They already did that, and then they shaved some battery and performance off too. It's called a MacBook Air, which is aimed at a different market.
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Does anyone HOPE they pull the superdrive from the next MBP revision?
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They already did that, and then they shaved some battery and performance off too. It's called a MacBook Air, which is aimed at a different market.
I'd rather more interesting things be done with the empty Superdrive space. A beefier GPU would be nice. Beefing up the GPU means increasing the size of the battery as well to maintain the same or slightly better battery life.
I really hope not. The MBP doesn't need to be any thinner. If they keep a standard size HDD/SSD then Apple still won't be able to make it thinner anyway.
Optical drives are considerably cheaper than battery cells and most other space-filling techie stuff. If it was to happen, there'd be quite a price hike (which most would be up in arms with).
No. I buy a lot of DVD box sets (Arrested Development, MASH, 'Allo 'Allo etc.), rip them with Handbrake and store the files on a 2TB, redundant NAS drive. This NAS drive has a UPNP media server built in, so I can watch the videos from my XBox 360.
It's so much more convenient than finding the show I want to watch, realising the box is empty, finally finding the disc somewhere, putting it in, sitting through that 'You wouldn't punch someone in the face' anti-piracy advert and those annoying trailers, finding the episode I wanted to watch was on another disc, repeating the last 3 steps, then finally pressing Play only to discover the disc is scratched.
It's so much more convenient than finding the show I want to watch, realising the box is empty, finally finding the disc somewhere, putting it in, sitting through that 'You wouldn't punch someone in the face' anti-piracy advert and those annoying trailers, finding the episode I wanted to watch was on another disc, repeating the last 3 steps, then finally pressing Play only to discover the disc is scratched.
A larger battery also means Apple can use 45 W CPUs instead of the 35 W CPUs currently being used. 45 W brings us into quad-core territory, which is sounding very appealing to me.
You have to consider that both Sandy Bridge and the newer 25 nm SSDs are cheaper than their respective previous generations. Plus, by ditching the ODD, and possibly even making the next Macs even cheaper, Apple can aggressively promote the Mac App Store, which, as shown by the iOS App Store, is a HUGE money bag for Apple. I'm sure they'd be willing to cut their margins in hardware a little bit to massively improve their software sales.
Probably not. Apple still is primarily about hardware sales. MacApp/iOS/Music-And-Video store does make money, but not as much as you mabye think.
Haha. I'm not going to download 50 Gb for just 1 program. There is also software that is over 500 gb btw.
I don't doubt that there is. But, how often are you going to be installing that kind of software on a notebook? The 50 GB I can see being an issue (Final Cut Pro, etc), but really, how often are you even going to be installing that? For the couple times you will be installing software like that, you will likely be at a desk. Once you are done, you really won't need the ODD anymore. This sounds like the perfect job for a good external ODD. As for 500 GB software... you're probably better off installing it on a desktop workstation anyway, since it's doubtful a notebook would be terribly useful with a single program taking up most of the storage space..
I can completely understand those that use the ODD for certain things, but keeping it inside the machine is a waste of space when it can be used for components such as a better battery (which leads to a better CPU/GPU due to more power), or possibly better storage (more SSD or more HDD). This is just my opinion, though.
What's wrong with it making it a tiny bit thinner, if Apple tappers the edges of the MacBook Pro, it won't make it as thin as a MacBook Air but it'll make it appear thinner and more aesthetic.
I hope they do the remove the optical drive, it's old technology and those who still use it can use an external drive or start using the Mac App store.
*Raises Flame Shield* 
I hope they do the remove the optical drive, it's old technology and those who still use it can use an external drive or start using the Mac App store.
*Raises Flame Shield* SSD will be an optional to standard HDD so will not effect whether ODD will be removed. SB is not necessarily cheaper but then again I'm not in the know.
I can't see Apple reducing their margin in hardware as it'll be both the Apps Store and hardware that will be complementing each other to drive overall sales.
Just my take.
On ODD, it might be old tech to some but my colleagues and I use the internal drives frequently as alot of our third-party content producers still deliver their work using this format and cannot do it down the wire due to operational reasons and archiving (server space is a premium) but that's just us. I could live with an external drive but its still convenient to have it internal. Besides its one less thing to lose, leave at home/office , and more free space in our bags.
There are advantages of a more modular approach to hardware like an external ODD if it becomes faulty. One wouldn't have the inconvenience of losing their whole unit just to have it repaired.
Personally, I use my drive loads... got tonnes of CDs/DVDs to back up.
You better hope that Apple hasn't been looking at this, then. Pointlessly thin is all that Apple seems to be bothered with these days.
Why does the Apple store sell so much old technology? The retail stores have a wall full of optical disc based software for sale today.
Personally, I think Apple should include the external drive for free with all MacBook Pro models if the internal optical drive is removed. I understand the reasons not to have it take up space in the notebook but don't charge $80 to be able to install software.
The ODD is only 9.5mm thick, not exactly the component holding the mbp behind. If you want a freaking knife, go buy the MBA...I want my computer to be strong and the under 1/8 front of the mba cant be that strong.
I don't think it's the thickness, it's the other 2 dimensions taking up room in notebook that could be more battery.
I'd rather they cut the price by an equivalent amount and keep it as an add-on accessory. I have other systems here I can leverage if I need an optical drive.
Put the OS image on a USB stick a la the MBA and most software problems are solved; everything I've bought in the past year or so has been downloadable. I expect that trend to continue.
That would work for me too. I am just against the principal of charging extra just to be able to load software.
Remove it. It's close to becoming a dead media. I've used mine once in the last 3 months. Why have something that so many people don't use? Plus when Apple are about to release their Mac AppStore it seems that Apple won't want to utilise it themselves for software.
People keep moaning about how the loss will make it more like the MBA and the MBP isn't supposed to be like it. They're used for different markets - true but I can see the MBP being like a MBA on speed.
People keep moaning about how the loss will make it more like the MBA and the MBP isn't supposed to be like it. They're used for different markets - true but I can see the MBP being like a MBA on speed.
The App Store has been released for over 4 hours now...
And a cd isnt a dead media, look how much music is sold via cd...Wal-Mart, FYE, Target, and K-Mart just to name a few locals. What about car stereos? Are we supposed to haul our ipods around everywhere to have music in the car? Many cars from factory have a Double-Din setup which supports ONLY cd...few support an AUX input let alone a USB input and a Double-Din radio is very expensive plus they arent the easiest thing to replace in a car. And im sure you think AM/FM radio is dead too.