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Sometimes Apple makes the dumbest moves...

NRose8989 said:
Honestly think about it for a second, Apple has been making this shift to be more tailored to the "consumer" because that's where their market is.
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This is really the key. The Macbook Pro is really becoming a "pro" Machine in name only. They know anyone who wants the bigger screen will pay more for the 15'' pro model, and its a cash grab.
 
Taking out an ExpressCard slot out of a 15" laptop is like taking out all of the PCI Express slots out of a desktop machine, except the one for the graphics card.

I don't know, I just feel bad for the people looking for a 15" laptop with the ability to use eSATA.

I don't mind it since I won't be upgrading for a few years anyways.

What's next with Apple? Remove the Ethernet port?
 
SDAVE said:
eSATA is pretty much a standard in the industry. There is nothing faster out there right now as far as external connections go. People are limited to the MUCH proprietary FW800, which is probably most famously backed by Apple.
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True eSata is a really great connection but what would you expect Apple to do?

- Knowing that every consumer camera in the world uses SD (except for sony)

- Knowing that only a small hand full of people use the express card slot.

- Knowing they need to cut costs while still pleasing the MAJORITY or maintain costs while pleasing the MAJORITY.


SDAVE said:
Sure you shouldn't need to support CF, it's pretty archaic...but Apple could have kept the ExpressCard slot, added a good looking SD adapter and an eSATA adapter (or at least as an option). They are probably saving money like this, or by my guess, they're not. They just chose not to use the pins found on the laptop motherboard.
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Apple doesn't even include the front row remotes or video out adapters anymore, what makes you think that they would include a express card adapter?

I guess if enough people complained, then they might bring it back like FireWire on the MB, but then they are going to have to remove something else, restarting the cycle of a bunch of pissed off people.
 
I think there's another reason behind the decision. The new, non-removable battery.

They might have needed the space for the new battery. The ExpressCard doesn't only use up its own space, but space for the frame and connector. Looking at the difference in placement, the moved the SD further towards the rear. So, between that and some customer feedback, they thought the SD slot a good compromise between an ExpressCard and nothing.

It'll be interesting to see the take-apart on the new one.

Personally, I think a "pro" machine should have the option of an ExpressCard. It's used for more than just memory cards. I have the 17" UB, but I would feel restricted if I didn't have the ExpressCard option. Ironically enough, I keep a (ready?) SD card reader in it... 😀
 
gr8tfly said:
I think there's another reason behind the decision. The new, non-removable battery.

They might have needed the space for the new battery. The ExpressCard doesn't only use up its own space, but space for the frame and connector. Looking at the difference in placement, the moved the SD further towards the rear. So, between that and some customer feedback they could thought the SD slot a good compromise between an ExpressCard and nothing.

It'll be interesting to see the take-apart on the new one.

Personally, I think a "pro" machine should have the option of an ExpressCard. It's used for more than just memory cards. I have the 17" UB, but I would feel restricted if I didn't have the ExpressCard option. Ironically enough, I keep a (ready?) SD card reader in it... 😀
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That actually does make sense.....
 
another vote for, happy i got my uMBP before WWDC.

In reality they downgraded them but covered it up with a shiny new screen😛
 
If you want Express34, go to Amazon and pick up the last gen uMBP for only $1500. You just miss out on some RAM bumps and the "better" screen.

And I must be 1% of those people, I needed it for my 3G card. It doesn't matter to me, I'm still probably getting the new one within the month.
 
I'm calling 3rd party Apple re-sellers, and checking Amazon. Right now, the previous gen entry level 15" MBP has dropped to $1,499. That's a $400 drop from yesterday.

If you do audio/video/graphics work, do some digging and find the MBP with the Express slot. You'll most likely get it at a great price.
 
As posted in the comments, I started a petition regarding the missing matt display option, the removed ExpressCard slot and additional up-to-date connectors. You can find the petition here. Feel free to share this in other forums, blogs or where ever you think it is of interest.
 
NRose8989 said:
If Apple tailored to everyone and gave them whatever ports they wanted eSata, CF,and MS in a 13" package, we would be have a big clunky notebook much like our PC counterparts.
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...or, they could put in a single expresscard slot and give the end user the choice of going with eSata, CF, MS, SD, more firewire ports to make up for the single port on the machine, more USB ports to make up for just having 2 on the machine, or....
 
I think they should have taken the Pro away from the 15" and not give it to the 13"

Macbooks are becoming like has been said consumer products.

If they think expresscard is useless they could have replaced it with something better than a SD card reader (its so PC), like a eSata or something amazing like a usb 3.0 ready for the future.

Its like buying an all terrain vehicle that now has a refrigerator instead of 4 wheel drive.

And to finish, a 15" MBP without a real graphics card? get a grip apple!
 
A PRO machine should have a native eSATA port. But the ExpressCard slot is mostly used for eSATA cards for external for transfers fast disks, or wicked external exclosure SSD drives that the Japanese are so fond of.

Yeah, adding USB3 would be very news worthy but this is Apple, ultra conservative in hardware.
 
saying that less then 1% of people used the express card is rediculous...


no one used the expresscard slot because it had nothing out for it. now that ssd's and sdhc card readers are becoming a thing of the future...they axe the slot


great business research....
 
Surely now this 13" MBP is the new 12" PB, I mean the sure the hardware isn't as great as the 12" PB, I mean $1599 got you a much more compact design, and dedicated graphics card, but still, this new machine can still handle many pro and prosumer apps, like Logic Pro, FCE, Photoshop etc etc
 
rgarjr said:
I wonder how they know who or how many uses it.
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Small survey of a select amount of people. Same as most stats.

They survey 1,000 people (very much doubt they asked that many really), only 10 come back saying they use it, and there you have your figure.
 
edit: ugh that's what i get for not reading the thread

SDAVE said:
From ALL users??? That's impossible. Maybe out of 1,000 users, but not all. I'd rather have an ExpressCard slot where I can put in an eSATA card, or a higher end sound card.

Couldn't they add the ExpressCard slot next to the DVD drive?
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With high n values (like 1000), one can extrapolate statistics into larger populations 😱
 
RyanJL said:
This is being pulled totally out of my butt here, but I'm betting it has a lot to do with Apple just wanting to use one enclosure for all 13" MBPs, one enclosure for all 15" MBPs, and one enclosure for all 17" MBPs.

If I had to guess, I would say the sales numbers are going to lean very heavily on the bottom end of the 15" lineup. Making a different unibody enclosure for a PC card slot that'll only be selected by a small percent of purchasers would make it cost a whole heckofalot more.
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I thought one of the advantages of the Unibody construction was that you simply programmed in a case design instead of rekeying systems. I'm sure if Apple added $50 to 15" MBPs with EC slots, they could cover the cost of two different enclosures.

NRose8989 said:
.... and not all MBP users are professionals carrying different I/O equipment, HD's, cameras, portable raid arrays, audio processors etc. etc....
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Well, now there won't be any MBP users who are professionals carrying all their equipment.

NRose8989 said:
Honestly think about it for a second, Apple has been making this shift to be more tailored to the "consumer" because that's where their market is.

Many consumers only use a point and shoot camera which uses a SD card, a lot of consumer video cameras are using AVCHD which is stored on a SD card.

Putting a built in SD card slot pretty much eliminates all issues for the end user when they want to get their photos or video off of their devices.

From a end users perspective, think about the steps to get photos from a camera into the computer. first they have to get their 3 foot USB cable, then connect the camera to the computer, but wait.... what if the cameras battery is dead? then you have to find a power outlet and connect the AC adapter to the camera. Though you could use a express card reader, its just another device that you would need to carry with you just to get pictures off of your camera and the fact that they would have to do some searching just to find out if a certain express card reader even worked in OSX. It's easier for the average consumer just to have that slot built in.
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IIRC it's a MacBook Pro. The whole point of two laptop lines was a consumer/professional split. Of course, almost all Apple portables are MacBook Pros now, so I guess that doesn't mean much anymore. Apple shouldn't be screwing the professionals (like, the same ones that invested in Apple hardware all those years before the iPod took over) because consumers can't be bothered to spend 5 damn minutes typing "OS X card reader" into Google. Maybe Apple should remember who their real core market is/was?

NRose8989 said:
Now I feel for the DSLR users who use CF, but then again that's the way Apple is changing it's product line, by tailoring to the consumer. This shift was even apparent when they first released the unibodies, now it's heading even more in that direction. If Apple really cared about it's professional crowd, then we would see a 17" notebook with workstation graphics, at least 2 HD's and a plethora of ports including eSata.

If Apple tailored to everyone and gave them whatever ports they wanted eSata, CF,and MS in a 13" package, we would be have a big clunky notebook much like our PC counterparts.
Click to expand...

We're not asking for eSATA, CF, and MS in a 13" package. Apple has included a card slot in every 15" laptop they've ever had up to now (and EC/34 is smaller than PCMCIA). Even most PC laptops have the EC slot, so why isn't there? It barely takes up any more space than the card reader. I'm sure a lot of professionals would've loved to see all those additional features like dual HDDs and eSATA, but I bet they were willing to compromise with just EC/34 so they could continue to use OSX. Instead Apple slapped them across the face and took OUT the cardslot.

NRose8989 said:
True eSata is a really great connection but what would you expect Apple to do?

- Knowing that every consumer camera in the world uses SD (except for sony)

- Knowing that only a small hand full of people use the express card slot.

- Knowing they need to cut costs while still pleasing the MAJORITY or maintain costs while pleasing the MAJORITY.




Apple doesn't even include the front row remotes or video out adapters anymore, what makes you think that they would include a express card adapter?

I guess if enough people complained, then they might bring it back like FireWire on the MB, but then they are going to have to remove something else, restarting the cycle of a bunch of pissed off people.
Click to expand...

Although I lament the loss of the included adapters and remotes, you can still buy those in store. You can't buy an Express Card slot. The only thing they have to remove is the card reader, which isn't really removing anything.

MacModMachine said:
saying that less then 1% of people used the express card is rediculous...


no one used the expresscard slot because it had nothing out for it. now that ssd's and sdhc card readers are becoming a thing of the future...they axe the slot


great business research....
Click to expand...

I hope you're being sarcastic. Have you even heard of eSATA or SxS cards? And SSDs? ...I can't even plug an external SSD into a SDHC card reader, and even if I could the interface would be so dog slow you wouldn't even take advantage of the solid state. The only device that can provide that kind of high performance bandwidth is the ExpressCard slot, and Apple just axed it.


Sigh, Microsoft attacks Apple and now Apple is crippling their pro laptops so "Lauren" can get her cheap MacBook Pro. Why must all good things be ruined!? *facepalm*
 
SDAVE said:
How would they know who uses it and who doesn't? That's just stupid. ExpressCard should be standard in all laptops.

SD card...really? What if the person uses a Sony camera which has MemoryStick? They have to use a USB to Memory stick adapter. They could have included an ExpressCard multi card reader that doesn't pop out. Much better, imo.
Click to expand...

Exactly. They do not know and thanks Apple for showing us that you couldn't give a rat's ass about pros who use CF cards (they still exist you know?).

But I couldn't care less, I would just like to have a CF card slot on a MBP if I were to move away from my Air to a 13" MBP.
 
Furrybeagle said:
I thought one of the advantages of the Unibody construction was that you simply programmed in a case design instead of rekeying systems. I'm sure if Apple added $50 to 15" MBPs with EC slots, they could cover the cost of two different enclosures.



Well, now there won't be any MBP users who are professionals carrying all their equipment.



IIRC it's a MacBook Pro. The whole point of two laptop lines was a consumer/professional split. Of course, almost all Apple portables are MacBook Pros now, so I guess that doesn't mean much anymore. Apple shouldn't be screwing the professionals (like, the same ones that invested in Apple hardware all those years before the iPod took over) because consumers can't be bothered to spend 5 damn minutes typing "OS X card reader" into Google. Maybe Apple should remember who their real core market is/was?



We're not asking for eSATA, CF, and MS in a 13" package. Apple has included a card slot in every 15" laptop they've ever had up to now (and EC/34 is smaller than PCMCIA). Even most PC laptops have the EC slot, so why isn't there? It barely takes up any more space than the card reader. I'm sure a lot of professionals would've loved to see a built in eSATA port in addition to the cardslot today, but instead Apple slapped them across the face and took OUT the cardslot. I imagine they were willing to compromise and use EC to eSATA adapters so they could use OS X, but now they can't even do that without getting a 17".



Although I lament the loss of the included adapters and remotes, you can still buy those in store. You can't buy an Express Card slot. The only thing they have to remove is the card reader, which isn't really removing anything.



I hope you're being sarcastic. Have you even heard of eSATA or SxS cards? And SSDs? ...I can't even plug an external SSD into a SDHC card reader, and even if I could the interface would be so dog slow you wouldn't even take advantage of the solid state. The only device that can provide that kind of high performance bandwidth is the ExpressCard slot, and Apple just axed it.


Sigh, Microsoft attacks Apple and now Apple is crippling their pro laptops so "Lauren" can get her cheap MacBook Pro. Why must all good things be ruined!? *facepalm*
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what are you talking about....read what i wrote...


EXPRESS CARDS had nothing out when they came out...except the lexar ssd's thats why no one used them...now there used alot more.
 
BinfordsTool said:
This is what I'm waiting to find out, if anyone knows please post... I'm purchasing a new MBP in the near future, don't know whether to get the 15 or the 17, all based on if they'll take my SDHC card (and later SDXC)...
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YES, they new apple repair manuals state its SHDC and SDIO compatible
 
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