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Popular for what? Music and Video or as the "sneaker net" media ?
In the former case yes. In the latter case, USB Flash is displacing them. A quick scan at amazon.com shows a 4GB USB drive for $8. Yeah that is more expensive than a blank DVD-R media, but it is gettng cheaper each year. And it is rewritable. ( good news / bad news if trying to archive important data).

Music and Video, I would agree that most people use flash drives anymore for transferring data between computers and such.
 

That is a bizarre statement. The new display aligns perfectly with their strategy.


Is that what you call "going diskless"? I call it going Apple (and then having to borrow PCs to do the real work).

The only thing I use a cd drive for is ripping movies off old DVDs (the CDS have been done for years). That is not the real work, that is getting rid of the old crap that is not necessary in 2011.

Stupid suggestion, obviously. The real question is: with so many limits to what Macs can do why are some people still buying them? To no-BluRay "advantage" we now add no CD/DVD disks (in addition to other crap like no matte screens, no ethernet ports, no USB 3.0 ports, no real desktops, no advanced GPUs, no built-in 3G/4G modems in laptops etc.)


Strange isn't it, maybe your idea of whats important is not the same as everyone else's. You will not find a laptop in the same class of the air with anywhere near the sales figures, so they must be doing something right.

The limitations you described only exist on the Air (combined). Some people really do prefer a nice form factor over features they will never or rarely use.
 
The other thing that never fails to amaze me is how quickly posting anything negative about Steve Jobs or Apple always results in quick negatives here!

I think I got 2 within SECONDS of criticizing the SuperDrive decision! LOL

If I get like 10-20 negatives, do like balloons fall from the ceiling and I win a prize or something? :D
 
Removing the optical drive was a mistake, they didn't even replace it with anything.

Optical drives are not obsolete the way floppies were when the iMac came out.

Optical storage still has a long life ahead of it.

Eh, not quite true. In the base model, you're correct. However in the others, there is either another hard drive or a better GPU, both of which take up space.
 
The only thing I use a cd drive for is ripping movies off old DVDs (the CDS have been done for years). That is not the real work, that is getting rid of the old crap that is not necessary in 2011.

I guess that makes me lazy in Steve Jobs and Apple's eyes.
I still have some obscure CDs that I haven't ripped, so I won't be buying a SuperDrive-less Mac anytime soon.

Or maybe Apple is my new motivational speaker?

"Get it done now because you won't be able to tomorrow! CHOP CHOP!" :D
 
thats the dilemma....

The Mac Mini has a good GPU (AMD Radeon 6630M), but it has lackluster CPU power (A dual-core i7). That's bad..........:(

Now the Mac Mini SERVE has a good CPU (quad-core i7), but it has lackluster GPU power (Intel HD3000?!?!). Funny that either one or the other happens :p

thats the dilemma....which is the hi end configuration...the mini or mini server? I was just about to get the server but cancel my order after reading all the threads on the lackluster GPU power :(
 
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The only thing I use a cd drive for is ripping movies off old DVDs (the CDS have been done for years). That is not the real work, that is getting rid of the old crap that is not necessary in 2011.

I would have to disagree that cds have been done for years and for sure DVD's aren't done if they were why is NETFLIX and REDBOX so big? I guess those companies are about to shut down because no one uses DVD's anymore. I would have to lean on the side that quite a few people still use their cdroms. You must not be in school either. A lot of college textbooks come with cd's what am I suppose to do with those? I totally understand for the MBA but the Macmini was just a mistake. :eek:
 
Things I dislike about the hardware launch today:

  • Fanfare for a monitor that will not be available for two more months (at least this adds weight to rumor of Mac Pro refresh within 2mo)

Why? The monitor is as much a docking station as it is a display. Mac Pros don't need a docking station. At all! They have all those ports already.
This display is clearly aimed at laptops. The ones released earlier in the year and today. You think your Mac Pro needs a 85W, magsafe power cord coming from the monitor?

Mac Pro's can take any one of the 100s of monitors on the market. Nobody has to buy an Apple monitor to get a very good , if not world class, monitor for a Mac Pro.

This monitor has very little if anything to do with the Mac Pro.

  • Images of thunderbolt display stood next to Mac Pro on product page, and beneath that confirmation that it will only work with other machines than the Mac Pro.

Wait a day it won't be there.
 
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KnightWRX said:
Cmon Apple, what the hell are you doing?!? I know you led the way with the removal of the 3.5" floppy but really, no drive? This is just a way to force people to buy off the itunes store, which doesnt have everything on there at all! I think Apple has done this a few years too early imo.

Im so disappointed. I have been an Apple fan and user for a long time. If this keeps up, im going to make my own boutique computer and use unix.

Sad.

Force people ? They didn't remove the USB ports last I checked. USB DVD drives exist and are cheap too. Come on people, not the end of the world and a move that we all saw coming last year.

Talk about a great way of burying a $80 price bump.

Don't get the Apple superdrive, it's overpriced. Much cheaper drives that offer all the same capabilities out there. Shop around.

Give it a few years and you'll see the USB ports disappear too!
 
It appears to me that Apple is going to kill off the Mini pretty soon. It no longer has any significant price/value benefit.

Mini: 2.3 i5 DUAL Core, 4 gb ram, 500 gb HD, + Superdrive, +wireless keyboard, + magic mouse, + INTEL GRAPHICS = $916.00

iMac: 2.5 QUAD core, 4 gb ram, 500 gb HD, superdrive, wireless keyboard, magic mouse AMD graphics, and 21.5" LED screen = $1199.00
 
Why? The monitor is as much a docking station as it is a display. Mac Pros don't need a docking station. At all! They have all those ports already.
This display is clearly aimed at laptops. The ones released earlier in the year and today. You think your Mac Pro needs a 85W, magsafe power cord coming from the monitor?

Mac Pro's can take any one of the 100s of monitors on the market. Nobody has to buy an Apple monitor to get a very good , if not world class, monitor for a Mac Pro.

This monitor has very little if anything to do with the Mac Pro

Well the point was about the 6-8 week delay before it is actually being available. But the parentheses were about the mac pro, because actually daisychaining multiple displays is likely to be very useful for multiscreen applications. In my mind the docking station features rhetoric is just fluff, and i disagree that this and the cinema display are targeted mainly as an expansion for laptops. They may have added features to improve convenience for laptops to tap into that market, but they are also Apple's only offering in workstation displays.

Wait a day it won't be there

Unless by the time these things are finally available there is a viable thunderbolt equipped Pro?
 
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Navdakilla said:
Cmon Apple, what the hell are you doing?!? I know you led the way with the removal of the 3.5" floppy but really, no drive? This is just a way to force people to buy off the itunes store, which doesnt have everything on there at all! I think Apple has done this a few years too early imo.

Im so disappointed. I have been an Apple fan and user for a long time. If this keeps up, im going to make my own boutique computer and use unix.

Sad.


Common man, tell me this honestly, how often do you use your optical drive?
I use mine maybe a handful of times in a year, and that's just to burn cd's for my car (which doesn't have aux out). Most applications can be done using usb drives. I'm happy no more optical drives.

With that being said, I'm sticking to my mbp for now, and hopefully we get a new design in 2012, so I can sell mine to get the new one

Honestly, I use it all the time! I do video editing and photography and people expect DVD media. Also I have 500+ dvd movies too that I like to watch on there!
 
It appears to me that Apple is going to kill off the Mini pretty soon. It no longer has any significant price/value benefit.

Mini: 2.3 i5 DUAL Core, 4 gb ram, 500 gb HD, + Superdrive, +wireless keyboard, + magic mouse, + INTEL GRAPHICS = $916.00

iMac: 2.5 QUAD core, 4 gb ram, 500 gb HD, superdrive, wireless keyboard, magic mouse AMD graphics, and 21.5" LED screen = $1199.00
Ha, good point.
 
The thing I always fail to understand is why the MBPs, which are mobile laptops and are/should be more constrained in terms of power consumption and heat dissipation, can have the option of dedicated graphics and quad core CPUs but the desktop mac mini, which should have more latitude for power consumption and cooling, does not.

If the mini were bigger.

the MBP 15" 133 inches^3 of space
the mini 83 inches^3 of space

the mini is smaller in volume than the MBP 15. Sure, there isn't an LCD panel soaking up room inside the mini, but it is roughly the same size volume. It is not large nor is it more heavy ( 5 vs 3 lbs) . If it had a screen it would be useful as a laptop. It is basically a laptop (limited fans and heat dissipation ) without a screen.


Not to mention that the parts in the MBP are both superior to what you get in the mac mini (6750M w/1GB memory and 2.3GHz quad-core i7).

They cost more too. A $1300 mini is not productive since that crosses into the iMac's space.


Why must we choose? I wish they made a mac mini pro which cost more but actually had powerful components in it.

Actually they are trying to cut down the choices so that users don't get bogged down into decisions over the same $999 (for example ) buys 5 different models with highly overlapping functionality.
 
Hope the trend isn't to remove all optical drives

In the future iMac or Mac Pros don't come with a built in SuperDrive it will be hard to continue using Macs for my wife's business. She is a wedding photographer and brides insist on getting a DVD of proofs, and if they purchase a full copy right to the images, then they get a high res dvd. With out an Optical drive it will be pretty hard to burn those DVD's. To me it would be a step backward to have a externally attached drive.
 
Well I don't know about you but I buy a computer to get rid of an old one. I don't just let machines sit around my house. With that being said why would I want to buy a NEW machine that can't replace my old one. So now I have to turn on two machines if I want to install some software or if I want to listen to a cd or watch a dvd. That is just pointless. Some people like to use the mac mini as their media computer/server in their house and hook it up to their tv. Well kind of hard to do that without a cdrom drive. :rolleyes:

Many people have more than one computer at home (desktop, laptop for example) and many people re-purpose their old computers when they buy a new one (my last upgrade led to my old MBP became a HTPC, which will soon be replaced by a mini). Gaining access to another computer with a DVD drive isn't that hard. Furthermore, almost all software is available online now.

Most computers really don't need optical drives. Between the App Store, iTunes, Amazon, Steam and product websites there's little need for a DVD drive. DVD's are best ripped and played from the hard drive (again, not an issue with a second computer). Currently, my MBPs optical drive collects dust and the only thing I've used my home built PCs Blu ray drive for in the last year was to rip Blu Rays to my computer.

PS: Apple still sells the external superdrive and retailers like Newegg frequently sell USB DVD burners in the $30 range if you really need one. Personally, I'm more interested in available discrete graphics and the space for a second hard drive (although I may still buy an external drive just in case I ever need one because they're so cheap anyway).
 
In the future iMac or Mac Pros don't come with a built in SuperDrive it will be hard to continue using Macs for my wife's business. She is a wedding photographer and brides insist on getting a DVD of proofs, and if they purchase a full copy right to the images, then they get a high res dvd. With out an Optical drive it will be pretty hard to burn those DVD's. To me it would be a step backward to have a externally attached drive.

I don't think they will remove the optical drive in the iMac and Mac Pros anytime soon since there is more than enough room for it. The optical drive on the macbook pros, on the other hand, may be on the endangered list (see HP Envy and Sony Vaio Z).

As an aside, A TB connected burner would be every bit as good as an internal, but a can see why you wouldn't want another peripheral on your desk.
 
[Honestly, I use it all the time! I do video editing and photography and people expect DVD media. Also I have 500+ dvd movies too that I like to watch on there![/QUOTE]

I frequently have clients send me data discs (CD's and DVD's) at my office. While there are options so they would not need to do that, I don't want to have to educate them, change their habits, etc. I have one mini in the office. Without a optical drive, there won't be another...
 
They may have added features to improve convenience for laptops to tap into that market, but they are also Apple's only offering in workstation displays.

Apple has withdrawn from the workstation monitor market. You could kludge a solution by maybe hooking these to a Mac Pro (if it has Thunderbolt ... which is an open question).

Apple withdrew from the printer market when it got to commoditized. "standalone" Monitors are no different.


Unless by the time these things are finally available there is a viable thunderbolt equipped Pro?

Dream on.

TB provides a PCI-e connectivity and a display port. Guess what? A Mac Pro has multiple slots for PCI-e connectivity. It has already had the function for a long time. Why does it need it repackaged into more highly constrained , less widely utilized format?????????? You can put a 10Gbps Ethernet card into a Mac Pro right now. Don't need to wait for TB to get 10Gbps class throughput I/O.


Unless Intel backs off of the "PCI-e + Display Port" singles out of the host rule then it is not too likely going to get a Video card with a TB sockets coming out. GPUs compete with the PCI-e expansion capabilities.
Unless Apple makes one of the graphics card vendor build one of those, I don't think it is going to see like of day any time soon.

Sure if Apple built some Xeon E3 mini tower ( like that is on some folks wish list) and coupled the mainboard GPU to the TB port it would work. I don't think that solution is coming either.

it is called coincidence you are trying to tie two dates together from different products to boost support for the rumor that the Mac Pro is coming soon. Not. Q4 is when the Xeon E5 are coming.
 
I frequently have clients send me data discs (CD's and DVD's) at my office.

If "at the office" then an external drive has just as high utility as an internal one. The value case would have to be when you dragged you setup to the client shop and then handed you a CD/DVD and you had to copy right away.

That tends to have problems for small stuff since they also could have a wireless or wired ethernet which works for transfer. Or you could hand them a USB drive to put the copy onto.
 
when I get client files sent to me on dvd/cd (usually very large video files) I copy the contents to a NAS and be done with the disc (destroy it)
 
It appears to me that Apple is going to kill off the Mini pretty soon. It no longer has any significant price/value benefit.

Other than being less expensive.

Now comes the duplicitous comparison

Mini: 2.3 i5 DUAL Core, 4 gb ram, 500 gb HD, + Superdrive, +wireless keyboard, + magic mouse, + INTEL GRAPHICS = $916.00

Mini saddled with BTO to configuration options that are not standard and have Apple's typical higher than average mark up.

iMac: 2.5 QUAD core, 4 gb ram, 500 gb HD, superdrive, wireless keyboard, magic mouse AMD graphics, and 21.5" LED screen = $1199.00

a standard configuration with no BTO order additions.

Yeah sure if you add a bunch of stuff inside the configuration store your value ( bang for the buck) goes down. There is a simple solution for that, don't buy the add ons in the Apple store.
 
Many people have more than one computer at home (desktop, laptop for example) and many people re-purpose their old computers when they buy a new one (my last upgrade led to my old MBP became a HTPC, which will soon be replaced by a mini). Gaining access to another computer with a DVD drive isn't that hard. Furthermore, almost all software is available online now.

Most computers really don't need optical drives. Between the App Store, iTunes, Amazon, Steam and product websites there's little need for a DVD drive. DVD's are best ripped and played from the hard drive (again, not an issue with a second computer). Currently, my MBPs optical drive collects dust and the only thing I've used my home built PCs Blu ray drive for in the last year was to rip Blu Rays to my computer.

PS: Apple still sells the external superdrive and retailers like Newegg frequently sell USB DVD burners in the $30 range if you really need one. Personally, I'm more interested in available discrete graphics and the space for a second hard drive (although I may still buy an external drive just in case I ever need one because they're so cheap anyway).

Well I like to think Mac likes to push their computers towards students for one I mean they do give back to school deals and school discounts and not "I'm a normal Joe discount" and when you buy school books they have been coming more often with software. How do you suppose the college student that has ONE computer do that? Ohh they should just use the discount they get on the computer to buy another piece to add on to it. Plus I know lots of people that use their Macmini as their media device. How can they watch DVDs with it? :rolleyes:
 
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