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Are Apple going to be retiring CD/DVD drives entirely

Nerdy Keith

Nerdy Keith

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 5, 2012
90
4
Dublin, Ireland
I just watched this video online of a review of the new macbook pro and apparently they left out the optical drive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ubqsCq_xdA&feature=g-u-u

Seems like a bad decision to me. Not only does this prevent users from view DVDs on their computer, but you can't burn, rip or even listen to CDs.

I'm guessing this is some sort of a marketing ploy to leave customers with little or no option but to purchase all film and music content from iTunes itself. Problem with that though is, especially for myself I cannot purchase a lot of content from iTunes (with me being in Ireland). Firstly I cannot purchase any TV shows. Which is why I purchase TV box sets on DVD (which I wouldn't be able to watch on the new macbook pro). A lot of albums are also not available in my region due to distribution rights.

So my question is this. Do you think Apple will be completely retiring optical drives entirely (even on iMac desktops)?

Fortunately I have a fully functional 4 year old iMac and a fully functioning 1 year old macbook pro with optical drives intact. I'm not looking forward to the day I have to replace them if this is what has become of Mac computers.
 
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I really don't see any reason to keep the optical drive unless they wanted to make it Blu-Ray which was never going to happen anyways.

Who really needs DVD drives anymore, just get a 64GB SDXC card or USB3 thumbdrive and put the iso files on there if you really need some old DVD media. Also you can buy the external for those rare times you might need it.

I support Apple's decision to remove this drive for the benefit of a slimmer design and no moving parts in the machine. (other than the fans)
 
It will be a long time before optical drives go away completely, and I dont see any reason for Apple to remove them from desktop models at this point. Very likely that this is the last generation of apple laptops to have internal optical drives though.
 
I yanked my optical drive out of my 2011 MBP the day it arrived at my doorstep. As infrequently as I use optical media, I can easily live with an external drive.
 
Just like the floppy disk before it, the optical drive are going the way of the dodo.

Happy to see it go.
 
arbitrage said:
Who really needs DVD drives anymore, just get a 64GB SDXC card or USB3 thumbdrive and put the iso files on there if you really need some old DVD media. Also you can buy the external for those rare times you might need it.
Click to expand...

That seems like a lot of work if you have a lot of TV DVD box sets. Still seems like an excuse to rip off their customers. Their products are expensive enough as it is.

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Pressure said:
Just like the floppy disk before it, the optical drive are going the way of the dodo.

Happy to see it go.
Click to expand...

Unlike the floppy disk drive. An optical drive serves a more versatile purpose. I wouldn't mind it so much if apple would at the very least allow me to purchase TV shows from iTunes but they don't. And DVD is the only option I have to view them on my Mac. So are they trying to tell me I shouldn't be allowed to watch TV shows on my Mac at all?

The selection of digital entertainment just isn't extensive enough to justify this decision.
 
You can buy an external CD/DVD burner on Newegg for like $30. Sure it won't match your MBP, but at least it's not $80.
 
Not just Apple -- the world. Optical drives are a 20th cent. relic. A thumb drive can hold the data it would take an entire box of DVDs & reusable. Movies easily downloadable or streamed. And most s/w is downloaded too, even OSes. So, yes time to say bye, bye to optical.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Not just Apple -- the world. Optical drives are a 20th cent. relic. A thumb drive can hold the data it would take an entire box of DVDs & reusable. Movies easily downloadable or streamed. And most s/w is downloaded too, even OSes. So, yes time to say bye, bye to optical.
Click to expand...

Television shows cannot be downloaded in Ireland from iTunes. Its not available in my country. I'm all for advancing the medium of entertainment online and becoming more digital. They need to expand their variety before taking away optical drives.

And furthermore, the reason why a lot of people prefer the DVD format is because you can view it on multiple devices. Its a lot of work converting iTunes files to work on other devices.
 
Reasunach said:
Unlike the floppy disk drive. An optical drive serves a more versatile purpose. I wouldn't mind it so much if apple would at the very least allow me to purchase TV shows from iTunes but they don't. And DVD is the only option I have to view them on my Mac. So are they trying to tell me I shouldn't be allowed to watch TV shows on my Mac at all?

The selection of digital entertainment just isn't extensive enough to justify this decision.
Click to expand...

Precisely, that's what I am telling you. No, that's just silly argumentation there if I ever saw it.

Embrace the digital world, I can see you clearly have access to the internet, use it.
 
I like that I can put a second HD in the optical bay, via OWC's Data Doubler. Those of us who do intensive audio and video editing, need a separate drive for our data.

Other than that, I don't see a compelling need for an optical drive.
 
Pressure said:
Just like the floppy disk before it, the optical drive are going the way of the dodo.

Happy to see it go.
Click to expand...
Not really. Floppies were replaced by a newer, faster, better and more reliable physical media. Optical disks are being replaced by a reliance on an unstable, slow and pay-per-use remote storage.

I'm fine with dumping the optical drives from Macs and I haven't burnt a DVD or cd in years. But there's a difference with using a drive infrequently and NEVER using a drive ever again. And optical drives still do have usage scenarios that aren't going away soon.
 
Pressure said:
Precisely, that's what I am telling you. No, that's just silly argumentation there if I ever saw it.

Embrace the digital world, I can see you clearly have access to the internet, use it.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to, but TV shows are not available for Irish customers to purchase. I have NO access to downloading TV Shows in the iTunes store. None, zero zilch.

I've complained to Apple about this countless times, they have done nothing. All they tell me is that they state the obvious that TV shows are not available in the Irish store. And I can only download them if I have a credit card from the US which is an unacceptable alternative. Who is going to have foreign credit cared? Seriously. Its insane.

I'll embrace the digital world, when there is something worth embracing.
 
Pressure said:
Precisely, that's what I am telling you. No, that's just silly argumentation there if I ever saw it.

Embrace the digital world, I can see you clearly have access to the internet, use it.
Click to expand...
The digital world costs more than the physical world. When the Avengers comes out on Bluray in a 3D 7disk set with 100hours of bonus features and a free Hulk Plush for $18 (on sale and after Disneys $5 coupon) then why would I buy the $35 DRM infused iTunes version that comes with truncated features, requires tons of bandwidth to download and provides "near bluray" quality? I've recently learned to burn the BluRays I own so not only do I save money on the physical "backup"and get the 3D version, I'm also getting iTunes quality digital versions that I can view on my AppleTV.

Embracing digital is nice in theory but digital has a long way to go before it becomes soft and squishy enough to love. :D
 
Reasunach said:
I'm trying to, but TV shows are not available for Irish customers to purchase. I have NO access to downloading TV Shows in the iTunes store. None, zero zilch.

I've complained to Apple about this countless times, they have done nothing. All they tell me is that they state the obvious that TV shows are not available in the Irish store. And I can only download them if I have a credit card from the US which is an unacceptable alternative. Who is going to have foreign credit cared? Seriously. Its insane.

I'll embrace the digital world, when there is something worth embracing.
Click to expand...

You realize that it's content licensing, not Apple that makes these decisions, right? Or do you just think that Apple doesn't want your money? Regardless, it's not like yo don't have the option of an optical drive, it seems more that you just want to complain about how poorly you're being treated when there are clearly options that will solve your problems.
 
Who watches DVD's on their notebook lol. Burns CD's?? Rofl

A DVD drive takes up a stupid amount of space in a notebook.

id rather have a USB DVD drive in the pocket of my carry case than in the notebook its self.
 
KittyKatta said:
The digital world costs more than the physical world. When the Avengers comes out on Bluray in a 3D 7disk set with 100hours of bonus features and a free Hulk Plush for $18 (on sale and after Disneys $5 coupon) then why would I buy the $35 DRM infused iTunes version that comes with truncated features and "near bluray" quality?

We recently started moving to all digital with our movie library and learned to burn my BluRays (that I own) to be used on the new AppleTV. Buying the Bluray tends to cost significantly less, the quality of my rips equal iTunes, I don't have to download anything and I can view it on my non apple devices since there's no DRM.

Embracing digital is nice in theory but digital has a long way to go before it becomes soft and squishy enough to love. :D
Click to expand...

I totally agree. We have to be realistic here. I have a feeling many of the responses here come from people who will justify anything Apple does, just because its Apple.
 
Reasunach said:
I'm trying to, but TV shows are not available for Irish customers to purchase. I have NO access to downloading TV Shows in the iTunes store. None, zero zilch.

I've complained to Apple about this countless times, they have done nothing. All they tell me is that they state the obvious that TV shows are not available in the Irish store. And I can only download them if I have a credit card from the US which is an unacceptable alternative. Who is going to have foreign credit cared? Seriously. Its insane.

I'll embrace the digital world, when there is something worth embracing.
Click to expand...

Thankfully, us, the consumers are in luck. We have more options than the iTunes Store available.
 
Interstella5555 said:
You realize that it's content licensing, not Apple that makes these decisions, right? Or do you just think that Apple doesn't want your money? Regardless, it's not like yo don't have the option of an optical drive, it seems more that you just want to complain about how poorly you're being treated when there are clearly options that will solve your problems.
Click to expand...

I'm very well aware of the fact that its due to content licensing. And until they resolve that issue, they shouldn't be removing optical drives.

The only options I've heard so far is getting an American Credit card (not going to happen)
Burn all my DVDs on to hard drive which is actually against the law.

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Pressure said:
Thankfully, us, the consumers are in luck. We have more options than the iTunes Store available.
Click to expand...

Such as?

If you're going to suggest Netflix, that doesn't exactly have the most vast variety in my country either.

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pandamonia said:
Who watches DVD's on their notebook lol. Burns CD's?? Rofl

A DVD drive takes up a stupid amount of space in a notebook.

id rather have a USB DVD drive in the pocket of my carry case than in the notebook its self.
Click to expand...

People who can't afford to be replacing everything they own on DVD or CD with digital copies. Its obvious that Apple are trying to persuade more and more people to buy more content on iTunes.

It wouldn't surprise me if they made all their products only support content purchased from iTunes.
 
Reasunach said:
I'm very well aware of the fact that its due to content licensing. And until they resolve that issue, they shouldn't be removing optical drives.

The only options I've heard so far is getting an American Credit card (not going to happen)
Burn all my DVDs on to hard drive which is actually against the law.

----------



Such as?

If you're going to suggest Netflix, that doesn't exactly have the most vast variety in my country either.

----------



People who can't afford to be replacing everything they own on DVD or CD with digital copies. Its obvious that Apple are trying to persuade more and more people to buy more content on iTunes.

It wouldn't surprise me if they made all their products only support content purchased from iTunes.
Click to expand...

Again, you can buy an external Superdrive that will do everything you want from it, and if you really feel like you're prevented from ripping DVDs you own onto a computer I'm not sure what to tell you. I can't be the only person in the world that buys a CD and rips it...which is the exact same thing. Additionally, of COURSE apple wants your money, are you kidding? The difference is that you're implying that there's a situation here that makes it impossible to watch DVDs on your computer citing the "high cost" (handbrake = free; DVDs you own = free, cost = 0) or replacement and proprietary media (hell guys, they aren't Sony) which there's really no evidence or indication of.
 
Yeah, optical drives will be gone very soon. I think Apple did a very diplomatic move by sending a warning shot with the retina MBP. They could have easily gotten rid of the old mbp line and replaced it entirely with this new retina mbp line. My guess is that either next spec bump or the one after (depending on how long they take) the legacy optical mbp's will go byebye. This will probably be in around 8-16 months.

Regarding the iMac... it's not a matter of IF but WHEN. A redesign is rumored to be coming within the next year and I really doubt at this point that Apple would include an optical drive in a completely redesiged product. Will Apple keep the old legacy iMac along side it for a year like the mbp? That remains to be seen, but since Apple has set the precedent I'm leaning towards yes.

Now, SHOULD Apple remove the optical drive? Yes. Apple is working hard to bring all the music and movies that they can to all the countries across the world. I'm sure this will continue to rise. Anyone who still has great need for a optical drive can keep their current computer for a few years while their need lessens (as it will undoubtably). Or they can buy the external optical drive for $30-$80. I would prefer that solution because even those who still use cd's probably only use it a couple times a month or so. No need to drag around the extra weight and thickness. Just plug it in when you need it.
 
arbitrage said:
I support Apple's decision to remove this drive for the benefit of a slimmer design and no moving parts in the machine. (other than the fans)
Click to expand...

Not quite. They should have removed the physical keyboard and replaced it with a virtual keyboard then.
 
Over time, yes, they will likely phase out built-in optical drives.

Don't like it? Don't buy it.
 
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