The GoFlex Thunderbolt adapter isn’t exactly cheap at $99.99, but it’s still a far cry cheaper than most currently available dedicated Thunderbolt drives. At Apple’s online store, for instance, you’re looking at spending $499.95 just to get in on the ground floor with LaCie’s 1TB Little Big Disk Thunderbolt drive. By contrast, you can get a GoFlex 1TB drive starting at $159.99, plus the adapter for $99.99, bringing you to just under $250. Both solutions also require you to purchase a $49 Thunderbolt cable separately, of course, but at least pricing for Thunderbolt solutions is headed in the right direction for wider consumer adoption.

GoFlex’s option also works with their line of GoFlex-branded portable drives, so you actually only have to buy one adapter to use it with multiple drives. There are some caveats, however. The adapter doesn’t offer Thunderbolt daisy-chaining, but on the plus side, it also doesn’t need an external power source.

The other limit is that transfer speeds are capped by the drive’s capability. Macworld ran some real-world usage benchmark tests and found that while the 5,400 RPM drive found in Seagate’s Ultra-portable line transferred data faster on Thunderbolt than on FireWire 800, the gains weren’t huge. But with 7,200 RPM drives like those in Seagate’s higher-end GoFlex externals, you’ll see more benefits from the Thunderbolt adapter.

At $300 total before taxes for a 1TB drive, Thunderbolt adapter and Apple Thunderbolt cable, I still wouldn’t call this drive solution cheap, but it definitely lowers the barrier for entry. The upside is that you can add additional drives for much less after you have the adapter and cable, so long as Seagate keeps its GoFlex interface spec the same for future devices. That makes this probably the most consumer-friendly Thunderbolt storage solution we’ve seen to date.

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So the question is, What plans does Apple have for the cloud? Given recent history one can easily assume that the company would build more cloud apps that enhance existing services, like iTunes Match and Photostream. But those are small potatoes. The real opportunity for Apple is to offer a series of network services for its developers and millions of iPhone and iPad and Mac owners: network services such as storage, location data, voice command and control, notifications, and messaging.

• Storage. ICloud is already a place to access your photos, songs and contacts remotely from any iOS device or OS X Lion machine. But what about making your desktop files and apps available everywhere too? Take the way Apple is going with its MacBook Air, a huge hit for the company. A logical next step to make even thinner and lighter machines with very little room for storage is to make a cloud-centric MacBook. Imagine opening up your laptop that has little local storage and being able to access any of your documents you have saved, anywhere you are. We know Apple has been sniffing around this area: Steve Jobs offered to acquire Dropbox several years ago, telling its founder, Drew Houston, that it was really “a feature, not a product.” So a cloud-based storage service that perhaps developers could use for their own apps? Doesn’t sound too far out there.
• Location. Apple bought mapping companies PlaceBase in 2009 and Poly9 in 2010. We also know the company is hiring for mapping-related positions. That sparked speculation that Apple is indeed building its own location-based service. It has some location services in action already, like Find My iPhone and Find My Friends. An interesting step would be if Apple opened up such a service as an API to its developers.
• Voice control. Siri is still in beta, which means it is not even a finished product. What will Apple do with it in years to come? A good bet is it will integrate it into more Apple devices. The future of device interfaces is more nontraditional methods of control, like voice and gestures. In other words, Siri is not an anomaly or a cute, little experiment: It’s the future. A good place to look for clues about how Apple might implement more voice control services is a patent filing Apple made, showing its interest in putting Siri in everything from Macs to cars.

It is true that Apple is not a company that has historically had great success with web-based services. Embracing networked services and the cloud means Apple inherently understands that even hardware companies that extract gazillions of dollars in profit right now can’t go another decade without this. In a way, Apple also has no choice but to pursue this. If it wants to continue to build the post-PC dream, it has to have iCloud and other connected services that connect all of its apps, services and devices.

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German blog ifun.de snapped a screen shot of the Vodafone listings, which included an iPhone 4 in 8 GB storage capacity as well as iPhone 4S devices in 16, 32 and 64 GB sizes in both white and black. The presence of a 64 GB option will strike a chord with many iPhone shoppers, according to the results of our recent poll. But conspicuously absent from the listings was any mention of an iPhone 5.

That may mean that we’ll only see a relatively small, evolutionary update for the iPhone on Tuesday, with the introduction of a device that shares many similarities with its predecessor, the iPhone 4. It might also simply be that carrier partners aren’t yet privy to any information regarding the iPhone 5, so Vodafone couldn’t yet figure it in to its accessory compatibility listings. And it might even be the case that one over-eager coder just got way ahead of themselves, acting based on rumors that are already circulating.

One recent survey suggested that the appetite for Apple’s next iPhone might not be nearly as strong if Apple introduces a relatively similar iPhone 4S device instead of a revolutionary iPhone 5 that’s pretty much new top to bottom. Still, three available capacities is a lot of choice, and if a 4S gets upgrades in key areas (screen size, battery life, processor power) I expect consumers won’t hold out too strongly. The iPhone 3GS did very well, after all, despite being an evolutionary update of the 3G.

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Dream specs or unnecessary frill?

New reports surfaced late Thursday night that the next iPhone could come in a 64 GB flavor, according to Apple inventory system information obtained by 9t05Mac. A doubling of internal storage is a reasonable expectation for Apple’s iPhone 5; in fact, many expected it the last time around. But how much of an impact will more storage capacity have on your buying decision?

I wonder, because 32 GB of storage has suited me well now for two generations of iPhone, and I’ve yet to run up against that limit. I have an iTunes library that’s much larger than 32 GB on my Mac, but cycling content in and out is actually something I enjoy, because it keeps my music fresh. Even storing hundreds of photos and apps on my iPhone, as well as a few short HD videos shot with the iPhone 4 hasn’t threatened to put me over the edge.

Apple’s iTunes Match service, which will allow users to store their entire iTunes library in the cloud and download tracks selectively whenever they have an active network connection (Wi-Fi or 3G) should make on-device storage even less of a concern. So, too, does the newly introduced ability to download past purchases of books and apps quickly and easily, without having to remember which ones you bought in the first place. In general, iCloud seems designed to make on-device storage less of an issue for users. On the other hand, if a new iPhone can take higher resolution photos and videos and handle more powerful apps, extra space may be appreciated.

If Apple introduces a 64 GB tier to their lineup and prices their new iPhones they way the company has in the past, the 32 GB version of the iPhone 5 will be only $199 on contract, a $100 discount when compared to the 32 GB iPhone 4. For me, even though I’ve always opted for the largest capacity device Apple offers, the cheaper iPhone 5 looks like a much better deal, based on my past usage.

So I’m curious; how many out there would buy a 64 GB iPhone 5 over a 32 GB version, should one be made available?

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Many people have a collection of recipe clippings culled from magazines, newspapers, and the supermarket. But where do you put the clippings? Ideally, you type it out and put it in a recipe manager (my favorite is SousChef). If I only had the time. What I do instead is either scan the recipe directly into iPhoto from my Mac, or if I can’t easily clip the recipe, I’ll take a picture of it with my iPhone. When I see a recipe I like on the web, I take a screen shot to easily get it into iPhoto, too.

Once in the iPhoto, I rename the photo to match the actual recipe title, and then in the keywords I put the important ingredients that I’d need to know when shopping such as “chicken breast” or “celery.” This is also a handy way to search for recipes when something is on sale or in season. Then I just drop it in an album I call “Cookbook.”

I also have an album called “Current Recipes.” I, and other members of the family, will put especially interesting recipes into this album. I’ll sort them in the album to create both variety and efficiency in shopping. I have the recipes synced to a password-protected MobileMe site as well for ease of browsing. With iCloud’s Photo Stream feature, which arrives in September, this should be even easier.

You can also sync those albums to your iPhone and iPad so that you always have all your recipes close at hand, which can be useful if you stop in at the grocery store on the way home from work. Not only is this a great reference, but recipes can be easily emailed from the iPhone to whoever’s doing the shopping.

With the recipes in digital form, cooking with iOS in the kitchen is also breeze. I’ll use either my iPad or my iPhone to check out the recipe(s) I need. After cooking, I’ll return to iPhoto and modify the ratings and notes for the recipe so we know whether to make it again. If it was lousy, we delete it from the album.

Keeping my recipes in iPhoto has reduced our reliance on eating take-out, as well as being a great way for everyone to contribute to dinner. Considering every Mac comes with iPhoto, it’s also cost-effective and easy, too. Anything you think might add even more to my system?

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All iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion users can get 5 GB of storage in iCloud for free, as Apple announced in June. But those who need a roomier cloud will also be able to pay $20 per year for 15 GB total, $40 per year for 25 GB total, or $100 per year to store 55 GB total.

Apple’s iCloud will allow iOS 5 and Lion users to sync their music, photos, apps, calendars, and more between multiple Apple devices. It won’t be officially released to the public until later this fall with the arrival of iOS 5.

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Admittedly there aren’t many peripherals that use Thunderbolt, or many Macs that have Thunderbolt ports, but as Apple gears up for a whole slew of new Thunderbolt-enabled computers, a bunch of new peripherals are also in the pipeline. And in order to tap that opportunity, Apple introduced a new Thunderbolt cable today, available in the online store for $49.

In the product description for the new cable, Apple talks about the Thunderbolt’s ability to transfer data using two channels of 10Gbit/s each, and how it lets you use peripherals like hard drives. But the $999 Promise Pegasus 4×1 TB RAID drive, also now available for sale in the Apple online store, is currently the cheapest way to start using Thunderbolt storage. Other Pegasus RAID arrays are available in configurations ranging from 6×1 TB to 6×2 TB, costing up to $2,000.

It’s no surprise that both the cable itself and the Pegasus drives have such a high starting price point. Thunderbolt always seemed destined to appeal to professional users first, since the new technology will require more time on the market and a wider reach before it can bring production costs down. Apple seems to be working on expanding the potential pool of Thunderbolt users, however, as reports suggest that we’ll see new Mac minis, Mac Pros and MacBook Airs with Thunderbolt in the very near future.

With all those Thunderbolt Macs around, the new cable will become even more useful, as it also provides users a simple way to establish a very high-speed connection between computers using Target Disk Mode. Plus, you can use the cable to connect a Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook Pro to the latest iMac in order to use the iMac’s screen as a second display. Those features alone might be worth $50 to some multi-Mac consumer households.

If you own Thunderbolt-equipped Mac, are you planning on getting one of these cables, or will you wait until there’s more third-party gear available to use it with?

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The new Hitachi offering joins the Seagate GoFlex Satellite  as yet another device that is trying to make external storage relevant to user who are increasingly using mobile devices to consume content. Like the GoFlex, the G-Connect offers 500 GB of storage, and the ability to simultaneously stream to multiple devices. The G-Connect offers some nice advantages over the GoFlex, however, like the ability to stream to up to five devices, instead of just three, and an Ethernet port that lets it plug into a wired Internet connection and act as a wireless access point. But it also carries a major drawback: it lacks an internal battery, so unlike the GoFlex, you’ll have to plug the G-Connect into a power source if you want to use it, which for some might limit its utility as a mobile support device. Still, when a power source is available, as they often are on trains, planes and coffee shops, it should greatly expand the media library available to your iOS devices.

When iOS 5 arrives, iPads and iPhones will finally be cut loose from their PC tethers. That will mean that users can depend on them as their only computing devices, if they wish. But owing to the limited local storage options on iOS devices, they might run up against space constraints when doing so. iCloud aims to help with some of that, by making music, apps and books available on-demand from Apple’s servers, so that you can delete them as needed when you’re running out of room, and grab them again when you need them. But that solution depends on relatively unfettered access to an active Internet connection. Users without mobile data plans for their devices, or those with caps like Verizon’s new tiered plans will have a harder time taking full advantage of a cloud computing future.

Devices like the G-Connect and the GoFlex could be just the start of a flood of supplemental hardware designed to provide a local alternative remote streaming for users who either don’t have the bandwidth to take advantage of the latter, or who’d rather own their content than rent access to it from content providers. External local wireless storage also offers more privacy, which is a selling point for some.

While I expect the general thrust of computing in general to continue to favor remote cloud options, I think the personal cloud stands a good chance of developing at a similar pace at the same time, albeit on a smaller scale. Physical storage is cheap and getting cheaper, while the same can’t necessarily be said for broadband access. As Apple and other device manufacturers move to make the cloud the centre of its universe, it’s only natural that a percentage of consumers will opt to find an alternative centre for their own gadgets that allows them to remain autonomous and possibly save money.

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Apple unveiled Final Cut Pro X

The new  2 TB Time Capsule will now retail for $299, and the new 3 TB option will take its place in the $499 range. Since the Time Capsule’s introduction in 2008, Apple has offered a lower-tier offering with less storage for $299, and one with more space for $499.

While Apple may be focusing on the cloud with its recent product announcements, its nice to see that it’s still thinking about those who prefer a more local networked storage option. Bandwidth limits may preclude some users from ever being able to fully embrace a cloud storage and streaming computing model, but local streaming is a good alternative for those who still want to feel untethered.

Apple has been rumored to be working on updates to its line of wireless devices since low stock of AirPort devices was reported earlier this month. Just this week, the FCC posted a test report describing new Apple wireless hardware, which was likely describing the new Time Capsules unveiled today.

It’s not yet clear whether the Time Capsule update brings new features beyond expanded storage options, or whether Apple other AirPort devices will also receive updates. We’ll keep you informed as developments arise.

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Clonezilla supports Intel-based Macs and comes in two versions: Live, for a single machine and SE for managing as many as 40 computers. As if that’s not handy enough, you have your choice of storage and reinstallation methods — CD, USB flash drive, or USB hard drive.

Once you’ve shoehorned the software onto a media storage device, boot it into the machine you want to clone and let the app work its magic. Several tutorials on Clonezilla’s web site walk you through the process of saving and restoring images, creating recovery CDs, and more.

There are plenty of ways to create backups of your data, but most are complicated or prohibitively expensive. If you’re looking for a great — and cheap — way to keep your data safe, then Clonezilla might be just the ticket.

What are your tips for easy and inexpensive data backup?

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Let’s break down the features of MobileMe see if it’s worth it. The retail price of MobileMe is $99, though discounts abound, but for this article, let’s stick with the $99 price. My calculator app says this comes to $8.25 a month, or a little more than a quarter a day. Pretty cheap, but can you cut it out and save some money? What if Apple sold the features a la carte, like we wish our cable companies would do with channels? With a bit of research, here are what I think are the market rates for each of these features (or at least what I would pay for them).

Ring my iPhone/Display a message (Free)

The ability to force your phone to ring, even when it’s in vibrate mode is nice. However, we all got along OK before that feature was implemented. It’s nice, but I wouldn’t pay for it.

Remote Lock and Remote Wipe ($4.99 per month)

We all know Liz Lemon’s ordeal with her iPhone. While I don’t have adult photos on my iPhone, I do have information I’d rather not fall into the wrong hands. Being able to remotely lock and then possibly wipe my iPhone is really of great value to me. It’s peace of mind insurance and I’ll price it like AT&T’s insurance for other phones. Those who are not as concerned with having their phone fall into others’ hands may not value this as much as I do.

Find my Phone on the Map ($5.00 or combine with Remote Lock/Wipe for $7.50)

AT&T has a GPS service for other phones called “AT&T Family Map” and charges $9.99 to track up to two people. Since this is for just one phone, I divided the cost in half. Being able to find your phone when you lose it is awesome. I value this feature the same as the Remote Lock and Wipe: peace of mind if the phone gets lost. One without the other would be helpful and have pretty much the same value. Combine the two and I expect a bit of a discount.

iDisk (Free for 2 GB, .25 for each additional GB)

Yawn. 20 GB of storage in the cloud. Who doesn’t store data in the cloud these days? Standard pricing seems to be to give two GB away for free and charge about 25 cents for each additional GB (See DropBox or SugarSync). Given the fact that the iDisk tends to be rather slow, I’m not sure I’d want to pay much at all. The “seamless” desktop synchronization of the iDisk can’t match the true automatic synchronization of DropBox and SugarSync

Back To My Mac (Free)

Being able to remotely get files off your Mac? There’s an app for that and it was first developed in late 1980s and was named Timbuktu. In addition to Timbuktu (which still exists), these days there are free products such as LogMeIn Free and VNC (See my review of iPhone remote apps). Additionally, Back To My Mac isn’t 100% reliable, and if you can better rely on other free products, then how much is it really worth?

MobileMe Gallery (Free)

Online photo gallery? Who doesn’t have one these days? Flickr and Facebook fit the bill nicely and if you don’t like those social networking sites pretty much anyone who develops film today will give you a free online gallery, with occasional minor restrictions.

Me.com Email (Free)

Would anyone actually pay for web-based email? Really? With offerings from Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, someone has to be really out of the loop to be paying for web based email. Granted, Me.com makes it pretty and easy, but it’s more a matter of personal preference than any true value. Sending large files and sharing them are easy, but countless services exist to help with just that. The average user rarely needs to send a large file that one of these services doesn’t support.

iWeb Publishing (Free)

For those of us who use iWeb, MobileMe makes publishing delightfully simple. You can publish to other sites with a bit of a workaround, and those workarounds are easy to find on the web, so paying for this feature is for people who don’t know how to Google.

Over the Air Syncing ($2.00)

The value of this is based on Verizon’s Backup Assistant program that will back up your contacts for almost any Verizon phone. When we look at the T-Mobile Sidekick it’s included with the service. For syncing files between computers, see Dropbox and SugarSync. Contacts and calendars can be synced using Google as a conduit (See BusySync). Having your keychains and widgets synced is nice, but workarounds with other syncing software allow you to do that as well.

Personally, this is the killer feature of MobileMe for me. I work with a large number of clients and all my contacts and appointments are on my iPhone. Before I can get to a desktop to sync, I’ll often have made a few appointments and might accidentally double book myself if I didn’t have this feature. Sure, I could use Google to do it exclusively but that’s a few extra steps and time is often of the essence for me.

All of it working together as one package (Free or Priceless)

Seamless integration is nice, don’t get me wrong. Would I be willing to pay for it? Not really. I’d rather save money buying the features I need and make them work together myself, manually. For some people, the very reason they bought an iPhone instead of another mobile device is due to the ease of use factor, so for these folks, the more everything works together without thinking about it, the better.

So what’s my personal decision? When I add the Remote wipe/lock/find/ring feature ($7.50) with the Over the Air Syncing ($2.00), MobileMe justifies itself. Other features really aren’t worth paying for. So again, how much would you pay and what features are most valuable for you? Operators are standing by.

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The new chip is a single-package solution, comprised of 16 32Gbit (4GB) chips combined on a 32nm platform. In case anyone out there needs help with the math, this announcement also paves the way for a 128GB iPod touch, which would finally bring it almost up to par with its aging disc-based predecessor, the iPod classic.

Toshiba doesn’t mention Apple by name in its product announcement regarding the new high-capacity flash modules, but it does mention that they are “designed for application in a wide range of digital consumer products, including smartphones, mobile phones, netbooks and digital video cameras.” It seems Apple would make for a great higher profile customer to use the new tech in its products in those categories.

It’s not completely beyond the realm of possibility to imagine Toshiba’s new storage modules making their way into Apple’s much talked-about tablet device, either. If indeed we will see the tablet in 2010, many now expect it to arrive either in Spring or sometime during the second quarter of 2010, which does fit with the proposed production roll-out of the 64GB flash device. Samples of the new module are shipping now, with mass production expected to begin in Q1 2010.

If Apple’s device is keeping a slim profile, as recent potentially leaked video seems to suggest, and if it owes more to its iPod and iPhone brethren than to the Mac line, it stands to reason that Apple would opt for this kind of storage option over a more traditional HDD or SSD. If the device is indeed the multimedia wunderkind many blogs and analysts are predicting it will be, I’d probably pay extra for additional storage configuration options that would allow me to bump up the storage capacity to 128GB, too, which would be an easy option to include using the new modules.

While it was inevitable that 64GB flash modules would come to pass, it’s nice to have confirmation that they’ve in fact arrived, and well in time for the launch of the next iPhone revision this upcoming Spring. Tablet or not, Apple’s smartphone at least is poised to outpace the competition in terms of onboard storage by an even greater margin than it currently enjoys.

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Active Storage was born out of Apple’s decision to discontinue the Xserve RAID. Alex Grossman, CEO of Active Storage, and the other founders were previously executives in the Servers and Storage products group at Apple, Inc. They left to form their own company that would produce storage solutions of the same quality. While Apple has been pitching the Promise VTrack RAID as a replacement solution, Active Storage has developed its XRAID product line to be a lot more Mac-like with brilliant Mac-native management software. This is high-end gear for serious business — fibre-channel, redundant controllers, redundant power supplies, redundant cooling, etc — with an emphasis on performance. The XRAID comes in two flavors, the original XRAID with 16TB capacity expandable to 32TB and the XRAID ES with 4TB, expandable to 16TB.

All of this power is wrapped in a sexy package that feels very Apple like. The folks at Active Storage have put a lot of care into building enclosures with no sharp edges, tapered screws that sit flush with the chassis, thick gauge aluminum, and slick handles on the drive sleds that pop out with a light touch. I had a chance to take a look at the XRAID at Macworld Expo in January and the build quality on these units is astounding. Having been in a data center or two in my life, finding a polished product where attention has been given to every detail to make it simple to access from both the front and the back of the rack is a real joy. One of the coolest pieces is an iPhone monitoring app that gives you all the details you could want on how the XRAID is performing even when you are not near the data center. This is definitely a storage solution fit for a Mac.

The extreme ease of use in a Mac environment has made Active Storage popular in the entertainment crowd. When asked to explain further, Mr. Grossman explained that, “You may not know this because you aren’t in working with these systems every day, but feature-length movie production requires 50 to 100TB of storage. And that need doesn’t go away when the movie is finished either. There is a need for long-term archival storage as well. And it doesn’t always make sense to use tape backup, so disk-to-disk archiving is growing.”

Final Cut has made the Mac platform a common choice for film editing with some feature films like King Kong being composited and edited entirely on Macs. With the advent of HD, the storage needs for films are growing astronomically. Active Storage appears to be positioned to take advantage of that trend. It makes a great hardware solution in conjunction with Apple products like the Xserve, Final Cut Server, and Xsan 2.

The company currently has about 25 employees, but about 50 open positions on its web site. It is obviously looking to grow substantially in 2010, especially with this capital available to fund hiring and product development.

It is great news to see a well-respected investment fund like Intel Capital place bets on the Mac market, especially in a company that is focused on enterprise-class solutions for the Mac.

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Without much fanfare, and over a day later than it usually announces products, Apple has released a new version of its integrated network storage/Wi-Fi router today.

The new Time Capsule sports an industry pace-keeping 2TB of hard drive space, and can be yours for a mere $499. Not bad, considering your average external USB 2TB drive will cost you around $250 at the low end, and an Airport Extreme on its own is $199.

The coming of the much beefier Time Capsule also results in a price drop for the 1TB model, shaving off a solid $200, to $299. The 500GB, which up until today commanded that very same sum, gets discontinued completely, which hopefully will translate to deep discounts from retailers still holding onto existing stock. I know I’d pick one up if it went for, say, $179? Just a suggestion, licensed distributors.

Like the previous models, the new 2TB comes equipped with the dual-band router present in its predecessors and the newest Airport Extreme, which lets you work on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz band simultaneously, for optimal network efficiency. I’m not sure about your setup, but mine has so much static from the sheer volume of connected devices that dual-band networking is a huge selling point. Not sure if the value proposition is quite attractive enough yet at the high end of the scale, but at $300, the 1TB model feels like it might’ve hit a sweet spot for consumers like me who’ve been holding out for a better deal.

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There is yet another catch. You’ll need to fork over nearly $300 for a new 1.8″ Toshiba hard drive, which makes it essentially like buying a brand new iPod. Still, it was an intriguing prospect, and I always like to try to refurbish or repurpose old hardware rather than throw it out or let it lie idle. The mod, offered by Rapid Repair, does involve some prodding and prying, though, something which I’m not often keen to take on myself, being all thumbs.

Adding the Rapid Repair installation option to the order didn’t seem to change the price, although I didn’t actually complete the purchase, so I can’t be sure that some kind of cost isn’t incurred. The drive actually comes with a free iPod disassembly tool, although I would have to pay an extra $10.00 to get the thicker backing, since my iPod Video is only a 30GB model. Rapid Repair plans to extend the mod to newer iPod Classic models as well.

If you’re a braver man or woman than me, and are planning on trying this, let us here at TAB know how things went.

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In early December of last year, the folks at Western Digital released some new USB/Firewire “Turbo” drivers for their My Book line of external storage devices. There was no mention of this news, nor was there a press release issued from the company.

For my own storage purposes, I own a My Book Pro II (1TB) drive. I use it to backup my audio (iTunes) and video (Sony HD Camcorder) content. This drive is connected to my iMac via FireWire 800.

When I stumbled upon the Turbo Drivers a month ago, I decided to take the risk and install them. There is no readme included with the installer, although from the download page, here is the information Western Digital provides:

“This installer – WDMacTurboDrivers.dmg, contained within the WDMacTurboDrivers.zip file installs custom Western Digital performance based Turbo drivers and drive icons for WD USB and FireWire enabled external hard drives under Macintosh computers.”

So what happened after I installed the drivers? Other than the icon changing (see below), I can’t see any performance benefits. After recently performing a search on the Western Digital support site, here is what I found:

Question:

Why is there no performance gain using the WD Macintosh Turbo Drivers for a My Book Premium II, Pro II, or Studio II while connected by FireWire?

Cause:

The My Book Premium II, Pro II, and Studio II Edition hard drives use a Macintosh based performance driver already included in the Macintosh Operating System. This Macintosh based performance driver has the same performance as the WD Macintosh Turbo Drivers.

Resolution:

There is no resolution for this as there is no performance gain or loss due to the usage of either the Macintosh based performance drivers or the WD Macintosh Turbo Drivers.

OK, who isn’t confused by this explanation from Western Digital? What is the value of creating these custom “turbo” drivers, other than changing the icon? Is it just for branding? Why did Western Digital spend the software development cost to implement a useless driver? In these economic times, I would think that Western Digital would be more cost conscious.

By the way, here is the visual change for the disk icon:

Before:

After: 

Impressed by the visual change? I would hope not, but then, we all have different aesthetic values.

Overall, I am pretty disappointed by this offering from Western Digital. My expectations were that I would see improved read/write performance from this driver. Instead, and clearly stated from Western Digital, there is none.

For what it’s worth, I didn’t do any formal speed tests comparing the standard Apple FireWire driver vs. the new Western Digital Turbo driver. I mistakenly fell into the marketing trap of “ooh-faster-from-company-must-be-better-than-Apple-nonsense.”

Thankfully, I have neither seen any impact to my overall system stability, nor any negative impact to the My Book Pro II drive itself. If anyone else has tried these drivers, I would love to hear your feedback and see if you have received any benefit from installing them. Otherwise, you can thank me for being your guinea pig.

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