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Apple's Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter Rolling Out in Online Store
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The purpose of a laptop is to be portable and comfortable to use *ON YOUR LAP*. It seems like there are a lot of people who consider their laptop to be more of a "portable desktop PC." I personally have no desire to sit at a desk 8 hours (or more) a day, 5 days a week, just to be productive. I like taking my MacBook Air 13" into any room of my house. I might use it on the kitchen counter on occasion, but most of the time it's sitting on my lap in a variety of rooms of my house (most frequently, in my bedroom, with me sitting up in bed working). I'll be the first to admit that my habits are probably not good for my back/posture, but I think this intra-house portability is what makes a laptop so great. And I rarely take mine *out* of my house.
And, FWIW, I'm a software developer and my 2011 13" Air w/upgrade res screen is plenty powerful enough to do "real work" on it. I would like a larger, higher-res screen, but I'm not willing to give up the lightweight aspect of the Air. The newest Pro Retina might be doable, but I'll wait till they come out with a true Air w/Retina.
And, FWIW, I'm a software developer and my 2011 13" Air w/upgrade res screen is plenty powerful enough to do "real work" on it. I would like a larger, higher-res screen, but I'm not willing to give up the lightweight aspect of the Air. The newest Pro Retina might be doable, but I'll wait till they come out with a true Air w/Retina.
I think you're going to need TWO adapters, well one adapter and one dongle. It seems like starting with MDP and now Thunderbolt adapters on top of dongles on top of adapters on top of dongles seems to be the new Apple theme for the next decade, unfortunately.
For a system that supposedly "just works" I don't get this obsession for "thin" that's making things NOT "just work" anymore without a bunch of adapters and dongles. Apple needs to stop obsessing and start making all-in-one products that get the job done with reasonable hardware profiles. Making it so thin that you can't do anything without hubs and adapters is not an idea I like very much. I want portable without a bunch of parts I can lose. Apple's clearly gone past "cool" into the realm of obsessive/compulsive behavior the past couple of years.
In a true wireless world, no adapters or wires would be needed for devices and power. Apple can thin their machines down to a sharp blade. In the meantime, I prefer not to use adapters but I guess Apple is trying to say those standards are on their way out.
That's certainly true for USB or USB 2 adapter Ethernet connections, but not for a 'normal' Ethernet connection.
I don't need them all the time it. or in the case of a CD drive, once in a blue moon. Ethernet is still widely used. i think it should of been included.
Those who need it have no choice, they could charge $100.
I'm half surprised they aren't.
I suppose making everyone wait 2 months was adequate punishment for enduring Apple innovation.
You have no idea what you're talking about. There are people who can easily saturate a 1Gb ethernet connection. If you transfer a large file over the network - and your computers aren't really old - then chances are you can easily hit the 1Gb ceiling (128MB/s). If you're doing HDD->HDD over the network, then you won't be doing 128MB/s, however you can surpass 60MB/s (USB2's ceiling - not counting overhead). If you're going from SSD->SSD or SSD->Raid Array over the network, you can top 128MB/s.
Both of my MBAs obviously use SSD and my company servers all have raid arrays that can break the 1Gb speed - even their 4Gb aggregated links can get saturated.
So yes, people can and do use Gb adapters to the full extent.
(Note: My numbers don't count overhead)
Thunderbolt security issue
http://h-online.com/-1655108
Conclusion: don't buy thunderbolt devices from unknown sources (i.e. Ebay)
http://h-online.com/-1655108
Conclusion: don't buy thunderbolt devices from unknown sources (i.e. Ebay)
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You know the US spends 40% more public money per capita on health care than the UK does don't you?
Sorry, I might have gotten my wires crossed on that one. My 13" has a 1440x900 display, and I was thinking that the base 2011 13" model had the same 1366x768 display as the 11" model. Maybe I was thinking about how the base 15" Pro model had the same res as the 13" Pro but could be upgraded to a higher res.
In any case, my 1440x900 display is workable, but I would certainly appreciate more resolution, and I'd be willing to accept a 15" Air with a higher-res screen, but I'm less convinced that the 15" Pro Retina (which not only increases the physical dimensions to support the 15" screen, but adds noticeable weight compared to the 13" Air) would be a slam-dunk upgrade for me (leaving out the significantly higher cost, which definitely makes it a no-deal for me at this point). I predict that next year we'll see the Pro Retina's price come down significantly, and we might see a Retina 1366x768-doubled resolution make its way into a 13" Air. If so, I could see sticking with the 13" size.
But all of this is getting way off-topic for this thread.
No. This is not an "adapter" in the sense of moving some pins around and changing the connector (as in a FW800-to-400 adapter), this is basically a single-port PCI-express FW800 card that happens to fit inside the bit at the end.
Besides the obvious reason you ditched, Ethernet-over-USB connections are typically less reliable than exclusive Ethernet ones. Depending on the internal USB hub used, you get both unreliable USB and Ethernet speeds when using latency-sensitive application and devices.
My biggest beef with these adapters is that they are not chainable.
Because Apple's SSD upgrade prices are as ridiculous as they are, making the MBP a really bad deal IMHO. (And even if you get the SSD, it will replace the HDD, not the crappy DVD drive.)
I think if Apple offered an SSD MBP, or even an SSD+HDD MBP for a fair price, most of us MBA whiners would never have gotten an MBA.
I don't know you personally yet, but can I spell I. Hate. You.
Here (a supposedly so-called developed, industrialized Western country) to get 100Mbit/s unlimited, you have to get four modems, ask the incumbent to install four pairs of wires (most homes have only two), connect them in a specially configured router, and spit around $350/month. 1Gbit/s is not even on the map yet. Who would pay to install 40 phone lines in a home anyway? LoL
Yay cool new adaptor! The thing I love the most about Apple computers is the constant need for adaptors!
"Most" connections are *not* wireless. Consumer-grade, light use connections are *more and more wireless*. Are you implying that to get flexibility you have to get the Air for portability, and the Pro for connectivity? Doesn't hauling two computers at once defeats the purpose of portability?
Let's please have the decency to drop the "Pro" moniker from the rMBP. Pro means reliability and velocity. Gigabit Ethernet is nowhere near "old". The ordinary MBP, either in 13" or 15" sizes, are nowhere near "un-portable".
We, "Pro" users don't necessarily need Ethernet "most of the time". We need it regularly, on "as-needed" basis. Meaning it's better not to have to think about constantly keeping the adapter with us at all times, "just in case". Much like many users don't bring their computer because they are sure they need it, but because the inconvenience of not having it is bigger than the weight penalty should they need it during their day.
It's a fact that while the computer itself gets thinner, to keep the same functionality as previous models, one must add peripherals, add money to its budget, add weight and bulk in its bag.
A minority of clueless / hipsters (the targeted demographics, if we are to understand recent Apple ads) use the Ethernet port. Meanwhile, people with many computers, as a large number of MR-dwellers seem to have (See "Post your Mac setup" topic) simply prefer to use cables out of convenience.
I raised the issue on another topic previously, and got dismissed with a say that "everybody has an iPhone". Sorry but no. Not "everybody" is willing to chain his- or herself to a 3-year contract at staggering rates. I have a hard time believing my carrier's say that those are "Apple's conditions".Yet there is no 3G connectivity on the device other than using an external via bluetooth or usb
One more thing... "Yet another device" defeats the touted "portability".
The adapter adds yet another part to break, more likely since it's external. They can nowhere be as small as this Bluetooth adapter. Plus, read the weight of inconvenience vs. actual weight comparison I wrote above.
Works much like an insurance. Sure, it's yet another bill to pay, but when catastrophe strikes, you are pleased to find some relief.
In that rMBP, I could do without the optical drive built-in as I pretty much know when I am likely to encounter a plastic disc. However, I could never do without the FW800 port since it drives my virtual machines. Even if I had the budget to switch to TB-based external disk, I couldn't go with it since TB-based HDDs don't exist yet!
And for you all iCloud and other SSD worshippers, just explain where do I put 180GB+ worth of virtual HDDs in the small internal rMBP SSD?
4G, for now, is just a marketing gimmick as 3G hasn't yet achieved 100% penetration rate. An iPad is not a computer. A computer is flexible and open, and has decent horsepower inside. Up to now, neither the iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad had enough horsepower to conduct CPU- and RAM-intensive tasks. The iPhone OS still doesn't allow for data sharing between applications. Applications must be approved by Apple, blocking any low-level development.
Really??? I thought TB was already out before Lion shipped on Macs. Oh wait. This adaptor is useless on previous-generation Macs since they had these ports built-in. My bad.
it's all decimal
Network and disk numbers are in decimal notation - so:
Network and disk numbers are in decimal notation - so:
(1,000,000,000 bits per second) / (8 bits per byte) == (125,000,000 bytes per second)
New macbook pro line already have USB 3 inputs!
Plus, there are no USB to FW connectors, to my knowledge. So, maybe TB and USB3 are incompatible in the same way.
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