Macbook Pro will run on Hamster power before you see a blu-ray drive in them. Apple has never had any interest whatsoever in supporting blu-ray.
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Do you want an optical drive on future MBPs?
- Thread starter natejohnstone@g
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Macbook Pro will run on Hamster power before you see a blu-ray drive in them. Apple has never had any interest whatsoever in supporting blu-ray.
MacBook Air - Too thin to cram an optical in the first place
Mac Mini - Considered mistake to remove optical drive by many, including many tech sites, HTPC fans, audiophiles, etc.
iPad - doesn't make sense to put an optical drive on a tablet
MBA being "diskless" was by design.
Mac mini - since there's no HD optical drive it makes more sense to rip a DVD digitally for HTPC applications.
iPad ...driving the usage of digital content and network access....as it should.
Only a luddite hands you an optical disk like they did you a favor.
Haven't used an optical drive in a computer for years now. Buy an external one if you really need it. It waists so much space in a notebook that could be utilized for longer battery life, or extra storage space, or a slimmer design.
The only Apple product i see an optical drive possibly having an extended lifespan in is the iMac. Only because there is so much extra space because the screen is so large, and it's made to be stationary, so you don't have to really worry about space constraints.
The only Apple product i see an optical drive possibly having an extended lifespan in is the iMac. Only because there is so much extra space because the screen is so large, and it's made to be stationary, so you don't have to really worry about space constraints.
I like my drive. Its there when i need it. It makes the machine whole. Without it would make it feel like somethings missing. I used it last week when i installed my Crucial SSD. Once for the firmware update and once for SL clean install. That alone is reason enough to have an optical drive.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/25/mac-mini-review-mid-2011/
For some people, there's data caps that prevent streaming-only or download-only HTPC from happening. And who doesn't like free movie rental from the library?
What about that occasional software that you can only get on a disc, or ones that you most likely will get on a DVD (Office for Mac, older software, Logic & other heavy multimedia suites weighing in at over 50GB)?
How about the professional developers who actually need the drive (Movie producers, music producers, DJs, etc.) to whom the laptop was originally aimed for (hence "Pro")?
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I am a wannabe audiophile and still rip CDs to ALAC and backup my home Blu-rays to iTunes
BUT never need the discs when I leave home - That is exactly why I ripped them.
Bigger batteries or more HDDs would be much more useful for a portable professional or prosumer.
BUT never need the discs when I leave home - That is exactly why I ripped them.
Bigger batteries or more HDDs would be much more useful for a portable professional or prosumer.
And don't professional content creators have huge factories to print discs (or at least a Mac Pro at some home studio)?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1777?viewlocale=en_US
Remote Disc works well. I'm certainly not saying there isn't a need for optical drivers full stop
I'm doubtful that ODD need to be integrated into Mac notebooks. I don't think that the majority are using their drives that often.
Yup.
Thought ethernet was a "must have" but multi stream/channel 802.11n pretty much takes care of most of my needs. Ymmv
I figure I'll keep an older Mac around with a drive for those disc burning needs. I once remember saying "I'll never buy software that isn't on a disc" . Now it sounds foolish because I rarely buy software on a disc but it was all about what I perceived as value.
We are rapidly approaching that tipping point where many people aren't seeing the value of an integrated ODD but they still see the value of having the capability when they need it.
That's why Apple made the Air the cheaper one, and the Pro the expensive one. The majority of users don't use the ODD that often. So they offer a laptop without an ODD for them, and made them cheap. Professionals need the ODD, so they offer a laptop with an ODD and a lot of horsepower. Easy as pie.
Apple didn't put the SSD in an Air on purpose. Majority of users do simple tasks on a computer, such as browsing the web, iPhoto, running the occasional game. Majority of users put speed above power. A SSD will speed up those common tasks a lot, and that's what consumers want. It also happens that the thin design keeps hard drives out of the Air.
Professionals care about power. So they put a quad-core in a laptop. Now it encodes and compiles much faster, and that's what professionals want: raw CPU/GPU power. It's also aimed at gamers, who won't really see a performance boost from a SSD than a GPU boost. Also, professionals know what they need to improve the performance of their machine, so they give upgradeability and choice to the Pro.
Point being, the Air and the Pro are aimed at two different markets.
The problem is, prosumers start buying professional equipment then complain about how the ODD is taking up space, when professionals actually need it there.
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These days, a great many professional content creators are one-man shops, i.e. freelancers. It's cheaper. Video, photo, you name it, TONS of freelancers prefer Macs. If they did away with optical drives, it would really hurt the mobility of these kinds of professionals. These folks (and many of others, like myself) are looking for desktop replacements. If all I cared about was uber-thin, i'd own a MBA.
And as far as the Mac Mini going no-optical ... yea, I was very seriously considering getting a Mac Mini for a new media center hub. But there is no way I'm going to get a media hub w/out a DVD drive ... are you kidding me? most of my media is on DVDs and DVDrs.
This might be dreaming, but why not just have a 128GB SSD the standard base option, then the second SATA connection could be to either the superdrive or a standard HDD. The price could be nearly identical, but it would be above that of what it is today. And this would get nearly everyone out of buying Optibays, which I assume Apple isn't too thrilled with anyway.
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Wait, my MBP has an ethernet port...
I'd much rather drop the ethernet port and replace it with another USB or something than drop the optical.
I still use the optical drive maybe once a week at least, while I can't remember the last time I used an ethernet port on a laptop.
... and more expensive.
Optical drive = cheap as chips (well almost)
Any other possible replacement = more expensive chips.
Absolutely, while there are still uses for an Optical Disk Drive, the drive itself does NOT need to be internal.
If someone wants to "give you a CD", you can wait till you get home, or copy the files onto a flash drive.
Ripping CD's/DVD's? No reason to need, or want, to do that on the road. Heck, that's the POINT of ripping is to not require carrying around all those disks.
The other side though, replacing the ODD with any of the following
(1) Bigger battery
(2) 2nd HDD/SSD
(3) better cooling
(4) redesign to reduce size/weight/thickness
Are all noteworthy, and very useful things for a laptop.
Removing that 5.25" worth of not-needed-internally disk drive, frees up a bunch of space internally for changes. And those changes can only improve the design.
What alternative is there to ethernet? I certainly wouldn't want to use slow 802.11n all the time.
If you could add something that would make ethernet redundant it wouldn't be so bad, but a USB port? I couldn't see anyone needing 3+ USB ports on a laptop. Especially one with bluetooth built in and firewire 800.
It's sad people would rather gimp themselves for convenience, and it would be sadder if Apple bought into it. Especially on a product with "Pro" in its name.
If you could add something that would make ethernet redundant it wouldn't be so bad, but a USB port? I couldn't see anyone needing 3+ USB ports on a laptop. Especially one with bluetooth built in and firewire 800.
It's sad people would rather gimp themselves for convenience, and it would be sadder if Apple bought into it. Especially on a product with "Pro" in its name.
Thing is, the optical drive occupies about 40% of the space inside a 13" MBP. If they do remove it, what are they going to do with the free space? They can't really make it thinner (I'd love it, if they did) because of the Ethernet. I think they could already make the Pro thinner if they removed the Ethernet port. It's almost getting out of the frame.
johnnyturbouk
macrumors 68000
RIP superdrive! 
dedicated micro-SSD for OS+apps
separate HDD slot - data-6
I, personally, never use the optical drive anymore,
dedicated micro-SSD for OS+apps
separate HDD slot - data-6
I, personally, never use the optical drive anymore,
How many of you have seen the inside of your MacBook Pro? Apparently not enough because once you open that thing up it becomes clear what a waste the SuperDrive is. It's, like, a 6" square! Apple could fit a big battery, more fans (for all you who complain about heat issues), or a second hard drive in that space. What does anyone need a disk drive for these days? I doubt many users are bringing a case of DVDs or CDs around with them. As for ripping songs and movies, hard media is going down the drain. It's all on the internet these days. If Apple keeps the SuperDrive in the MacBook Pro's next case redesign I'm going to ask them to bring back the floppy drive.
Anyone who thinks Apple should rip out the ethernet port just to make the MBP thinner should really consider a MBA instead.
Ethernet is a very important port to many, many professionals and to take it out would not only be very foolish but also laughable. When it comes to network connectivity, 802.11n doesn't even come close to ethernet.
Ethernet is a very important port to many, many professionals and to take it out would not only be very foolish but also laughable. When it comes to network connectivity, 802.11n doesn't even come close to ethernet.
+1
For the amount that I use my ODD, I'd prefer an external so its there when I need it. I could use that space for an extra SSD!!
Personally, I'd just use a network shared drive if they took them out. Like someone already mentioned it'd be cool if apple offered the choice of internal or external. At least to ease the transition for getting rid of them completely.
I believe now with thunderbolt apple could take out the Ethernet and make a thunderbolt to Ethernet adaptor so you could get the full gigabit as USB would be limited to 480 Mbps. It is possible the MacBook pro could become a 15" and 17" MacBook air just with the name pro. Meaning it would have the same design as the air. But then the 13" pro would basically become the 13" air which apple won't do as the 13" pro is a big seller for them.