Should Apple put HDMI on the Macbook/Pro/Air instead of DVI? I think yes.

[spaceballl]

Hi all,

I put a poll below and I'm curious to see what everyone thinks.

• Gives Apple flexibility in case they ever want to put HDMI on their cinema displays
• Full compatibility with DVI - there are plenty of cables that are HDMI->DVI. i.e. you wouldn't even need an "adaptor" per se, just a different cable.
• Direct one-cable output to an HDTV ~ sends audio too
• The port is much thinner than DVI and takes up less space (helps for making the enclosure smaller)
• consolidation! Apple currently produces laptops with DVI, mini-DVI, and micro-DVI. Of course none of the adaptors are compatible!

Here are the only negatives I can think of:

• HDMI cables don't screw into the port like DVI cables (this can be a positive too, but we'll count it as a negative for this)
• You have to buy a new cable...

I dunno. I saw the new Dell's have an HDMI port on them. To me, this seems to make the most sense. That "macbook pro redesign" can't be too far away - maybe they'll go ahead and make it part of the redesign!

 

[dukebound85]

id like it too

 

[philgilder]

Apple currently produces laptops with DVI, mini-DVI, and micro-DVI. Of course none of the adaptors are compatible!

more money for apple

anyway, at the moment hdmi would be useless as macbooks dont support hdcp
when they do, hdmi is really a must

 

[OllyW]

Apple would need to include a DVI adaptor for it to work with it's own displays.

 

[spaceballl]

Apple would need to include a DVI adaptor for it to work with it's own displays.

You don't need an adaptor. Just an HDMI->DVI cable.

 

[OllyW]

You don't need an adaptor. Just an HDMI->DVI cable.

The DVI cable is built into Apple Cinema Displays, so you would need an adaptor.

 

[spaceballl]

The DVI cable is built into Apple Cinema Displays, so you would need an adaptor.

Hmmm didn't know that - Thanks for bringing that up. I'm a Dell display man myself.

 

[Gandalf2008]

Maybe on MacBook and Air, but not on Pro

Everybody seems to be forgetting... HDMI won't drive those beautiful 2560x1920 30" displays... those use dual-link DVI, which the MacBookPro has
(I'm not sure, but I don't know of any other notebook that has dual-link DVI, maybe some of the extreme gaming machines do).

I would agree though, on the MacBook and Air, I'd rather see HDMI than a
non-standard mini-DVI port with an adapter you have to lug around and try not to lose...

Gandalf

 

[valvehead]

No thank you.

For many people dual-link DVI is a must. Three of my friends have MBPs that they use regularly with 30" ACDs. You can't do that with HDMI.

 

[Carrot007]

Sounds good for the non dual link machines, and those could just have both ports for flexibility.

Certainly would be nice to connect my macbook to my tv with one item instead of 3 (mini dvi->dvi, dvi->hdmi cable and a seperate sound cable!)

 

[zioxide]

No. HDMI can't do DVI-I (integrated VGA). DVI is more flexible.

When Apple replaces DVI, it's going to be with DisplayPort, not HDMI.

 

[alphaod]

Apple should use the audio DVI-to-HDMI capability that way if you hook up your computer to a TV or something, audio can be transfered through the DVI port to the HDMI adapter; obviously this adapter should be included but it would be great to have.

And if you think I'm crazy, the lastest NVIDIA and ATI cards have this feature.

 

[crobbins]

Personally, I would prefer they keep the DVI!