You will probably notice that most when working with older files. Good though a Fusion Drive is, it won't ever be as fast as a pure SSD. The user sees a single volume (or drive) and their machine, but behind the scenes macOS automatically and dynamically moves frequently used files-notably those used by the operating system-to the flash storage portion of the Drive for faster performance, and keeps infrequently used files on the slower hard disk drive portion.Įssentially, the Fusion Drive gives the user much of the speed of an SSD, as well as the enormous capacity of a hard drive. As the name suggests, a Fusion Drive combines a hard disk drive with flash storage to create a drive with the best of both worlds. In 2012, Apple came up with a compromise: the Fusion Drive. But those chips are more expensive than hard disk platters and read/write heads, so the $250–$300 that will get you an 8 TB hard drive is enough for only a 1 TB SSD. Because SSDs rely on flash storage, a type of non-volatile memory where the chips retain data without power, they’re lightning fast. However, they’re relatively slow.įor speed and performance, you want a solid-state drive, otherwise known as an SSD.

For the lowest cost per gigabyte, you can’t beat a hard drive, and they can come in truly massive sizes-up to a massive 8 terabytes. Storage devices are available in two styles today: hard disk drives and solid-state drives. Fusion Drive: What is it, and Why Should You Care?

What is mac fusion drive