New iMacs Still Expected to Ship in November-December

[SBlue1]

I dont mind not having an optical drive. Havent used the one in my macs for years. So yeah, why not remove them. Its a waste of money and resources. For most of us.

[ctdonath]

Originally Posted by HMI

The future still requires duping a [movie] digital master onto physical drives and postal mailing or sneaker-netting them to clients, networks, and sat uplink providers because it is an easy way to guarantee more security over your product submission.

And it's also an edge case involving very large amounts of data, harking back to the old saw "never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon filled with magnetic tapes."

[Lancer]

The like of Microsoft and Adobe allow download copies of their software, yes you need a decent Internet connection for these but if you don't have that then get the external DVD. I'm only getting the DVD if the Apple store throws one in as a bonus to buy the iMac through them.

[steve119]

Tbh why would you plump for an external SuperDrive anyway?

Bluray burner FTW!!

[frabber]

these all got ugly bellies on the back.

waiting for the next thunderbolt display, it will be this thin , but without belly...

[Colpeas]

Just curious whether we are getting iTunes 11 in this timeframe as well...

[timcullis]

Originally Posted by wmikulic

When the new iMac won't boot off the internal system, what are you supposed to boot off of?

Originally Posted by Mike Valmike

You boot from the Recovery Partition

Having been through this, that's not the whole story. The partition partition has a boostrapping program (not a full OS) that is powerful enough only to fire up a utility that contacts the Apple servers to download the entire operating system over the Internet.

[thekev]

Originally Posted by ctdonath

And it's also an edge case involving very large amounts of data, harking back to the old saw "never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon filled with magnetic tapes."

I'd really like it if they were able to deliver via usb key and just drop it on the server or something. CD waste has always annoyed me.

Originally Posted by deconstruct60

Typically troll misdirection. Apple isn't primarily driving the trend away from optical. Most users are taking this trend all by themselves.

An inexpensive $5-8 Flash drive is cheaper than a large bulk (50-100 ) package of blank CDROMs. USB Flash drives are very widely used to implement sneaker-net data transfer tasks these days. 10's of millions of people do it every day. To claim otherwise is to be some kind of ODD fanboy.

I keep a set of user preferences for several applications on a usb thumb drive. It sits on my keychain. Default key mappings favor right handed individuals, and there are a lot of things that just aren't keymapped by default where it just adds too many clicks and unnecessary navigation.

[topmounter]

Maybe they're waiting on iTunes 11

[Jetson]

Originally Posted by ctdonath

Why put it on USB sticks when practically the first thing any copy on physical media is going to do is download the latest version via Internet?

Only* purpose of computer-oriented physical media for distribution today is really massive data capacity needs (rare) and to give customers the base sense they bought something.

I haven't purchased software on physical media for years. While anecdote != data, that's where most of the customer base either is now or will be soon (and could use the nudge).

(* - it's one sentence, not an encyclopedic tome on the subject.)

What I mean by commercial content is NOT just programs and/or data, but also music (CDs), TV and Movies (DVDs).

[WatchTheThrone]

This thinner machine was begging to wait for Hawsell but timmy couldn't hold in his excitement to show the world how "thin" it was (at a certain angle) so they had to sacrifice the faster hard drive and replace it with a slower 5400 because of Ivys heat issues!! Also the non upgradable ram

That's why after the announcement I bought the current gen iMac and I'm very happy with it (even though it's so huge taking up all my space on my desk (sarcasm)

[bawsum]

Come on you can not tell me they do not know the prices and configurations. Let us order so we can take this off our to do list. Totally arrogant and clueless on customer service.

[toke lahti]

Originally Posted by Jetson

Apple didn't drop the SuperDrive because it was obsolete. They dropped it because it got in the way of their "everything must be wafer-thin" paradigm.

Or because of "all content must be bought from iTunes and be non-resellable".

Originally Posted by ctdonath

Usage of optical drives is WAY down.

Are also RAM, large + fast + affordable storages or any kind of upgradeability or repairability "way down"? Or even better question: should they be "way down"? Should Apple think more about how things should be than what they are?
Oh well, macs are trivial to Apple these days...

Originally Posted by FuNGi

Thinner and 20% smaller footprint. It's less materials and a better design. Period.

For desktop, bigger volume means better and quieter cooling and therefore longer lifespan. Well, not Apple's take on products, eh?

[michaeljohn]

Originally Posted by Jetson

Some of us still want to obtain and use commercial content on optical media - CDs, DVDs.

There is ZERO commerical content on USB sticks, whereas there is still a thriving CD and DVD business. Optical drives are NOT obsolete.

Just becaue YOU (in the general sense) don't use one doesn't mean that others don't need one.

Agreed. I do photo and video work and I give all my clients DVDs after the shoot. Sure, I could zip it and put it on my server but most clients dont want to sit there and download 10+GBs of media. I am also not keen on the idea of paying for and giving away flash drives for each shoot I do. There are a TON of professionals who work in photo/video/media who still use optical drives daily. Taking them out and making customers pay an extra $80 for one is just cheap and bad business.

[CausticPuppy]

Originally Posted by Rudy69

Since they've been announced for so long....I sure hope unlike the rMBP that Apple will actually have a descent amount of supply on launch day...

Not likely, since the new construction process requires the cases to be shipped to a monastery in Nepal where they are hand-welded by a pair of monks (one of whom is an apprentice).

So supplies will be constrained for a while.

[hayesk]

Originally Posted by michaeljohn

Agreed. I do photo and video work and I give all my clients DVDs after the shoot. Sure, I could zip it and put it on my server but most clients dont want to sit there and download 10+GBs of media. I am also not keen on the idea of paying for and giving away flash drives for each shoot I do. There are a TON of professionals who work in photo/video/media who still use optical drives daily. Taking them out and making customers pay an extra $80 for one is just cheap and bad business.

Goody for you. I've received commercial content on USB stick. 16GB flash drives can be had for less than $10. Are you saying that $10 is a significant expense compared to what you charge for your photo and video work? Hack, raise your price by $10 and your clients won't even notice. Speaking of being cheap…

[katanna]

Originally Posted by hayesk

Goody for you. I've received commercial content on USB stick. 16GB flash drives can be had for less than $10. Are you saying that $10 is a significant expense compared to what you charge for your photo and video work? Hack, raise your price by $10 and your clients won't even notice. Speaking of being cheap…

Yes, $10 is a significant expense when compared to a $0.10 alternative!

Then again, spend $30 on an external drive and the point is moot.

Matthew

[Cavepainter]

Much of the imac superdrive controversy could be avoided if Apple simply offered a complementary external superdrive if imac customers asked. Problem solved. Most of us just don't like paying MORE for something that does LESS. Especially on a supposed "all-in-one". Its that simple.

When I bought my 2010 27" imac I wanted as many usb ports as possible- I wanted an extended wired keyboard because of the net gain of one additional, conveniently-located usb port. The apple store employee threw in a brand new one, right off the shelf, for free. He said that was the store policy for customers that wanted one. Problem solved.

[smeagol]

Originally Posted by wmikulic

My son has been using a first generation Mac mini and needed a new computer. As soon as the "new" iMac was announced with no optical, we went to the nearest Apple store and bought the current iMac. There's just too many school assignments where the product has to be turned in on CD or DVD and I'm a believer the optical should be part of the computer. I've owned iMacs since the original tube screened one, and not once has a desktop's thickness been an issue for me. What a great business model, remove features so people have to buy add-ons. Maybe they should remove the hard drive/SSD so they can charge extra for that too?

Last week I had to submit an assignment titled "Dinosaurs in the 21st Century" on a floppy disk. How dare Apple remove the floppy drive from the mac , surely there are tens of dozens of people still using floppies and Apple is screwing us over. /S

[MacDav]

Sign me up!

[SchneiderMan]

Do it do it.

[Drunken Master]

Originally Posted by topmounter

Maybe they're waiting on iTunes 11

Zzzzzz...

[macs4nw]

Originally Posted by TimUSCA

.....I just wish they used that space for something better instead of just making it thinner.....

Originally Posted by wmikulic

My son has been using a first generation Mac mini and needed a new computer. As soon as the "new" iMac was announced with no optical, we went to the nearest Apple store and bought the current iMac. There's just too many school assignments where the product has to be turned in on CD or DVD and I'm a believer the optical should be part of the computer. I've owned iMacs since the original tube screened one, and not once has a desktop's thickness been an issue for me.....

Hear, hear.....I could be way off on this one, but I haven't heard throngs of people clamoring for thinner iMacs; in fact, I haven't even heard ONE person express that desire. I have however read many posts in some threads here, where many users have expressed a desire for desk-top class CPU's, and better GPU's in their iMacs, thinner bezels, 'chin-less' design, or more memory, standard. Sleek and sexy as the new machines may look in a side profile, you don't get to see that at all, when sitting in front of the screen.

Personally, we DO use the optical drive regularly for watching DVDs or burning CDs for the car. So except for Ivy Bridge and Fusion drives (on which the jury is still out btw), the new iMacs have little to offer me over the old models. Call me a luddite, but I'm seriously considering picking up a maxed-out 27" 2011 iMac, or if need be, a refurb.

[mentaluproar]

People need to stop bitching about the new mac being thin. These things need a facelift every now and then so they don't loose their appeal. Besides, the changes to the screen will be a welcome improvement.

[everything-i]

Originally Posted by wmikulic

My son has been using a first generation Mac mini and needed a new computer. As soon as the "new" iMac was announced with no optical, we went to the nearest Apple store and bought the current iMac. There's just too many school assignments where the product has to be turned in on CD or DVD and I'm a believer the optical should be part of the computer. I've owned iMacs since the original tube screened one, and not once has a desktop's thickness been an issue for me. What a great business model, remove features so people have to buy add-ons. Maybe they should remove the hard drive/SSD so they can charge extra for that too?

You have to hand course work in on DVDs? Why not just email it to the tutor or use USB key drive, this seems an edge case at best these days. So you just dropped all that money on an out of date computer because it needs an external optical drive. I think its clear that most people don't use optical drives any longer, USB drives and the cloud have taken over as methods of storage for data transfer with most people. Maybe it is a little early to drop the drive completely but then Apple have always been a bit maverick when it comes to dumping old technology, they did the same with the floppy drive. Still think they should have used the space to fit a better graphics processor though rather than just making it thinner

----------

Most of this complaining about lack of optical drive talk just sounds like histeria. You can get a USB optical drives for less than $30 these days and you only have to buy it once to use on any of your laptop or desktop machines for the maybe once every year or two 99% of people need one.