Phil Schiller Claims Customers Aren't Asking for Built-In Blu-Ray Anymore

[Eidorian]

Originally Posted by PeterQVenkman

I think it has to do with the fact that Apple sells media through a competitive format.

And yet Amazon still sells the Nexus 7...

I agree with you though. Apple just kept holding out because they can lay down the law.

[GenesisST]

I keep blu-ray for Pixar's, SW, LOTR, Batman etc... Anything visually stunning to start with or epic...

Anybody that tells me what I need can just **** off...

[denmarkguy]

Do you ever read MacRumors?

[adam1080]

Originally Posted by RonDMC

If Apple are never going to include a Blu-Ray drive then they need to offer Movies and TV Shows from iTunes at Blu-Ray bitrate with the HD audio tracks in place and include HD Audio support in the Apple TV etc.

I rip my Blu-Rays to uncompressed MVK's with the HD Audio tracks and stream them using Windows MCE. Until Apple offer full bitrate downloads with HD Audio I won't go near an Apple TV.

Finally, somebody is making sense.

I was an audio/videophile before I was an apple fan. I have a significant investment in Home Theater equipment and appreciate the noticeable difference in quality between Blu-ray and anything that can be streamed over the web.

Until internet bandwidth and media providers can match the quality of blu-ray while streaming, physical media will not die.

I love iTunes for its convenience(for music), but I abhor it for it's quality and usually purchase 96khz/24bit copies of the music I want when available. I will never buy a movie from iTunes...

[Variant]

Originally Posted by doctorossi

You're right, Phil- we're not asking for it anymore; we've given up hope. Self-fulfilling prophecy much?

As for me, I'll stop being interested in BluRay as soon as there's something better. There isn't yet- certainly not iTunes.

Agreed 100%. Is it too much to ask for an external Blu-Ray drive from Apple?

I have an Apple TV for to rent movies, but anything purchased is in BluRay. BluRay image quality is vastly superior to Apple TV streaming.

[applemotor]

Durring the HD-DVD/Bluray war I never thought both formats would lose.

Ultra HD TVs(4k) will be streamed content long before Bluray is widespread and long after.......

BTW, I didnt read all the other posts yet, will do so now and see how many times other people have said this exact same thing

[technopimp]

I believe the correct statement should have been "Not ENOUGH customers are asking...".

Because, I'm a customer, and I've been asking for it.

Unless I don't matter.

[stevaroo01]

It used to concern me when computer companies started doing away with drives that seemed ubiquitous with the computer (even the 3.5" floppy drive from "back in the day"). But more and more I'm beginning to come around to seeing that optical drives are really becoming superfluous for most people. There will always be a group of people who want (or maybe even need) an optical drive. But most people are happy to cut any cords possible, and sacrifice what is necessary to make their devices either more portable, or smaller. And with cloud computing and digital streaming so mainstream and accessible nowadays, I don't feel shortchanged when Apple or another computer company starts removing hardware that once seems like a necessity. If Blu-Ray had been integrated early on it probably would have been cool at that time. But now, I'm inclined to agree with Schiller that it just isn't necessary. Plus, you sure couldn't have those beautiful new iMacs and MBP's if they still had an optical drive.

[Marx55]

Simply not true. As with matte displays. Just offer them as an option and everybody will be happy. That easy!

[syndalis]

Originally Posted by doomfront

Still hilarious that my 900 dollar laptop that I bought in 2009 had a blu ray drive. But the 1800 dollar one I bought last year doesn't.

It's also hilarious that the 1500 dollar compuadd desktop I purchased in 1993 came with a high density floppy drive and a 5 1/4 expansion bay, and my new iMac doesn't. I am also terribly upset at the lack of serial and parallel ports on my MacBook Air.

[Steppanwolf]

I wonder if Schiller was referring to the fact that the laptop I purchased just this year with its own included Blu-Ray drive wouldn't actually play a Blu-Ray movie without first purchasing an additional $100 program. You would think that by 2012, any computer with the drive included would already have the proper codecs already installed, but I guess the powers that be must have said "nope, not good enough."

I haven't rented another Blu-Ray disc since (I downloaded a trial version of a player to get me by for that rental) and most of my show-watching is done via Hulu or Netflix anyways.

I can see folks who have purchased expensive large-screen displays (60"+) wanting the clarity and crispness that comes from a Blu-Ray disc, but I couldn't justify the extra money for displays 26" or smaller. I know, there's a huge gap in there, but honestly, we're talking computers here.

If the gripe is the lack of a backup option, you can get an external hard drive with 2 terabytes of space and up for way less than the equivalent cost of Blu-Ray discs.

[tekno]

If the DVD drive is 'niche' enough to remove it, the answer being to plug-in an external DVD drive if/when required, how far might Apple take this?

One could argue that Apple should get rid of the built-in camera and speakers.

[Miharu]

I don't give a damn about a blu-ray player, I have a PS3 and it's good for console games where you need to keep a lot of content on a single disc (even though the vast majority of games could be fit on a DVD, i.e. every multi platform title). I have about 30 BD movies and I like their quality but now that Netflix came out here even it offers HD films even if the selection is 2 years old at minimum. Maybe I'll get Prometheus or Dark Knight Rises and other major films on BD just to keep them in some kind of collection, but from now on I'll watch most of my films in digital...

[herbapou]

Originally Posted by Variant

Agreed 100%. Is it too much to ask for an external Blu-Ray drive from Apple?

I have an Apple TV for to rent movies, but anything purchased is in BluRay. BluRay image quality is vastly superior to Apple TV streaming.

There are plenty of external BR on the market, are you forbiden to buy something not made by Apple?

[dba415]

I will always buy bluray over any digital content.

Never understood the convenience part either. For me it's fun going to the store and purchasing things.

I want full 1080p quality and true 7.1 surround sound. For a company that advocates the "best experience possible" bluray should be standard. Also, it still takes 15 mins tops for me to stop by Walmart or something to get a movie and then go home. That's less than the total time it takes to download the movie.

Plus, with bluray I can bring it to someone else house and likewise other people can bring their movies to my house. Can't do that with itunes

[crose01]

Maybe they got fed uo of asking. I for one would like to see some Blue Ray compatibility

[just1nd20]

Ridiculous.
People stopped asking because it's like beating a dead horse. They are dictating what I can and cannot use. Not even giving users the option. Yes, Apple is removing optical drives for PCs. What's next? Dropping support for external optical drives? (read sarcasm) Yes, they have invested energy into cloud and streaming services. But now it forces you to buy further into their media "ecosystem."
They like to point out using windows on a Mac as a selling point when they still lack native hardware support in OS X. I don't buy or rent media in iTunes. What is the point of an HDTV or 'Retina' display if I can't playback the best formats available to me? Their HD video purchases are barely better than DVD-quality. Their low quality MP3s are horribly harsh and skimmed down versions of music. I refuse to buy either. Haven't bought and iTunes card since 2007.
I love my MacBook Pro. Best hardware quality in a PC I've ever owned. It is expensive enough that I should not be deliberated denied support available elsewhere on ANY other PC than Mac. This "you don't need it" attitude is so condescending it offends me.

Why not sell a SuperDrive with BluRay for $30 or so more?

[Huracan]

I just sent feedback to http://www.apple.com/feedback/

I don't deny the trend to online media, but remember that this needs a good connection to the Internet that you might not always have and that it is not needed when you hold a DVD or Blu-Ray disk. Blu-Ray and DVD have more choices of languages and subtitles than an online streaming video (which many times don't have subtitles). It is not an "or" choice, it could easily be an "and" choice and let customers decide if they want streaming or disc. I am not a great collector of DVDs. I got tired of collecting things that get obsolete soon. However, I have access to lots of DVDs and Blu-Ray discs for borrowing, and I appreciate that this way I don't have to fill up or wear my internal computer drive, and using bandwidth to use online media that I could watch with better quality on a Blu-Ray disc.

My 2 cents.

[phoenixsan]

BR movies have superb image quality. Also, Blu-ray burners can be used to get a lot of storage (50 GB or so) in some cases. The thing with the downloaded digital media is about control/profits, not a technical one. Having said the latter, I can understand the lacking of any ODD in Apple products, by the sake of good design (aesthetics and functional) and less weight

But also, the thing is, are a lot of better externals drives than the Apple branded/provided.....

[mono1980]

Originally Posted by Psychj0e

Apple has lost its way. I'm surprised it's not even an opinion on the mac pro, as lots of people who use their mac for actual work (rather than, I don't know, playing angry birds on a 27" screen) would benefit from being able to make backups of their data using blue ray.

Apple has been extremely frustrating when it comes to professionals. They are the wealthiest company in the world, yet their computer options are extremely limited. The Mac Pro should be the most kick ass computer on the planet, but Apple just lets it languish. It's shameful and sad.

[rmwebs]

Originally Posted by linuxophile

I for one need to burn dvds with data (e.g. physical backup of photos). Not often, but on occasion.
I don't think I am significantly away from any average consumer.
As for Blue Ray I can't say (I don't even watch dvds at all, so in that respect I am in the tail of the gaussian.)

And if "you can have it external" then it does misses the point of the sleekness factor.

So the 90+% of people who dont need a blueray/optical drive should put up with it just so you can feel like your computing experience is 'sleek'?

[Bokes]

Originally Posted by chrmjenkins

This.

And I find the prospect humorous that the same people that laud the retina displays would scoff at demanding a higher visual quality from their movies and content.

Well said!
fact is fact- uncompressed blu ray quality is FAR better than any stream or "HD" download.

[rhoydotp]

Originally Posted by Vertigo50

I can sort of see getting rid of optical drives in notebooks, but for desktop machines it just seems silly. Users lose a great backup option, and they can't simply pop in a DVD or CD anymore, when the part probably only costs Apple less than $5.
.

i agree with you but with the dropping prices of USB sticks, that might be a better option. of course, out of necessity that getting an external drive

[JAT]

Originally Posted by swagi

And I guess all of you don't have a decent AVR, let alone a decent speaker system. If you ever heard a Blu-Ray DTS HD Master over a decent home theater (which btw is specced up to 10MBit/s stream for audio) you wouldn't talk this stuff out of your backs.

Most never care about audio. It's sad. My kids couldn't believe the difference when I first popped in Avengers this month. And they had seen it in nice, new theaters. And I try to pick the best seats at a theater for both audio and video, but it just isn't the same as a serious, calibrated system at home. At least, not with a sub like mine.

[darcyjames]

Steve Jobs said focus groups are for losers, if Apple gave people what they asked for they would be a very different company.

Personally I find Blu-ray discs that include digital copy and get the best of both worlds, including 1080 P in icloud. Truly Blu-ray is the best picture and sound quality but it can be inconvenient times.