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New Apple Portables To Drop FireWire Support?

I seriously doubt wireless firewire will be 400mbps though, if it is they certainly know something that the wifi consortium doesn't, and the odds of that being... nil.

I know you guys like to think of Apple as super or godly, but come on, those guys are in the wireless business. If they can't do it yet surely it does mean something doesn't it?
 
director said:
Gentlemen, total waste of time & space FW800 is backward compatible with FW 400. The only thing you will need is a new cable (http://www.wiebetech.com/products/cables.php) but I bet Apple will provide one, possibly two (9-6, and 9-4) for free. What's this fuss about?
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i pretty much agree - there could well be at least one adapter, and it's about as likely apple dropping firewire completely as it is the UK's National Health Service offering decent healthcare...
 
I'm sure this exact comment has been posted before, but who has time to read a 15 page thread?

How stupid are these front page stories getting? No FireWire? Apple is not that stupid... We lost it on the iPods because the majority of people use Windows and they have USB more often than not.
But you know that little camera like thing Apple sells? What'd they call it... oh yeah, iSight? How does that thing connect to your computer again?
And that whole iMovie business? That's right you just eject the tape and say magic words and it's on your computer. It's not like you actually use a FireWire cable to connect your camcorder to your computer...

Sorry, my bad... I guess I was wrong...

I'm guessing the rumors are running short, because all these made up stories that are being posted are getting sort of outrageous...

realiy
 
1394 Negatives

That's a precious number of negatives votes.
 

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We are very careful about what features we add because we can't take them away.​

Remember that line? How can they just... take it away? FireWire is just starting to get really popular. :rolleyes: :eek:
 
I dunno, I think I see more USB 2.0 support than FireWire these days on lots of equipment. FireWire coming to an end seems plausible to me, or at least slowly phasing out. There aren't too many peripherals that support FW800 though, is there? Seems like to much of a change all too fast.
 
Most PCs now have it.

Not going to happen, most Windows laptops and desktops now have firewire (finally, and it took them how long to catch up?).

Well, I really needed a newer laptop, I got a cheapo $499 Compaq special from Staples (total with shipping and tax after rebates and price breaks). Thought I would go ahead and wait for the PowerBooks to go Intel before getting one (I think the iBooks and Minis will go Intel first). I have an iBook G4 and it's getting so much use, it's not holding up well. The Powerbooks are more rugged.

My new Compaq is nice with a 14" widescreen, DVD-ROM, 256 Megs RAM, Intel Media 900, 40 Gig HD, and full keyboard. Hopefully, the new Mac portables will be the same (I thought I wouldn't like the screen as much as a 12", but I do as it's longer).

My point is that this new cheapo laptop DOESN'T have firewire. I can see if Apple drops firewire, it will only be on their cheapest laptop (I understand they've always had an inexpensive iBook with only a CD ROM, for budget reasons).

I can see and iBook 13" Widescreen with 512Megs RAM, 40 Gig HD, and and Pentium or Celeron M with Intel Media 900 go for about $599 without the firewire. The upper models with larger hard drives and faster processors will have the firewire too.
 
gkarris said:
Not going to happen, most Windows laptops and desktops now have firewire (finally, and it took them how long to catch up?).

Well, I really needed a newer laptop, I got a cheapo $499 Compaq special from Staples (total with shipping and tax after rebates and price breaks). Thought I would go ahead and wait for the PowerBooks to go Intel before getting one (I think the iBooks and Minis will go Intel first). I have an iBook G4 and it's getting so much use, it's not holding up well. The Powerbooks are more rugged.

My new Compaq is nice with a 14" widescreen, DVD-ROM, 256 Megs RAM, Intel Media 900, 40 Gig HD, and full keyboard. Hopefully, the new Mac portables will be the same (I thought I wouldn't like the screen as much as a 12", but I do as it's longer).

My point is that this new cheapo laptop DOESN'T have firewire. I can see if Apple drops firewire, it will only be on their cheapest laptop (I understand they've always had an inexpensive iBook with only a CD ROM, for budget reasons).

I can see and iBook 13" Widescreen with 512Megs RAM, 40 Gig HD, and and Pentium or Celeron M with Intel Media 900 go for about $599 without the firewire. The upper models with larger hard drives and faster processors will have the firewire too.
Click to expand...

If you want FW, you can get a PCMCIA FW card for that Compaq, too, for only like $20. Will IntelBooks have PCMCIA? :)
 
Well I'm way late to this thread, but...I just don't see how this could be accurate. So many devices use FireWire. Pre-Video iPods, iSight, plus you've got that whole Target Disk feature. Plus, video cameras all use FireWire as a means of transferring video. Assuming new iBooks will come with DVD burners...wouldn't you sort of want/need a FireWire port for that stuff?

This ain't happening.
 
maybe so

I didn't know that fw800 was backward compatible. that makes me think that it migh be more likely. Though i still dont believe this guy, at some point it will happen.

BUT a friend of mine who does a/v work says that even HD video streaming uses less than the full 400 in fw400 - so, theoretically moving to 800 won't help a/v stuff, just the hdds and such...
 
pls NO!!!

15 pages of can't be true etc.. indeed... And stuborn as i am I will say it too, just so it is clear to Apple that we do not want to loose FW, 400 or 800.
too bad we lost it on the iPods, as on the road with my PB 1.25Ghz Alu, both my USB ports are allready taken up by a XS key (for Logic) and a midi interface, all that is left is a FW 400 and 800 port for an iPod that i do not yet have... (I am ashamed to say....)
 
Capn_Moho said:
That's a precious number of negatives votes.
Click to expand...


and I just added my own "negative" vote. I agree with all of those who complained about the Sony i-Link. I am in the same boat as everyone else since I have a Sony PC120. It uses firewire for movies and USB for pics. In that sense, it is a bit redundant...but that's Sony. I just want to keep using my videocamera like everyone else...

I think I get a faster tranfer speed if I have one USB2 device and one fw400connected then if I use 2 firewire devices or two USB2 devices...Do firewire and USB2 share the same controller? That may make a difference for those who use more than one external HD. Also, can u boot from a USB HD? I am not sure...

Now, if Apple drops fw400 for fw800, well...that's cool since they are compatible
 
Yeah that's probably how he makes decisions, dumps it on macrumors and watches the feedback :D
How do you actually vote? Clicking on vote for me in safari never works.
 
grapes911 said:
Exactly what I was going for. I though it would have been more easily understood. :eek:

It is ironic though. Isn't it?
Click to expand...

Don't you mean that it is "iRonic"? :)

My opinion is that there is too much "iStuff" in Apple's product line. It kind of gets "iNnoying" if you know what "iMean". Also, didn't the "i" originally stand for "internet"? And what does IEEE-1394 have to do with that? I think Firewire is a great name. It makes you think of something hot, fast, and exciting. And it rhymes.

I doubt this rumor to be true, but in the case that Apple does release Inte-based laptops in January and does not include a Firewire port, then I will likely buy an older G4 Powerbook or iBook. I use Firewire to back up my macs to external drives. A fancy Intel processor isn't worth not having a back up.

-A
 
I can't see Apple ditching it completely. The full IEEE 1394b spec supports up to 3.2Gbits/s, using optics, so massive room for improvement.

I agree though that everything will soon be wireless. Wireless USB supports speeds of 480Mbits/s up to 10M away and 100Mbits/s up to 30M away. While we know that USB is inferior, it is the way a lot of PCs will go and other devices like cameras, printers etc, may end up going too. Very much like Bluetooth. This could help kill off Firewire, but it is currently unclear. I think there is also a Wireless 1394, but that is less well supported currently.

Either way, if the Powerbook will have one 9-pin port, I will be okay. I do feel that it should remain though, for others as well as PB owners. It is much less of a strain on the system and why do we have to take a step back purely because an inferior technology was developed largely by the company who Apple will be buying processors from soon?
 
I can see eliminating Firewire 400 ports (as long as the 800 port is backwards compatible). However, I can't see eliminating Firewire 800 ports. Can you imagine transferring HD video over USB 2?
 
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