No Bluray in new MBP

[mark88]

Anyone else disappointed not to see a bluray drive?

When oh when will we get one? Before they said they were waiting until the format war is over, it's been over a long time now they're waiting until the market settles down.

The answer to the Q and A suggesting the iTunes store has the best HD movies is lame.

 

[Hawkeye411]

I'd be glad they didn't include it. I wouldn't want to pay an extra $300 for the Bluray license. The price will come down eventually.

 

[mark88]

Is that how much it costs?

Didn't realize that, ridiculous.

 

[RyanF2009]

My guess:

blu ray = $$ that Apple doesn't want to spend.

 

[TwinCities Dan]

I'd be glad they didn't include it. I wouldn't want to pay an extra $300 for the Bluray license. The price will come down eventually.

Bingo, better luck next time...

 

[alphaod]

I'd be glad they didn't include it. I wouldn't want to pay an extra $300 for the Bluray license. The price will come down eventually.

Well if it were included it would be BTO.

 

[eidrunner247]

Maybe next update cycle. MacPros first in Jan, and macbook pros in june.

 

[iEdd]

Rather than bitch about how it wasn't included in the expensive pricing, I'm just happy it didn't add more to the cost or make me tempted to BTO it when I can put one together myself for around $550AU external OR wait another 6-12 months when they will be half that price.

 

[Logos327]

First of all, there have been 10s of posts about this. Search the forum or don't post at all.

Blu-ray is done in 5 years when digital distribution really kicks off. It will only be used for those who feel they need a physical copy.

Some companies believe this, some don't. Apple seems to be focusing on digital distribution through iTunes (much like MS and the xbox 360) because they realize the point I made above previous point.

 

[Tilpots]

First of all, there have been 10s of posts about this. Search the forum or don't post at all.

Blu-ray is done in 5 years when digital distribution really kicks off. It will only be used for those who feel they need a physical copy.

Some companies believe this, some don't. Apple seems to be focusing on digital distribution through iTunes (much like MS and the xbox 360) because they realize the point I made above previous point.

Easy, Tiger. If you've got the crystal ball, then tell me how digital distribution is going to "kick off" in five years. They going to rewire the entire continental US anytime soon?

 

[Zorn]

Yeah go check out BTO notebooks that have Blu-ray as an option (*cough* Sony), you pay nearly $500 more. Plus, when you have a computer with a 15" screen, you are barely getting much of a benefit from it. Sure, it will look sharper, but on these little screens, even the regular DVDs look great because everything is condensed into a small image. It absolutely makes sense on large 42"+ TV screens, but with notebooks it seems a waste.

 

[tofudc5]

i'm a little disappointed that they didn't include a blu-ray drive in the new mbp...BUT

if they did, price will go up, they'll have to consider a HDMI port as well as a DVI port, also perhaps because of these, they will have to consider a new graphics processor

and plus as someone mentioned, 15" screen is a joke to watch Blu-ray movies on, but however, would be nice if in the future it does come with blu-ray drive and hdmi so i can connect to friend's HD TVs

 

[Lopes]

i'm a little disappointed that they didn't include a blu-ray drive in the new mbp...BUT

if they did, price will go up, they'll have to consider a HDMI port as well as a DVI port, also perhaps because of these, they will have to consider a new graphics processor

and plus as someone mentioned, 15" screen is a joke to watch Blu-ray movies on, but however, would be nice if in the future it does come with blu-ray drive and hdmi so i can connect to friend's HD TVs

If they would ever decide to upgrade that 4-5 year old 15" MBP resolution having blu-ray would be great. Sony makes a BTO Vaio FW series with a 1920x1200 16" screen, and blu-ray reader, for around 1500-1600 i believe.

One of my biggest disappointments was seeing the resolution stagnate yet again.

 

[Cave Man]

i'm a little disappointed that they didn't include a blu-ray drive in the new mbp...BUT if they did, price will go up, they'll have to consider a HDMI port as well as a DVI port,

No, they wouldn't. That's the whole point of DisplayPort. Higher output resolution like DVI, but also HDCP-compliant.

also perhaps because of these, they will have to consider a new graphics processor

No need for this either, since the decoding is done by the cpu, not the gpu. Even a 2 gHz Mac Mini can play Blu-Ray video.

and plus as someone mentioned, 15" screen is a joke to watch Blu-ray movies on, but however, would be nice if in the future it does come with blu-ray drive and hdmi so i can connect to friend's HD TVs

It is nice to watch on a HDTV from the Mac, but I suspect HDMI will be going away in favor of DisplayPort.

 

[tofudc5]

No, they wouldn't. That's the whole point of DisplayPort. Higher output resolution like DVI, but also HDCP-compliant.

No need for this either, since the decoding is done by the cpu, not the gpu. Even a 2 gHz Mac Mini can play Blu-Ray video.

ok fair enough, so then why didn't Apple just include a blu-ray drive in the damn thing...

It is nice to watch on a HDTV from the Mac, but I suspect HDMI will be going away in favor of DisplayPort.

are there DisplayPort to HDMI connectors/cables available? How am I going to connect my macbook pro to a HD television otherwise?

 

[iEdd]

• Mini DisplayPort to DVI adaptor (meaning you lose the audio)
• DVI to HDMI adaptor
• Separate audio cable

I think that's pretty piss-poor. I mean, DisplayPort has audio channels, why not create an HDMI adaptor that throughputs the audio?

 

[Michael CM1]

Yeah go check out BTO notebooks that have Blu-ray as an option (*cough* Sony), you pay nearly $500 more. Plus, when you have a computer with a 15" screen, you are barely getting much of a benefit from it. Sure, it will look sharper, but on these little screens, even the regular DVDs look great because everything is condensed into a small image. It absolutely makes sense on large 42"+ TV screens, but with notebooks it seems a waste.

I looked up a Dell earlier, and the Blu-ray BTO option is an extra $200. Yes, it would cost more for a slot-loading drive, but $300 more than that? Doubtful.

I also can't understand why this fact is so hard to point out: If you buy a new movie on Blu-ray (Iron Man, for example), YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO BUY A DVD AS WELL. I mean holy G-D it, I can't explain this any plainer. I have the five Harry Potter movies on BD, so I have one place I can watch them. The fact that I have a 720p television and a Blu-ray Disc player proves that I DON'T NEED THE TOP RESOLUTION. My MacBook Pro's display and the LCD monitor I have both have a better resolution than my TV, so this whole load of bull hockey about the video quality that keeps getting spewed is just...so...stupid.

I want Blu-ray on a MacBook or Pro so I can watch movies on a Blu-ray Disc on my notebook. I am sure many of the others on here want it for exactly the same thing, so please, sweet Jesus, listen to us instead of making up total crap about why we don't need Blu-ray. The next person to mention digital downloads is going to get a big "iTunes doesn't sell HD movies" slap in the face!

 

[tofudc5]

The next person to mention digital downloads is going to get a big "iTunes doesn't sell HD movies" slap in the face!

TOO RIGHT!!

I'm not too sure about you guys in the States, but bandwidth is precious here in Australia!! I only get 20gb a month of downloads + uploads combined.

 

[PAUL BRIAN]

even with hd dvd losing blu rays are barely breaking into consumer healthy numbers

dvd will be here for a while

also, as far as movies go, blurays belong in a HOME THEATRE SETUP imo. DVDs look just fine on a 15" inch monitor screen

 

[CaptainChunk]

Yeah go check out BTO notebooks that have Blu-ray as an option (*cough* Sony), you pay nearly $500 more. Plus, when you have a computer with a 15" screen, you are barely getting much of a benefit from it. Sure, it will look sharper, but on these little screens, even the regular DVDs look great because everything is condensed into a small image. It absolutely makes sense on large 42"+ TV screens, but with notebooks it seems a waste.

Not when there's a lot of notebooks that have native resolutions similar to that of HDTVs. Run that DVD in full screen on say, a 17" hi-res MBP, and you're upscaling that 720x480 image to fit a 1920x1200 screen. And given the close proximity one would sit to a laptop screen, it's just as bad as doing the same on a 42" screen sitting 8 feet away. SD DVDs even look bad on a 15" MBP display (1440x900) at full screen. So, I call shenanigans here.

 

[djellison]

Is that how much it costs?

No - it doesn't. You can buy <£600 laptops with Blu-ray drives. Apple are just dragging their feet.

 

[8767092]

Easy, Tiger. If you've got the crystal ball, then tell me how digital distribution is going to "kick off" in five years. They going to rewire the entire continental US anytime soon?

The great thing about most of the lines run already is that they are conveniently upgradable with new hardware at both ends.

DOCSIS 3 supports fairly fast speeds. What will 4, 5, or 6 support?

Who is to say that a new development in fiber optic technology won't quickly reduce the price to roll it out to more areas than Verizon/at&t are already doing?

Digital distribution is already here and will continue to grow. The real problem behind the medium isn't technology, but businesses. Think about how efficiently massive amounts of data are transmitted via P2P systems. Legal or not it is still quantities previously thought too expensive to distribute, but the businesses will not allow such developments easily.

$1.99 per TV episode, $4.99 per movie rental with a pile of restrictions to match.

One day we'll see them adopt a Netflix type service and that will be the day business allows it to happen.

 

[toke lahti]

even with hd dvd losing blu rays are barely breaking into consumer healthy numbers

More bd-players sold than macs...
Which one you think will win?

 

[magallanes]

More bd-players sold than macs...
Which one you think will win?

There are more notebook (not just apple) without bluray than with one.

In fact, currently its rare to find a decent home theatre in many houses. So the fact is many people think dvd is enough, mostly because the amount of titles on dvd and the cost. A dvd movie can cost less that $10 while a blu-ray is over $30.

 

[toke lahti]

There are more notebook (not just apple) without bluray than with one.

Following that logic, how apple can succeed, if bd is more succesfull than mac, but still bd will not succeed?