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Steve Jobs on Lack of Firewire in MacBooks

CrackedButter said:
A couple of pages back, one poster pointed that there isn't anything wrong with the Agere chipset its the people coding for it. To summerise his point, if the Agere chipset can handle real time video without any issues then real time audio should be easier to handle since there is less information to push through the chipset. If that was the case, then the 3rd party is doing something wrong, not the chipset.
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His analysis sounds more logical than it actually is - at the end of the day, they've switched from a chip that works 'perfectly' with 'everything', to one that (we/they know) doesn't.

There are loads of different chipset manufacturers making components that do the same thing as one another - they certainly don't all perform the same.
 
petermcphee said:
Is there any indication that Apple will continue development of the Firewire, or is it done? Is there going to be another evolution of Firewire? 1600? If so, it seems like this will be increasingly a niche format.
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Something I don't understand, its already niche so why do they always limit the fireWire types within the Mac eco system. I bet 3rd parties would make more FW800 gear for example if they knew more macs had the feature. Apple do themselves no favours by limiting its adoption between the consumer and pro lines.

FW1600 and FW3200 are still in dev as far as I know and I had heard there was going to be a wireless FW at some point. I think they should scrap the FW1600 and just jump to FW3200.

But overall we will know what they are going to do with FireWire when the next batch of machines are released.
 
VoR said:
His analysis sounds more logical than it actually is - at the end of the day, they've switched from a chip that works 'perfectly' with 'everything', to one that (we/they know) doesn't.

There are loads of different chipset manufacturers making components that do the same thing as one another - they certainly don't all perform the same.
Click to expand...

Well somebody made that point as well and he replied saying there were problems with the TI chipset when that was released but people had forgotten.
You are right though, why didn't they stick with the TI, but isn't the Agere chipset cheaper?

That would be annoying if that was the case because Apple are basically saving a buck on a premium machine along with removing the other ports we're so fond of and aren't passing the cost savings on.

But I am a believer in the best product for the best price and people will pay it, I just don't want Apple to skimp on things which they are doing.

*UPDATE this seems to confirm it: http://www.gearspace.com/board/musi...ets-can-troublesome-okt-07-till-feb-08-a.html The FW Agere chip is cheaper but is also smaller. Another link with workarounds here: http://www.rme-audio.de/forum/viewtopic.php?id=974
 
Lifelong User...

Do I have to go cold turkey? I will not buy, WILL NOT BUY, a mac w/o FW. 400 only? Fine, only 1 port? fine. FW 800 only? 1port? SWELL! ø FW ports... no-way... never, I have invested too much money, and the downgrade in technology is too sever... I WILL switch to: Debian, or XP. I don't care which, sorry. I will leave apple the moment I can't buy the machine I want b/c of FW being blocked. Damn **-blockers. For now, I am not going to buy a MacBook, so I am bearing with them, but if a new Mini Comes out (which I would consider buying), I will not buy it w/o FW of some kind. New iMacs w/o FW too? That would be too much, if you could only get MBPs and MPs with FW... that would not be user friendly. And, to reiterate, USB CANNOT emulate FW technology, even if you had a cable with a USB male on one end and a FW400 male on the other end, it would not emulate the FW technology! So fine, why not just hit us with USB3 already? How about eSataII ? huh? what is up with this ****. Waiting to see what happens over the next 6 months...
 
Eric S. said:
The new mini is not in competition with a higher-margin Apple product.
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I take it you agree with my analysis that Macbook's lack of FW is purely to prevent sales migration from MBP to MB? I just can't think of any other plausible reason for it.
 
Eric S. said:
Yes, and I've been saying that all along, e.g.:
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=6448442
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I know you have. :)

Apple makes money through hardware sales. That we know.

It seems to me, that limiting a product like the MB is just a plain bad move. Instead of keeping sales the way they want, I am sure some have abandoned the platform and gone with a Windows product instead.

IMHO, FW and Apple are synonymous. Hopefully the rumor is true and we will see a Mac Mini with FW800.
 
Yep leaving FW out of the MB was a bad move.
over 2700 posts!
I'm sure there are people inside of Apple that agree too.
Hopefully all these post influence the next MB.
 
Flynnstone said:
Yep leaving FW out of the MB was a bad move.
over 2700 posts!
I'm sure there are people inside of Apple that agree too.
Hopefully all these post influence the next MB.
Click to expand...
Hope so too.

I am sure not all agreed with removing FW from the MB.

If Apple want's to rectify this, they could add a FW800 port to the MB, or introduce a MBP 13 with FW800.

Wouldn't that be nice if a MBP 17 and 13 were introduced at MWSF?
 
sushi said:
If Apple want's to rectify this, they could add a FW800 port to the MB, or introduce a MBP 13 with FW800.

Wouldn't that be nice if a MBP 17 and 13 were introduced at MWSF?
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That would be great!
The new rumor about a price drop of the unibody Macbook would make perfect sense in this case. They first need to create more room for a 13" Pro with FW800 or PC express somewhere in the 1600-1700$ range.

Not to mention that this would also piss the USB fanbois off who jumped prematurely on the unibody band wagon...:p:p:p
 
Well now we have an explanation for the madness. Jobs has an hormonal imbalance!

Apparently he was crazier than a PMS'ed out infanticidal postpartum depressed psycho maniac when he made the decision to 86 the FW on the macbook.

Oh, now I see.
 
lamadude said:
personally I never use the firewire ports on my mbp, and I would have much preferred having 4 USB ports over 2 FW and (only) 2 USB ports.
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You could buy an express card with a couple of extra USB ports if you're not using the slot for something else. If the MacBook had that option (for Firewire) there wouldn't be so much fuss.
 
albusseverus said:
Got any links for actual product ? The standard's been ratified for over a year. Show me the money...
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'Completed' means the standard is finished.

USB 3.0 was finished just a couple months ago and consumer products are not expected until 2010.
 
USB 3.0 slower than expected

cube said:
'Completed' means the standard is finished.

USB 3.0 was finished just a couple months ago and consumer products are not expected until 2010.
Click to expand...

And here are some early tests/benchmarks, USB 3.0 slower than expected.

A representative for the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) told TG Daily that USB 3.0 will ... not reach the promised 5000 Mb/s initially... that we should not expect much more than 1200 Mb/s (150 MB/s).
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That gives manufacturers almost a year to come up with nice/fast FW1600/3200 devices.
 
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