What's the ETA on blu rays drive's on macbooks?

[tga3]

Optical media is dying. Thumb drives and the like aren't there with cost per gig yet, but it's the future.

No, it's not. "The reports of optical media death are greatly exaggerated"

Retail packaged software will be on optical media for some time. Blu-ray and DVD movies aren't going away anytime soon either.

To completely kill optical media requires near-universal broadband penetration, which is still a ways off (latest stat I can find is 63% of US homes in Mar 09). Until then, the only way to get blu-ray quality movies to 100% of the population is, guess what, blu-ray.

I want a blu-ray drive so I can watch movies when I'm traveling. Every movie I buy is blu-ray (unless it's only out on DVD). I don't need a 1080p screen on my laptop, but I have no interest in trying to figure out how to rip and re-encode a blu-ray just so I can watch the movie on a plane.

 

[dukebound85]

I bet there were people back in 1997 saying Apple will never remove the floppy drive.

I like how you cut out the "at least for another 5 years" from that quote

There are super thin blu ray drives that Apple can easily use.

But no super thin slot loading just yet iirc

 

[rtn5000]

Well if the rumors are right....shortly after Microsoft buys Apple Inc.

 

[wikoogle]

Tyrion, here's the specs to the laptop I mentioned...

Sony Vaio Z
Design: Aluminium + Carbon Fiber Unibody
Weight: 3.07lbs
Screen: 13.1", 1920 x 1080 Resolution
CPU: Core i7-620M. 3.33GHz Turbo. 35W TDP. 4MB L2 Cache
RAM: 8GB DDR3
SDD: 512GB Solid State Harddrive (Configurable With Up to Four Solid State Raid 0 Drives)
Graphics: Nvidia 330M GT 1GB GDDR3 and Intel HD integrated - switchable
Battery: Sony: 6 Hours (8-10 hrs when used in the Stamina Mode)
Optical Drive: Blu-Ray Burner/DVD Burner/CD Burner
Other: x3 USB2.0, x1 HDMI Out, VGA Out, 802.11 a/b/g/n, GB Ethernet, 2.1 Bluetooth, webcam, mic, SD, Expresscard, Memstick

 

[Tyrion]

Wikoogle, the Vaio Z is a great machine, but I believe the BR-drive is tray-loading. AFAIK there are no slot-loading 9.5mm-drives, and we all know Apple has abandoned trays a long time ago.

 

[Dozerrox]

There are super thin blu ray drives that Apple can easily use.

The 3 Ib Sony Vaio Z is thinner than the Macbook Pro and still packs a blu ray burner along with a core i7 processor, a solid dedicated gpu, 8 gigs of ram and 1080p resolution in their 13 inch version while still getting a 6 hr to 10 hr battery life!!

a premium laptop that is actually worth the premium price. Because it actually innovates, something Apple it seems has forgotten how to do..

http://translate.google.com/transla...ined-by-project-leader/&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&swap=1

That thing really is **** hot. If I could use it for the software that I want to run then I'd get it in a heartbeat.

Looks lurverly too!

 

[6-0 Prolene]

So people keep posting about the Vaio Z, but I just spec'd one out with 256GB of SSD, a Core i7, and 4GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 (you know, the stuff that everyone says is so painfully outdated) and I get a ship date of 3/23 and a cost of $2600. For a 13" notebook??!!! WTF??!!

Why is the MBP a bad deal again, and how is that wait different?

 

[lilo777]

So people keep posting about the Vaio Z, but I just spec'd one out with 256GB of SSD, a Core i7, and 4GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 (you know, the stuff that everyone says is so painfully outdated) and I get a ship date of 3/23 and a cost of $2600. For a 13" notebook??!!! WTF??!!

Why is the MBP a bad deal again, and how is that wait different?

Yes, it's a 13" laptop packing much more power than 17" MBP. You have to pay more for it. I do not understand why you are so surprised.

I am interested in buying a new macbook once blu-ray drives are added. When will this happen?

It's easy. After Steve dies (sorry Steve).

 

[jamesryanbell]

That VAIO Z is super awesome. If I was in the market for a PC laptop, that's without a doubt what I'd buy.

 

[Scottsdale]

It is a mystery.

I for one will not buy a new Mac without a BR-drive. Or if they continue to offer the obsolete Superdrive, I'd at least like to see the option of getting the MBP without an optical drive.

I agree that if Apple doesn't want to use BluRay, it needs to completely remove the optical drive. All it does is waste space and the tech is completely dead. For those that want to use Blu Ray, at least Apple should support external BluRay drives within the OS. I understand Apple doesn't want to include Blu Ray because it will cut into margins... but the BIGGER PROBLEM is Apple doesn't want people to buy a Blu Ray disk because it's not making any money while it can make money selling the same movie via iTunes. It all goes back to the same thing as Flash... Adobe competes with Apple's revenue stream, so it gets blamed as being bad software. Flash is excellent software on my Apple Mac within Windows 7, and I can run a Blu Ray external drive connected to my Mac within Windows 7 via Boot Camp!

Apple needs to maintain relevance while understanding that if it cannot make the money from the revenue stream, it needs to find another way rather than just destroying Mac users' experiences. Right now, Apple is destroying my web browsing experience on my iPhone... soon it will be destroying my web browsing experience on my iPad too. I also get worthless Flash within Mac OS X... BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE ME WANT TO GO BUY iTUNES CONTENT INSTEAD!!! It makes me want to abandon Apple products. That is where Apple is failing!

Optical media is dying. Thumb drives and the like aren't there with cost per gig yet, but it's the future.

I can't wait to get a MBP so I can swap the lame DVD drive with another hard drive.

I would rather have a Blu Ray drive or no drive at all. Why not save the weight and make it smaller, thinner, and lighter?

There are super thin blu ray drives that Apple can easily use.

The 3 Ib Sony Vaio Z is thinner than the Macbook Pro and still packs a blu ray burner along with a core i7 processor, a solid dedicated gpu, 8 gigs of ram and 1080p resolution in their 13 inch version while still getting a 6 hr to 10 hr battery life!!

a premium laptop that is actually worth the premium price. Because it actually innovates, something Apple it seems has forgotten how to do..

I have been comparing the MBA to the Z but the truth is the Z offers FAR SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE TO AN MBP WHILE THE BENEFITS OF LIGHTWEIGHT OF THE MBA. Apple needs to create completely new Mac notebooks to compete. It needs to offer BTO options to allow its users some actual professional components even if they have to pay extra for them. Prosumers, gamers, and "professionals" are all being left out with the current Mac notebooks. Apple needs to worry about all three groups of the market instead of just the "typical Mac users." I will not keep buying Apple products unless Apple makes them RELEVANT. It doesn't have to offer the fastest CPU, but it has to have a competitive current technology CPU. It doesn't have to offer 1333 MHz RAM, but it needs to offer 8 GB of 1066 MHz RAM at a fair BTO price. It doesn't need to include Blu Ray drives standard, but if it's going to have a bay for drives, it needs to include a BTO option for Blu Ray. Apple doesn't need to have HD displays standard, but it needs to have BTO options to increase the definition. Apple doesn't need to include every option standard, but it needs to have BTO options that allow ranges of customers to buy its products WITHOUT HUGE COMPROMISES!

We shouldn't have to compromise this far to use a Mac! It is ridiculous that Apple is has become so irrelevant. It doesn't want to even provide a Pro computer anymore. What kind of "professional" grade computer doesn't have a dedicated graphics card? Only one I know of is the MBP! Seriously, it needs to provide an option for a dedicated video card in every size MBP. I have never been so disappointed with Apple's product line as I am right now. If Apple doesn't shape up, I will buy a Sony Vaio and will not look back. The app selection is incredibly great on Windows, and Windows 7 is every bit as good as OS X Snow Leopard. It is one thing to pay for a premium/luxury computer and feel like your getting your money's worth... it's something completely different to buy a current Mac notebook! Apple needs to provide a Mac notebook line for typical Mac users, light computer users, gamers, prosumers, techies, executives/business, and professionals who need a professional grade computer. If it's going to "work with Valve Steam" it surely has better graphics planned than an integrated GPU?

I sure hope Apple changes its tune and gets back to being relevant with its Mac notebooks!

 

[gwsat]

And perceived screen size is a function of viewing distance. So it cancels out. By your logic a 480p image is going to look great upconverted to a 50inch HDTV's maximum resolution too, provided you sit far enough away from it.

My point was not that an upconverted DVD image has better picture quality that a BD image. Clearly, a BD's picture quality is going to be better, even on a laptop screen. Nevertheless, the difference viewed on a small screen, even at close distances, while noticeable, is going to be small enough to justify Apple's decision not to shift from DVD to BD. Anyway, it makes sense to me.

I am a Blu-ray fan and bought a BD player shortly after BD technology won the Great Format War with HD DVD. The problem with Blu-ray, though, is that it is so complex, so new, and so hemmed in by the studios' draconian copy protection schemes, one never knows from one day to the next whether a newly released BD will play on his BD player before the next firmware update. DVD, in stark contrast, is both more mature and much simpler technology than Blu-ray. BD drives are clearly worth the hassle in a home theater environment but, arguably at least, more trouble than they are worth in a laptop.

 

[6-0 Prolene]

Yes, it's a 13" laptop packing much more power than 17" MBP. You have to pay more for it. I do not understand why you are so surprised.

Assuming that the new MBPs will have Core i7s, it's not all that impressive. And since it doesn't ship till 3/23 it doesn't really exist as competition for the new MBPs just yet.

 

[wikoogle]

My point was not that an upconverted DVD image has better picture quality that a BD image. Clearly, a BD's picture quality is going to be better, even on a laptop screen. Nevertheless, the difference viewed on a small screen, even at close distances, while noticeable, is going to be small enough to justify Apple's decision not to shift from DVD to BD.

No it does not justify Apple's decision.

And no, the difference is not small, even on a small screen size or image. (At the distance, you sit from a laptop, screen size has nothing to do with it. Higher resolution is higher resolution. And your eyes see a world of difference between DVDs and Blu Rays at that distance. You actually see a higher quality image than you would watching that picture on a 52 inch tv that you sit 8 feet away from).

Look at any picture link in this link...

http://www.zonadvd.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=736

Look at it on your Macbook Pro or some similar sized laptop. Each image is small, less than 7 inches where as even the smallest MBP's screen is 13 inches.

Can you honestly tell me that the difference in picture quality is small or that you wouldn't vastly prefer to watch a movie at the second picture's resolution?

If so, you are either being purposefully dishonest, or you need to go see an optometrist and get yourself some reading glasses.

Once again, keep in mind that each image above is only 7 inches or so in size, so no, small screen size doesn't make the image upgrade insignificant.

 

[gwsat]

No it does not justify Apple's decision.

And no, the difference is not small, even on a small screen size or image. (At the distance, you sit from a laptop, screen size has nothing to do with it. Higher resolution is higher resolution. And your eyes see a world of difference between DVDs and Blu Rays at that distance. You actually see a higher quality image than you would watching that picture on a 52 inch tv that you sit 8 feet away from).

Look at any picture link in this link...

http://forum.blu-ray.com/617171-post5.html

Look at it on your Macbook Pro or some similar sized laptop. Each image is small, less than 7 inches where as even the smallest MBP's screen is 13 inches.

Can you honestly tell me that the difference in picture quality is small or that you wouldn't vastly prefer to watch a movie at the second picture's resolution?

If so, you are either being purposefully dishonest, or you need to go see an optometrist and get yourself some reading glasses.

Once again, keep in mind that each image above is only 7 inches or so in size, so no, small screen size doesn't mean the image upgrade is not noticable or insignificant.

I don't know how much, if any, experience, you have with home theater. One of the first things you learn when you get involved with it, though, is that nothing is more subjective than picture quality. Disagreements about it are common. Thus, your disagreement with my assessment that Apple's decision not to add BD players is not surprising. I can live with it, as I am sure you can, too.

 

[SecretAsianMan]

Anybody know any names we can call the Superdrive until we finally get a Blu-Ray drive? I'm sure some childish name-calling will help move things along. This is the Internets, after all.

StupiderDrive?
SubparDrive?

Is this thing on?

 

[wikoogle]

We can call it the "Magical" Drive. Apple sure seems to love throwing that adjective around a lot lately. I swear, I though Steve was being ironic when he used that term to describe the iPad right as this picture was displayed on the screen behind them.

But apparently, he was being serious, and now is using "Magical" to describe almost everything that Apple announces.

I don't know how much, if any, experience, you have with home theater. One of the first things you learn when you get involved with it, though, is that nothing is more subjective than picture quality. Disagreements about it are common.

Lol, the old it's all subjective argument. You can argue that it's subjective all you want.

But at the end of the day, anyone with two normally functioning eyes that says they don't see a significant difference between these two images, is lying thru their teeth.

http://www.zonadvd.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=736

It really doesn't get much more clear cut than that.

And yes, that is precisely how big of a difference you will see on a 9 inch laptop screen.

 

[kny3twalker]

I swear, I though Steve was being ironic when he used that term to describe the iPad right as this picture was displayed on the screen behind them.

I thought he was a bit embarrassed as to how much the product sucked, so he used the term magical to overshadow that fact. Misdirection. Is not that really what magic is?

 

[wikoogle]

I got that. It was just soooo blatant.

I honestly cracked up laughing when I heard that term "Magical" to describe the iPad while that picture prominently featured on engadget.

I mean, I would think a presentation that significant would be rehearsed endlessly. How did they not catch that?

 

[Tyrion]

I agree that if Apple doesn't want to use BluRay, it needs to completely remove the optical drive. All it does is waste space and the tech is completely dead. For those that want to use Blu Ray, at least Apple should support external BluRay drives within the OS. I understand Apple doesn't want to include Blu Ray because it will cut into margins... but the BIGGER PROBLEM is Apple doesn't want people to buy a Blu Ray disk because it's not making any money while it can make money selling the same movie via iTunes. It all goes back to the same thing as Flash... Adobe competes with Apple's revenue stream, so it gets blamed as being bad software. Flash is excellent software on my Apple Mac within Windows 7, and I can run a Blu Ray external drive connected to my Mac within Windows 7 via Boot Camp!

In the past three years or so, Apple has simply been wringing its hands trying to decide what to do about optical drives and it's driving me nuts. They've sort of indicated that they don't like optical media by building a content-delivery system and eschewing Blu-Ray, but at the same time they keep putting obsolete and gigantic optical drives into all of their computers. So they don't like optical media enough to give us BR, but they like it enough to still peddle the Superdrive, for which few people have any use left (I certainly don't). Apple, PLEASE just make a decision. Either accept that optical media will be around for a few more years and then offer the current standard (BR) or aggressively advance the notion that optical media are dying and offer Macs without optical drives (but some other goodies instead). But stop with this half-hearted oh-we-don't-like-optical-drives-but-here's-a-completely-outdated-drive-anyway-tomfoolery. I just want to be able to make an informed buying decision. I want to know whether I'll be able to watch my movies on my future Macs. If the answer is no, they had better offer me some other good feature instead, but I won't accept the useless Superdrive any longer.

 

[old-wiz]

The superdrive is still quite useful for loading software. Not everyone has broadband internet to dowload stuff. Apple still doesn't provide a way to download a full version of osx. I use the optical drive to watch movies on DVD and it's perfectly fine. I also use it to rip CD music to iTunes for my iPod.

 

[zipa]

The superdrive is still quite useful for loading software.

A blu-ray drive would be even more so.

 

[Tyrion]

The superdrive is still quite useful for loading software. Not everyone has broadband internet to dowload stuff. Apple still doesn't provide a way to download a full version of osx. I use the optical drive to watch movies on DVD and it's perfectly fine. I also use it to rip CD music to iTunes for my iPod.

Hey, I do all of these things too. But you know what would be even better than a Superdrive to do all this? A Blu-Ray drive.

 

[colourfastt]

A blu-ray drive would be even more so.

When there is a reasonably priced 9.5mm SLOT-loading BR drive, THEN Apple may consider it; until then, you're wasting your time complaining.

 

[gwsat]

Lol, the old it's all subjective argument. You can argue that it's subjective all you want.

But at the end of the day, anyone with two normally functioning eyes that says they don't see a significant difference between these two images, is lying thru their teeth.

Wow! Often wrong but never in doubt. The issue isn't whether the PQ of a BD is better than that of a DVD, even on a laptop, it is. Thus, we agree that there is a difference. We disagree, though, over whether that difference is significant enough to make it sensible at this early day for Apple to ditch DVD in favor of BD. Your use of screen caps is unconvincing to me. There is no debate more impossible to resolve than PQ and using screen caps to support such an argument is the last refuge of scoundrels, it seems to me. Ultimately, we disagree about this ultimately unresolvable issue. Apple, not you, will decide when, if ever to add BD drives to its laptops. Live with it. I am moving on to more fertile fields. , back atcha.

 

[BrerBear]

We disagree, though, over whether that difference is significant enough to make it sensible at this early day for Apple to ditch DVD in favor of BD.

"Early day"? I bought a Dell laptop with Blu-ray for a relative in late 2008. Apple is way late to this game.