Updates to Apple's iMac Line Reportedly 'Imminent'

[Xiroteus]

Yes, my laptop weighs about 12 pounds, but cmon, what is 12 pounds? If 12 pounds is alot of weight for you. Time to get the gym and loose that 300 lbs of body fat I'll take my 18 inch screen and hardware performance over underpowered tablet Laptop.

I have joked about this, when did five pounds become heavy? My 17.3" laptop is in the five to six pound range I believe and it feels light. I would have no issue carrying it around. I understand though who do want light small devices.

Fullsize laptops are not really THAT heavy.

But hey its all about what you need? With the rMBP I think its insane to kill the ODD, and ethernet for 3/16th of an inch.

Thin is good and all, however not at the cost of usability for such a minor difference.

Ok, gotcha.

Better streaming is already here. You can get 4K streams off of YouTube that blow BD away. It's not mainstream - still a few years away from that - but it's coming, and it will get here far faster than the 10 to 20 years it'll take the optical side of the business to agree on a new standard.

Another factor that comes into play is how important is it to any given person, some are fine with HD cable and own nothing, some are still fine with SD and a CRT because it is just not that important. I like owning content yet there may be a time when that is just not that important, and if netflix etc.. stopped showing said show? Oh well? That could be the answer many would say.

Hard to say how quickly higher quality mainstream media will get here, not sure if people will be ready for another upgrade any time soon, another new format, player, television? And if people can hardly see the difference they may not even care.

 

[nerdflower]

I say it's a waste of space because it doesn't get used that often but still takes up a significant amount of space, particularly in a laptop. (And I believed this years ago, because I haven't really used an optical drive much at all in that time.)

It is subjective though, for all I know you're using the optical drive in your laptop for three hours every day. I've probably only needed to use my optical drive four to six times this year -- two or three for installing Windows 7, and the other two or three for installing Battlefield 2142. That's it.

It's better the laptop is lighter and has a thinner profile, and then those who need optical drives can buy an external one.

I totally agree with that, but only if there is a price drop like on the Mac Mini when it lost the Super Drive. I do use my optical drive for ripping old audio CDs, other than that, the typical things a PC user needs the DVD drive for like driver installers and the Windows installer itself, don't come in CD form for the Mac.

Nobody uses their DVD drives 3 hours a day on their laptops, that will draw more power, generate more heat, maybe certain old games that required the DVD to be in the tray for defeatist DRM, new games just need WiFi and the internet for that.

 

[Swordylove]

No one? I don't want to buy an iMac with an obsolete ODD that I won't use.

Buy an external and move on.

Buy a MBA / MBPr and move on.

 

[GizmoDVD]

Buy a MBA / MBPr and move on.

Already have.

Stop living in the past and move on. ODD is useless.

Funny how nearly every Mac product has dropped the ODD. Future, eh?

 

[G51989]

Already have.

Stop living in the past and move on. ODD is useless.

Useless for people who don't do real work on their computers.

People like me who do real work? We still have plenty of uses for cheap reliable data.

 

[MSM Hobbes]

FWIW - I'm another in what some are calling the minority on this issue, but yes, count my family and myself as 5 people that would NOT want to see the ODD gone. Part of the beauty of the iMac is to minimize clutter and cords, so why remove this function, so I have to buy another external device (besides HD's, card reader, etc.)? We use it for burning CD's, watching DVD's, importing CD's, creating / storing digital files (music, photos, videos, etc.), and so on. Our ~6 year old 24" iMac is getting long in the tooth, and we're needing upgrade so whatever comes out, whenever it comes out, be some of my greenbacks that they be removing from my credit union in next couple months.

 

[GizmoDVD]

Useless for people who don't do real work on their computers.

People like me who do real work? We still have plenty of uses for cheap reliable data.

Get an external.

I like how "real work" requires outdated technology. Time to move on cause hopefully Apple will dump it. Guess you can just go buy a Windows 8 AIO? That's What you're gonna do....right? Nahh. Of course not. You'll buy an external.

 

[damir00]

Useless for people who don't do real work on their computers.

People like me who do real work? We still have plenty of uses for cheap reliable data.

If your data is small enough to fit on optical, you're not doing "real work".

 

[gmh1004]

This just proves that Macs are for women and other superficial types and are not proper computers for doing actual work. Unless it comes in a different colour I doubt that it would make any difference to her.

Women and other superficial types"?? That's a laugh. Maybe you should get off your moronic, judgmental high horse and start using your computer for "actual work" rather than trolling these forums looking for an opportunity to assert your pathetically inflated sense of self. Seems like you feel the need to overcompensate for something. Can't you go buy a red sportscar for that?

 

[GizmoDVD]

FWIW - I'm another in what some are calling the minority on this issue, but yes, count my family and myself as 5 people that would NOT want to see the ODD gone. Part of the beauty of the iMac is to minimize clutter and cords, so why remove this function, so I have to buy another external device (besides HD's, card reader, etc.)? We use it for burning CD's, watching DVD's, importing CD's, creating / storing digital files (music, photos, videos, etc.), and so on. Our ~6 year old 24" iMac is getting long in the tooth, and we're needing upgrade so whatever comes out, whenever it comes out, be some of my greenbacks that they be removing from my credit union in next couple months.

You can always buy a 2011 iMac.

 

[Xiroteus]

Nobody uses their DVD drives 3 hours a day on their laptops,

Well............

Already have.

Stop living in the past and move on. ODD is useless.

Funny how nearly every Mac product has dropped the ODD. Future, eh?

Thing is others are saying it is not useless, it being useless to you does not make it so in general, you even state that they should remove the SD card slot, I think that may even be worse then the DVD drive because quite a few people still use digital cameras.

And has I have said before, for all of us who use optical drives we are living in the present not the past. They are dropping them because they live too far in the future and a possible one that many of us are not comfortable with because they want everyone to buy overpriced digital content.

As a user I am saying I use my computer for movies, software, cds, etc... that means it is not useless. When I have a computer it really needs to be an all in one. There are going to be times when a disc comes by that one needs to load, a cheap game, a dollar cd etc.. I will want to load those into a system and I do not see that changing for a very long time if at all.

Even if I did not use some of these features I doubt I am going to want them to remove them just because I do not use them, not really fair for those who do. Once again, an external is not an optional, it feels completely ridiculous for a desktop system.

The reason I am okay with the Macbook Air not having it is that it is a small portable system, doubt I will be tossing in discs on the go, however an SD card slot would be a must.

 

[G51989]

Get an external.

I like how "real work" requires outdated technology. Time to move on cause hopefully Apple will dump it. Guess you can just go buy a Windows 8 AIO? That's What you're gonna do....right? Nahh. Of course not. You'll buy an external.

External drives are bulky, unreliable.

Oh yeah, and I just can't give them away to cilents.

I have a Windows Workstation For the Heavy Lifting thank you very much, but my workflow at home would suck if my iMac didn't have an ODD.

Time to clutter up my desk with garabge!

No DVD or Blu Ray is a deal breaker for me. I won't buy a new iMac if it doesn't have it.

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If your data is small enough to fit on optical, you're not doing "real work".

Really? I can fit 1 large simulation on 3 Blu Rays. ( 112 gigs typically )

Total cost to me? 4 bucks.

If I bought and gave away external drives....well that'd be a little more expensive wouldnt it?

 

[GizmoDVD]

External drives are bulky, unreliable.

Oh yeah, and I just can't give them away to cilents.

I have a Windows Workstation For the Heavy Lifting thank you very much, but my workflow at home would suck if my iMac didn't have an ODD.

Time to clutter up my desk with garabge!

No DVD or Blu Ray is a deal breaker for me. I won't buy a new iMac if it doesn't have it.

External DVD Burners are not bulky. They are very thin nowadays.

So you won't buy an iMac because it doesn't have a built in ODD? That's crazy. And you're bluffing.

 

[damir00]

Really? I can fit 1 large simulation on 3 Blu Rays. ( 112 gigs typically )

Your current Mac doesn't have a BluRay.

 

[G51989]

Your current Mac doesn't have a BluRay.

Really ?! I HAD NO IDEA?!?!?!?

HOLY CRAP

 

[Xiroteus]

This entire conversations is highly circular yet I am enjoying it anyway. I find it funny that we state want we want something yet it is somehow still useless.

So you won't buy an iMac because it doesn't have a built in ODD? That's crazy. And you're bluffing.

I know I would not, the entire point of that system is to be streamline and simple, with no optical drive they just lost what they were going for by thinking we should buy an external.

 

[GizmoDVD]

Really ?! I HAD NO IDEA?!?!?!?

HOLY CRAP

I hope Apple adds in a Laserdisc drive. Cause 4 people here watch them still.

 

[G51989]

External DVD Burners are not bulky. They are very thin nowadays.

So you won't buy an iMac because it doesn't have a built in ODD? That's crazy. And you're bluffing.

External drives are bulky, and take up my desk space.

I have a massive windows workstation that I use at the office, for the real heavy lifting, but I would perfer to leave my gaming tower out of it and do some fine tuning in my LR on my iMac.

And I'm not bluffing, there are plenty of AOIs that are better than the iMac, i picked the iMac to get my Mac at home Fix, I have ZERO problem with ditching it next generation, I'll get a real computer if the next iMac lacks DVD or Blu Ray

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I know I would not, the entire point of that system is to be streamline and simple, with no optical drive they just lost what they were going for by thinking we should buy an external.

Yep, if the next iMac has no DVD/Blu Ray drive. I won't buy, and I'll buy a real computer.

 

[damir00]

Really ?! I HAD NO IDEA?!?!?!?

HOLY CRAP

It is interesting to hear all your complaining given that your current workflow doesn't require your Mac to have an ODD at all.

 

[G51989]

I hope Apple adds in a Laserdisc drive. Cause 4 people here watch them still.

Clearly.

The thing is, far more than 4 people still use optical media, lots of people still do.

You can settle for your streaming garbage, I won't.

I do currently have an external Blu Ray drive I keep in a drawer for the few times that I use my iMac for work.

I would have loved to use the new iMac for more fine tuning of my simulations, but lack of a DVD drive or blu ray drives kills the idea.

I'd probably just move my home workflow to my gaming tower and keep the iMac as a media device.

----------

It is interesting to hear all your complaining given that your current workflow doesn't require your Mac to have an ODD at all.

While I use Blu Rays for the bigger stuff, I use my iMacs DVD drive quiet a bit, for installing software, and burning smaller amounts of data.

No ODD in the next iMac = no Sale. I'll get a real computer.

 

[damir00]

While I use Blu Rays for the bigger stuff...

Right, like I (and you) said, your real workflow already doesn't require your Mac to have an ODD. So it totally makes sense, you being so adamant that your next Mac *must* have one.



Sure thing, mate.

As believable as the Easter Bunny...

 

[Xiroteus]

I hope Apple adds in a Laserdisc drive. Cause 4 people here watch them still.

Seriously? That is not remotely the same thing.

Yep, if the next iMac has no DVD/Blu Ray drive. I won't buy, and I'll buy a real computer.

For awhile I kept waiting for Macs to get Blu-ray, I have known for while that was not going to happen and now no optical drives, I WANT to like these systems, they just keep moving too far away from my needs and that is a shame. Getting to the point they feel like costly toys then a one in one system I can get anything done that I wish.

I still could see myself with the Ultrabook type Mac, it would be bought for that reason alone, small and simple, aside from that, not likely anytime soon. Another thing about this future, it tends to cost money, it is cheaper staying in the percent most of the time.

 

[G51989]

Right, like I (and you) said, your real workflow already doesn't require your Mac to have an ODD. So it totally makes sense, you being so adamant that your next Mac *must* have one.



Sure thing, mate.

As believable as the Easter Bunny...

My workflow still uses DVDs, and my Imac has a DVD burner.

If the next iMac lacks Blu Ray, I can deal with it.

No Superdrive? no sale.

I'll move to this.

http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/workstations/z1_features.html

Real Computer, blows my iMac out of the water. Or ANY mac out of the water. Thats for sure.

 

[damir00]

Getting to the point they feel like costly toys...

Man, if you think this is bad, you should try some of the anguish those of waiting on new Mac Pros are feeling...

 

[G51989]

Seriously? That is not remotely the same thing.




For awhile I kept waiting for Macs to get Blu-ray, I have known for while that was not going to happen and now no optical drives, I WANT to like these systems, they just keep moving too far away from my needs and that is a shame. Getting to the point they feel like costly toys then a one in one system I can get anything done that I wish.

I still could see myself with the Ultrabook type Mac, it would be bought for that reason alone, small and simple, aside from that, not likely anytime soon. Another thing about this future, it tends to cost money, it is cheaper staying in the percent most of the time.

This is why I am moving away from macs.

They have gone from professional machines.

To the machines that are used for playing angry birds and surfing.

No thanks.