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Power Hungry Blu-Ray Drives Delaying Apple Notebook Adoption?

People wanting blu-ray on their mbp now
will be the first ones to complain about how slow it is to burn a 50gb disc @ 1-2x and how pathetic their battery life is compared to previous models.

(We all know that blu-ray write speeds could be @ 12x but apple will sell us a 1-2x for a premium.)

Just your typical double standard mac user mentality i guess.

Plus why would apple force a format standard they make no money of?
when their format digital downloads is the future?
 
uNext said:
People wanting blu-ray on their mbp now
will be the first ones to complain about how slow it is to burn a 50gb disc @ 1-2x and how pathetic their battery life is compared to previous models.

(We all know that blu-ray write speeds could be @ 12x but apple will sell us a 1-2x for a premium.)

Just your typical double standard mac user mentality i guess.

Plus why would apple force a format standard they make no money of?
when their format digital downloads is the future?
Click to expand...

A) I think most people know the current limitations of BR writing and aren't expecting Apple to magically make their products with speeds of a mature tech like DVD.

B) WHY? because Apple has spent years carving out a niche in the creative professional market. Content creators have been a large and loyal inroad which Apple has almost always catered to. If they want to keep that market, they're going to HAVE to start letting them make content for BR, or the market will be forced to turn to Apple's competitors.

Also, BR will be around for at least 5 years. That's a long time for Apple to choose to ignore a consumer segment. Sure they want to push dl's, but they need to do that on the content/pricing/delivery side, not by hedging out or ostrich-in-the-sanding an entire pop-media.
 
uNext said:
Plus why would apple force a format standard they make no money of?
when their format digital downloads is the future?
Click to expand...

Because eventually, they will have to or sacrifice sales back to those companies that do offer the popular format. Apple may do what they can to make money, but they also realize that they have to meet the needs and demands of the consumer (their bread and butter) or fail.

Apple's marketshare in the industry is growing because they meet the wants and needs of the consumer (albeit slow sometimes), and not just because they offer it in a pretty package.

Sheist in designer packaging may sell at first, but eventually people recognize the smell and it gets flushed FAST!!
 
jpsalvesen said:
An AppleTV with a built-in Blu-Ray drive would indeed be one excellent little unit! If they included a tuner option, you would have a full-fledged all-in-one HD PVR and Blu-Ray solution.
Click to expand...

If either of these ever happen, I will literally eat an AppleTV.

I can't believe there are still people that don't understand that the AppleTV (which Apple sells near their cost) exists only to drive sales at the iTunes store.
 
I have an Alienware m15x with a blu-ray drive (reader). My resolution is 1920x1200 (1200P). I got a DVI to HDMI cable, and can watch HD movies on my LCD TV. I have never tried this off battery power. I've also watched HD movies on the laptop screen, and it's a very sharp picture and excellent sound through my headphones. While I realize this is an extreme case cost wise, there is absolutely no reason why a MBP could not pull this off if it had a blu-ray drive.

The viewing experience was quite pleasant, and I could see how this would be a very nice feature for travelers, or people who don't want to purchase a PS3 or blu-ray standalone player (example: don't have a home theater). I'm hoping they do add these to a future version of the MBP, because I would absolutely purchase it, and sell this Vista machine. :D
 
riversky said:
Blu ray in a notebook makes no sense to me. Most laptop screens don't support the 1080p resolution or 1920x1080 so you would not get the benefit.

Unless they start shipping laptops with HDMI outputs and one would use them plugged into a flat screen, I can't see the demand.
Click to expand...

Even if you were correct that BR offers no visual enhancements (you're not, as another author has pointed out), you get the advantage of being able to play your BR disks in your laptop rather than having to buy both BR and DVD disks. That's huge - and gets bigger every month.
 
Correct me if I am wrong, but the Dell XPS M1330 already has a slot loading blu-ray drive option.
 
Dear Apple,

Enable OS X support for the decoding features of our video cards.

~Eidorian

Seriously why haven't they in OS X?
 
FX120 said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but the Dell XPS M1330 already has a slot loading blu-ray drive option.
Click to expand...

There are slot loading drives already out there that can fit into MBP, but they're over $500. If you compare with about $100 for a DVD burner, I think there's a good reason for Apple not to install those yet
 
Eidorian said:
Dear Apple,

Enable OS X support for the decoding features of our video cards.

~Eidorian

Seriously why haven't they in OS X?
Click to expand...

That's a pretty big bummer. It's kinda hard to convince people OS X is the most advanced OS by a company that 'gets' media when it can't play back BR. There aren't even any 3rd party apps that offer it. No options on Leopard. Sad. And disappointing.
 
Macmel said:
There are slot loading drives already out there that can fit into MBP, but they're over $500. If you compare with about $100 for a DVD burner, I think there's a good reason for Apple not to install those yet
Click to expand...

If the demand is there and people are willing to pay the premium, why shouldn't Apple offer them as an option?
 
Give me a break.....

Why are we talking about putting a Blu-Ray drive in a laptop when the Mac Pros don't even have a BTO option yet?????

Mac Pros should have them by/at WWDC this year, then don't expect to see them in the iMacs until next year when the slot loading variety are cheap enough. A few months after that, the MacBook Pros should have the option. Don't even think about holding your breath for BDR in a MacBook until MID-LATE 2010. As for the Mini, it will be next to the Cube in the hallways in Cupertino by that time.

Baby steps people......
 
Macmel said:
There are slot loading drives already out there that can fit into MBP, but they're over $500. If you compare with about $100 for a DVD burner, I think there's a good reason for Apple not to install those yet
Click to expand...

What reason is that? If they can offer a $1,000 SSD option, why not offer a $500 (or even $1,000) BR option?

I wouldn't make it standard, but if it's available in a format that would fit, it's time to add it as an option.
 
InLikeALion said:
A) I think most people know the current limitations of BR writing and aren't expecting Apple to magically make their products with speeds of a mature tech like DVD.

B) WHY? because Apple has spent years carving out a niche in the creative professional market. Content creators have been a large and loyal inroad which Apple has almost always catered to. If they want to keep that market, they're going to HAVE to start letting them make content for BR, or the market will be forced to turn to Apple's competitors.

Also, BR will be around for at least 5 years. That's a long time for Apple to choose to ignore a consumer segment. Sure they want to push dl's, but they need to do that on the content/pricing/delivery side, not by hedging out or ostrich-in-the-sanding an entire pop-media.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt the creative professional market depend on a laptop to produce stunning video HD renders. Why would they waste their time when a macpro can handle it and more cut their renders by more then half the time compared to a laptop?.

Laptops maybe one day will reach the power of a desktop but as it stands
the only professionals i know that work on laptops are photographers and design artist. Nothing really too extensive processing wise. If they have something really requesting power they dont even bother using a laptop for it. To a lot of people time is money the quicker the project gets done the better for them. I have tried to convert hd video on a 2.6mbp and afterwards burn a dvd with some video content and it was painfully slow. When i did the 1080p video on a macpro the video converted in 30 minutes.

I dont even bother working with avchd files from my 1080p camcorder because its just not worth it. Now imagine trying to burn 1-2 hrs of hd video on 1 br disc? People are expecting a blu ray drive but dont really see that apple have yet to update the resolution on their 15" and the poor macbook
stands no chance of handling any hd properly.

Now their compressed digital content plays nice with their hardware.
I rented an hd movie and played it on my mbp no need for blu ray really.
The macbook air is testing the waters.
 
uNext said:
I highly doubt the creative professional market depend on a laptop to produce stunning video HD renders. Why would they waste their time when a macpro can handle it and more cut their renders by more then half the time compared to a laptop?.

Laptops maybe one day will reach the power of a desktop but as it stands
the only professionals i know that work on laptops are photographers and design artist. Nothing really too extensive processing wise. If they have something really requesting power they dont even bother using a laptop for it. To a lot of people time is money the quicker the project gets done the better for them. I have tried to convert hd video on a 2.6mbp and afterwards burn a dvd with some video content and it was painfully slow. When i did the 1080p video on a macpro the video converted in 30 minutes.

I dont even bother working with avchd files from my 1080p camcorder because its just not worth it. Now imagine trying to burn 1-2 hrs of hd video on 1 br disc? People are expecting a blu ray drive but dont really see that apple have yet to update the resolution on their 15" and the poor macbook
stands no chance of handling any hd properly.

Now their compressed digital content plays nice with their hardware.
I rented an hd movie and played it on my mbp no need for blu ray really.
The macbook air is testing the waters.
Click to expand...

I agree on this. The only place I need to burn BR content is at work, and I can't see that changing anytime soon. I don't see any need for a laptop to ever have the ability to burn BR content. But then again, I sold my crystal ball on eBay, and have no idea what the future holds. A reader yes. A burner no.
 
uNext said:
I highly doubt the creative professional market depend on a laptop to produce stunning video HD renders. Why would they waste their time when a macpro can handle it and more cut their renders by more then half the time compared to a laptop?.
Click to expand...

My argument in your quote was saying that Apple has to adopt BR, as the person I had quoted had said they would bypass it. I wasn't saying necessarily that it would be in a laptop.

However, to say a laptop will never get BR burning capabilities, or should never, is fairly close-minded. Even SuperDrives started out at painfully slow burn speeds back in the Titanium days. The same arguments you make about it being only needed in towers could have been made about DVD-R back in the day. Sure, many people never burn a DVD - but many pro's with laptops do it now.

My primary concern is for time capsul/fireproof safe type backup and for being able to mail content to clients. Sure, HDD's are cheep, but not cheep enought that I'm going to pass them around like DVD-R's.
 
I don't want a Blue Ray drive build in.
I rather plug in an external drive if and when I need it. Also I don't want to pay for one if I don't need it.
 
JFreak said:
Remember the economics of scale! Until Blu-Ray is very widespread, Apple just cannot include it in a low-cost products such as Apple TV, Mac Mini or the MacBook. Cost-wise MBP would be a possibility *IF* some manufacturer had that slim and slot-loading on catalog. Until that happens, MacPro is the only candidate for Blu-Ray.

Early adopters can always buy external units, which IMO still cost too much (for me). I don't really know which comes first this time; whether the cost comes down or people begin buying in volume.

Blu-Ray sure would be nice, but it needs to be cheap enough. There's no way I would pay 500 euros for a standalone hifi player or standard pc component. I'm sure most people feel the same way.
Click to expand...

Yea, early adopter tax has to be around a while, LOL.
 
I'd like to see blu ray on the MP. If I could rip disks using cloneDVD HD and encode for my :apple:TV I'd be pretty pumped. My hopes are for a superdrive with blu ray read only cuz I have no use for burning blu rays and I'm sure that would jack the price way up.
 
gkarris said:
And hence, Apple and MS pushing 720p HD downloads instead of Blu-ray discs on their machines (Macs and the 360)...
Click to expand...

Um no. Apple "pushes" 720P downloads because 1080P has a significantly greater bitrate and therefore file size. Also, Apple is pushing these downloads not because Blu-ray/1080P is some kind of excess, but obviously because they control the distribution of and profit from the downloads. iTunes movie rentals/purchases may not bring in a lot of revenue yet, but they are definitely planning for the long term there.
 
uNext said:
People wanting blu-ray on their mbp now
will be the first ones to complain about how slow it is to burn a 50gb disc @ 1-2x and how pathetic their battery life is compared to previous models.

(We all know that blu-ray write speeds could be @ 12x but apple will sell us a 1-2x for a premium.)

Just your typical double standard mac user mentality i guess.

Plus why would apple force a format standard they make no money of?
when their format digital downloads is the future?
Click to expand...

1) For notebooks, power usage is always going to be a major concern, although at least Sony is fervently working on smaller/cheaperlower power blue laser diodes. On the desktop side 4X BD writers are out and 6X has been announced for later this year. The Mac Pro is a great candidate for a drive, although you can already purchase them 3rd party. Why would anyone want to pay 2x as much for an "official" one from Apple? They probably just get the same part you'd buy from a 3rd party... better drivers perhaps? I'm a relatively new Apple convert...


2) "Plus why would apple force a format standard they make no money of?"
You mean like DVD, USB, Ethernet, Wifi, etc, ? Because of customer demand.
 
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