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3TB Fusion Drive; hard drive and SSD In one enclosure or two separate enclosures

My Fusion Drive broke down. I wanted to check with a company to see if data could be recovered. After examining the Fusion Drive they said it could and if I wanted to pay 1107 euros which I did. Then they came asking where was the SSD card without it they could not do anything for me. I had my iMac 27" repaired but only got the defective Fusion Drive after repair. So is the SSD card still in my computer and is there data now overwritten on the SSD.

iMac 27″, macOS 14.4

Posted on Apr 18, 2024 1:31 AM

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Posted on Apr 18, 2024 7:00 AM

They should not need the SSD in order to recover data from the HDD. Anyone charging €1107 for data recovery should know this.


A Fusion drive consists of a relatively small SSD + a larger HDD. They are both inside your iMac but they are separate components. The SSD component only acts as a sort of cache for the HDD; only the most frequently accessed files are stored on the SSD and even then only temporarily because "frequently used files" change all the time; and most of what is normally on the SSD are system files. Nearly all your data files are stored on the HDD, and there is nothing special about them that "requires" the SSD to be present.


Regarding the SSD, yes it is inside your iMac. Once you got your iMac repaired with a new HDD and reinstalled macOS, everything on the SSD & HDD would have been erased during the installation.



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Apr 18, 2024 7:00 AM in response to Dutchman_Eric

They should not need the SSD in order to recover data from the HDD. Anyone charging €1107 for data recovery should know this.


A Fusion drive consists of a relatively small SSD + a larger HDD. They are both inside your iMac but they are separate components. The SSD component only acts as a sort of cache for the HDD; only the most frequently accessed files are stored on the SSD and even then only temporarily because "frequently used files" change all the time; and most of what is normally on the SSD are system files. Nearly all your data files are stored on the HDD, and there is nothing special about them that "requires" the SSD to be present.


Regarding the SSD, yes it is inside your iMac. Once you got your iMac repaired with a new HDD and reinstalled macOS, everything on the SSD & HDD would have been erased during the installation.



Apr 19, 2024 6:54 AM in response to MartinR

I was using a Time Machine with plenty of write space before the Fusion Drive failed.

What I don't understand is that I could restore all my data on the Time Machine to my new hard drive except for a file folder.

I had created a large dmg file folder with password. I last opened and closed this on May 8, 2022. October 9 my Fusion Drive broke down. used the computer often between May and September. IK did not use the Time Machine after the crash and the old date is still on it. I don't know way the file is not stored on the Time Machine.

Apr 19, 2024 7:04 AM in response to WheelieNick

They say that the HDD is a component and SSD is a component both physical separate components and not combined as one physical component in my iMac. When I must believe MartinR the repair man has not removed my SSD card and have been erased during the new SSD installation. So I have two SSD cards in my computer. Right if it is true?

Can I check this when it is true?

Apr 19, 2024 8:23 AM in response to Dutchman_Eric

An Apple Fusion drive is a virtual drive configuration that consists of two separate physical drives: A larger HDD, and a smaller SSD. These two drives are what are installed in some Mac models. These were an option at the time when large capacity SSDs were very expensive. They are no longer offered by Apple.


On the other hand, as Servant of Cats has mentioned, a similar type drive, called a hybrid drive does consist of a single physical drive that has both the HDD & SSD components together. AFAIK, Apple did not use these types of drives as "Fusion drives."

Apr 19, 2024 5:47 PM in response to Dutchman_Eric

An Apple Fusion Drive is made up of an SSD & an HDD. The SSD is not part of the HDD. The SSD is connected to the iMac logic board. The HDD is also connected to the logic board. The two of them are 'merged' virtually (that is, via software) so they act as a single drive.


If your repair man replaced the HDD, he left the original SSD in your iMac and used terminal commands to do what is called "resetting the fusion drive" which is the software process by which the SSD & HDD are interrelated to each other to act as a single 'fusion drive.'


There is no SSD card inside the HDD; and you do not have 2 SSD cards in your iMac.

3TB Fusion Drive; hard drive and SSD In one enclosure or two separate enclosures

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