Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

My theory why firewire will no longer necessary

F

franzmueller

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 1, 2007
212
0
Spain
Hi

Some of you remember the good old days from our fw ipods ? well I do and when Apple decided to move to USB I found out that the hole sync was a lot slower comparing the fw...

Today I was syncing some new albums to my iphone and guess what ? it took nothing ... i was amazed how fast the entire transfer was done and so my question : has Apple found some " method " to make USB works as fast or even faster than FW ? I am sure it is for now only working with itunes since the rest of my files transfers with USB are for the time been slower comparing to FW ...

Theories ??

Snow Leopard hidden ability ???


There must be a reason why the new MB´s no longer includes Firewire

Saludos
 
franzmueller said:
Hi

Some of you remember the good old days from our fw ipods ? well I do and when Apple decided to move to USB I found out that the hole sync was a lot slower comparing the fw...

Today I was syncing some new albums to my iphone and guess what ? it took nothing ... i was amazed how fast the entire transfer was done and so my question : has Apple found some " method " to make USB works as fast or even faster than FW ? I am sure it is for now only working with itunes since the rest of my files transfers with USB are for the time been slower comparing to FW ...

Theories ??

Snow Leopard hidden ability ???


There must be a reason why the new MB´s no longer includes Firewire

Saludos
Click to expand...

The reason is Apple wanted to cut something so the Pro's will have something the reg Macbooks don't have. They also did it to save a little money. You can justify what Apple did, but they messed up by not including FW. It was stupid and people can dismiss the complaints on this site that people have posted, but I know many of my friends who don't post here are pissed also. Maybe some of you don't use it. Fine, but many do. There are features I don't use on the Macbooks, but others do. That goes with anything on any product. While you can't add everything on a laptop, FW should be standard and was standard before this "upgrade."
 
I think the iPhone syncs faster because you can't put much on them :) Yes I noticed things speeded up with 2.1 software.
 
franzmueller said:
Hi

Some of you remember the good old days from our fw ipods ? well I do and when Apple decided to move to USB I found out that the hole sync was a lot slower comparing the fw...

Today I was syncing some new albums to my iphone and guess what ? it took nothing ... i was amazed how fast the entire transfer was done and so my question : has Apple found some " method " to make USB works as fast or even faster than FW ? I am sure it is for now only working with itunes since the rest of my files transfers with USB are for the time been slower comparing to FW ...

Theories ??

Snow Leopard hidden ability ???


There must be a reason why the new MB´s no longer includes Firewire

Saludos
Click to expand...

i think you are just noticing the effects from usb 1.1 to usb 2.0 lol
 
FireWire controllers cost more. That is why they were removed from iPods and, I guess, that is why they have now been removed from Macbooks. I think that there is also a product differentiation argument, too: why would you buy a Macbook Pro if you can buy a smaller, cheaper Macbook that does everything you want?

Regarding your observations, the ability to shift bits from A to B as quickly as possible is not the only desirable feature of communications technology. Some applications - such as videoconferencing an audio recording - require the bits to arrive in a predictable order and at a guaranteed time. FireWire supports isochronous transfers, which makes it ideal for these kinds of applications. USB2 sort of supports isochronous transfers, but the implementations are often poor or missing from chipsets, drivers and OSs.
 
the phone does sync a little faster after 2.1 but it is still slow esp. if you are coming back from a restore. I carried my phone around for a month or so just bc I dreaded the fact of having to sync it:eek:. Everytime I thought about it, somehow it just wasn't convient nor time conducive.

As far as apple dropping fw400 on the macbook, well they dropped the ball on that one. Heck, all of the mac's I have ever had have had it, including the B&W G3! If they want to use some crappy excuse like "they want to distinguish the product line" continue to make the macbooks white. Powerdcoat that new aluminum chassis they are riding in and leave the mbp's alone. Oh, and that glass screen is just hideous. I went to look at one last night. BARF!!!
 
dukebound85 said:
i think you are just noticing the effects from usb 1.1 to usb 2.0 lol
Click to expand...

O C´on ... I own all the range from G3 & G4 ibook´s up to my 2,4 GHz MB black ... and I use them almost every day so I know the differences between USB1 & USB2 Vs Firewire on the G 3/4 ibooks vs MB

Since itunes 8 & iphone´s 2.1 update things goes much much faster and is not only the "normal" syncing = security copy , contacts , calenders music etc .. I am talking about plain mp3 transfer speed which nowadays is by far the fastest I have seen .

The idea of Apple releasing a USB / Firewire converter doesn't sound to wired imho

Time will tell foe sure

And then .... why are you so aggressive ? I´m not Apple .... peace & love man

Saludos
 
i don't see the big deal, i never use firewire? my camera/video camera are all usb, nothing else i do real needs one..why does anyone care??
 
hitman45400 said:
i don't see the big deal, i never use firewire? my camera/video camera are all usb, nothing else i do real needs one..why does anyone care??
Click to expand...

Just because you don't need one or use one doesn't mean everyone else can't possibly have any need for it. See this thread.
Firewire is still very useful for a large number of users. For day to day devices it isn't favorable as any firewire device needs an onboard firewire chip.
 
Firewire is awesome. it has its own chipset and so it is faster than USB and doesnt touch the CPU, its BUS powered so accessories can be powered without an AC adapter unlike USB and eSata, can charge an iPod while your computer is asleep and doesnt wake your Mac when you plug it in.

but its size on a logic board and the lack of Firewire on some PCs is probably why Apple removed it from the iPods to sync and charge in the latest iPhone and iPod.

i think Firewire is almost like a cult for geeks and Pros. Apple will continue to provide it on their Pro prodcuts but the consumer MacBook and now even Cinema Display show how consumers just dont know why they need it or what it is.
 
richthomas said:
Firewire is awesome. it has its own chipset and so it is faster than USB and doesnt touch the CPU, its BUS powered so accessories can be powered without an AC adapter unlike USB and eSata, can charge an iPod while your computer is asleep and doesnt wake your Mac when you plug it in.
Click to expand...

USB2 is bus powered.

iPods haven't come with FW for quite some time.

For my needs, the only thing I will miss about FW is target disk mode.
 
darngooddesign said:
USB2 is bus powered. ...
Click to expand...

Yes, but to provide a simplified explanation why FireWire bus powering is superior: The Firewire power spec provides more juice than USB spec. If you want to use a laptop for _mobile_ recording where 120ac access isn't available, and need to use high quality mics that require phantom power (48v), then FireWire can easily power an audio interface _and_ provide phantom power for the mics. It can be done via USB, but usually isn't because it requires additional circuitry to step up the power.

Thus, many/most of the portable Firewire audio devices can run off bus power and supply phantom power. But I can only think of _two_ USB devices with this ability. One uses patented circuitry to pull this off.

Firewire is the preferred standard for professonial audio. It works much better than USB. Its virtually essential for multichannel audio recording. Why would anyone think musicians and audio professionals and hobbyists would want to take a step backwards to USB?
 
mcnicks said:
I think that there is also a product differentiation argument, too: why would you buy a Macbook Pro if you can buy a smaller, cheaper Macbook that does everything you want?
Click to expand...

Larger screen, better screen, better CPU options, firewire 800 vs 400, dedicated GPU is differentiation.

You don't differentiate by completely ****ing over musicians and video by dropping a standard port, or by trying to imply firewire is a 'pro' port. It's not. It's a port.

You don't partner with Apogee to create a budget firewire card aimed directly at the Macbook crowd, agree to spite Windows drivers for it, spend tons of cash on R and D only to cut out half their market the next morning.

Apple had it right on the prev. Macbook lines.

Lets get it straight here, this is a big ****ing deal to a bunch of people. People are pissed and making noise. Apple dropped the ball big time on this one. They handed their enthusiasts and manufacturing partners who use firewire a **** sandwich last week. It's going to be interesting to see what happens from the fall out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back