Will Apple include two hard drives stock in the future?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
With Time Machine, Boot Camp, and overall need for storage, who else thinks it's likely that all iMacs and Mac Pros will come with two hard drives standard? I think its inevitable, despite the cost. If Time Machine is for real, the external hard drive will be temporary.



The more difficult question is, will laptops or the mini get the same treatment? I'm inclined to think so, despite the size limitations. Smaller hard drives can hold larger amounts these days, and for the smallest models, a combination of hdd and flash will probably be used.



I'd wager that we will see the beginning of this trend the next time hardware announcements are made.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 36
    prismprism Posts: 75member
    I was wondering the same thing.

    Time Machine is nice, but if your single hard drive fails, where does this leave your backup?

    Or, Time Machine just isn't the regular backup tool we all know, and can only do as they showed so far.

    In that case you still need a proper backup tool.
  • Reply 2 of 36
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    No



    having your backup inside the computer doesn't help you if your computer is stolen or goes up in flames.



    More storage is always welcome but with laptop drives at 250GB and growing there's no need for Apple to take up space for multiple drives in anything smaller than a Mac Pro IMO
  • Reply 3 of 36
    danosaurdanosaur Posts: 258member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    No



    having your backup inside the computer doesn't help you if your computer is stolen or goes up in flames.



    More storage is always welcome but with laptop drives at 250GB and growing there's no need for Apple to take up space for multiple drives in anything smaller than a Mac Pro IMO



    How would having an external hard drive plugged in help if your computer is stolen or goes up in flames?



    I don't know too much about HDD prices, but it may be that two 100GB drives are cheaper than one 200 GB drive. Besides, if there is no need for two drives, then why does Boot Camp require a second one? And do you think it's reasonable that Apple will force all its users to rely on a third-party external drive for one of their top features to work?



    I don't.
  • Reply 4 of 36
    areseearesee Posts: 776member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Danosaur View Post


    I don't know too much about HDD prices, but it may be that two 100GB drives are cheaper than one 200 GB drive.



    They aren't. Two drives are more expensive.

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Danosaur View Post


    Besides, if there is no need for two drives, then why does Boot Camp require a second one?



    Boot Camp needs two partitions not drives. The partitions can be on the same drive or different drives. Each OS will boot from its own partition.
  • Reply 5 of 36
    I think Time Machine is more of a safeguard against losing certain files. Not as an advanced backup utility. I can think of several instances when I deleted a file that I could have used, but I deleted it before I thought I needed it. Of course, they weren't that important, but for when they are, I think Time Machine will come in handy.
  • Reply 6 of 36
    prismprism Posts: 75member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teedoff087 View Post


    I think Time Machine is more of a safeguard against losing certain files. Not as an advanced backup utility. I can think of several instances when I deleted a file that I could have used, but I deleted it before I thought I needed it. Of course, they weren't that important, but for when they are, I think Time Machine will come in handy.



    Yeah, that was my idea as well. More like a enchanced Recycle Bin on Windows.
  • Reply 7 of 36
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Partition a second drive. If your drive fails it wont help you but that is the partition risk.

    Quote:

    More like a enchanced Recycle Bin on Windows.



    You have no idea what time machine is do you?
  • Reply 8 of 36
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teedoff087 View Post


    I think Time Machine is more of a safeguard against losing certain files. Not as an advanced backup utility.



    Moreover, Time Machine can work wirelessly, so you have the potential to physically hide and keep separate your backup from your Mac, even if there are obvious limits here.
  • Reply 9 of 36
    prismprism Posts: 75member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by onlooker View Post


    Partition a second drive. If your drive fails it wont help you but that is the partition risk.



    You have no idea what time machine is do you?



    I won't even comment on this. Can't be arsed.
  • Reply 10 of 36
    kidredkidred Posts: 2,402member
    You're assuming it's plugged in when tragedy happens. It also helps should your mac get hit with a power surge or if it just dies and you have to take it in for repair. Having things backed up allows you to easily migrate to a temp machine.
  • Reply 11 of 36
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KidRed View Post


    You're assuming it's plugged in when tragedy happens. It also helps should your mac get hit with a power surge or if it just dies and you have to take it in for repair. Having things backed up allows you to easily migrate to a temp machine.



    You can use it at startup as well. Which will help all the people that report problems after updates. I have that problem with my main drive right now. I probably wont get it working again until Leopard ships and I can update the system. 10.4 update took me down.
  • Reply 12 of 36
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prism View Post


    I won't even comment on this. Can't be arsed.



    You are commenting.
  • Reply 13 of 36
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    No



    having your backup inside the computer doesn't help you if your computer is stolen or goes up in flames.



    More storage is always welcome but with laptop drives at 250GB and growing there's no need for Apple to take up space for multiple drives in anything smaller than a Mac Pro IMO



    Agreed.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Danosaur View Post


    How would having an external hard drive plugged in help if your computer is stolen or goes up in flames?



    Who says it's plugged in? Time Machine seems more like you update it every so often, maybe daily before you shut down or something like that, then put the drive away. If the drive were in the computer, and it decides it's not going to start up, what would you do? How do you get back at those files? You can with an external drive.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Danosaur View Post


    I don't know too much about HDD prices, but it may be that two 100GB drives are cheaper than one 200 GB drive. Besides, if there is no need for two drives, then why does Boot Camp require a second one?



    You've never partitioned a HD before, have you?

    Don't do it. It sucks. That's all I'll say.
  • Reply 14 of 36
    danosaurdanosaur Posts: 258member
    Why do you ask if I've ever partitioned a drive?



    By the way, I meant that Time Machine requires a second drive, not Boot Camp.



    So if you lost your hard drive, but had Time Machine synced to an external hdd, all your data would be saved? I thought Time Machine used incremental saving to save space. If it only tracks changes, wouldn't you be screwed either way?
  • Reply 15 of 36
    Time machine can do a full system restore for any point in time.
  • Reply 16 of 36
    hobbithobbit Posts: 532member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MusLtngBlue View Post


    Time machine can do a full system restore for any point in time.



    What do you mean by 'full'?



    Full as in any file in any folder? Like for example invisible files in some temporary folder inside /System or invisible files in a /Library subfolder that normally need admin privileges to access?



    I thought Time Machine would only update content from certain folders like the user's Documents folder.



    However, invisible files are likely needed by certain applications and if you want to restore full functionality (after you re-installed the applications) one often needs to put those invisible files in place too.
  • Reply 17 of 36
    The way I've understood it, you can restore a specific file, certain folders, or, if need be, a full system restore of everything.
  • Reply 18 of 36
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Danosaur View Post


    With Time Machine, Boot Camp, and overall need for storage, who else thinks it's likely that all iMacs and Mac Pros will come with two hard drives standard? I think its inevitable, despite the cost. If Time Machine is for real, the external hard drive will be temporary.



    The more difficult question is, will laptops or the mini get the same treatment? I'm inclined to think so, despite the size limitations. Smaller hard drives can hold larger amounts these days, and for the smallest models, a combination of hdd and flash will probably be used.



    I'd wager that we will see the beginning of this trend the next time hardware announcements are made.



    Two drives in a laptop would kill the battery, wouldn't it?
  • Reply 19 of 36
    sequitursequitur Posts: 1,910member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hobBIT View Post


    What do you mean by 'full'?



    Full as in any file in any folder? Like for example invisible files in some temporary folder inside /System or invisible files in a /Library subfolder that normally need admin privileges to access?



    I thought Time Machine would only update content from certain folders like the user's Documents folder.



    However, invisible files are likely needed by certain applications and if you want to restore full functionality (after you re-installed the applications) one often needs to put those invisible files in place too.



    From what I've read, you would do a full back up once with all the invisible files and tweaks, and then only the User side from then on. If you added new apps later, you would have to do a Full back up again.



    The thing that disturbs me is if you timed the back up every day for example, that would fill up even a large HDD very quickly. How many backups could it hold? For that reason, I'm assuming that Time Machine only backs up incrementally and probably zipped, but would somehow show you the Full backup at any time you looked at it.
  • Reply 20 of 36
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bobmarksdale View Post


    Two drives in a laptop would kill the battery, wouldn't it?



    Not necessarily. The OS would reside on one of them, and the second drive could spin down as long as files are not accessed on it.
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