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New Apple Portables To Drop FireWire Support?
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No Possible Way
There is no possible way this is true -
All the Sony products
The iSight
Most iPods
Hundreds of branded ext hdds
All these use FW400 - there is no way they would risk loosing all those customers! Also, I have only seen FW800 on HDDs, never on a camera - because, as I understand it, even streaming hd video does not need all of the FW400 bandwidth.
This guy needs to think before he posts!
There is no possible way this is true -
All the Sony products
The iSight
Most iPods
Hundreds of branded ext hdds
All these use FW400 - there is no way they would risk loosing all those customers! Also, I have only seen FW800 on HDDs, never on a camera - because, as I understand it, even streaming hd video does not need all of the FW400 bandwidth.
This guy needs to think before he posts!
I don't know. My first instinct is to cry foul on the rumor. Of course, we won't know until we know, so we might as well speculate on the possibility.
Apple has done crazier things. The iBook may be going "sub"notebook and the focus may be on wireless, low power, etc.
IF there is an introduction of a new airport to go along with the "media device" for streaming, they may very well make a firewire port on it, or something like that. That's a long shot, I know, but I can't see Apple removing firewire on the iBook without some alternative for getting your DV video to the iBook. It's far too integral to the image of the consumer mac: digital hub. This imaginary solution (or something similar) would split the price into two devices and make the "sub"iBook that much cheaper and compact.
Plus, if there is a new media device, the argument for why you need a full on computer to go with it needs to be strong. Weakening the iBook's ability to import video seems to be counter to that.
Even with this imaginary solution, I can't see firewire audio devices being reliable enough. A "sub"iBook would not be targeted at musicians... and as someone has suggested, there could be a low-end powerbook to fill the gap. Think $800, $900, $1000 iBooks, $1200 and up Powerbooks.
So, my prediction is... false rumor, or true, but with an ~equal alternative.
Apple has done crazier things. The iBook may be going "sub"notebook and the focus may be on wireless, low power, etc.
IF there is an introduction of a new airport to go along with the "media device" for streaming, they may very well make a firewire port on it, or something like that. That's a long shot, I know, but I can't see Apple removing firewire on the iBook without some alternative for getting your DV video to the iBook. It's far too integral to the image of the consumer mac: digital hub. This imaginary solution (or something similar) would split the price into two devices and make the "sub"iBook that much cheaper and compact.
Plus, if there is a new media device, the argument for why you need a full on computer to go with it needs to be strong. Weakening the iBook's ability to import video seems to be counter to that.
Even with this imaginary solution, I can't see firewire audio devices being reliable enough. A "sub"iBook would not be targeted at musicians... and as someone has suggested, there could be a low-end powerbook to fill the gap. Think $800, $900, $1000 iBooks, $1200 and up Powerbooks.
So, my prediction is... false rumor, or true, but with an ~equal alternative.
ccool2ax said:
Firewire is just as fast as USB 2 and in some cases slightly faster as USB 2 lacks a dedicated controller in most cases and cuts into the CPU to control its data transfers. Firewire also has better sustained Data rates and can transfer more power than USB 2 that is why Firewire is more commonly used to power bus powered portable Hard Drives though USB 2 can do the same Firewire can provide more juice to power the drive.
FireWire has also been around for much longer than USB 2.0 Firewire was introduced in late 1998 while USB was not introduced until late 2001. I don't know exactly how many machines have Firewire or USB 2.0 but all of Apples machines since late 1999 have had them as standard and we only got USB 2.0 in mid 2003 as standard offering across the board. Many PCs have firewire as well especially in recent times with DV camera popularity. Many PC people added FireWire to their machines as well to fill in the gap before the PC world got USB 2.0 For 3 years the PC world had nothing that could compare to Firewire.
Firewire has also advanced beyond it's original specifications with Firewire 800 which has no real competitor right now and is twice as fast as both USB 2.0 and the Original Firewire. Firewire 800 is also backward compatible with 400 although one will need a 400-800 cable or an adaptor.
He may have simply written the 'a little birdie told me' to incite response concerning the issue. I was under the impression (being a recent convert to Apple keep in mind) that video enthusiasts were a significant consumer share in the Apple market and removing Firewire altogether would upset a large portion of the customer base.
I don't follow the tech. with regard to video editing/composition: is the hardware for video editing shifting as well or is firewire that prominent? Seems silly to stop supporting a hardware staple of a particular industry.
I don't follow the tech. with regard to video editing/composition: is the hardware for video editing shifting as well or is firewire that prominent? Seems silly to stop supporting a hardware staple of a particular industry.
Man, everyones acting like this is the end of the world.
The article says that Apple isnt getting rid of Firewire just Firewire 400... makes sense when you are making ultra slim, smaller powerbooks... etc. etc.
Get a grip and just pre-buy your 400 to 800 adapters now.. or just hold your horses and see if Apple provides it (yeah right).
D1.
The article says that Apple isnt getting rid of Firewire just Firewire 400... makes sense when you are making ultra slim, smaller powerbooks... etc. etc.
Get a grip and just pre-buy your 400 to 800 adapters now.. or just hold your horses and see if Apple provides it (yeah right).
D1.
O'Grady's full of it. This is just a sad, desperate act in order to garner attention for his new ZDnet column and moderately increase his revenue. The PowerPage used to be a reasonably good source of PowerBook/iBook and associated mobile device info, but it's languished over the last 2 years, plagued by poor writing, a lack of effort and general apathy on O'Grady's part when it failed to become a money-making venture. Now, it's simply an advertisement for his ZDnet column.
Can anyone even cite an example where, within the last three years, the PowerPage was even remotely correct on any of its exclusive rumors?
As stated before, Apple has numerous reasons to leave FireWire intact on the Powerbook and very few reasons to remove or reduce the number of FW ports.
O'Grady's specious reasoning seems to derive solely from the removal of the FW chipset on the 5G iPods, a decision based on the size of the chipset, rather than its utility.
Don't give O'Grady or his ilk any more attention -- it will only encourage more sites to go the route of MacOSRumors. (Yecht!)
Can anyone even cite an example where, within the last three years, the PowerPage was even remotely correct on any of its exclusive rumors?
As stated before, Apple has numerous reasons to leave FireWire intact on the Powerbook and very few reasons to remove or reduce the number of FW ports.
O'Grady's specious reasoning seems to derive solely from the removal of the FW chipset on the 5G iPods, a decision based on the size of the chipset, rather than its utility.
Don't give O'Grady or his ilk any more attention -- it will only encourage more sites to go the route of MacOSRumors. (Yecht!)
Retarded.
This rumor really doesn't make any sense. Why would Apple remove a port that they've worked to make the industry standard for digital video? It'll just cripple the abilities of their own products. Want to download your daughter's birthday party video to iMovie? Oops, sorry, we removed that port. Haha.
Plus, there's no benefit in removing it, they own it and don't have to pay a dime for the rights to use it. Unless there is a shift in the entertainment industry away from Firewire that I am not aware of. But as of now many:
Camcorders, HDTVs, A/V Receivers, High-end DVD Players, Higher-end Digital SLRS and more, I'm sure are using Firewire.
Moving the iPods to USB 2.0 makes perfect sense, since the iPods went to Windows and USB is ubiquitous in Windows machines, whereas Firewire is not (at least not in older and lower end machines.)
There are so many more interesting rumors to make up. I guess kudos to Jason D. O'Grady for making up the most random one.
I'm going to start my own rumor right here:
Apple will drop the use of screen technology in their Intel iBooks, they will instead offer a CRT monitor adapter for the keyboard-only laptop.
Joe
This rumor really doesn't make any sense. Why would Apple remove a port that they've worked to make the industry standard for digital video? It'll just cripple the abilities of their own products. Want to download your daughter's birthday party video to iMovie? Oops, sorry, we removed that port. Haha.
Plus, there's no benefit in removing it, they own it and don't have to pay a dime for the rights to use it. Unless there is a shift in the entertainment industry away from Firewire that I am not aware of. But as of now many:
Camcorders, HDTVs, A/V Receivers, High-end DVD Players, Higher-end Digital SLRS and more, I'm sure are using Firewire.
Moving the iPods to USB 2.0 makes perfect sense, since the iPods went to Windows and USB is ubiquitous in Windows machines, whereas Firewire is not (at least not in older and lower end machines.)
There are so many more interesting rumors to make up. I guess kudos to Jason D. O'Grady for making up the most random one.
I'm going to start my own rumor right here:
Apple will drop the use of screen technology in their Intel iBooks, they will instead offer a CRT monitor adapter for the keyboard-only laptop.
Joe
I find this hard to believe. FW400 is important to my personal and professional work.
However, if it is true that you can use the FW800 port with FW400 devices, I guess that would be alright. I think they would do better to offer us the option (special order) to have it or not though. That will depend on if the intention is to lower overall cost.
Who knows, maybe they will surprise us with an Uber-One-Size-Fits-All USB, FW400, FW800 connection port. And if that's the case they had better give us 2.
However, if it is true that you can use the FW800 port with FW400 devices, I guess that would be alright. I think they would do better to offer us the option (special order) to have it or not though. That will depend on if the intention is to lower overall cost.
Who knows, maybe they will surprise us with an Uber-One-Size-Fits-All USB, FW400, FW800 connection port. And if that's the case they had better give us 2.
I can't believe this
Apple has been using firewire for years on their hardware.....It seems impossible to me that they would remove FW 400 from their portable machines.....Macs wont recognize DV cams over USB and firewire enables Target Disk Mode. All in all, I can't forsee this actually happening.....And if it does I will be sorely dissapointed
Macrumors said:
Apple has been using firewire for years on their hardware.....It seems impossible to me that they would remove FW 400 from their portable machines.....Macs wont recognize DV cams over USB and firewire enables Target Disk Mode. All in all, I can't forsee this actually happening.....And if it does I will be sorely dissapointed
If backward compatible I would rather 2x FW 800 ports than one of each. Best of both worlds as I see it. FW 400 devices still supported through use of a different cable and 2x FW800 ports when I need them - nice!
On one condition...
This is pure BS in my opinion. Unless Apple can deliver a free adapter that will allow DV cameras to be controlled and footage be imported using USB2 then this will not happen. Are you telling me that Apple is abandoning the digital hub? Because iMovie/iDVD is as good as useless without firewire and a DV cam
Steve is not stupid. Firewire was dropped from the iPod becuase it was redundant and unnecessary since all macs have been USB2 equipped for nearly 3 years. firewire as absolutely NOT redundant for DV cameras.
As as to the speculation that firewire will be used to differentiate pro from consumer, also poppycock. DV cameras are not a pro technology and iMovie is not a pro app.
This is pure BS in my opinion. Unless Apple can deliver a free adapter that will allow DV cameras to be controlled and footage be imported using USB2 then this will not happen. Are you telling me that Apple is abandoning the digital hub? Because iMovie/iDVD is as good as useless without firewire and a DV cam
Steve is not stupid. Firewire was dropped from the iPod becuase it was redundant and unnecessary since all macs have been USB2 equipped for nearly 3 years. firewire as absolutely NOT redundant for DV cameras.
As as to the speculation that firewire will be used to differentiate pro from consumer, also poppycock. DV cameras are not a pro technology and iMovie is not a pro app.
Super Dave said:Mac OS X isn't the only important thing. When IDE drives used to suck, Apple had SCSI. When the PC was trying to get their act together, Apple had FireWire.
Apple has always had nice hardware. If they put the extra money in for LED lights on the batteries of their laptops, and magnetic latches for their lids, and coin turnable battery snaps, I'm sure they're not going to ditch a FireWire port. I'd rather lose Ethernet or a Modem jack before FireWire, and I suspect I'm not alone.
David
You probably aren't alone, but they're not trying to sell this laptop to you, they're trying to sell it to the kid going back to school. Someone who hasn't used an Apple ever, but needs something that can be seen as a little more reliable than a Windows PC. Something that little Johnny won't get into all kinds of games on. (I know this picture isn't entirely accurate.)
I don't really care one way or the other since most of my gadgets that use firewire also use USB 2.0 (external HDs & iPod mini). What does bug me is Apple killing off its own technology if this is true.
I mean how much freaking money, effort and marketing did Apple put into pimping Firewire as the end-all connectivity technology and now they're just bedding up with USB 2.0.
Leaving off an iPod is one thing, taking it off a computer is teh suck.
I mean how much freaking money, effort and marketing did Apple put into pimping Firewire as the end-all connectivity technology and now they're just bedding up with USB 2.0.
Leaving off an iPod is one thing, taking it off a computer is teh suck.
I'd like to think that Apple recognizes the plethora of musicians out there using firewire interfaces. Why would they want to irritate so many loyal users who stand in front of an audience displaying the Apple logo? The idea that upgrading my powerbook might also mean having to buy a new $1000 audio interface to replace the fw model I have just because Apple decides to drop firewire is absolutely depressing. Say it ain't so. doh.