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jwolf6589

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 15, 2010
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I was fortunate to have purchased my MacBook Pro with a built in DVD player and am saddened that Apple feels the need to discontinue it on all their Mac's even their desktops. Apple needs to realize that some of us have massive DVD libraries and we cannot afford to re-purchase them on iTunes and besides not all of my DVD's are available on iTunes. Also I regularly receive sermon CD's once a month and the publisher only sends them out in CD format so its nice having that CD player. I do not feel the need to digitize every single CD that I receive. These are some of my reasons why I think it was unwise to drop the DVD player on their Macs.
 

Its an extra cost and its not the same as having one built in. Also why not put one inside on the desktop Macs?
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You are definitely a minority, so no wonder they dropped it. As keviig points out, there's even an easy solution for it.

Minority? Based on whose figures? Sp you are saying that most play their DVD's and Blue Ray's on their TV?
 
Its an extra cost and its not the same as having one built in. Also why not put one inside on the desktop Macs?
Well, if they were to include it in the computer it would probably cost more than it does at the moment. It's down to cost, size and weight. With Apple's obsession to make everything thinner it had to go. I do see your point of maybe keeping it in the desktop macs though, since they are not constrained by size and weight like the macbooks.
 
Well, if they were to include it in the computer it would probably cost more than it does at the moment. It's down to cost, size and weight. With Apple's obsession to make everything thinner it had to go. I do see your point of maybe keeping it in the desktop macs though, since they are not constrained by size and weight like the macbooks.

Yeah I mean they make iMac's with large screens and certainly Apple needs to realize that some people would rather play their DVD's on their computer over their TV.
 
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Minority? Based on whose figures? Sp you are saying that most play their DVD's and Blue Ray's on their TV?

Apple has sold machines without optical drives for 5 years. And physical media is dying anyway, while streaming is exploding and has been for years now, but am not sure why you are mixing the discussion of physical media on computers with that on TVs?
 
I don't mind at all. I have a MacBook Air. I came from a Windows lap top which had a cd drive. I've got the SuperDrive but to be honest I can count on less than one hand the amount of times I've used it in the year I've had the MacBook.
 
Can't believe it's 2016 and some people still want the SuperDrive back.

Just accept that Apple is a company with vision and doesn't like to waste time with old technology.

Could Apple leave the iMac with its 2010 design and SuperDrive instead of making it thinner? Easily. Is that the way to go if you want to stay relevant? Certainly not.

You're a minorty, buy an external drive while they still sell them.
 
Doubt its anything to do with apple having a vision. it's more to reduce cost and maximise profits..

Yeah, this. Moving parts fail. Failing parts drive up support costs. Remove failing parts, and you reduce support costs.

Same sort of reason for the move to soldered ram, etc. If they could get away with removing cables inside the case, you can bet they'd do that too. In fact, they'd do away with all screws if they could ... bottom panel glued on instead with some heavy duty adhesive. Not quite super-glue worthy, but something that the average joe can't deal with very easily. I suspect they'd do it in a heartbeat if they could remove the last moving part from the system: the fans. Kinda surprised they haven't already gone down that road with the rMB, TBH.
 
Doubt its anything to do with apple having a vision. it's more to reduce cost and maximise profits..

2008, believe, was the year they introduced the SuperDrive-free MacBook Air. When everyone is saying eliminating the SuperDrive is a stupid move and years later they finally follow your example, that's when you have vision.

It wasn't until 2012 when they removed the SuperDrive from the MacBook Pro and iMac as well. It took some before this could happen across the whole lineup, apparently.

By now streaming is the way to go for your music and movies, which is already a step further than buying and downloading on iTunes (even most games have moved forward). Physical media is dead, and your old collections can be stored neatly besides your VHS, vinyl, floppys and tapes.
 
The rMB is fanless, though? And as a result, thermal throttles too much.

I was talking about how I am surprised they haven't started gluing the bottom panels on the rMB, because it's already fanless. Get rid of all the screws, and then they can make it even thinner!
 
Yeah, this. Moving parts fail. Failing parts drive up support costs. Remove failing parts, and you reduce support costs.

Same sort of reason for the move to soldered ram, etc. If they could get away with removing cables inside the case, you can bet they'd do that too. In fact, they'd do away with all screws if they could ... bottom panel glued on instead with some heavy duty adhesive. Not quite super-glue worthy, but something that the average joe can't deal with very easily. I suspect they'd do it in a heartbeat if they could remove the last moving part from the system: the fans. Kinda surprised they haven't already gone down that road with the rMB, TBH.
But surely this is better for the consumer too if their machine is more reliable and less likely to fail.
 
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I was on the fence when it was dropped but when I reviewed how much I used it, and now nearly three years since getting a MBP w/o an optical drive. I can only come up with a single occurrence in those 3 years that I missed the optical drive.
 
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2008, believe, was the year they introduced the SuperDrive-free MacBook Air. When everyone is saying eliminating the SuperDrive is a stupid move and years later they finally follow your example, that's when you have vision.

It wasn't until 2012 when they removed the SuperDrive from the MacBook Pro and iMac as well. It took some before this could happen across the whole lineup, apparently.

By now streaming is the way to go for your music and movies, which is already a step further than buying and downloading on iTunes (even most games have moved forward). Physical media is dead, and your old collections can be stored neatly besides your VHS, vinyl, floppys and tapes.

But the MBA was never big enough to support an internal drive, so i don't see how A and B are related.
The vision as you call it was a design limitation, not thing more.

I'd also disagree that physical media is dead, i still purchase BR and rip the media myself based on my needs.
Last time i looked amazon were still shipping bucket loads.. be it music, DVDs, BRs or even games. The industry not apple is the one pushing towards removing media as its a cost and they don't want you to own a physical copy.

People have a choice.. and thats the great thing.
I have a superdrive, I've used it maybe 2-3times, but that because i dont use the mac for ripping or stuff like that, i have a windows media server.
 
Scrapping the DVD player allowed them to shrink the size and weight of the machine & most importantly allowed them to use the available space for batteries.

It's 2016 and those that require a built-in DVD drive are definitely in the extreme minority so thankfully Apple made the correct call years ago.
 
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But the MBA was never big enough to support an internal drive, so i don't see how A and B are related.
The vision as you call it was a design limitation, not thing more.

So they were designing the MacBook Air, but realized halfway through the SuperDrive wouldn't fit, so they just skipped it. That's what you're saying?

Things don't go that way. Apple was one of the first to eliminate the Floppy drive and they built the 12" MacBook with the one USB port for the same reasons. The have vision for what computers are going to be like and what consumers are going to be using. They push the industry forward which is a great thing.

Many MacBook Air users will not find a need for an optical drive now that they can wirelessly rent movies from the iTunes® Store, wirelessly backup files with Time Capsule and access the optical drives on remote PCs or Macs to wirelessly install software applications on MacBook Air.

Apple, January 15th, 2008. (source)
 
But the MBA was never big enough to support an internal drive, so i don't see how A and B are related.
The vision as you call it was a design limitation, not thing more.

I'd also disagree that physical media is dead, i still purchase BR and rip the media myself based on my needs.
Last time i looked amazon were still shipping bucket loads.. be it music, DVDs, BRs or even games. The industry not apple is the one pushing towards removing media as its a cost and they don't want you to own a physical copy.

People have a choice.. and thats the great thing.
I have a superdrive, I've used it maybe 2-3times, but that because i dont use the mac for ripping or stuff like that, i have a windows media server.
I guess for some people physical media is still a big thing but over the past few years I've moved more and more towards digital media. I used to rip DVDs when I had android devices as it was quite convenient due to the ease of getting content on and off devices. However I now find it more convenient to buy a digital version of my media from iTunes. In that why it's available on all my devices simultaneously. There is no need to transfer to each device individually. I can watch it on either of my iPads, my iPhone, my MacBook or on my Apple TV and the best thing is that it doesn't take up any physical space in my house.
 
Apple has sold machines without optical drives for 5 years. And physical media is dying anyway, while streaming is exploding and has been for years now, but am not sure why you are mixing the discussion of physical media on computers with that on TVs?
Apple has sold machines without optical drives for 5 years. And physical media is dying anyway, while streaming is exploding and has been for years now, but am not sure why you are mixing the discussion of physical media on computers with that on TVs?

When was the last time you visited a Fry's electronics or a Best Buy? The last time I visited Fry's I saw isles upon Isles of DVD's for sale many of which are not available on iTunes or are much cheaper to purchase than on iTunes. I bought a DVD TV season for $14 and that DVD TV season is not available on iTunes, and even if it was for $14? Get real.
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I built a gaming PC. I had the option to spend $30 for a bd/r DVD/rw. I decided to not bother. They're dead in computers, get with the times.

I take it you do not have a DVD library of movies.
 
If it weren't for the movie studios clinging to optical discs for their own reasons they're be even deader than they are now, ancient history like floppy discs and VHS tapes. As for folks with DVD libraries, all the ones I know have DVD players, usually several. Why would anyone expect a computer to play discs? It just isn't rational.
 
When was the last time you visited a Fry's electronics or a Best Buy? The last time I visited Fry's I saw isles upon Isles of DVD's for sale many of which are not available on iTunes or are much cheaper to purchase than on iTunes. I bought a DVD TV season for $14 and that DVD TV season is not available on iTunes, and even if it was for $14? Get real.
Never, I don't even know what stores those are.

But you do know that things go on sale when they can't sell them at regular prices? Most stuff people want to see is on streaming services, which is MUCH cheaper than stockpiling DVDs, and MUCH more convenient. So yeah, get real.
 
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