Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Thin MacBook with Bottom Mounted Optical Drive?
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
eSATA port on laptop + external drive (which is the internal drive in a matching casing). This will make Apple's smaller laptops far more appealing - the larger laptops can keep a drive built-in of course, or Apple can sell you a Mac Mini as a home server to rip music and video and so on.
Result: Lighter, thinner, laptops without junk that is used very rarely anyway. I can install CDs at home. I can plug in external eSATA hard drives if I want instead, and so on.
Result: Lighter, thinner, laptops without junk that is used very rarely anyway. I can install CDs at home. I can plug in external eSATA hard drives if I want instead, and so on.
personally i'm waiting long and hard for an ultra portable mac laptop to replace my 12" PowerBook. i've had it over a year and have NEVER inserted a disk into the optical drive. i could do without it altogether, but if it was hidden away and would allow the machine to be that much lighter/smaller then i'm all for it. i say bring it on!
Electrical current moves at about 1/2 the speed of light under good circumstances (IIRC). However the actual electrons barely move. Think of it like a water hose. You push water in one end and it causes the water throughout the hose to move forward and pushes out the water at the other end.
An outlet pushes an electron in one end and it bumps into an electron next to it and starts a domino effect that pushes an electron at the other side of the cord out the other side. The domino effect is fast, but the dominoes themselves don't move very fast.
I think Apple is looking to design something similar to this:
I wonder if Panasonic has a patent on that optical drive placement and design?
I immediately thought of the Toughbook when I saw the drawings. It'd be interesting to see the specs as well as final product.
Maybe there will be a 12" Macbook Pro?
Off-topic: Did the smilies get rearranged?
Word Association
This is what appeared in my mind as I looked at the description:
MMP MKIII Tablet Edition ©
http://homepage.mac.com/peter_green/MMP_MkIII_Tablet/
This is what appeared in my mind as I looked at the description:
MMP MKIII Tablet Edition ©
http://homepage.mac.com/peter_green/MMP_MkIII_Tablet/
If you don't like your optical drive that much, they're pretty easy to remove. That would save some weight. There is also a company somewhere on the web that makes kits to replace your old optical drive with a second hard drive... maybe that would be more useful in your case? (no pun intended).
Wow. How ridiculous are some of those pictures? Garage Door? I can see it already: "Now you can burn your Garage Band tunes straight to your Garage Door!"
In all seriousness, I don't know anyone, even infrequent users, who would want to flip over the laptop to insert an optical disk. Also, by the looks of it, both the MB and the MBP have plenty of "perimeter real estate." Thus, I have two theories.
1) This is one of those all-encompassing patents that Apple wanted to get their hands on, even though they may never use it, or
2) As others may have surmised, this is for a new product.
I'm not ready to vouch for a MacBook Mini or a tablet (iPad?) just yet. Why? Seriously, check out the side of the MB and MBP... they're very thin already, and all the ports on the perimeter are laying on their sides (as to take up less height).
Let's propose this example, where Apple produces a device so small that ports consume the entire perimeter. Either this device will have 10 USB, 10 Firewire, dual DVI, dual Ethernet, and redundant power supply ports, or the perimeter will be small. If the perimeter is small, this implies the area/volume of the device is also small... likely too small for the need of a centered ODD. Thus, we can likely rule out this possibility.
So then let's consider Apple that Apple is doing one of the following: developing an ultra-portable, thinning existing notebooks, developing a tablet. The explanation above rules out the need for a centered ODD in two of these devices: the ultra-portable, and the MacBook trimming project. How about a tablet, though?
Many people would consider Apple's tablet to be much like a combination of the iPhone and a MacBook: a screen with a touch interface. The ports, then, could be positioned the same as the MacBook, seemingly ruling out the need for a centered ODD, as per the same rationale as the first two proposed projects. Imagine, however, holding this device. Either your hand covers up ports and your thumb sprawls across the touch screen, or there is a section of border designed for holding onto the deice, free of ports and ODD bays. If this is the case then Apple might just be running out of perimeter space, therefore necessitating a centered ODD.
Of course this is only speculation, but I think it adequately rules out its use in an ultra-portable or thinner MacBook. I think that IF Apple chooses to apply this technology, it will be for a tablet. I am not, however, holding my breath.
And if anyone asks me, I'd go with the iris. It makes me think of the MST3k view screen.
-Clive
In all seriousness, I don't know anyone, even infrequent users, who would want to flip over the laptop to insert an optical disk. Also, by the looks of it, both the MB and the MBP have plenty of "perimeter real estate." Thus, I have two theories.
1) This is one of those all-encompassing patents that Apple wanted to get their hands on, even though they may never use it, or
2) As others may have surmised, this is for a new product.
I'm not ready to vouch for a MacBook Mini or a tablet (iPad?) just yet. Why? Seriously, check out the side of the MB and MBP... they're very thin already, and all the ports on the perimeter are laying on their sides (as to take up less height).
Let's propose this example, where Apple produces a device so small that ports consume the entire perimeter. Either this device will have 10 USB, 10 Firewire, dual DVI, dual Ethernet, and redundant power supply ports, or the perimeter will be small. If the perimeter is small, this implies the area/volume of the device is also small... likely too small for the need of a centered ODD. Thus, we can likely rule out this possibility.
So then let's consider Apple that Apple is doing one of the following: developing an ultra-portable, thinning existing notebooks, developing a tablet. The explanation above rules out the need for a centered ODD in two of these devices: the ultra-portable, and the MacBook trimming project. How about a tablet, though?
Many people would consider Apple's tablet to be much like a combination of the iPhone and a MacBook: a screen with a touch interface. The ports, then, could be positioned the same as the MacBook, seemingly ruling out the need for a centered ODD, as per the same rationale as the first two proposed projects. Imagine, however, holding this device. Either your hand covers up ports and your thumb sprawls across the touch screen, or there is a section of border designed for holding onto the deice, free of ports and ODD bays. If this is the case then Apple might just be running out of perimeter space, therefore necessitating a centered ODD.
Of course this is only speculation, but I think it adequately rules out its use in an ultra-portable or thinner MacBook. I think that IF Apple chooses to apply this technology, it will be for a tablet. I am not, however, holding my breath.
And if anyone asks me, I'd go with the iris. It makes me think of the MST3k view screen.
-Clive
One of the advantages to that format is those smaller discs will also work.
I say a year after this public release we will see something. Maybe even a ultra-combo drive Blu-Ray/HD-DVD/DVD/CD.
Rocketman
They could make it USB2, same styling as the new Airport bases and with Airport Disk mode it would become a wireless optical drive, make it stackable so more than 1 disc can be used at a time. the "N" standard would make it fast enough for dvd watching and burning.
Yeah, I've looked into that too, but the 2nd HD sucks juice too and adds to weight. I can remove the opti drive, but the machine is still larger due to the intended optical drive. A really thin, light notebook would be very useful on a number of levels. I just think it doesn't mesh with Apple's Media Empire aspirations.
LOL - This is soooo stupid.
I can't wait to get my "flip-book."
Geeze, just take the optical drive out of the ultra portable!
And then make a really nice, thin add-on drive available.
Agreed!
i don't see a reason to go much thinner.... just yet.
the goal should be lighter and lighter.... and if we go thinner we also have to reduce the thickness of the battery.....
although this is something to be pursued eventually, there are bigger fish to fry.
i think one thing that adds unnecessary thickness is the different connectors: RJ45, USB, FW400/800, DVI etc.
i'd like them to adopt maybe industry-wdie standardizations for all these that are smaller and thinner. if they were smaller and thinner we could reduce the space they take up in the machine which would allow for other stuff or more connections (goodbye USB and FW hubs)
The DVI connection is unnecessarily thick.... they could move towards hdmi which would also carry sound too.
could you make the motor have less volume and thickness by rotating the disc at the edges.... i.e. you use the center hole to pull the disc out but the motor becomes a thin periphery and the disc snaps in.... i don't know much about motors but it's a possibility to explore. i assume a motor would have to be thicker if it is center mounted than distributed at the edge of the whole disc....
smaller discs based on Blu-ray
movement towards flash memory as a replacement for optical discs- i would love if 4-8GB flash memory got cheap enough to replace DVDs/CDs... this one isn't happening for a while.
the goal should be lighter and lighter.... and if we go thinner we also have to reduce the thickness of the battery.....
although this is something to be pursued eventually, there are bigger fish to fry.
i think one thing that adds unnecessary thickness is the different connectors: RJ45, USB, FW400/800, DVI etc.
i'd like them to adopt maybe industry-wdie standardizations for all these that are smaller and thinner. if they were smaller and thinner we could reduce the space they take up in the machine which would allow for other stuff or more connections (goodbye USB and FW hubs)
The DVI connection is unnecessarily thick.... they could move towards hdmi which would also carry sound too.
could you make the motor have less volume and thickness by rotating the disc at the edges.... i.e. you use the center hole to pull the disc out but the motor becomes a thin periphery and the disc snaps in.... i don't know much about motors but it's a possibility to explore. i assume a motor would have to be thicker if it is center mounted than distributed at the edge of the whole disc....
smaller discs based on Blu-ray
movement towards flash memory as a replacement for optical discs- i would love if 4-8GB flash memory got cheap enough to replace DVDs/CDs... this one isn't happening for a while.
would be better on the top facia the keyboard sits on or the lid but it is certainly interesting.
I've been saying this for years.
The above link is a blog commentary that I made December 12th 2003. It was for a "ethics and implications of technology" class.
Optical media is barbaric. End of story.
-Clive
It seems as if some people are getting the idea that Apple would consider applying this design to all of there laptops, but there is no way. This concept is one that should only be applied to an 'ultra-portable' 'tablet' or whatever you wish to call it. It does seem very awkward to shut your lid, flip over your machine, insert disc upside down-like, then reverse the process just to use a CD/DVD. I like the idea of no ODD, but instead including a portable one with the package for those rare instances you need it. One must remember here too that this is Apple, and Apple does not make ugle products; therefore, if there is going to be a 'lid' to the ODD, it will not be visible (or highly concealed with 'make up').
I think Apple is looking to design something similar to this:
Panasonic Toughbook-W5
12.1" 1024x768 XGA anti-glare TFT Active matrix Color LCD
60GB HDD(shock-mounted and removable)
Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) standard
Secure Digital (SD) Card
Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG ntwk. connection 802.11a/b/g
Lithium Ion Battery Pack (10.65V, 5200mAh)
Battery Operation: 8hrs
Wide Area Wireless Solutions : EVDO, HSPDA
3-year limited warranty, parts & labor
1.0/1.8'' x 10.6'' x 8.3''
3.1 lbs
I wonder if Panasonic has a patent on that optical drive placement and design?
God that looks awful. Please don't do it Apple.
I also think it's a genius idea, but at the same time insanely impractical. Some people say that "it's not that impractical i mean how often do i use my cd drive." that's probably true but all this is for is making it thinner and the converse argument is how much thinner and isn't it pretty thin to begin with. Seriously how thin does it *need* to be. Plus i don't care if you're a mac or pc guy, you're gonna look pretty stupid being the guy in starbux who has to turn his computer over to put in a cd. It will be the ultimate in vanity over function.
Because they don't make products for one specific person. Most people still use optical drives. Now maybe they could offer a BTO option to leave out the optical drive.