Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Why Apple will NOT drop the Optical Drive in the new MBP.

AppleDApp said:
What high powered hardware are you talking about? The 13" MBP has by no means any pro hardware. The slow hard-drive on all macs is not Pro either or High powered as you mentioned. Adding an ODD does not make a computer Pro. Plenty of in the field pro users like developers, photographers, and journalist use MBA for there work.
Click to expand...

when i talk about high-end hardware, i am talking about faster processor and graphics. And if we are talking about the next MBP here, then, assuming it will have a faster hard drive, Intel HD 4000, third-gen Intel core i5/i7, then it will be a pro. intle have announced a 60% boost in ivy bridge graphics in their new HD 4000 hardware.

what you say about the 'in the field' workers is your opinion, and its also the consumers money. they want light and thin, then so let them get the macbook air. they want power and performance, then so let them get a macbook pro :). i just think for the money-to-power-and-screen-size ration, the pro is worht more money.

lets face it: you pay £999 for a 13.3" macbook pro. you pay the same for an 11" macbook air with less storage (yet faster) that can't have its internals upgraded. the macbook pro can have its internals upgraded. if you think the HDD is too slow, then there is also the option of adding the SSD, isnt there, provided you have the money for it. if you are too short of RAM, then so upgrade it to 8, or 16GB on the macbook pro. that is the limitations of a macbook air. while you think the internals are 'not pro' enough for what your standards are, at least you can upgrade them when they become slow :rolleyes:

----------
GizmoDVD said:
Consumers don't want a disc drive. Get over it and buy a $30 external.
Click to expand...

are you saying that consumers dont want a disc drive when hey need it for watching movies, ripping cd's and installing games/software? really? did you even read my post thoroughly? i did mention in there about consumers wanting an optical/disk drive. i wont get over it because i dont want to carry around another peripheral with me everyday in my bag. and im pretty sure others in the same boat would agree.

and then the possibilty of the cable connecting the disk drive and the computer together? that will soon wear out and snap, meaning i have to pay out another $30 to buy another disk drive, which is why i would NOT like to see it removed in the next macbook pro. that $60 would be better served somewhere else, thank you very much.
 
macmastersam said:
are you saying that consumers dont want a disc drive when hey need it for watching movies, ripping cd's and installing games/software? really?
Click to expand...

The only thing in that list that a consumer needs a disc drive to do is ripping CDs, and I don't think that's something people do much anymore.

Even if you rip CDs a lot and have lots of old CD or DVD based software discs, I don't see the need to make everyone lug around a disc drive as part of the machine for that. Those seem like tasks perfectly suited for your desk at home, with an external drive plugged in.
 
macmastersam said:
when i talk about high-end hardware, i am talking about faster processor and graphics. And if we are talking about the next MBP here, then, assuming it will have a faster hard drive, Intel HD 4000, third-gen Intel core i5/i7, then it will be a pro. intle have announced a 60% boost in ivy bridge graphics in their new HD 4000 hardware.

what you say about the 'in the field' workers is your opinion, and its also the consumers money. they want light and thin, then so let them get the macbook air. they want power and performance, then so let them get a macbook pro :). i just think for the money-to-power-and-screen-size ration, the pro is worht more money.

lets face it: you pay £999 for a 13.3" macbook pro. you pay the same for an 11" macbook air with less storage (yet faster) that can't have its internals upgraded. the macbook pro can have its internals upgraded. if you think the HDD is too slow, then there is also the option of adding the SSD, isnt there, provided you have the money for it. if you are too short of RAM, then so upgrade it to 8, or 16GB on the macbook pro. that is the limitations of a macbook air. while you think the internals are 'not pro' enough for what your standards are, at least you can upgrade them when they become slow :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Integrated GPU is in no way a high performance piece of hardware. Sure the HD 4000 is a lot better then the HD 3000. Why would Apple decide to use faster 7200 RPM drives rather then the cheaper 5400 RPM drives?

The upgradability of things offers a longer lasting product. I guess I just see pros having a desktop rig for the times where they need real performance.
 
If people need them, there are externals. Mine is external now, and I use it maybe once a month.

Everyone who wants to rip their CD collection already has.
 
AppleDApp said:
That isn't true.
Click to expand...

If they haven't, I doubt that they're going to decide to do it while sitting on a park bench, finally justifying having carried a laptop with a disc drive around for months.

You know, even if they did decide to rip their CD collection on a park bench and it would make them extremely happy and satisfied with their notebook purchase, that small group still doesn't justify keeping the disc drive as a standard feature across the whole MBP line for everyone to carry around.
 
BiggAW said:
Who had a CD collection from the CD days and still hasn't gotten around to ripping it???
Click to expand...

I have a friend who was a CD DJ. He hasn't gotten around to ripping his music. I wants to get back into it once he buys a new laptop.

Stetrain said:
If they haven't, I doubt that they're going to decide to do it while sitting on a park bench, finally justifying having carried a laptop with a disc drive around for months.

You know, even if they did decide to rip their CD collection on a park bench and it would make them extremely happy and satisfied with their notebook purchase, that small group still doesn't justify keeping the disc drive as a standard feature across the whole MBP line for everyone to carry around.
Click to expand...

True if someone is going to be ripping music they probably wont be doing it out in the wild.
 
Last edited:
My 13" MBP is due for a replacement soon. If the new MBPs don't have optical drives, I may actually switch back to Windows laptops. I love my Macs, but not enough to put up with Apple deciding when I'm done with something anymore.
 
AppleDApp said:
I have a friend who was a CD DJ. He hasn't gotten around to ripping his music. I wants to get back into it once he buys a new laptop.



True f someone is going to be ripping music they probably wont be doing it out in the wild.
Click to expand...

They're going to be few and far between. And even then, an external drive should suit them fine.
 
BiggAW said:
They're going to be few and far between. And even then, an external drive should suit them fine.
Click to expand...

True but it was to prove the point that Not everyone will have ripped their CD's

BiggAW said:
If people need them, there are externals. Mine is external now, and I use it maybe once a month.

Everyone who wants to rip their CD collection already has.
Click to expand...
 
AppleDApp said:
True but it was to prove the point that Not everyone will have ripped their CD's
Click to expand...

And not everyone has has High-speed internet so lets bring back a 56K Connection!

Not everyone has electricity, so let's give the Macbook a crank!

:rolleyes:
 
GizmoDVD said:
And not everyone has has High-speed internet so lets bring back a 56K Connection!

Not everyone has electricity, so let's give the Macbook a crank!

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

\-V-/ said:
You're kidding, right?
Click to expand...

Kaylor said:
so... if the new MBP's don't have an optical drive.. all other optical drives available to people who haven't ripped their cd's will just go *poof* and stop working?
Click to expand...

That point has been settled I don't see the need in bringing it back.
 
Death-T said:
You're missing of the point of what he said. If you don't 'like' the disc drive, then you don't have to use it. If you do use the disc drive to watch movies, rip & burn music/video, and to install games and other apps from your physical media then you have something to lose from the lack of a disc drive.
Click to expand...


I very rarely use a drive any more... all my software is downloaded from the internet, CD versions are old and need to be patched anyway by the time you get them.

Media? itunes. remember, apple is a media company. Ripping DVD/BD is a DMCA violation by circumventing the encryption keys and thus likely illegal anyway. it is not in their interests, most people don't want a drive anyway.

Removing the drive won't save much weight, but it WILL save a significant amount of space - that is far more useful for battery.

If you want a drive, plug one in. I'll take the 30-40% increase in battery size and associated improvement in battery life, thanks.



Seriously, if you're whining about the optical drive, count how many times per week you actually use it. Then add up the number of times you run out of battery. See which is more.

So far, I've used my optical drive 3 times since August in my MBP - and none of that was really needed, I was just screwing around trying to install old PC games from disc. That I could have either re-purchased online for a couple of dollars each, or installed from a shared drive elsewhere in the house. Or if i really wanted, from an external drive.

Mine typically sits there unused for months at a time, if i could use that space for battery it would be much better.
 
Last edited:
throAU said:
Media? itunes. remember, apple is a media company. Ripping DVD/BD is a DMCA violation by circumventing the encryption keys and thus likely illegal anyway.
Click to expand...
I rip DVDs and CDs so I can playback later on my iPhone and on my computer, does that mean I'm getting served with DMCA notices because OMG I might upload them to the internets? No really, DMCA is full of crap.
 
ElfinHilon said:
Yeah! What he said!



Wait what was the point again?
Click to expand...

People want to try and sound cool by stating the length of time in which they haven't used their optical drives and others want to make it seem like it's the end of the world if they have to get an external one.
 
Personally, I'd hate to see the ODDs removed from the 2012 MBP. I also believe that we will see them remain on the entire 2012 MBP pro line.

You keep a first aid kit in your house, you find yourself only needing the first aid kit twice in a year, do you throw it away because it takes up space, or do you keep it for when you really need it?

In my opinion, the optical drive is still relevant and still a necessary tool for the majority of users, both in professional and personal environments. Apple is definitely encouraging users to use mediums such as itunes to purchase their media and I feel that in the future, this is going to be the norm, however that being said, I don't feel that the majority of people are ready to accomodate such a drastic change. If people on Mac rumours are, good for them, but in my personal experience we are still a fair way away from migrating to solely digital media.

That being said, the apple store is definitely not ready to compete with physical media, as it's still charging premiums for a single digital license and doesn't offer a great and complete selection of movies and other content. I honestly believe each user's opinion is relevant and equal, however, to honestly think that the new MBs are going to lose their optical disc because you haven't used it for six months is dumb. ADSL 2 isn't even available in my area yet so what do you think the download speeds will be like ( you guessed it atrocious), do you really expect me to re purchase my 550 + collection of dvd's, blurays, cd's and software because "you don't want to carry the extra weight".

Unfortunately the majority of users still use optical discs and asking everyone to make this huge change is a bit ridiculous.

That being said, I think we are headed that way in the future, just not for a while yet.

Cheers, Curtis
 
I think i can call myself one of those people who still use their odd.
As I am a dj, I still like to burn my cd's instead of going digital.
Those cd's can run op to 3 a week.

But I prefer to see the odd removed, for the simple reason I only burn cd's when I'm at home, I have never burned one on the go.
And as many other people, I have ripped all my original cd's to my computer..

If they remove it, there will be a gigantic space to full with hardware (gpu, battery, ...) and I would love to trade my odd for the performance gain.
And an external odd doesn't take up that much place, does it? ;)

If the want to compete with the other company's, they are being forced to drop it. Otherwise there just isn't enough room for al the hardware. Let alone making it thiner.
 
the first aid kit thing is true for desktops. but people get hurt anywhere, do you carry a first aid kit with you at all times? keep one in your wallet? how would it fit? people also get sunburned, better keep a bottle of suntan lotion to prevent it and aloe for when you forget to apply the suntan lotion.

better start carrying a fannypack to haul all this stuff around, just in case. you never know when you'll need forceps.

obviously when we're dealing with something you need to carry, trade offs based on frequency of use are required. arguing about whether you keep something in the house is vastly different from something you need to carry.
 
Ok point taken fizzwinkus, the first aid kit was probably a crappy analogy, I didn't really think it out.:p

Regardless, my other points still stand for themselves. I'd rather have it there for when I do need it. Again this is my personal situation. Obviously there are always external drives available, but I still would love to see them stay on the new MBPS.

I suppose we will find out!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back