Apple Begins Offering Fusion Drive Upgrade for Entry-Level 21.5-Inch iMac

Apple has revised their custom order options for the entry-level 21.5 inch iMac, adding the ability to configure the entry-level 21.5-inch iMac with a 1TB Fusion Drive. Up to this point, users wanting a Fusion Drive in their 21.5-inch iMac had to upgrade to the high-end 21.5-inch model, at a significantly greater cost (one of the points discussed in our post criticizing Apple’s Fusion Drive pricing).

Unfortunately, those who already placed an order are out of luck, and will simply have to deal with the fact that they had to pay more for the same feature as other users (for no real reason other than Apple’s apparent lack of forethought). At any rate, it should come as good news to anyone still looking to order a new low-end 21.5 inch iMac.

For those of you that aren’t familiar, Fusion Drive is a new offering from Apple, which combines the storage of a regular spinning hard drive with the speed of an SSD. The upgrade is available as a $250 add-on when customizing the machine at the Apple Online Store.

Thanks to reader Michael Long for pointing this out in the comments on our Fusion Drive critique!

J. Glenn Künzler

Glenn is Managing Editor at MacTrast, and has been using a Mac since he bought his first MacBook Pro in 2006. He lives in a small town in Utah, enjoys bacon more than you can possibly imagine, and is severely addicted to pie.