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Anyone besides me hoping the new MBP DOES have an optical drive?

I wish they would take it out and knock $100 off the price. Then they can sell it separately like with the Macbook Air for $120. That will shave some weight off the computer for 99% of the times when you don't need an disc drive, save costs for Apple and also let them sell an external one at a profit.
 
I can't see them getting rid of it, until microsoft start shipping windows on USB drives. Bootcamp is still a massive selling point for Apple, and getting rid of the ODD, meaning that for the average user its a pain in the a** to install windows... Won't happen..

Just my 2 cents
 
SimonUK5 said:
I can't see them getting rid of it, until microsoft start shipping windows on USB drives. Bootcamp is still a massive selling point for Apple, and getting rid of the ODD, meaning that for the average user its a pain in the a** to install windows... Won't happen..

Just my 2 cents
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I hope they don't get rid of the optical drive too...but you can always install Windows via an external optical drive....
 
cube said:
If it doesn't have an optical drive it is not an MBP.
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srshaw said:
MBP should have optical drive.
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gr8tfly said:
The Pros should have an optical drive, IMO.
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SimonUK5 said:
I can't see them getting rid of it, until microsoft start shipping windows on USB drives.
Click to expand...

Everyone is hung up on this "Pro" moniker. It's just a buzzword Apple used to separate one line of laptops from the lowly MacBook and the 11/13" Airs. Apple is under no obligation to continue this:

Adios White MacBook (already done)...

Adios all MBP's…

Adios both MacBook Airs…

Adios Optical Drives…(Add an External for $59)

Adios USB and Firewire (Get a multiport Thunderbolt Dongle for just $179.95 :D)

Hello revamped and redesigned 11/13/15/17 plain old MacBooks (which look a lot like beefed up Airs). Not sure if the 17" flavor will make the transistion though. Just like the Mac Pro… Apple may not know exactly what to do with this beast).

macuser2134 said:
If there is no chasis redesign - then it makes little sense to remove the ODD just on its own.
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Put another battery in its place.
 
iisforiphone said:
...now you have to download 2GB files for an hour or more
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Hours? Dial-up is dead, just like optical media, man. :p


Krazy Bill said:
Everyone is hung up on this "Pro" moniker. It's just a buzzword Apple used to separate one line of laptops from the lowly MacBook and the 11/13" Airs. Apple is under no obligation to continue this:

Adios White MacBook (already done)...

Adios all MBP's…

Adios both MacBook Airs…

Adios Optical Drives…(Add an External for $59)

Adios USB and Firewire (Get a multiport Thunderbolt Dongle for just $179.95 :D)

Hello revamped and redesigned 11/13/15/17 plain old MacBooks (which look a lot like beefed up Airs). Not sure if the 17" flavor will make the transistion though. Just like the Mac Pro… Apple may not know exactly what to do with this beast).
Click to expand...

I agree this is where they are going, though I think USB is a little too "Universal" (no pun intended) for them to try nixing it.

Apple is fairly comfortable being on the bleeding edge (relatively speaking) and they also seem to be comfortable leaving those resistant to change behind, unfortunately for some.
 
if dey drop da ODD

if dey drop the ODD and user replaceable RAM and HDD im done with apple and getting a Late 2011 13" "trading in my Early 2011 and getting a 2.8 i7 with 750 gig drive and extra apple care!!!
dat will hold me 3-4 years and also getting a 16 gig mem kit ima video editor and semi photographer
 
I read a lot of posts here about dropping the optical drive and for myself it doesn't matter. I just got my mbp and haven't even used the drive once, but it's good to know it's there if I want to burn something for my car or whatever. Bottom line is that it's nice to have, but if it wasn't there it wouldn't bother me much and I'd pick up a dvd burner from best buy for almost nothing and use it on the occasions I might need it. I guess it's nice to have but....

One of the things I like about this board is the passionate way most people think about their computers. :)
 
If Apple lose the ODD in order to put something more useful in its place like a second HDD or a better graphics card ect then i see it as a great thing. You don't need a high speed external connection for an ODD so it makes sense to use an external usb one when required.
 
edk99 said:
Your best bet is to hope Apple does not redesign the MBP. My feeling is that if they are going to do a major redesign then the ODD is history. Reason being is that these designs last 3-5 years and giving the Mac App store is growing, Apple not selling physical media any more and you can download movies or stream them there is less and less a need for an ODD.
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Along with others, I'm of the opinion we're not quite there yet with this push towards discarding physical media and the internal ODD in laptops.

There's no way I can stream video over DSL that's "rated" at 3.1Mbps and serves it up at far, far slower speeds most of the time. I mean I can't even stream all of an itunes trailer or the typical Reuters newsclip without a couple regroups... and there's nothing portable about a laptop connected to an external optical drive, at least not on one's lap. And now there are big questions whether fast wireless access will come all that quickly to the hinterlands, thanks to apparent spectrum interference problems with the erstwhile vaunted LightSquared.

Meanwhile: I like physical media for installs because they're quick to load versus hours for me to download digital versions. I like not having a TV or an external DVD player. Sure, I download iTunes movies when I decide I like one enough to buy it and have the patience to start the download way late at night or before dawn. But I watch far more Netflix rental discs, and buy DVDs as well, sometimes used ones via Amazon third party for hard to find films or TV series.

Yeah, I realize these mostly rural concerns do not matter to most people and most corporations now. And my failure to purchase the higher end apple laptops in the future probably will not matter either, because Apple's market share has continued to grow in the urban areas where there's plenty of wireless access and plenty of high speed broadband. C'est la vie! I'll go back to books (ok, ebooks) and my imagination instead of watching the movie versions. I'll miss my MBP13 when it croaks, though.
 
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