... currently the only Macs that don't come with optical drives are the Mac Mini Server and the MacBook Air. Originally only the MacBook Air had the external optical drive option. You really think that Apple wouldn't add support for other Macs without optical drives? They added the Mac Mini Server to the list, and they'll add their other computers without optical drives to the list once they remove them.
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Thanksgiving Roundup: Apple Buys Land, New MacBooks in April, App Store Sales, Black Friday Prices
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... currently the only Macs that don't come with optical drives are the Mac Mini Server and the MacBook Air. Originally only the MacBook Air had the external optical drive option. You really think that Apple wouldn't add support for other Macs without optical drives? They added the Mac Mini Server to the list, and they'll add their other computers without optical drives to the list once they remove them.
This. It's pretty clear that Apple is slowly trying to phase out the white MacBook. Almost All of Apple's products have moved away from the white plastic design. It's barely cheaper than the base 13" MBP and has about half the build quality with that plastic case. I'm sure at some point they'll just rename the MacBook Air to MacBook. I highly doubt they'll take the optical drive out of the pro though. They may offer it as an option in case people want more HDD space or battery life (like they did with the mac mini server) but nothing more.
No. He said the next generation of MacBooks. Last I checked, the word MacBook is in their entire line. He didn't say the next generation of MacBook Air's. He said the next generation of MacBooks. He was talking in the present tense.
It's what I've been saying all along. Apple seems to have put their REAL Pro users by the wayside.
FFS The latest version of FCP has a myriad of glitches and errors AND hardly any of them have been fixed.
If I could run a glitch free Hackintosh and Final Cut Studio I wouldn't batt an eyelid and would do it.
Regardless of whether the new MBP's come with or without an optical drive, Apple have lost their love and care for their Pro users.
I'm no fan boy and would happily and gladly jump ship. Would save me a few quid too
Yebubbleman, please point me the direction of a good Hackintosh than can handle Final Cut Studio, please.
I'm more than ready to leave the Apple Show Boat!
I'm more than ready to leave the Apple Show Boat!
Jesus, If I didn't know any better I would think these "Pros" were a bunch of 12 year olds. Never seen so many people get their panties in a bunch over the removal of an optical drive thinking that there would be no added benefits to the removal. What if Apple found the room and space to put a better processor in there? Quad core? Or would you still be bitching about the fact that you now *gasp* have to use an external optical drive?
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Right, but they're not going to replace their whole line with the MacBook air. Therefor I think he was just dropping a hint that it will literally be the new MacBook (as in the white plastic product they still sell, but everyone forgot about)
And just for the record I would like it if they offered an option without an optical drive. I personally don't use my disc drives that much and if it meant I could get better battery life or additional HDD space, that would be great. I just don't think they would alienate their entire pro user base and remove the disc drive completely
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Definitely not a 12 year old - though wish I was again!
Seriously though, it's not a matter of whinging about losing just an optical drive. It's about seeing the MBP as a machine you can easily move around and use pretty much where ever you please.
But taking the OD out simply means carrying stuff around that realistically with a laptop you wouldn't expect to.
I reckon, as another poster suspects, Apple will offer "options"!
Seriously though, it's not a matter of whinging about losing just an optical drive. It's about seeing the MBP as a machine you can easily move around and use pretty much where ever you please.
But taking the OD out simply means carrying stuff around that realistically with a laptop you wouldn't expect to.
I reckon, as another poster suspects, Apple will offer "options"!
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Tips:
Many stores have gift cards with Mac purchase. Best Buy $125 w/ MBpro or iMac.
Other stores have $25-$50 gift cards with iPodTouchs.
If you hate using credit cards. Vons/Safeway & Albertsons offer $15-20 gift certs off grocery purchase when you buy gift cards for BestBuy, iTunes, fastfood, etc...
Tips:
Many stores have gift cards with Mac purchase. Best Buy $125 w/ MBpro or iMac.
Other stores have $25-$50 gift cards with iPodTouchs.
If you hate using credit cards. Vons/Safeway & Albertsons offer $15-20 gift certs off grocery purchase when you buy gift cards for BestBuy, iTunes, fastfood, etc...
relevant comment!
external optical drives are cheap and disposable
edit- on topic- sensible acquisition for apple
Always a black friday in Australia....
Because Apple Australia still charges too much! What discount? The prices are still more than the US retail. Someone has to look into the gouging Australian buyers face, and don,t give me exchange rates and taxes......
Because Apple Australia still charges too much! What discount? The prices are still more than the US retail. Someone has to look into the gouging Australian buyers face, and don,t give me exchange rates and taxes......
Uhm, simply removing the optical drive from a MacBook Pro doesn't make it a MacBook Air. The MacBook Air uses ultra low voltage parts that aren't very powerful. If a smart car didn't have keys and SUV's starting not using keys would that make an SUV a smart car? No.
You can carry an optical drive around with you. You can't carry a quad core processor around with you.
Besides, chances are the MacBook Pro is in a bag anyway when you bring it around. Bringing the disposable optical drive shouldn't be an issue.
The advantage to the MacBook is its plastic body, since it does not dint like aluminum does. I own a MacBook and MacBook Pro (unibody) and while the unibody is far sexier, the design fees a little fragile.
I don't know any .edu buyers of Apple computers, but I would assume this is a huge consideration when getting them for students. Do you go with an all plastic body, or a computer with a glass overlay screen and soft aluminum body? I would say go with the plastic body.
always a black friday in australia....
because the australian buyer is gouged by apple australia, if you are in the US take a look at apple australia site and do the math, their "discount" is no discount! wait for the exchange rate and taxes response/excuse always used here. a case of execs sitting back and lapping the cream.
because the australian buyer is gouged by apple australia, if you are in the US take a look at apple australia site and do the math, their "discount" is no discount! wait for the exchange rate and taxes response/excuse always used here. a case of execs sitting back and lapping the cream.
Random Thoughts To "Thanksgiving Roundup"
1) Sort of cool to hear Steve Jobs went to high school in Cupertino and now still expanding the Apple HQ in his old home town
2) Optical Drive discussion - I vote to keep optical drives built into portables for a few more years at least. I know they will eventually be eliminated though. I already miss a built in drive to my ASUS netbook and glad the Mac Mini still has an optical drive. Though it was great when Apple (Steve Jobs) was one of the first ones to eliminated the floppy disk drives years ago
3) I still value my old DVD movie collection and DVD boxes to look at and my music CD collection. Yet I know tech is going the way of streaming and the so called "cloud" etc. I still value possesing an item I can hold and put up on a shelf
4) Hoping for a big discount on a Mac Mini on "black friday"
1) Sort of cool to hear Steve Jobs went to high school in Cupertino and now still expanding the Apple HQ in his old home town
2) Optical Drive discussion - I vote to keep optical drives built into portables for a few more years at least. I know they will eventually be eliminated though. I already miss a built in drive to my ASUS netbook and glad the Mac Mini still has an optical drive. Though it was great when Apple (Steve Jobs) was one of the first ones to eliminated the floppy disk drives years ago
3) I still value my old DVD movie collection and DVD boxes to look at and my music CD collection. Yet I know tech is going the way of streaming and the so called "cloud" etc. I still value possesing an item I can hold and put up on a shelf
4) Hoping for a big discount on a Mac Mini on "black friday"
You're the one that said Steve was talking about the whole line of Laptops when he introduced his vision of the Air. I simply said they'd phase out the white macbook in favor of the macbook air, so you're missing the point completely. I stand by my opinion that the pro line will have an OPTION to add more HDD space/battery or an option with an optical drive. I don't understand how you think my opinion is so far off? It's more reasonable than most of the comments in this thread. Plus, the pro line already has quad core processors WITH optical drives, so I'm not sure what your point is.
Uhm, simply removing the optical drive from a MacBook Pro doesn't make it a MacBook Air. The MacBook Air uses ultra low voltage parts that aren't very powerful. If a smart car didn't have keys and SUV's starting not using keys would that make an SUV a smart car? No.
You can carry an optical drive around with you. You can't carry a quad core processor around with you.
Besides, chances are the MacBook Pro is in a bag anyway when you bring it around. Bringing the disposable optical drive shouldn't be an issue.
Oh boy... where to start...
For one, I already stated that he was talking in present tense. He was talking about the whole line. If he wasn't then he would have said MacBook Air's or they would have already phased out the white MacBook.
For two there will be no option as Apple will likely add IO to the right side where the optical drive used to be. Inconsistency is something Apple is not fond off. You can't get a Mac Mini server with an optical drive even if you wanted it.
Finally, the current line of MacBook Pro's are NOT using quad core processors. They are using dual-core Arrandale chips that are hyperthreaded to four cores. A true Clarksfield quad core chip from Intel is hyperthreaded to eight cores. Do some research.
Removing the optical drive for a better processor/bigger battery then yes.
But removing the optical drive to make the Macbook Pro "The Thinnest Pro We've Ever Made", then no.
The main reason I bought the MacBook when i was a student was because of its price. If the 13"MBP had existed back then, I would have gotten it, no questions asked. I'd be far more scared of dropping the plastic MacBook because it would probably just crack or break. I'll take some minor dents over that.
Forward-Thinking Move
I for one am glad the current rumors involve getting rid of an internal optical drive. I'll be making the switch from PC to Apple in January, February or April of 2011 - It depends on how long I can hold out for the new MBP update.
I can say that the younger generation is moving away from "hard-data" storage. What I mean by this is DVDs and CDs. Technology makes it cheap and easy to have TV shows, movies and songs stored on an internal or external hard drive. Sad to say it, but a large proportion of university and high school students are streaming or downloading media directly from internet sources instead of paying for it in retail locations. Please don't flame me for this - I am not advocating for anything one way or another. Trends have shown a large shift in this direction for years...
On my current laptop I have no internal DVD drive. I dropped it and the drive broke. Now there is big empty hole. And you know what? It hasn't affected my use of the laptop at all. I haven't used a CD since I had to install Word on the computer many years ago. This can now easily be done via flash dive or an external cd/dvd drive. Apple has been so successful in locking up the musical industry by allowing consumers to access and download media from the comfort of their homes. Brick-and-mortar-based media retail locations have withered (Tower Records anyone?). While at University I noticed that everything is streamed directly from a computer to TV. Want to watch a movie? You can stream it instantly from Netflix or other less-then-legal websites or Torrent programs. These are my personal experiences and of course will vary.
The point is that while a CD/DVD drive is certainly useful sometimes it is too bulky and limited in use for it to be worth the space it occupies in a laptop. Use that space more efficiently or at least give the option to have it replaced.
I for one am glad the current rumors involve getting rid of an internal optical drive. I'll be making the switch from PC to Apple in January, February or April of 2011 - It depends on how long I can hold out for the new MBP update.
I can say that the younger generation is moving away from "hard-data" storage. What I mean by this is DVDs and CDs. Technology makes it cheap and easy to have TV shows, movies and songs stored on an internal or external hard drive. Sad to say it, but a large proportion of university and high school students are streaming or downloading media directly from internet sources instead of paying for it in retail locations. Please don't flame me for this - I am not advocating for anything one way or another. Trends have shown a large shift in this direction for years...
On my current laptop I have no internal DVD drive. I dropped it and the drive broke. Now there is big empty hole. And you know what? It hasn't affected my use of the laptop at all. I haven't used a CD since I had to install Word on the computer many years ago. This can now easily be done via flash dive or an external cd/dvd drive. Apple has been so successful in locking up the musical industry by allowing consumers to access and download media from the comfort of their homes. Brick-and-mortar-based media retail locations have withered (Tower Records anyone?). While at University I noticed that everything is streamed directly from a computer to TV. Want to watch a movie? You can stream it instantly from Netflix or other less-then-legal websites or Torrent programs. These are my personal experiences and of course will vary.
The point is that while a CD/DVD drive is certainly useful sometimes it is too bulky and limited in use for it to be worth the space it occupies in a laptop. Use that space more efficiently or at least give the option to have it replaced.
99.9% of all people have no sleep/hibernation or power management issues including myself (very occasionally some people report that they had to switch the position of the SSD and HDD, which is a pretty simple operation, to solve sleep issues).
And just put your Music, Pictures, and Movies folders onto the HDD and the rest on your SSD and you likely have to never really have to move stuff around (the next big item could be virtual machine image but having it on the SSD really speeds up things).
Then you are incorrect. But if think you know me so well could you help me find my spare Xbox 360 controller? It's a wired one. Can't find it anywhere. Your help would be greatly appreciated.
My first CD-RW was SCSI and was blisteringly fast but faster connections came along. Floppies, since the mid 90's, were small compared to the hard drives they were partnered with.
You've still got an extremely narrow view of the market.
Using a sample of my neighbours -
I used to teach a retired nuclear submarine technician how to use a modern PC. He wanted to ship out a DVD full of local family videos and photos to his relatives abroad. His connection is only 512kbps. 20 DVD9's saved the day and only cost £15.
The pub next door have a karaoke night where they film people and sell them a video DVD of their performance, should they want it.
I send and receive large files on discs to and from colleagues, testers, the press, publishers. Everyone in our network does.
I keep quick backups both on and offsite on discs (and HDD, can never be too careful with backups).
I watch DVDs on my laptop. I could rip them, but then I run the risk of running out of space. And when you deal with a portable office like me you need all the space you can get (though thankfully I can dump some files to DVD and retrieve them for editing when back in the office).
You and some others on this site can live without DVD. The fact is many do need DVD. They need it on the go, they need it at home.
Doesn't this go against the elegance of Apple and all that hoohah? I can already imagine the mock up images comparing that Dell PC with wires everywhere and an iMac, now with wires everywhere.
www.osx86project.org - Shop based on what is listed in that database. I can't promise glitch-free, though I can assure you that it is getting easier and easier to do and it couldn't be cheaper.