I didn’t notice the performance tradeoff most of the time. (See “ iMac 1 TB Fusion Drives Have Smaller SSDs,” 7 August 2017.) However, Apple had just shifted to including substantially smaller SSDs in Fusion Drives, which I believe ultimately became a huge liability.

At the time, spending $300 for a 512 GB SSD didn’t make sense because I needed more storage, and $700 for the 1 TB SSD upgrade was too dear for my budget. While I had configured it with 32 GB of memory, I opted for a 1 TB Fusion Drive, Apple’s combination of a fast, low-capacity SSD with a slow 5400 rpm, high-capacity hard drive. When I bought the iMac, I unfortunately cheaped out in one important regard.

But it took me until two weeks ago to truly unleash its power. When I purchased a quad-core 21.5-inch iMac with Retina display in 2017 and added a secondary 4K display, I felt that I had spent the right amount of money relative to my needs. With a few delightful exceptions that involve printing history and letterpress, I spend most of my day looking at a screen, tapping away on a keyboard, and manipulating a mouse.

#1623: How to turn off YouTube's PiP, use AirPlay to Mac, and securely erase Mac drivesĪn External SSD Gave My iMac a New Lease on Life.

#1624: Important OS security updates, rescuing QuickTake 150 photos, AirTag alerts while traveling.#1625: Apple's 'Far Out' event, the future of FileMaker, free NMUG membership, Quick Note and tags in Notes, Plex suffers data breach.

#1626: AirTag replacement battery gotcha, Kindle Kids software flaws, iOS 12.5.6 security fix.#1627: iPhone 14 lineup, Apple Watch SE/Series 8/Ultra, new AirPods Pro, iOS 16 and watchOS 9 released, Steve Jobs Archive.

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