MacBook and MacBook Pro Port Speculation

[sgntscrawn]

Audio interfaces, a lot of musicians use the current Macbooks. btw. FW400 still trounces USB2 at sustained performance (is level pegging at lots of small files though).

Ah, fair enough, although I'm a musician, I'm by no means a computer-musician, if that makes sense .

I suppose my point is that USB is far more universal (even to the point being called 'universal serial bus', more device manufacturers make stuff for USB than FW.

Jesus christ, ive been following this and the 1400+ thread for too long now....
There is going to be firewire on the macbooks and macbook pros. You have no idea how old these photos are, whether theyre mockups, prototypes, defective/messed up cases...
So dont worry!
Apple pretty much brought firewire into computing products, they have more sense than to take it away.
I bet everyone here that there will be firewire!

That being said, I'd have to agree with this - I can't see Apple killing off a format they put so much effort into, whatever the arguments for or against FW/USB. So, I'm not going to go against that bet, although I'd put a side pot into a 4-pin connection instead of a 6-pin

 

[emotion]

Ah, fair enough, although I'm a musician, I'm by no means a computer-musician, if that makes sense .

yeah makes sense.

And I agree. USB is more universal these days. I prefer it in some respects, it feels less fussy with hot plugging for some reason.

That being said, I'd have to agree with this - I can't see Apple killing off a format they put so much effort into, whatever the arguments for or against FW/USB. So, I'm not going to go against that bet, although I'd put a side pot into a 4-pin connection instead of a 6-pin

That would really put me off. The powered 6 pin FW is a major plus for Apple machines. When performing the last thing I want is another power supply for my FW audio interface.

...all this speculation. I can wait now so I should stop wasting my time on here

 

[Masklinn]

I'd have to agree with this - I can't see Apple killing off a format they put so much effort into

This is the iphone 3G.

Its predecessor could recharge via firewire, it can't.

Draw your own conclusions.

 

[BigD58]

iMac Docking Station? As much as I would like to see this implemented,it seems a bit far away. But who knows we will find out tomorrow!

 

[137489]

ok, maybe for musicians and some high-end equipment still uses firewire, but seriously.... the last time I used firewire was 5 years ago when a camera I had bought used it. Since then everything I see is USB. My palm phone connects USB, every external drive I bought in the last 3 years is USB, my camera is USB. I cannot remember anything I purchased recently that requires firewire.

Apple always leads the way, so if firewire is going away, makes sense apple would do it first.

the way I look at it - the average comsumer would buy a macbook and most of the average consumer peripherals are USB.

Someone needing a high-end machine would buy a pro, and would most likely buy higher end products that still use firewire.

 

[Marx55]

You forgot to mention one more thing.

Firewire is more expensive to put on a board than USB. If they do kill it, it is for a reason. How many people use the SCSI connector on their laptops or dekstops anymore. Firewire has a life cycle, we are just lucky enough to be living through it.

HDMI port FTW

Sure. About 20 cents more or so.

BTW, I do not need HDMI.

 

[Jelite]

1400+ posts on whether or not it has a firewire port, macrumors makes me cry sometimes.

 

[iphoneuser123]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5F136 Safari/525.20)

These images look very faked.

 

[sgntscrawn]

This is the iphone 3G.

Its predecessor could recharge via firewire, it can't.

Draw your own conclusions.

Its one thing to not include a port on your peripherals - after all, they've been doing it on iPods since the iPod video in 2005, but a completely different one to stop including it in a computer.

Besides. Who cares the iPhone can't change through firewire? Every computer has a USB port, whilst not all computers (non-mac, that is) have firewire.

 

[Masklinn]

Its one thing to not include a port on your peripherals - after all, they've been doing it on iPods since the iPod video in 2005, but a completely different one to stop including it in a computer.

Besides. Who cares the iPhone can't change through firewire? Every computer has a USB port, whilst not all computers (non-mac, that is) have firewire.

It was a response to your comment that you couldn't see apple killing off firewire. I can, they've been taking that route for a few years now.

 

[apfelfeed]

Hdmi

This looks like an HDMI Port to me ...

 

[Cousin Dirk]

It was a response to your comment that you couldn't see apple killing off firewire. I can, they've been taking that route for a few years now.

Do you really think they'll kill off Firewire with Firewire 3200 just around the corner, with a head start on USB 3.0?

 

[sgntscrawn]

It was a response to your comment that you couldn't see apple killing off firewire. I can, they've been taking that route for a few years now.

Yeah, fair enough. I guess I don't know. There's arguments either way, really.

1400+ posts on whether or not it has a firewire port, macrumors makes me cry sometimes.

Hehehe, absolutely . Quite hilarious, really. Especially considering we'll know all in mere hours.

 

[MasterNile]

It was a response to your comment that you couldn't see apple killing off firewire. I can, they've been taking that route for a few years now.

But you're missing his point, sure they took one option away from the iPhone, but it has an alternative, if they were to take FW away from MBs there's quite a few people who would either A) not be buying the new MB or B) be left with some devices that will not work with their new MB

 

[markintellect]

What if Apple are just making a proper distinction between USB and 1394 (FireWire), as USB 2 and FireWire 400 overlap far too much, as they have similar speeds and most people will just use USB anyway, as it is the standard for input/output peripherals which are what most people use every day. I think that they are making it that if you are a power user who does more than just use USB for iPods, printing or the like, and need proper ultrafast external drives then you are a power user, who will buy a MacBook Pro. If you need to import video from a FireWire device, but not as part of a profession or have other power usages, then you get a 1394-Ethernet adapter.

 

[137489]

iMac Docking Station? As much as I would like to see this implemented,it seems a bit far away. But who knows we will find out tomorrow!

As much as I would love to see an imac docking station...

1. if they were to do this with a MBP, then the MBP would have to be super-thin or the imac rather thick. Probably the imac rather thick to keep it from tipping over.

2. In a way, I would be disappointed, as that would mean I would have to buy a pro version rather than a macbook version (ie means more money out of pocket).

although, what would be cool was if we were to see both the pro and an economical tablet being able to use the same dock

 

[Maximillian]

I can't believe the amount of foam in peoples mouths....

Why is it, every time Apple announce something does 80% of the population get Rabies???

Learn patience and just wait, if that's what Apple does and want it that way then I don't see the big deal?

Maybe I've seen so many of these over 20 years I'm just over the hype and speculation until it's here! Or have I just become cynical about the way Apple markets their stuff???

Anyway, my opinion, shut up and wait....

Anyone who is "over the hype" isn't in here, reading these forums.

We all like to have "what if" moments and we all like looking at the newest Apple rumors. There's nothing wrong with that. But don't pretend you don't like it too.

 

[MasterNile]

What if Apple are just making a proper distinction between USB and 1394 (FireWire), as USB 2 and FireWire 400 overlap far too much, as they have similar speeds and most people will just use USB anyway, as it is the standard for input/output peripherals which are what most people use every day. I think that they are making it that if you are a power user who does more than just use USB for iPods, printing or the like, and need proper ultrafast external drives then you are a power user, who will buy a MacBook Pro. If you need to import video from a FireWire device, but not as part of a profession or have other power usages, then you get a 1394-Ethernet adapter.

Yes if they're not going to include a dedicated FW port I think a lot of MB users are at least hoping they do this. 29 hours till we find out.

 

[bergmef]

What if Apple are just making a proper distinction between USB and 1394 (FireWire), as USB 2 and FireWire 400 overlap far too much, as they have similar speeds and most people will just use USB anyway, as it is the standard for input/output peripherals which are what most people use every day. I think that they are making it that if you are a power user who does more than just use USB for iPods, printing or the like, and need proper ultrafast external drives then you are a power user, who will buy a MacBook Pro. If you need to import video from a FireWire device, but not as part of a profession or have other power usages, then you get a 1394-Ethernet adapter.

I must be in the minority, I use both ethernet and firewire on my macbook.

 

[Cousin Dirk]

What if Apple are just making a proper distinction between USB and 1394 (FireWire), as USB 2 and FireWire 400 overlap far too much, as they have similar speeds

According to Wikipedia, Firewire 3200 is due out before the end of this year. Maybe now - at least on the MacBook Pro - we'll see the first FW3200 computer. I also wouldn't be surprised to see the ethernet --> Firewire connector appearing on the MacBook. Maybe, instead of this release killing Firewire, this is the time Apple breathes new life into it?

 

[tejota1911]

I believe the covered port is going to be a hdmi port. Hopefully, the MBP will include a Blu-Ray drive as well.

 

[IrishMac]

Dunno if its been mentioned already (am on lunch break at work so can't read through all comments) but regarding the taped up port it could be for a Mobile Broadband sim. Mobile Operators are pushing to have such slots in pc laptops (which would save having to use those dongles) so it would be a good move for Apple to do so. But to have it on just the MB Pro and not the MB would be a strange move.

If this port is on the other hand hdmi, I believe it is far too close to the front of the laptop. It would be very easy to snag it with your hands. I suppose if one had it plugged into a tv it wouldn't matter as you wouldn't be using the keyboard. But still it would be odd to place it in that position, especially with the cluster of other ports where they are. Surely keeping all ports in the same space makes sense.

But as others have said it might not even be a port... my 2 cents...

 

[Mikey Mike]

Anyone who is "over the hype" isn't in here, reading these forums.

We all like to have "what if" moments and we all like looking at the newest Apple rumors. There's nothing wrong with that. But don't pretend you don't like it too.

Don't get me wrong, I love it, but when it gets a bit silly (1200+ posts, as stated by MR) over a change to MB & MBP, it's not like a 6" wireless touch tablet or something like that... But it may be that there are so many more mac users now than what I'm used to... If that's the case then Viva La Revolution!

 

[Tensakun]

So, what do you guys think? is it a slot, Philips, Torx, Hex or possibly a proprietary type? My guess is hex.

Great satire of the frenzied, near-apoplectic state of anticipation we find ourselves in now, at just under 30 hours to hearing THE WORD . I know my university students tomorrow are going to find me even more distracted and absent-minded than usual...

 

[peeeter]

They will drop firewire

I don't like it, but I believe they will drop Firewire from MacBook. They dropped proper handling of DV video from iMovie already year ago (it's being processed in half resolution). So it's quite logical next step.