Well that would be the only other option. But I would really like to to pay huge premium just for having a smaller size compared to the older version. Have to wait for actual BTO prices though. Then again, where is the sense in a smaller form factor if I now have to add a separate HDD if I want more Flash?
Agree!
The iMac design has to serve two very different customers... a simple AIO consumer who will not need the premium features, and a Prosumer type who needs max horsepower but still wants all the Mac AIO features and doesn't want to go all the way (or in this case retreat!) to a Mac Pro with a separate monitor.
Two add-ons will be essential for me -- a DVD Burner for specific client-requested output, and various external storage options -- some temporary like a mobile HDD, and one big permanent RAID for all media and raw footage files.
Since Mac Pro is sorely lacking in TB and USB3, and is priced so high and requires another outlay for a screen, and is a bigger footprint, it's not an option. And its probably double in price vs a top iMac to get a real performance bump. Maybe the future Mac Pro will solve a lot of this in 2013.
And Apple is putting these units out in a PC market that is NOT growing nearly as fast as their iOS products. So this design may have to stretch well into 2015+.
Apple is vested in iTunes, and iCloud, both are ways to monetize DVD and storage/mobility without including it in the base spec.
If their user surveys show that a CD player is used less than 10% of the time by the vast majority of buyers, then they have been wasting money on the component cost and the weight/shipping costs. These are major profitable savings that will fall to their bottom line, and most customers will not miss it. And serious customers still have an option with the external which apparently is faster than the OEM model.
From a business/marketing perspective, I get it.
hopefully next year they will update with a better card.
