I don't really think you know anything.
Sorry, but this is incorrect. That is a business user or a business traveler, they have entirely different needs than professionals in many fields. I know because I've done the road warrior thing. Thin, light, basic performance, small, all of those things are key. You might put on a presentation, do some web surfing, email, etc. Occasionally something more involved but speed is usually not the focus.
Frankly you just insulted many a professional that has to travel for part of his living. Do you honestly believe that every person on an Airplane with a laptop is a "business traveler" doing light office work?
Professionals from audio, video, graphic design, artists, IT, engineers, etc. have very different needs and demands as well as very specialized programs that require real horsepower and often optical media.
First off you just insulted more people by including professionals (IT and engineers) with artists graphic designers & etc. Beyond that it is pretty clear that professionals do get work done with Apples AIR's. Frankly that was with the old models, with the new ones being twice as fast even more professionals should find the machines acceptable.
I have massive amounts of audio samples/loops/tools on CD as well as design tools and programs that end up being massive. I need hard drive space, SSD is cool for the OS but not for those things. Plus I can be generating massive files as well that also need a home. If I have to lug an external optical drive *and* an external HDD just to function, then there's no point and the system is not professional level.
No it isn't professional level due to your specific needs.
However you mis one point I've been championing here more internal storage not less. Thus the need to get rid if the optical drive.
Look at it this way, I currently carry around with me an external HD because my MBP does not have the internal capacity I need. Rationally that disk would make more sense if it was mounted internally as it would benefit from reliability and a faster connection. Mean while an external CD works fine across USB.
In any event I'd be very happy with a 15" AIR if it offered internal secondary storage expansion. I believe this is very easy to do by removing the optical even in a slimmed down form factor. I don't expect a 15" AIR to be as thin as it's smaller brothers simply from the structural standpoint. There is no reason to eliminate a laptop HD bay and at the same time also support a blade slot or two.
This thread drives me nuts because almost every case the people championing them and this supposed move are people using a MBP for non-professional use or more business-class use. Which is why I still say keep your Airs and Macbooks for home/student/business/travel and leave the Pro line the hell alone and make it for professionals.
Your definition of "Pro" is simply to narrow for Apple to ever target. You think of pro usage as being your usage and simply dismiss all the other usages as no pro. How sweet of you.
Worst is that you seem to discount the possibility that Apple might come up with a pro model that actually attracts more customers.
All of these comments are analogous to telling a professional photographer that they should make do with a consumer-grade Nikon instead of a $7-8k D3X because you can take perfectly good photos of your snowflake's soccer game with a $500 D3000. The logic and thought process escapes me.
What escapes me is that you can't recognize that that Nikon camera is but one leg in Nikons lineup. They have the H series for example that gives up pixels for other capabilities.
Apple giving up the optical drive does not imply that they no longer have a professional laptop. Rather it means they are focused on other perhaps more important needs. One of these needs is performance, something that can be helped by the removal of the optical.
Pro should stay Pro for the actual professionals, not the people that just want a beefier laptop which is what the regular MB line was for.
This is really incredible if you ask me. By your comments it would be impossible fir Apple to ever improve the pro line up. Any change or deletion of old technology would be unacceptable in your narrow view of the world.
The problem here is that if given a free hand I can easily see Apple producing a very advanced or modern laptop for the professional markets. Dropping the optical gives them the volume to do this in. Building hardware for the past would be death for Apple, they just look to the future and make decisions based where they think the industry will be.
