Do you want an optical drive on future MBPs?

[WestonHarvey1]

I've used mine once in the last year, and that was to burn something to a DVD for an elderly woman.

And I make my living on this thing, so I guess that entitles me to call myself a pro.

For something I use once a year or less, I'd much rather not have it contributing to the weight or thickness of my portable computer. Some cheap external thing tucked a way in a drawer will do fine, and then, I probably won't even need that.

 

[DWBurke811]

The ODD is 9.5mm, the HDD bay is 12.5mm, so it's not like the SuperDrive has anything to do with thickness.

 

[thinkinblue613]

This is ridiculous... If you don't want an optical disk drive, then go get the Air/Mac Mini.

People who edit videos, make music and distribute photos to their families, friends or clients will need the disk drive in order to share their media. It doesn't take a mad scientist to figure out that people will need that.

Now, maybe you can go towards the USB route if they do decide to remove the ODD.. I still think disks are worth keeping around for at least this decade. Especially for professionals in the media business.

It won't be a Macbook Pro anymore.. It'd be a Macbook Pair

 

[natejohnstone@g]

+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!!

You can do this now! Get an Optibay!

50% of people here are saying the exact same things ... "I'd go for no optical drive if I could replace it with X (HD, Battery, etc). You CAN do that NOW!

Besides, Apple isn't going to do that. They won't put in another HD, or another battery ... they will ONLY do one thing: make the design smaller. If you take out the DVD in a future MBP, you're going to loose the drive not gain something else. And then you WON'T have the option of an Optibay like you do now!

I think some of you are rooting for no optical drive because you want something else instead, and you're going to end up with neither in the redesign. If you're cool with "neither" and prefer the smaller form factor, when I'm not sure why you wouldn't prefer a MBA?

 

[ljonesj]

well with jobs health he has resigned as ceo so maybe someone will see fit in the new mac mini next year to restore the optical as a lot of people use them as a all in one home theater for dvd and itunes viewing so with no optical it sort of limits people who want one but dont want the usb solution

 

[Dhelsdon]

You can do this now! Get an Optibay!

50% of people here are saying the exact same things ... "I'd go for no optical drive if I could replace it with X (HD, Battery, etc). You CAN do that NOW!

Besides, Apple isn't going to do that. They won't put in another HD, or another battery ... they will ONLY do one thing: make the design smaller. If you take out the DVD in a future MBP, you're going to loose the drive not gain something else. And then you WON'T have the option of an Optibay like you do now!

I think some of you are rooting for no optical drive because you want something else instead, and you're going to end up with neither in the redesign. If you're cool with "neither" and prefer the smaller form factor, when I'm not sure why you wouldn't prefer a MBA?

I know, but currently I've got the 2006 17' MBP (A1151) so I'd be hard pressed to find one that fit this beast.

 

[unixperience]

.....Besides, Apple isn't going to do that. They won't put in another HD, or another battery ... they will ONLY do one thing: make the design smaller. If you take out the DVD in a future MBP, you're going to loose the drive not gain something else. And then you WON'T have the option of an Optibay like you do now!

I think some of you are rooting for no optical drive because you want something else instead, and you're going to end up with neither in the redesign. If you're cool with "neither" and prefer the smaller form factor, when I'm not sure why you wouldn't prefer a MBA?

Totally agree, if they take it out, it's getting replaced by nothing but a smaller, case, everyone can dream, but it won't happen

 

[nuckinfutz]

well with jobs health he has resigned as ceo so maybe someone will see fit in the new mac mini next year to restore the optical as a lot of people use them as a all in one home theater for dvd and itunes viewing so with no optical it sort of limits people who want one but dont want the usb solution

What's wrong with USB? It's more than fast enough the USB Superdrive doesn't require any more power than what the USB port delivers. Mac mini being used in a HTPC environment is dwarfed by its uses elsewhere where the lack of an optical drive means little

i.e macminicolo

Totally agree, if they take it out, it's getting replaced by nothing but a smaller, case, everyone can dream, but it won't happen

Steve Jobs himself said the Macbook Air is the future of the Macbook lineup. What makes a Macbook Air special? It's designed around SSD for storage and designed to shed weight.

A few in this thread have mentioned what we'll probably see.

Macbook Pro will likely come with a Blade SSD as standard for the boot drive. This allows the system to be tailored to that faster storage medium and thus take advantage of excellent sequential and random access throughput.

Pro's need mass storage however and so I see the nextgen MBP also containing a 2.5" bay for larger storage.

This is clearly the design strategy that many vendors will take. In fact Intel has a feature in their Z68 chipset named Smart Response Technology that caches data to a small but fast SSD yet seamlessly leverages larger HDD based storage. No operating system support is needed which means no driver.

The future is not with optical drives people no matter how many grandmothers you want to burn discs for. It is the 21st century..we do have other options.

 

[jbyun04]

I've got this funny feeling they're going to bring flash memory to MacBook Pro and offer the option of 500GB/750GB/1TB/Superdrive... or no superdrive but offer the Air Drive.. not like it matters to me I stuck my superdrive in an enclosure and never looked back.

I welcome the subtraction of the Superdrive though I imagine other professionals would get anal about it.

 

[tsmith]

I'm going to put an OWC Data Doubler in my 2009 MBP and remove the optical drive altogether.

Use a 16GB SSD for the OS and some apps and all my other stuff will go in the 500GB HD. On the rare occasion I may need an optical drive, i'll figure something out.

 

[wallysb01]

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.

This is true enough in some respects, but I've never actually put use to the gigabit ethernet port, nor had a chance to. If you're sending data locally, I suppose some internal networks can actually use this, but the 100-300 Mps 802.11n is always maxing out the network connection anyway, in my experience.

My home connection speed of about 15-20Mps down and 5-10Mps is actually the fastest connection I've every had. My work connection, which is just now supposedly working to get gigabit, is generally limited to 10Mps both up and down, and has 100Mps in a limited number of ports. Which 802.11n could still theoretically handle, anyway. Then, I don't actually see them getting gigabit for at least 5 years. I'm guessing we'll have wireless that can do that by then.

So, I don't know, it seeming to me that the optical bay and the ethernet are both dying. Our wireless cards generally max out the infrastructure limitations, but specific and limited networks could make use of gigabit cards. Similarly, our internet connections, portable HDD/SSD, cloud storage is replacing CDs/DVDs, but in limited situations, CDs are still useful (for mailing a CD to a client, your old CD collection, and a shrinking number of programs).

So, yeah, I put use to an optical drive now, and could theoretically put use to my gigabit ethernet, but I can see both disappearing in the not so distant future.

 

[vitzr]

No super drive...not needed any more

Lion is not Vista or even close...

Windows made such a positive impression it's on your mind even when addressing a completely different subject. Microsoft does command mindshare, that's for sure.

Since you've brought up Windows and I use both, I will agree that Windows 7, is very close to OS X. However I'm still happier with Snow Leopard.

It's too soon to fairly evaluate Lion till it's fully de-bugged.

 

[whooda4]

This is true enough in some respects, but I've never actually put use to the gigabit ethernet port, nor had a chance to. If you're sending data locally, I suppose some internal networks can actually use this, but the 100-300 Mps 802.11n is always maxing out the network connection anyway, in my experience.

My home connection speed of about 15-20Mps down and 5-10Mps is actually the fastest connection I've every had. My work connection, which is just now supposedly working to get gigabit, is generally limited to 10Mps both up and down, and has 100Mps in a limited number of ports. Which 802.11n could still theoretically handle, anyway. Then, I don't actually see them getting gigabit for at least 5 years. I'm guessing we'll have wireless that can do that by then.

So, I don't know, it seeming to me that the optical bay and the ethernet are both dying. Our wireless cards generally max out the infrastructure limitations, but specific and limited networks could make use of gigabit cards. Similarly, our internet connections, portable HDD/SSD, cloud storage is replacing CDs/DVDs, but in limited situations, CDs are still useful (for mailing a CD to a client, your old CD collection, and a shrinking number of programs).

So, yeah, I put use to an optical drive now, and could theoretically put use to my gigabit ethernet, but I can see both disappearing in the not so distant future.

What is Mps?

MBps
Mbps
they are different.


Back on topic. I didnt realize how much I use my optical drive until I tried to go without.
I bought a new mac mini 2011 and did the optibay conversion. I made it a week before I returned the mac mini and made it about 3 months using the optibay conversion.
I hate not being able to pop in a dvd or burn a cd on the fly. I want physical media until there is a reliable nation wide wireless connection that would allow me to access my media remotely.

 

[caen1]

I think there is a (small) chance of Apple putting both an SSD and an HDD in their next MBPs if they get rid of the ODD, at least in the 15" and 17". They did put two GPUs in the unibodies, and now they seem fond of the SSD performance. But they can't put 128 GB in a Pro machine, so they would complement it with a bigger HDD.

In the case of the ODD going away, it is a plausible option.

 

[yly3]

I voted yes. I still buy music CDs and I still like to burn every now and then some CDs for the car and would you believe it or not, some people still use CD for data instead of sticks. I don't want to go to some event with a 2000$ machine which can't handle CDs when the situation demands it.

However, like most other people, if the trade-off is a good deal in GPU/SSD/Battery I might accept dealing with an external, but knowing Apple I'm almost sure I won't.

 

[ljonesj]

i ment some people want all in one the optical built into the computer and not have anything hanging off the port for an optical drive solution all my usb ports are full with usb external hard drives and i freed up one buy going to a firewire drive for my itunes but i have my ipads and ipods cables hooked up to my mini so i dont have to unplug and plug those cables anymore as at times i am charging both my ipad and ipod touch at the same time

 

[edk99]

I think there is a (small) chance of Apple putting both an SSD and an HDD in their next MBPs if they get rid of the ODD, at least in the 15" and 17". They did put two GPUs in the unibodies, and now they seem fond of the SSD performance. But they can't put 128 GB in a Pro machine, so they would complement it with a bigger HDD.

In the case of the ODD going away, it is a plausible option.

I think it is a lot bigger then a small chance. I can pretty much see the next MBP coming with 128 SSD standard and a 2nd HDD option up to 1tb. That configuration will be way more useful that a dormant ODD that I use twice a year. I will have no problems buying an external ODD for the occasional use.

 

[dusk007]

i ment some people want all in one the optical built into the computer and not have anything hanging off the port for an optical drive solution all my usb ports are full with usb external hard drives and i freed up one buy going to a firewire drive for my itunes but i have my ipads and ipods cables hooked up to my mini so i dont have to unplug and plug those cables anymore as at times i am charging both my ipad and ipod touch at the same time

Use a hub. The 2 ports I have are rarely enough.
A hub costs nothing and adds the benefit of only making it necessary to plug in one plug, because everything else is and stays connected to it most of the time.

 

[RolandNights]

Difficult to say. I don't use my optical drive too often (unless I'm ripping DVDs or CDs), but I guess I could buy an external optical drive just for those purposes if the MBP would be thinner/lighter/more portable. I still like buying season sets of DVDs and CDs I really like (I'm a collector, what can say), but it isn't like I'm ripping discs on the go or anything.

On the other hand, not everyone else that I know has completely made the switch to digital media, so I can't speak for them as to how they would feel about losing the optical drive.

If the MBP did take out the optical drive, then I want 3-4 USB 3.0 ports.

 

[Nielsenius]

If the next generation of MacBook Pros don't include an ODD, what are the 35% of you who use your SuperDrive going to do? Are you going to leave Apple and, dare I say it, go to Dell? I'm sure that Michael would be happy to have you! Or, are you going to bite the bullet and buy an external disk drive or completely change your ways? When it gets down to crunch time I bet most users will stick with Apple and their MacBook Pro. Tim (not Steve anymore) is probably counting on this.

 

[njsa04playa]

who needs an optical disk installed when an external one would be the same thing and offer portability?

 

[Liquinn]

who needs an optical disk installed when an external one would be the same thing and offer portability?

True, I do agree with that but why should you spend even more money on an external drive after payting $1500+ or whatever on a MBP?

I hope Apple remove it, as then I can have better battery life, a SSD/HDD combo and have the external optical drive as well.

 

[sean.crees]

... and more expensive.

Optical drive = cheap as chips (well almost)
Any other possible replacement = more expensive chips.

Well if they make it thinner, they don't need to use as much aluminum to make one.

I really don't foresee them dropping the ODD just to put something else there instead. Their going to drop the ODD, change the 2.5" HDD to either a 1.8" or the SSD stick config they use on the MBA, and make the entire thing overall more thinner, lighter, and wedge shaped.

The only things i see staying the same on the MBP over the MBA is the higher quality screens, and the higher performance CPU's. I think there is a good chance they may ditch dedicated graphics all together in notebooks. Especially if thunderbolt enabled external graphic options become more widespread.

 

[Prodo123]

Mbps
they are different.

Back on topic. I didnt realize how much I use my optical drive until I tried to go without.
I bought a new mac mini 2011 and did the optibay conversion. I made it a week before I returned the mac mini and made it about 3 months using the optibay conversion.
I hate not being able to pop in a dvd or burn a cd on the fly. I want physical media until there is a reliable nation wide wireless connection that would allow me to access my media remotely.

I prefer MB/s and Mbps to avoid confusion
Also, for those of you rooting for the USB distro of OS X, call me back when USB drives are actually easy to store.
I don't have CDs lying around in my house, because they're all organized into collection books but I do have a lot of USB drives cluttering up my desk.

 

[Adamantoise]

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.

You guys just love giving Apple your money don't you.

Why not remove all ports and buy Thunderbolt to "xxx" adapters for every peripheral you want to use.

It's an Ethernet port for crying out loud! The basis of networking. It would be very foolish to get rid of it.