Steve Jobs Suggests Blu-ray Not Coming to Mac Anytime Soon

[janstett]

I don't question that it looks "better" perceivably. But is it really worth the trouble? How many hours per week does one spend staring at movies on a 15" screen? Most folks use computers for work and other activities... and when they want to watch a flick, they head to the living room. Anyone so fanatical about BD can simply buy external players (or burners) and get their nerdgasms that way.

First, people seem to be forgetting that buying the drive isn't enough as OSX will not play back a Blu-Ray movie.

Second, think about scenarios other than your own, please quit it with the 15" screen nonsense. What about someone with a 30" cinema display? Or a 27" iMac? Or someone trying to use a Mac Mini as a HTPC on a 70" HDTV?

Third, why do they include DVD Player if nobody wants to watch a movie on their laptop, huh?

I have a stand-alone Blu-Ray player, I also have a PS3. But my preferred method of watching is on a HOME THEATER PC because it's the best way to bring together all my media sources, web, digital, and physical. Sadly, this can not be an Apple machine because they don't support Blu-Ray and until the very last refresh don't support multichannel audio over HDMI. Macs just aren't the best machine for being a home media entertainment device, and that's really sad. Everybody's image is the opposite, but Apple is not the best multimedia platform anymore. The noobs who think they're media savvy without really knowing what they're talking about are fooled enough.

 

[nickane]

First, people seem to be forgetting that buying the drive isn't enough as OSX will not play back a Blu-Ray movie.

Second, think about scenarios other than your own, please quit it with the 15" screen nonsense. What about someone with a 30" cinema display? Or a 27" iMac? Or someone trying to use a Mac Mini as a HTPC on a 70" HDTV?

Third, why do they include DVD Player if nobody wants to watch a movie on their laptop, huh?

I have a stand-alone Blu-Ray player, I also have a PS3. But my preferred method of watching is on a HOME THEATER PC because it's the best way to bring together all my media sources, web, digital, and physical. Sadly, this can not be an Apple machine because they don't support Blu-Ray and until the very last refresh don't support multichannel audio over HDMI. Macs just aren't the best machine for being a home media entertainment device, and that's really sad. Everybody's image is the opposite, but Apple is not the best multimedia platform anymore. The noobs who think they're media savvy without really knowing what they're talking about are fooled enough.

So true. The real tragedy here is that Apple has gone from being the default choice for the content creator to not even being good enough to playback the most advanced multimedia format around.

When I bought a mac, I remember one of the primary things I said to convince other people to switch was that instead of coming with tons of bloatware that PC brands were paid to foist upon you, the mac only came with iLife: a set of applications that turned an iMac into something like a living room in a box but also gave users the chance to dabble in making their own content in a really fun and easy way (not just iMovie and Garageband, but iDVD). The iTunes business model has expanded at the cost of what I liked about the mac in the first place.

 

[cheesymogul]

I think you meant "lack of trying". My Mini is one shelf up from my BDp in the rack. Both look great on the 90", both get frequent input from Netflix (Mini: streaming, BD: discs).

Interesting tidbit: Apple is not the only source of content for running through an Apple computer. Probably didn't know that, huh?

I said:

Their gadgets are way too limited format and interface-wise and iTunes offers far from state-of-the-art picture and sound quality.

I appreciate your honesty by including your Mini among "gadgets"...

The Mini 2010 is the first and only Apple product making halfway sense in a home theater.
Still, it cannot replace any dedicated BD player.
And the only two formats a $130 WD TV Live cannot play but the Mini can, are iTS movies and Flash. Both are inferior, heavily compressed formats that won't satisfy the sound and picture quality demands of most home theater enthusiasts anyway.

Why wasting $900 (starting price here) on a Mini 2010 (the old Intel GMA models were pretty useless for HD) with a measly 320 GB capacity, when we can get the same results with a WD TV Live & a 1TB hard-drive for $230?
Unlike my stuttering Macbook, this cheap little box handles decent MKV H.264 720p AC3 5.1 content like a breeze!

Netflix is not available here in Europe, but internet streaming wouldn't be a viable option anyway, because our broadband connections seems to be getting worse instead of better. Currently most internet providers are unable to keep up their capacity with rising bandwidth demands, resulting in dropped internet connections several times per day.

Maybe on-demand video streaming looks like a great idea for a few urban areas in the U.S.A. and Europe with fiber optics infrastructure, but for the other 90% of the global population this is far from working reliable enough!

 

[cheesymogul]

I've watched both HD and Standard Definition video entertainment from Apple on a 13-inch iBook screen and I can't tell the difference between the two resolutions.

No you certainly haven't. Because there never was a 13" iBook...

You probably meant a Macbook, because even the heavily compressed iTS "HD" stuff requires a C2D processor.

 

[linux2mac]

Mac is still living in the Stone Ages, sorry folks.

I am having a difficult time comprehending this when I just bought a new mini server to replace my very large and noisy Dell Power Edge web/file server. While at the Apple store I played with the new Airs again and I am kicking myself for having just bought a 13"MBP five months ago. With products like the Air ( future of laptops) and Mini server (this thing is amazing for all the power it packs into a small container), I am not seeing Fred Flinstone technology.

 

[AidenShaw]

I am not seeing Fred Flinstone technology.

Really?

Check the Dell mini equivalent.

Starting price $299. (Quad core, 6 GiB, 750 GB, discrete 1 GiB graphics and BD is $749 - $50 cheaper than a C2D Mini mac with dual core, 2 GiB, 500 GB, integrated graphics and an optical drive from the last millenium.)

Has two eSATA ports (it's kind of "Flintstoney" not to have these today).

Radeon HD 4250 integrated graphics, or available discrete Radeon HD 5450 MXM graphics with 1 GiB of dedicated VRAM.

Quad core available. BD available. Up to 1 TB hard drive.
____________

I think that makes your Mini mac look like it came from Bedrock.

 

[linux2mac]

Really?

Check the Dell mini equivalent.

Starting price $299. (Quad core, 6 GiB, 750 GB, discrete 1 GiB graphics and BD is $749 - $50 cheaper than a C2D Mini mac with dual core, 2 GiB, 500 GB, integrated graphics and an optical drive from the last millenium.)

Has two eSATA ports (it's kind of "Flintstoney" not to have these today).

Radeon HD 4250 integrated graphics, or available discrete Radeon HD 5450 MXM graphics with 1 GiB of dedicated VRAM.

Quad core available. BD available. Up to 1 TB hard drive.
____________

I think that makes your Mini mac look like it came from Bedrock.

Most PC's look great on paper until you use one. My C2D Macs outperform my quad core Xeon towers. I don't have time to keep supplying all the nay sayers here with facts, but here is another one I found with a quick search showing that the fastest Windows Vista notebook is a Macbook Pro.

http://gizmodo.com/317060/macbook-pro-is-the-fastest-windows-vista-notebook

Even the author from PC World admits "It's just a little sad, that's all."

Don't get caught up on specs, it will lead you astray. The fact is Apple's engineering is top notch and that is why a low processor C2D Air is blowing away the competition's laptops with much faster processors.

My mini already blows away my quad core xeon Power Edge and I just ordered 8GB of RAM from OWC who also sells BD players for your Mac. If you want a BD player call OWC, they will take care of you.

 

[weespeed]

Most PC's look great on paper until you use one. My C2D Macs outperform my quad core Xeon towers. I don't have time to keep supplying all the nay sayers here with facts, but here is another one I found with a quick search showing that the fastest Windows Vista notebook is a Macbook Pro.

http://gizmodo.com/317060/macbook-pro-is-the-fastest-windows-vista-notebook

Even the author from PC World admits "It's just a little sad, that's all."

Don't get caught up on specs, it will lead you astray. The fact is Apple's engineering is top notch and that is why a low processor C2D Air is blowing away the competition's laptops with much faster processors.

My mini already blows away my quad core xeon Power Edge and I just ordered 8GB of RAM from OWC who also sells BD players for your Mac. If you want a BD player call OWC, they will take care of you.

Wow, you pull up an article from 2007.. Here read this, it's a little more current.

http://notebooks.com/2010/04/17/comparing-the-new-apple-macbook-pro-to-the-pc-competition/

 

[linux2mac]

Wow, you pull up an article from 2007.. Here read this, it's a little more current.

http://notebooks.com/2010/04/17/comparing-the-new-apple-macbook-pro-to-the-pc-competition/

Again, PC's look great on paper until you use one. I have over two decades of Windows disappointment on PC's. Zero in the year I have converted to Mac.

Here is a two day old article. Enjoy.

http://www.loopinsight.com/2010/11/...ates-macbook-air-highest-in-their-categories/

 

[weespeed]

Again, PC's look great on paper until you use one. I have over two decades of Windows disappointment on PC's. Zero in the year I have converted to Mac.

Here is a two day old article. Enjoy.

http://www.loopinsight.com/2010/11/...ates-macbook-air-highest-in-their-categories/

WTH does that article have anything to do with you posting a blog about PC vs. Mac and my rebuttel??? NOTHING!!! Stop trying to justify your MAC purchase and be happy with it.

And sorry, mac mini's are ok. I even used 8 to use as a temp render farm till are boxx got set up. I'm using a mini server now as a mail server cause our xserve crapped out. I know their limits and their potential.

I'm getting the air for my GF. I use a 24" imac with a 27" LED cinema display. I also have a 17"MBP. I'm not a hater or a fanboy. But facts are facts. And you are trying to gloss over your fud with an article about the MBA and consumer reports, the same CR that got chastised for not recommending the iPhone4, which I have as well, is utter BS.

This is the facts (for me). I prefer using windows for certain things that's why I have a quad core dell workstation at home. But I also like using my mac for other things. I don't need to sit here and BS about why one works better than the other.

You need to take a good look at what this thread is about and quit with this BS of yours about how Apple is so great and blah blah blah. It's tiring and doesn't do anyone a lick of good.

 

[chirpie]

Wow, you pull up an article from 2007.. Here read this, it's a little more current.

http://notebooks.com/2010/04/17/comparing-the-new-apple-macbook-pro-to-the-pc-competition/

Yeah, but the problem with this article is it just compares spec sheets and educated guessing. Real world performance tends to push in Apple's favor. I'll admit though, that article is pretty unbiased, which is nice.

 

[PeterQVenkman]

Most PC's look great on paper until you use one. My C2D Macs outperform my quad core Xeon towers. I don't have time to keep supplying all the nay sayers here with facts, but here is another one I found with a quick search showing that the fastest Windows Vista notebook is a Macbook Pro.

http://gizmodo.com/317060/macbook-pro-is-the-fastest-windows-vista-notebook

Even the author from PC World admits "It's just a little sad, that's all."

Apple makes great computers. Everything from cinema 4d to Starcraft 2 performs better on my Macbook Pro.

When I'm running Windows in bootcamp!

My mini already blows away my quad core xeon Power Edge and I just ordered 8GB of RAM from OWC who also sells BD players for your Mac. If you want a BD player call OWC, they will take care of you.

And if you want to pop the blu-ray disc in and just watch it, download a bunch of freeware programs and hope it works.

 

[weespeed]

Yeah, but the problem with this article is it just compares spec sheets and educated guessing. Real world performance tends to push in Apple's favor. I'll admit though, that article is pretty unbiased, which is nice.

You're right. I only posted that in reply to linux2mac's post of an article written in 2007. And it's true when I boot into windows on my MBP it feels snappier even though I can get a machine that's got better specs.

I attribute that to the closed system apple has to it's hardware design, everything just works together. In that same respect it's not MS fault that their OS doesn't run great on some PC's, that's the manufacturer's fault.

 

[linux2mac]

And if you want to pop the blu-ray disc in and just watch it, download a bunch of freeware programs and hope it works.

False, I watch BD's on my PS3 or dedicated Sony BD player. Lately I have been watching Netflix streams on my Apple TV. Don't get me wrong, I like the BD quality but I still prefer the convenience factor of streaming. I could never watch a full length movie on my 27" or 13" Mac screens. Although SJ thinks movies should be enjoyed on them, I have to say I enjoy watching them better in my home theater.

 

[DoFoT9]

My C2D Macs outperform my quad core Xeon towers.

completely misleading. in what area is the C2D faster then the quad Xeon? computing (highly doubt it)? graphics power? what are the specs of the c2d and the xeon?

 

[AidenShaw]

completely misleading. in what area is the C2D faster then the quad Xeon? computing (highly doubt it)? graphics power? what are the specs of the c2d and the xeon?

Don't pay much attention, linux2mac is changing the subject from technology (Apple in the "stone age" vs cheaper SFF Dell's with quad core, BD and discrete graphics with 1 GiB VRAM) to some vague "faster" idea. Since he lost the "Bedrock" argument, he has to derail the argument to something else.

And, I find it highly unlikely that a Core 2 Duo Mini mac can be faster than a quad core Xeon on any significant range of tests if the configurations are at all comparable. (Of course, if the Mini mac has 4 times the RAM of the Xeon - then it could kill the Xeon on memory intensive tests.)

In particular, I'd find the "quad core Xeon" part to be the most curious. On non-IO intensive loads, a current C2D could easily beat an older dual socket Xeon with 866MHz or 933MHz CPUs - but since those chips were single core per socket that's only a dual core machine.

No dual-core Xeon CPU is dramatically slower per core than a C2D, so no quad core (dual socket) Xeon system would have trouble keeping up with a C2D dual core. Especially so, since the dual socket Xeon server would have an IO system that would shame the laptop-based Mini mac.

So, it seems most likely that linux2mac is just spouting hot air here (or, "passing gas").

He's made some outrageous claims, and if he'd like to regain some credibility he needs to "find the time" to support his arguments with some facts.

 

[Robbytrump]

Blu-ray

OK, I am a total newbie here, and I haven't read all 144 pages of this thread, but the reason I want to be able to use (burn AND play) Blu-ray is because I own an HD camcorder. After all, aren't thousands of these HD 'corders being sold daily? And I couldn't care less about upoading my vids to You Tube. I have tons of "footage" of my own family and friends that I want to be able to share, so what do I do? Keep buying SD cards and play my videos thru its HDMI port and hope it never breaks? All I see here is people saying physical media is dead, they can watch "content" via streams... Great, but I'm not talking about Avatar. I'm talking about my own personally produced HD video that I want to be able to watch on my set top BD player. Why am I not seeing anyone with this same angle? I don't even care If I can't play a BD disk on my Mac. The screen is too small anyway. I want to create my own HD. After all, isn't that what all these video apps are supposed to be for? Download from your cam, create your own videos? SO Steve wants us to create our own SD videos. Great, I am sure he only has CRT tv's in his house, too..

 

[leekohler]

OK, I am a total newbie here, and I haven't read all 144 pages of this thread, but the reason I want to be able to use (burn AND play) Blu-ray is because I own an HD camcorder. After all, aren't thousands of these HD 'corders being sold daily? And I couldn't care less about upoading my vids to You Tube. I have tons of "footage" of my own family and friends that I want to be able to share, so what do I do? Keep buying SD cards and play my videos thru its HDMI port and hope it never breaks? All I see here is people saying physical media is dead, they can watch "content" via streams... Great, but I'm not talking about Avatar. I'm talking about my own personally produced HD video that I want to be able to watch on my set top BD player. Why am I not seeing anyone with this same angle? I don't even care If I can't play a BD disk on my Mac. The screen is too small anyway. I want to create my own HD. After all, isn't that what all these video apps are supposed to be for? Download from your cam, create your own videos? SO Steve wants us to create our own SD videos. Great, I am sure he only has CRT tv's in his house, too..

You can burn blurays with Final Cut Pro.

 

[Robbytrump]

You can burn blurays with Final Cut Pro.

That's cool, problem being that pesky 1000 price tag. IMHO we should be able to produce simple home vids in iDVD, just like I do currently, down converting to SD.

 

[linux2mac]

completely misleading. in what area is the C2D faster then the quad Xeon? computing (highly doubt it)? graphics power? what are the specs of the c2d and the xeon?

Again, PC's look great on paper until you use one. This is getting off topic. This thread is about the discussion of why SJ is not putting BD in Macs. And I've stated many times that it is because streaming is the future. In my use case I watch more movies via AOD and Netflix. I am not disagreeing that BD is not a great picture quality. I just find streaming more convenient. In the end, the majority will also choose the more convenient form factor. Thus BD will go the way of T-Rex.

 

[AidenShaw]

I am comparing my iMac 3.06 GHz C2D with 8GB RAM to my Dell PowerEdge 1600SC Xeon with 4GB RAM.

That's a dual core system, not a quad core.

pwned.

ps: you didn't edit your post fast enough - I quoted what you wrote earlier....

 

[Eidorian]

Again, PC's look great on paper until you use one.

I keep hearing this but I have yet to experience it.

 

[jav6454]

I keep hearing this but I have yet to experience it.

Exactly. PCs are like Macs, the only difference is that on PCs you have more choice of hardware than on a Mac, set back is that if you don't know what you are doing, you can screw it up. That and carelessness can come and bite you in the as$ so many times before it looks like hamburger meat.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

OK, I am a total newbie here, and I haven't read all 144 pages of this thread, but the reason I want to be able to use (burn AND play) Blu-ray is because I own an HD camcorder. After all, aren't thousands of these HD 'corders being sold daily? And I couldn't care less about upoading my vids to You Tube. I have tons of "footage" of my own family and friends that I want to be able to share, so what do I do? Keep buying SD cards and play my videos thru its HDMI port and hope it never breaks? All I see here is people saying physical media is dead, they can watch "content" via streams... Great, but I'm not talking about Avatar. I'm talking about my own personally produced HD video that I want to be able to watch on my set top BD player. Why am I not seeing anyone with this same angle? I don't even care If I can't play a BD disk on my Mac. The screen is too small anyway. I want to create my own HD. After all, isn't that what all these video apps are supposed to be for? Download from your cam, create your own videos? SO Steve wants us to create our own SD videos. Great, I am sure he only has CRT tv's in his house, too..

You and me both, brother. If you had wasted a day or two reading all these posts, I have commenting on the same exact issue. Even used Avatar as an example, too. I don't get it. Buy an iMac for great hd editing...... you just can't share it with normal people the normal way.....

 

[linux2mac]

That's a dual core system, not a quad core.

pwned.

ps: you didn't edit your post fast enough - I quoted what you wrote earlier....

And no one has ever made a typo on Mac Rumors? The point is people under estimate the power of Macs. We clearly see the MBA with its low C2D processors blowing away i7 machines. My wimpy "C2D" MBP with its lowly 2.4GHz processor handles my VM's for testing and development extremely well - better than any Dell or VAIO laptop I have owned.

Now turning back to BD.....