Will new imac have esata?

[macaco74]

Will Apple shy away from including an eSata port for external hard drives? Seems like this would be a great option given the transfer speeds.

[octojay]

It'd be nice.. but I think the most educated answer any of us can give is:

Yes/No/Perhaps

Benjamin

Edit: Does ANYTHING Apple offer have an eSATA port? (Legitimately asking, not making a snarky comment.)

[Leon Kowalski]

Does ANYTHING Apple offer have an eSATA port?

No. But it might be possible to put an eSATA card in a Mac Pro.

LK

[MrT8064]

i really doubt it, as apple seem to be heavily promoting wireless data solutions, which we all know is limited to 802.11N!

[macaco74]

i guess I should anticipate no esata and use firewire for large file data transfer/video storage.

No biggie - was just hoping.

[Sped]

If you asked me a year ago, I would have bet that at least the Mac Pro would have eSATA by now. I'm very surprised that the MBP doesn't have it either. I'm not sure what Apple is doing, but eSATA seems like an obvious choice for their pro computers. Since the MBP and the iMac are very similar, I was hoping the iMac would tag along for the ride.

[RexTraverse]

If you asked me a year ago, I would have bet that at least the Mac Pro would have eSATA by now. I'm very surprised that the MBP doesn't have it either. I'm not sure what Apple is doing, but eSATA seems like an obvious choice for their pro computers. Since the MBP and the iMac are very similar, I was hoping the iMac would tag along for the ride.

Well, eSATA applications are limited, and upcoming FireWire 1600 and 3200 will easily bridge that gap and provide backwards compatibilty with FW800.

That said, the Griffin eSATA ExpressCard/34 adapter works beautifully for MBP owners who need eSATA.

[basesloaded190]

Well, eSATA applications are limited, and upcoming FireWire 1600 and 3200 will easily bridge that gap and provide backwards compatibilty with FW800.

That said, the Griffin eSATA ExpressCard/34 adapter works beautifully for MBP owners who need eSATA.

i thought i remembered hearing about the new firewire...im very interested to hear more about this and what it will be able to produce as far as speeds:D

[KJdanReuben]

Well, eSATA applications are limited, and upcoming FireWire 1600 and 3200 will easily bridge that gap and provide backwards compatibilty with FW800.

That said, the Griffin eSATA ExpressCard/34 adapter works beautifully for MBP owners who need eSATA.

What is FireWire 1600 and 3200? And will they run off a FireWire 400 or 800 port with like a firmware update or something? Also, when is this new FireWire expected to come out? Thanks!

[Leon Kowalski]

What is FireWire 1600 and 3200? And will they run off a FireWire 400
or 800 port with like a firmware update or something?

Never heard of FW1600, but FW3200 (a.k.a. 1394b - S3200) uses
the same 9-pin cable as FW800, and is (supposed to be) compatible
with both FW400 and FW800. However, it's currently "vaporware",
and I believe the firewire interfaces (on both ends of the wire) will
require new hardware. Don't hold your breath waitin' for that.

IMO, there is ZERO chance that S3200 will ever be popular as an
external disk interface. The RealWorld™ has already standardized
on eSATA -- and nothing can possibly outperform eSATA with a
hard drive that "speaks SATA" as its native language.

As far as the drive mechanism and computer are concerned, an
eSATA external is indistinguishable from a SATA internal drive.
Performance is identical for either. The only difference is the
length of the connecting cable. No bridge chipset, no translation.

...it's hard to improve on 100%,

LK