For one, I think all of these claims are bull and a waste of time and energy on the part of everyone. I also don't think that with only shy of four years of the current design (at the would-be time of refresh) we're due yet for the new design (remember that the last one reigned for six years). The 13" Pro will either stick around or disappear. The 15" Pro isn't going anywhere as too many people rely on it. There might be a 15" Air, but it would never, in a million years replace the MacBook Pro as you can't and probably never will be able to fit any discrete GPU of any real worth into a MacBook Air. You will never be able to fit the kind of storage options you have in a MacBook Pro into a MacBook Air, and I'm sorry, SSDs, especially the proprietary ones Apple uses on the Air are just not affordable enough for anyone who actually wants to put stuff on their computer to actually do so.
As for the optical drives, I think most of you on this bubble of a forum community would be surprised at the people who would be upset at the loss of the optical drive. Do I think they'd use it daily, no, most don't. Do I think that it would be a dealbreaker? For more people than any of you give credit for. The MacBook Pro isn't a machine designed to be light and ultra-portable; it's designed to get things done. It has an Ethernet port and a FireWire port (two other endangered species in the Mac product line); very few will ever use either, but it's there if ever we need it. Same with ExpressCard slot on the 17". I fail to see how the optical drive isn't just as useful of an item and isn't just as useful to as many people as the aforementioned ports/devices/connection-busses.
I hope the new MacBook Pros still have DVD drives. I know people will say "but waahhhh I never use mine!" Well, what about the plenty of people who's laptops are their portable DVD players?
I'm sure the MacBook Pros won't merge with the MacBook Airs as the Pros aren't designed to be thin, so the same sacrifices won't be made with the Pros as is made with the Airs. For example, MacBook Pro hard drives will still be min 500GB.
They won't merge.
most people w/ hard media have already moved to BR, especially people that can afford the apple tax
The cost of Blu-Ray media isn't anywhere near as affordable as the cost of DVD media. End of story.
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The plenty of people will either have to get an external drive or they'll be saying "wahhhh I still use mine though". It's not that big of a deal if Apple gets rid of the ODD. Many people have options and if they still need an ODD then there's the external or another product altogether.
You assume that one lack of convenience will be enough to compensate for another. This is why I will always flame the notion of the "external optical drive solving the problem", unless it's with regards to a Mac mini and a person with plenty of desk space as that is a superior solution to a Mac mini with a built-in ODD.
Pretty much guarantees I wont be getting a new Macbook pro.
If they some how make/allow user replaceable parts, then I will change my mind.
+1
Rip the DVDs.
End of discussion.
Oh right because the SSDs have room for all of my DVDs.
Laptop as a portable DVD player? Ugh!
How do you carry all your DVDs around? Do you have one of those folders that zips open with all the little plastic folders inside?
What if I take my laptop to a location where someone else has DVDs to presumably watch on my laptop? Common scenario.
No way Apple will make the whole line of laptops like the Air, I know to many people that use the 15 inch MacBook Pro as a primary machine, myself included and would go nuts with solid state drives and no optical drive. My music collection alone wouldnt fit on the high end MacBook Air!
I'll wholeheartedly agree with you, and luckily I don't think people like you and I are anywhere near alone in that, which is why I'm confident that as far as the 15" MacBook Pro is concerned, we have nothing to worry about, contrary to everything being posted in this forum.
You can't call it a pro without a discrete gpu
True story.
Goodbye ODD. Been nice knowing you.
It's not going anywhere. Case in point: it hasn't yet.
Looks like your another one who has never heard of the external super drive.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC684ZM/A
No, see you're confused. That person actually has heard of it, they, like most other MacBook Pro users, prefer to not have to carry around an external device to achieve functionality that previously existed internally and isn't at the cost of the would-be mistakes of Apple's design team to appease all of the MacBook Air obsessed members in these forums.
IT's 2012: DVDs, Blu-Rays and CDs are still sold. It's not like I want a floppy drive - just current MacBook Pro functionality.
True facts, yo.
I hope they make the hard drive and RAM user-upgradable.
If they merge the lines, don't expect it.
The optical drive needs to be dropped. It's nothing but dead weight for most. There will be tons of howls by the vocal minority when Apple does this, I am sure. I vividly recall when Apple dropped the internal modem in the very first MacBook Pro. Same thing happened. Luddites exist, even among Apple users.
That said...
I do expect any new "pro" laptop to continue to have a full array of internal ports. I undersand TB is an all-in-wonder, but TB's potential has yet to be fully realized by peripheral companies. Also dongles are evil. They take up space -- and even 1sq in is valuable to a road warrior, and are something else to keep up with. Bleech.
So it will be interesting to see what happens here. Also I know video pros are gonna demand discrete graphics. Apple understands this, so not selling a 15" laptop w/ discrete graphics will be a ginormous clue as to where Apple is truly headed.
Late add: Heh. I see I've attracted some neg feedback already. Probably from people who still have an AOL email address.
AOL is an ISP that hasn't been used by the masses in ten years. The optical drive is still being used today by MacBook Pro users for things like watching a movie or installing/using the Rosetta Stone Suite; to installing software still not available in a digital download (as believe it or not, optical disc software distribution still outsells the online digital equivalent). I'm not a luddite if I still use a currently available technology.
As long as it has a very nice GPU in there, I'm a happy camper.
Actually, as long as they don't sacrifice performance for the MBA-style design, I'd be happy. Optical drives are dinosaurs and need to die off, not to mention an external USB optical drive can be had for $25-$35. The performance aspect is my only real concern with this update.
And the built-in SSD thing is a terrible, terrible idea. I've never been more excited and terrified for an update.
Why exactly do optical drives need to die off? Or are you just against old (but still used) technology. You must really not like the idea of using an operating system with UNIX at its core. You know that UNIX predates optical discs, right?
I do think it's about time for the DVD drive to go. I've had my MacBook Pro for 30 months now and I think I've used the DVD drive fewer than 10 times. Whereas the increased weight has causeed the aluminum case to get pretty banged up.
First off, good for you for not using your ODD. Now, a simple fact of life for you: EVERYONE'S NEEDS ARE DIFFERENT. As for the increased weight caused by the optical drive causing the case to be banged up, that's a load of bull; for one, the ODD is one of the lighter components in the computer (the hard drive weighs much more by comparison) and if increased weight is causing your computer to be banged up, you don't know how to take care of it. Period.
What's a DVD, and where do you buy those ?
The Internet, where you buy literally everything else. That and Best Buy. It's not like the iTunes store is the best or even the only source of content these days, people!
You have clients ? Want to be a bit more professional ?
Try using these.... Price:$3.79 each. I would hope you are making enough from your client to afford that ! The price of a small Latte'
Image
http://www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=217290822&sellerid=23962916#
And its classy in Leather ! My advise , buy in bulk. Like 40 at a time.
Right because I can afford to spend $2.50 more on a Thumb drive to give to my clients per client (which adds up quickly) vs. the ~$1.25 it costs to burn a disc and put it in a case to hand off.
if they remove the optical drive would that mean the price will be lower then it is now? If it isn't lower then it is now then it's a complete rip off.
It's Apple, it wouldn't be lower.
There are real disadvantages to making the DVD drive optional and external. But they’re small ones, and rare, and affect very few people.
Few on this forum maybe, but not at large, I can attest to that.
The advantages are real too, and more useful to more people.
The only one I can think of is increased thinness, which only benefits the MacBook Air zealots on these forums.
I never needed anything more than (zero-cost) Remote Disc with my Air, in four years! I do play discs sometimes, but always at home. No desire to lug them with me to get scratched/broken/lost.
Being that I don't have room on my current desk to use my external optical drive with the Mac mini Server in my sig, I'm stuck with Remote Disc, and it's a piece of crap. End of story.
To the people complaining about Optical Drives: Get an external one for less than £20.
"I want to watch films on the go!!" Rip them using Handbrake.
This requires me to use of storage to do something that previously didn't require it. You are not presenting me with an improvement, you are only wasting my time.
I use my Macbook Pro for audio and video work. I fairly regularly produce DVDs and CDs of what I'm working on. Having said that, I'd be perfectly happy to jettison the internal optical. The times I need it are far fewer than the times I don't and it'd be fine to have a slim external drive (perhaps aftermarket Bluray) for when I need it.
I'd love a thinner form factor--presumably with an air-style SSD, but still retaining a second, standard 2.5" bay for a larger data drive or SSD.
You can't make the thing thinner and keep the 2.5" bay, which is as thick (if not slightly thicker) as the optical disc drive anyway. Most people on this forum like to ignore that point as they imagine a world where the only computer used is the MacBook Air, touted by the late great Steve Jobs as the future of all laptops as we know it. He said it, so it must be so.
I wouldn't mind a 13" MBP that looks like this:
Image
Get rid of the Superdrive, replace it with a conventional 2,5" HDD and in addition to that make a 'Blade' style SSD standard just like on the MBAs. Oh, and keep the RAM upgradeable,
please!
Don't know if you've ever seen the inside of these things, but you can't make it THAT thinner and keep the 2.5" hard drive which is, again, as thick (if not slightly thicker) than the super-drive. Keep dreaming though.
