charge to have a Mac with a well-built SSD (512GB or higher). ). But what happens when the price exceeds your budget? They should consider buying a separate hard drive and connecting it to their Mac using a USB / Thunderbolt port. Ideally, this would be USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 (the latter offers speeds of up to 40 Gbp / s. The advantage of this method is that you can work on your Mac and save your files later external disk (Not a backup per section as you save one copy). Another benefit is that you can use that external disk on most Macs.
Fusion Drive only has a small SSD
We will understand that you will also look at the Fusion Drive option, bearing in mind that in this case the hard drive will be connected directly to your board (details would not be sent via cable and communication would be faster). The problem with Fusion Drive is that flash memory is small. When Apple released its first Fusion Drive in 2012, the SSD share was 128GB. In 2015, Apple slowed, and at 1TB Fusion Drive it went from 128GB to 24GB, though it increased to 32GB in 2017. Currently, only 2TB and 3TB Fusion Drives have 128GB of memory. .
SSDs are inexpensive
In the end, it is no longer true that SSDs are being sold at a prohibited price. To give you an idea, MacBook Air with 256 GB SSD costs € 1,199. You can add a 512 GB SSD for € 250; 1 TB SSD for € 500; and 2 TB SSD for € 1,000. You can buy one External SSD 1TB for less than € 200 on Amazon.
So, you can see that there is no point in buying a Mac with a hard drive. With this in mind, Apple's decision to continue selling the Mac on the hard drive as usual, to say the least, is somehow surprising; and at the very least, it's almost a crime.
And that's why we think Apple should stop selling the Mac with a hard drive.
First article published in Macworld UK.
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