About the MBP 17" ExpressCard slot

[Xylian]

I have a question for you about the ExpressCard slot of the new MacBook Pros.. I'm going to buy (maybe today) my first Mac and I'd like to buy the 17", since I need a portable desktop replacement... one of the reasons why I'd like to buy the 17" (apart from the very nice screen resolution) is that it has an ExpressCard slot which enables you (I hope) to expand the capabilities of your MBP in the future... My question is if the ExpressCard is version 1 or 2, because I'd like to buy in the future an ExpressCard with USB 3 ports and only the ExpressCard 2 can support the specifications of USB 3 (5 Gbps), is it right? Do you think there will be USB 3 ExpressCards for the MBPs?

Thank you in advance for your answers

 

[EstrlM3]

the MBP itself with intel hardware will not support usb 3.0 so i dont think the issue is with the expresscard slot

 

[underblu]

the MBP itself with intel hardware will not support usb 3.0 so i dont think the issue is with the expresscard slot

There are already USB 3.0 express cards so there should be no hardware issue, however, there would be a driver issue as there is no current USB 3.0 driver for OSX, at least to my knowledge. This could change in the future. Additionally, whatever (if any) new i/o ports come on future Macs, there's a good bet that express slot could be used for this purpose.

 

[Xylian]

I'd really like to know it it is ExpressCard 2 compliant or not, but it seems very difficult to find this information...

 

[Frosties]

I'd really like to know it it is ExpressCard 2 compliant or not, but it seems very difficult to find this information...

I think the best way would be to call up an apple tech for this info not to ask someone at the store. Haven't looked if the take apart sites specify anything on the expresscard.

 

[tommyknockrs]

I'd really like to know it it is ExpressCard 2 compliant or not, but it seems very difficult to find this information...

Since ExpressCard 1.0 requires to be able to ride either the PCI-e bus or USB 2.0 Bus, I am pretty confident that the new 2010 MBP's do not have Expresscard 2.0. Expresscard 2.0 needs to be able to ride on a USB 3.0 and PCI-e 2.0 bus. Also Intel is not fully adopting usb 3.0 in their chipsets till later 2010 or even into 2011.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/04/nvidia-confirms-intel-chipsets-wont-support-usb-3-0-until-2011/

I think Intel is trying to trump Usb 3.0 with their Light Peak connection
thus starting another connector war.

 

[Xylian]

Since ExpressCard 1.0 requires to be able to ride either the PCI-e bus or USB 2.0 Bus, I am pretty confident that the new 2010 MBP's do not have Expresscard 2.0. Expresscard 2.0 needs to be able to ride on a USB 3.0 and PCI-e 2.0 bus. Also Intel is not fully adopting usb 3.0 in their chipsets till later 2010 or even into 2011.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/04/nvidia-confirms-intel-chipsets-wont-support-usb-3-0-until-2011/

I think Intel is trying to trump Usb 3.0 with their Light Peak connection
thus starting another connector war.

Thank you very much, these are sad news for me... Maybe I'll better buy a base 15 MBP and sell it next year to buy an MBP 17" with some new technology (USB 3, lightpeak, ecc).. I'm not very happy with the last update, poor GPU peformance and no interesting news apart the ix CPUs..Maybe also quadcore CPUs will enter MBPs next year, leading to a real jump in processing Power (the real next level).. Ok, stop dreaming on MBPs