i'd love a macbook pro without the OD; for the 2 or 3 times a year i might need it, an external would be fine...
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What's your opinion about the no-OD rumors?
- Thread starter buddy39914
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I am in complete agreement. I just bought a new MBP 13" (actually my work bought it for me) but w/o the OD I would have bought something else. Yes I think it would be an extremely bad business decision for them to remove the OD from the MBP (buy an MBA if you want lighter/thinner), but it would certainly not be the first time. And just like Coke, Apple has reversed themselves on more than one occasion (remember when they removed FW from the first aluminum Macbook and then created the MBP?). Apple like any company is run by humans and humans are not perfect, we all make mistakes. I think it would be a mistake to remove the OD from the MBP, but what do I know?Don't know if they're true or not, but I just bought a MBP (well, it's on layaway) and if it had been sans OD I would NOT, repeat NOT have bought it! DVDs and CDs are going to be around for awhile and doing away with the OD just kills so much of the functionality of the MBP. It would be right up there with Coke changing their formula or NetFlix splitting out streaming from DVD services in terms of historically bad business decisions. IMHO.
And for those of you thinking that Apple will give you more or better features by removing the OD, think again. Apple like to make things thinner and lighter, remember?
Like I said, an MBP without an OD would give room for other things. It doesn't have to be a second hard drive, though that's what some may want.
Also, it is cost effective to reuse the same design for three years before moving on to possibly a complete redesign.
An Apple-branded optibay for current users wouldn't benefit Apple much seeing as it's a niche, and like most niches, only a few users would need such a thing. If you are talking about an optibay for the next MBP, then there is no reason for such a thing to exist since Apple can just remake the whole casing to accommodate a second hard drive. Why build a bay?
I've not used my optical drive for about a year. I install OS X via USB drive now, and have my Apple TV for displaying content on my TV (versus burning a DVD and watching it that way). I also use my USB drive to carry files around with me.
I hope they do get rid of it, but if they were to do that on a mass scale (i.e. no laptop with an optical drive), then they would have to lower the price of the external optical drive significantly. $45 would be alright.
I hope they do get rid of it, but if they were to do that on a mass scale (i.e. no laptop with an optical drive), then they would have to lower the price of the external optical drive significantly. $45 would be alright.
I personally want the Optical Drive to go. I am considering buying my first Mac on the Ivy Bridge release, and I think the Optical Drive space could be used for much better purposes, such as extended battery, a dedicated GPU on the 13", or an extra fan. Stating that whoever wants a MBP without an OD should buy a MBA is a lie: the MBP offers a lot else that the MBA does not, namely storage space, screen quality (despite lower resolution), and higher processing and graphical power.
I'd like Apple's bet to be on a larger battery and a revised cooling system. It'd allow higher-clocked Ivy Bridge chipsets, without compromising on either heat management or battery life. Considering Ivy Bridge will bring a powerful, energy/heat-efficient CPU and an integrated Intel 4000 HD GPU rumored to be a major step up from the 3000, this situation would bring us much powerful laptops at the price of a drive which the majority of us don't use anymore.
I'd like Apple's bet to be on a larger battery and a revised cooling system. It'd allow higher-clocked Ivy Bridge chipsets, without compromising on either heat management or battery life. Considering Ivy Bridge will bring a powerful, energy/heat-efficient CPU and an integrated Intel 4000 HD GPU rumored to be a major step up from the 3000, this situation would bring us much powerful laptops at the price of a drive which the majority of us don't use anymore.
LOL. I am in fact a photographer. FTP is the transfer of choice for file(s) below 4gbs. Otherwise, send an external hard drive. I can only speak to commercial work, but I'd imagine uploading files to your ftp with a link for download for the consumer would/does work just as well. Also, there are these nifty things called enclosures and external burners that plug into your computer via USB that burn cds/dvds. It's just not necessary anymore for the vast majority of people. Ask yourself how much a big thumb drive is..($10-$20 for 16gb and $4-$12 for an 8gb ((which is double what a dvd can hold))
Anyone who wants an OD in a MBP needs to move into the 21st century.
Optical drives are dead. If I need to use an optical drive (which I rarely do) I use my desktop which has plenty of space to fit several optical drives.
We have iCloud, USB drives, WiFi, Ethernet and Audio/Visual compression for these tasks now so the CD in my opinion is as much use as a VHS. I think the last piece of optical media I bought was a Blu-Ray which I would certainly not like to watch on a 13, 15 or 17" display. Try a 40" Kuro Pioneer.
Optical drives are dead. If I need to use an optical drive (which I rarely do) I use my desktop which has plenty of space to fit several optical drives.
We have iCloud, USB drives, WiFi, Ethernet and Audio/Visual compression for these tasks now so the CD in my opinion is as much use as a VHS. I think the last piece of optical media I bought was a Blu-Ray which I would certainly not like to watch on a 13, 15 or 17" display. Try a 40" Kuro Pioneer.
Well good for you, you don't need an OD. But please don't try to force your opinion down everybody else's throats! Not everybody is alike or has the same needs. Just because you don't need something doesn't mean that others don't. I am sick and tired of the mentality that says that one person's opinion is good for everybody and that others just ought to fall in line. No, you are entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to mine. I don't try to force my will on you so please do me the favor of doing the same.
Just my personal opinion, but I think a desktop is much less 21st century than an optical drive.
I know one thing for certain, at times Apple makes some odd decisions. This is a hot topic that has been discussed over and over with each side presenting very good reasons why they want it to stay or go.
Most opinions are meaningless. Apples going to do what they want with little consideration for the customer. Apples only priority in today's market is profit, profit, and more profit. They love to brag about the money & sales volume. The fanbois have the same obsession.
Therefore it's all about the money. It's as simple as that
Most opinions are meaningless. Apples going to do what they want with little consideration for the customer. Apples only priority in today's market is profit, profit, and more profit. They love to brag about the money & sales volume. The fanbois have the same obsession.
Therefore it's all about the money. It's as simple as that
Yep, the only difference between the Macbook Air and the Macbook Pro is the optical drive.
Haven't used a dvd in a laptop in over 3 years. I have a small home server set up at home, that I can access over the net. From my laptop, or any other laptop, or even my iPhone, I can log in and upload, download, or access any file on it, INCLUDING burning files onto a disk in the DVD drive of the home server. Any "Pro" user should know how to set something like this up.
Not saying that all users should go this route. Obviously this is a "niche" example.
There is a huge difference between eliminating the OD entirely and just removing it from the MBP. Apple will continue to offer an external OD for the people who need it, until it is truly dead and buried like the 1.44" floppy.
Come on people let's be realistic. The Apple external Superdrive is 335 grams or 0.74 lbs. How much does a MBP weigh over a MBA? If Apple were to make a thinner and lighter MBP without the OD, and as an option I can carry a 335-gram superdrive should I need it on the road, I'm all for it.
Come on people let's be realistic. The Apple external Superdrive is 335 grams or 0.74 lbs. How much does a MBP weigh over a MBA? If Apple were to make a thinner and lighter MBP without the OD, and as an option I can carry a 335-gram superdrive should I need it on the road, I'm all for it.
Next 13" MBA refresh I'm dropping my 2011 13" MBP for it. I have SSDs in RAID right now and I've used an external OD I have a couple times to burn a CD for the car so I'm not going to miss the OD.
Honestly the only realistic thing that will keep me on the pro is battery life that is much higher than the air..but it's the same so I'd rather save on weight and thickness.
Now if they threw a Blu-ray drive in..then I'd stay with the pro..but we all no that's not happening. And before someone argues that a Blu-ray OD is dumb..I have about 300 BDs and maybe 10 DVDs that came with them. So even though I wouldn't get to take advantage of the better resolution or sound..I could at least watch my movies. Then there's also the ability to burn a BD, DVD or CD. Side note: I never understood why people wanted a DVD drive over a BD drive..
So keep the OD and support Blu-ray or lose it and give me more battery life or it's to the MBA.
Honestly the only realistic thing that will keep me on the pro is battery life that is much higher than the air..but it's the same so I'd rather save on weight and thickness.
Now if they threw a Blu-ray drive in..then I'd stay with the pro..but we all no that's not happening. And before someone argues that a Blu-ray OD is dumb..I have about 300 BDs and maybe 10 DVDs that came with them. So even though I wouldn't get to take advantage of the better resolution or sound..I could at least watch my movies. Then there's also the ability to burn a BD, DVD or CD. Side note: I never understood why people wanted a DVD drive over a BD drive..
So keep the OD and support Blu-ray or lose it and give me more battery life or it's to the MBA.
Any "pro" user would also know that not every where you go has an option to a decent wifi connection that'll let you download like you do at your house. For example Hotels. Reason they should keep optical drive.
Tried keeping it short and sweet
.I bought the MacbookPRO to use in the course of my work day. Burning CD's or DVD's for clients is a part of my work day. As far as I am concerned the Optical Drive puts the PRO in MacbookPRO.
Yeah yeah yeah, I know .... they have external optical drives. Like I want to work with things hanging off the side of my notebook computer.
Yeah yeah yeah, I know .... they have external optical drives. Like I want to work with things hanging off the side of my notebook computer.
From a marketing point of view, there is little reason to make the MBP smaller and lighter. If they add a 15'' Air to their product lineup, there is even less reason.
The 13'' Air is 1.35 kg, 1.7cm high and more expensive than the 13'' MBP. If the redesigned 13'' MBP comes down to 1.5-1.6 kg and 2cm height, it will add unnecessary competition between the two models.
Some people suggest to use the free space to increase battery life or add a second HDD or a dedicated GPU to the 13'' model. To me this sounds unlikely - the Ivy Bridge upgrade will bring enough GPU power to the 13'' to power two external displays and increase battery life even without a bigger battery. A second HDD would make sense, but I would consider this to be a complicated setup for a laptop, also going against most of apples design philosophies.
TL/DR, what I think will happen:
There will either be a 13'' Pro with OD, or no 13'' Pro at all
If a 15'' Air appears, the 15''/17'' MBP will keep their ODs
In about two years, the Pro line will go away
The 13'' Air is 1.35 kg, 1.7cm high and more expensive than the 13'' MBP. If the redesigned 13'' MBP comes down to 1.5-1.6 kg and 2cm height, it will add unnecessary competition between the two models.
Some people suggest to use the free space to increase battery life or add a second HDD or a dedicated GPU to the 13'' model. To me this sounds unlikely - the Ivy Bridge upgrade will bring enough GPU power to the 13'' to power two external displays and increase battery life even without a bigger battery. A second HDD would make sense, but I would consider this to be a complicated setup for a laptop, also going against most of apples design philosophies.
TL/DR, what I think will happen:
There will either be a 13'' Pro with OD, or no 13'' Pro at all
If a 15'' Air appears, the 15''/17'' MBP will keep their ODs
In about two years, the Pro line will go away
Any "pro" user would also know that not every where you go has an option to a decent wifi connection that'll let you download like you do at your house. For example Hotels. Reason they should keep optical drive.
Tried keeping it short and sweet
I live in America and I have actually never ran into this issue. The bigger problem with this discussion is what KIND of "Pro" you are. I am sure that there are plenty that actually do need the OD drive, but I'd also be willing to bet that there are just as many who have no need for it at all.
Personally, I think we have to move on. With flash storage becoming cheaper and cheaper, CD's are becoming cumbersome and useless. Why have a 4 GB DVD that can be damaged just by touching it the wrong way and with an enormous surface area when I can buy a small, compact, indestructible (under normal circumstances) 16 GB flash drive for $30? Humans tend to stick to things too much. Remember the VHS? You never wanted to leave it, did you? And now most young teens in my class don't even remember what a VHS is! Apple is the company that keeps technology pushed to the limit - never relaxed - and that is why so many of their products are so controversial. Because they don't get attached to things.
And now most young teens in my class don't even remember what a VHS is! Apple is the company that keeps technology pushed to the limit - never relaxed - and that is why so many of their products are so controversial. Because they don't get attached to things.Which America? North or South?
I am going to assume you have ever stayed in a large hotel during a trade convention, concert, company event, etc. Bandwidth is severely constrained under these circumstances and quick access from a home or office workstation is not usually possible.
USA, and even in the worst of circumstances, we are still ignoring the ever-cheapening cost of flash drives. Granted, not as cheap as DVD, but the world has to move forward.
I couldn't care less. I am just bringing up alternatives. If the next MBP has a DVD drive I'm sure a bunch of people will jump up and down with joy. Personally I have no use for one, and will replace the OD with an extra hard drive, but that's me.
I personally don't care what they do with the OD because there'll always be an option for an external drive ... right?
By that same argument, you could remove internal storage and actually also the screen, keyboard and trackpad.
And since the next MBP will be a redesign, that's their opportunity to ditch the optical drive. If they don't ditch it with next year's redesign, they'll have to wait until the next redesign after that in 4-5 years. They're not going to keep it around for that long when they want everyone to move to the iCloud.
Plus I think if they continue to offer the SuperDrive, it needs to be updated to modern times, i.e. it needs to support Blu-Ray. I don't think Apple cares about Blu-Ray though, so they'll probably just ditch the optical drive.