The current generation minis don't have two internal SATA connections, like earlier generations. Instead, they have one SATA connection for a traditional 2.5" drive and one PCIe slot for a large solid-state flash storage. Depending on what you order, you'll either get:
* one SATA drive (500GB/1TB 5400 rpm platter drive)
* one PCIe card (256/512/1TB SSD flash storage)
* one SATA drive + one PCIe card (1TB 5400 rpm platter drive + 128GB PCIe card = 1TB Fusion Drive)
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The PCIe bus is much faster than the SATA bus, so data transfer to/from the SSD is faster. The downside is, we've lost the ability to easily swap drives in and out. Although the PCIe interface is standardized, Apple is using special firmware on the SSDs using that socket; you can't just buy a generic SSD card and expect it to work, and you can't plug a traditional SATA drive into the connector. The price of progress...
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The PCIe bus is much faster than the SATA bus'''*''', so data transfer to/from the SSD is faster. The downside is, we've lost the ability to easily swap drives in and out. Although the PCIe interface is standardized, Apple is using special firmware on the SSDs using that socket; you can't just buy a generic SSD card and expect it to work, and you can't plug a traditional SATA drive into the connector. The price of progress...
If you're looking to get the most space available without losing speed, I recommend ordering the 1TB Fusion Drive. It automatically/dynamically stores the data you use most frequently in the SSD section, and pushes the data used less often to the slower mechanical SATA drive. Then, if you need more storage, you can offload to an external USB 3 or Thunderbolt drive.
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'''*EDIT:''' And of course, flash storage is ''much'' faster than platter drive storage. I can't believe I forgot to mention that.
The current generation minis don't have two internal SATA connections, like earlier generations. Instead, they have one SATA connection for a traditional 2.5" drive and one PCIe slot for a large solid-state flash storage. Depending on what you order, you'll either get:
* one SATA drive (500GB/1TB 5400 rpm platter drive)
* one PCIe card (256/512/1TB SSD flash storage)
* one SATA drive + one PCIe card (1TB 5400 rpm platter drive + 128GB PCIe card = 1TB Fusion Drive)
The PCIe bus is much faster than the SATA bus, so data transfer to/from the SSD is faster. The downside is, we've lost the ability to easily swap drives in and out. Although the PCIe interface is standardized, Apple is using special firmware on the SSDs using that socket; you can't just buy a generic SSD card and expect it to work, and you can't plug a traditional SATA drive into the connector. The price of progress...
-
If you're looking to get the most stage available without losing speed, I recommend ordering the 1TB Fusion Drive. It automatically/dynamically stores the data you use most frequently in the SSD section, and pushes the data used less often to the slower mechanical SATA drive. Then, if you need more storage, you can offload to an external USB 3 or Thunderbolt drive.
+
If you're looking to get the most space available without losing speed, I recommend ordering the 1TB Fusion Drive. It automatically/dynamically stores the data you use most frequently in the SSD section, and pushes the data used less often to the slower mechanical SATA drive. Then, if you need more storage, you can offload to an external USB 3 or Thunderbolt drive.
Not two traditional 2.5" SATA drives, no.
The current generation minis don't have two internal SATA connections, like earlier generations. Instead, they have one SATA connection for a traditional 2.5" drive and one PCIe slot for a large solid-state flash storage. Depending on what you order, you'll either get:
* one SATA drive (500GB/1TB 5400 rpm platter drive)
* one PCIe card (256/512/1TB SSD flash storage)
* one SATA drive + one PCIe card (1TB 5400 rpm platter drive + 128GB PCIe card = 1TB Fusion Drive)
The PCIe bus is much faster than the SATA bus, so data transfer to/from the SSD is faster. The downside is, we've lost the ability to easily swap drives in and out. Although the PCIe interface is standardized, Apple is using special firmware on the SSDs using that socket; you can't just buy a generic SSD card and expect it to work, and you can't plug a traditional SATA drive into the connector. The price of progress...
If you're looking to get the most stage available without losing speed, I recommend ordering the 1TB Fusion Drive. It automatically/dynamically stores the data you use most frequently in the SSD section, and pushes the data used less often to the slower mechanical SATA drive. Then, if you need more storage, you can offload to an external USB 3 or Thunderbolt drive.