Big mistake. Without firewire it is not suitable for a portable DAW. I am not going to buy it and hope my audio interfaces and external HDs work properly through an ethernet converter.
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No FireWire in MacBooks
- Thread starter kolax
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Yeah I would have thought that Blu-Ray would have at least been an upgrade option.
I saw a nice HP notebook on Sunday for sale at Future Shop for like $1099 CAD and it had Blu-Ray.
I know a couple of people that were holding out after never getting their 12" MBPs that use various fireware audio devices and their screwed, and who knows how well the firewire to Ethernet adapter will work. and with things from the likes of DigiDesign, and M-Audio that already get all goffy sometimes.
Very true.
But you have to look at consumer standards.
Most people don't even know what Firewire is. USB though? That's about as household as dust.
I just hope this decision doesn't get passed on to the next iMac revision, i rely on firewire too much and plan to get the next iMac release in the new year.
Also no firewire is the biggest disadvantage of the Air too even more so than no optical drive.
Also no firewire is the biggest disadvantage of the Air too even more so than no optical drive.
Flash RAM is where camcorders are going. FireWire is needed for tape transfers (the old tech), everything else works fine with USB. Apple are skating where the puck is going to be again.
Loyal Apple users know what Firewire is though, it has been a part of Macs for so long, and because it was so much better than USB people started relying on it, for their audio/video equipment, external hard drives, etc..
(Correct Thread this time!)
Such a shame but this is a deal breaker for me and I'm guessing many others.
I use my Macbook for work as an Apple Technician/Engineer and myself and a friend use 2 of them on stage when we play, Firewire is crucial to both of us..
I support a school that uses 30+ Macbooks for a range of things including iMovie...
Now a family that wanted a nice little rugged laptop for their "digital life", a music hobbyist that has already invested in a decent Audio Interface, anyone who has already purchased a FW400/800 ext. HDD and needs a new laptop - will have to pay £££'s extra for one port and a load of "features" they don't want or need!
You've really screwed us here Apple... Nice one..
Such a shame but this is a deal breaker for me and I'm guessing many others.
I use my Macbook for work as an Apple Technician/Engineer and myself and a friend use 2 of them on stage when we play, Firewire is crucial to both of us..
I support a school that uses 30+ Macbooks for a range of things including iMovie...
Now a family that wanted a nice little rugged laptop for their "digital life", a music hobbyist that has already invested in a decent Audio Interface, anyone who has already purchased a FW400/800 ext. HDD and needs a new laptop - will have to pay £££'s extra for one port and a load of "features" they don't want or need!
You've really screwed us here Apple... Nice one..
Exactly this is a deal killer for me especially as I use my Ethernet port for a Euphonix mixer! (ok i could get a hub but fookin hell)
Well apple aint exactly going for loyal apple fans are they? They are chasing after consumers now, what better way then a sexy laptop. I can guarentee you that 4/5 average consumers dont have a clue what firewire is.
No, actually, everyone still uses DV tapes (MiniDV and DVCAM being the big ones) because it is far better than using flash/HDD/DVD.
If you shoot video at all, this would become apparent quickly.
Using flash/hdd/DVD and you only have the available space on the camcorder itself/the media before you have to erase everything to shoot new stuff. Not very conducive to actual video production.
So, with that said, FireWire 400 being dropped is a:
HUGE DEAL!
Currently yes, but did you notice the future tense in my post?
Also I was under the impression that FW800 ports can connect to iLink interfaces, since 1394b is backwardly compatible and can run at the slower 400 rate. Surely anyone serious about video production would buy the Pro and change their cable?
of course not, no one looks into the future.
Ill give you a hint tho people FW400 is dead. If anything apple is pushing others to drop the old tech and move on to the CURRENT (yes FW400 is actually outdated!) tech at least.
Most people don't use firewire, I agree. But this is bigger than getting rid of the dial up modem, as the USB Apple Modem works great...but there are still a lot of users who don't want a MBP, and won't be able to use their Firewire devices anymore, and no good way to convert them.
It's pretty hit and miss with mac support if i last recall, i could be wrong, this was 2 years ago now, things might have changed by now.
Pretty pointless if you ask me, wasn't firewire once a requirement for Tiger? seems so silly to invest all that money into it, only to drop it...
It wasn't the port itself that was the requirement, more that FireWire inclusion started on Macs with the required spec for Tiger. So it was easier just to check for the FireWire port and use that as the cut off point for support.
No firewire is a deal killer...period. Sometimes I use my white Macbook to capture HD video from my Sony DV cam. Guess I won't be "upgrading".
No Firewire seals the deal for me. I do my home movies with my mini-dv camera which is firewire AND i have a firewire external drive. I will buy a laptop in the next few days but it won't be one of the new ones. I'll either buy an old Blackbook (for the larger drive and difference factor) or buy the old low-end Macbook pro. I don't see the $1299 or $1599 new Macbooks making any financial sense.