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Why did Apple remove internal optical drive?

Rewritable 25GB Blu Ray can be had for about 2 USD compared to about 15 USD for a 32GB USB stick.

Rewritable dual-layer 50GB Blu Ray can be had for about 10 USD compared to 28 USD for a 64GB USB stick.

Triple-layer 100GB BDXL is not yet competitive because the media is very rare.

Quad-layer 128GB BDXL is even more rare media.
 
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cube said:
Rewritable 25GB Blu Ray can be had for about 2 USD compared to about 15 USD for a 32GB USB stick.

Rewritable dual-layer 50GB Blu Ray can be had for about 10 USD compared to 28 USD for a 64GB USB stick.

Triple-layer 100GB BDXL is not yet competitive because the media is very rare.

Quad-layer 128GB BDXL is even more rare media.
Click to expand...

I can't picture going to all the trouble of setting up a session on a rewriteable BD disc (let alone buying the burner first) in order to bring a couple of gigs worth of files from one place to another.

Every device has its purpose. If the rewriteable Blu-Ray disc is what best suits your needs, then go for it. Apple's certainly not stopping you (other than by not including a BD-RW drive, but not too many PCs include those either.)
 
notjustjay said:
I can't picture going to all the trouble of setting up a session on a rewriteable BD disc (let alone buying the burner first) in order to bring a couple of gigs worth of files from one place to another.

Every device has its purpose. If the rewriteable Blu-Ray disc is what best suits your needs, then go for it. Apple's certainly not stopping you (other than by not including a BD-RW drive, but not too many PCs include those either.)
Click to expand...

My favourite is DVD-RAM.
 
bluebird3 said:
I'm so needing it to be in ONE unit for ease of portability. People are still needing it, so.now they have to spend extra for external drive ... it doesn't much make sense to me.

Why some /many people think it's a good thing ??
Click to expand...

May I ask why you need something stored on a physical disk? You mentioned ease of portability, I cannot see how storing something on a little silver disk is easy or convenient in any situation.

I can just drag and drop files from computer to computer using AirDrop or drop them in a WebDAV folder so that I can access it from any computer, just about anywhere in the world.

Can you provide a situation where a disk would be easier, faster, ect?
 
ScottishCaptain said:
You cannot use this argument because that assumes that there is a suitable physical replacement for the medium that has been discontinued. In the case of Apple EOL'ing the floppy drive, we had CD drives and burners to fall back on.

CDs and DVDs have no replacement, they were simply dropped. This wasn't a case of something better coming along and outdating everything before it. This was a case of Apple dropping features because they wanted to make a slimmer machine.

-SC
Click to expand...

The calculation is consumers want speed and the vast majority don't mind the trade off in storage capacity where there are so many storage options available. Not to mention some of the newer programs need the added cpu speed.
 
960design said:
May I ask why you need something stored on a physical disk? You mentioned ease of portability, I cannot see how storing something on a little silver disk is easy or convenient in any situation.

I can just drag and drop files from computer to computer using AirDrop or drop them in a WebDAV folder so that I can access it from any computer, just about anywhere in the world.

Can you provide a situation where a disk would be easier, faster, ect?
Click to expand...

hi, for an example I have couple hundreds of music CDs that I often import them into an iTune on my computer and organize the songs, then rip them onto an empty CDs, or simply export files to my iPod. I also watch DVDs from my movie collections or when I buy them during my travel to watch them on the go. Just insert the disk and go is much easier and more portable for me than to be carrying around an external drive hanging out on the side of the lap top.
 
There are a few cross 'conversations' here and maybe it is wise to consider there are several concepts being discussed -

logic order of advancement of physical media:
proprietary large floppy --> 5.24 --> 3.5 --> CD -->DVD -->Blu Ray

disc media vs other physical media (flash thumb drives etc)

quality and endurance of disc media vs other portable media

disc media vs network stored media (whether cloud, NAS, single drive etc.)

disc media vs Apple iTunes:
ease of use, portability, quality* of media files, usefulness

archiving of media files and/or data files:
disc vs mechanical drive vs ssd vs network access (cloud, etc.)

The above to me seems to be a more fitting set of topics than just going on about Apple objective. If I must throw my peanuts into the gallery it is rather clear to me exactly why Apple removed the drives -
1) cheaper to build
2) the omission forces people to either by third party or avoid buying by using "services" such as yes, iTunes.
3) paves the way for Apple to create other services in the future based on networking, clouds and more (all with added expense)
4) Apple's arrogance in wanting to change the end user culture into a population dependent on Apple telling them what is good for them or rather, what they should use and like.

I am sure many will disagree with my opinion but again, it really doesn't matter why Apple does what it does but what options are best for each of us.

For me, a reader is far more valuable than a writer but I do use a BDR/DVD writer from time to time. I also use thumbdrives and 2.5" portable drives. The one advantage I have of an external drive is that it is portable and thus, can be shared easily to non-networked computers.

...just my two cents
 
bluebird3 said:
Just insert the disk and go is much easier and more portable for me than to be carrying around an external drive hanging out on the side of the lap top.
Click to expand...

And even more portable is ripping them to your hard drive and not have to carry around a bunch of discs
 
phrehdd said:
If I must throw my peanuts into the gallery it is rather clear to me exactly why Apple removed the drives -
Click to expand...

or maybe they just realized it was dead?

i mean, i have 3 macs which all have superdrives.. i can't remember the last time i used one but it's been a couple years at least.. (fwiw, i move a ton of files around between my computers and those of clients)

i'd guess at least half the users out there are similar.. why include such a relatively large piece of hardware in the design? overall, the use vs idle state is way way (way!) too low.

big deal, you know?
 
flat five said:
or maybe they just realized it was dead?

i mean, i have 3 macs which all have superdrives.. i can't remember the last time i used one but it's been a couple years at least.. (fwiw, i move a ton of files around between my computers and those of clients)

i'd guess at least half the users out there are similar.. why include such a relatively large piece of hardware in the design? overall, the use vs idle state is way way (way!) too low.

big deal, you know?
Click to expand...

No disrespect but perhaps "dead" to you but many other continue to use discs. Rather interesting that Netflix ran into issues as they tried to downplay their disc rentals and we saw how that went.

The only reason items usually become "dead" is because they are replaced by something else. As I stated, there are other portable media storage units out there beyond the disc that may prove to be superior options when they can get closer in price (including cheap but hopefully built well enough thumbdrives).

It would have been curious to see if Apple had provide a good dvd/blu ray player just how "dead" discs would be to Apple's line up of computers. Again, Apple will do what it wants, when it wants, and tell us we will like it.
 
I don't see any need for Apple or any manufacturer to continue producing them. They are nuisances and are less missed than needed. If there are people who really need it, non Apple-branded optical external drives are fairly inexpensive.
 
phrehdd said:
No disrespect but perhaps "dead" to you but many other continue to use discs. Rather interesting that Netflix ran into issues as they tried to downplay their disc rentals and we saw how that went.

The only reason items usually become "dead" is because they are replaced by something else. As I stated, there are other portable media storage units out there beyond the disc that may prove to be superior options when they can get closer in price (including cheap but hopefully built well enough thumbdrives).

It would have been curious to see if Apple had provide a good dvd/blu ray player just how "dead" discs would be to Apple's line up of computers. Again, Apple will do what it wants, when it wants, and tell us we will like it.
Click to expand...

dunno.. it's just a matter of seeing it for what it is (i.e.- changing your mind )

(or, more like- when will you change you mind?.. because you will eventually) ;)
 
phrehdd said:
No disrespect but perhaps "dead" to you but many other continue to use discs. Rather interesting that Netflix ran into issues as they tried to downplay their disc rentals and we saw how that went.

The only reason items usually become "dead" is because they are replaced by something else. As I stated, there are other portable media storage units out there beyond the disc that may prove to be superior options when they can get closer in price (including cheap but hopefully built well enough thumbdrives).

It would have been curious to see if Apple had provide a good dvd/blu ray player just how "dead" discs would be to Apple's line up of computers. Again, Apple will do what it wants, when it wants, and tell us we will like it.
Click to expand...

As a heads up, the thing with Netflix wasn't downplaying physical discs. It was the fact that they went from charging $8 for a service to $16, by charging you for both physical and streaming separately.

I'm just baffled as to why the rage over removing optical drives. $40 for a better than Apple provided, external Blu-Ray drive. Simple solution.



Also, I've been seeing people patting themselves on their backs for not buying from iTMS. I'm kinda boggled as to why that's something to be so proud of. Good for you, you don't use a service, do you want a cookie?
 
Tomorrow said:
None of these are helpful when you're talking about handing over large amounts of data to another person, like a client.

Flash drives would theoretically work, but they still aren't as cheap (and "disposable" as CD's and DVD's.

We often use online transfer - through FTP sites and such - to transfer large amounts of data between companies, but it's very, very slow to do so. Some sort of high-capacity disposable medium would work better in this case.
Click to expand...

Either get a faster connection or ship a harddrive / thumbdrive.
 
bluebird3 said:
hi, for an example I have couple hundreds of music CDs that I often import them into an iTune on my computer and organize the songs, then rip them onto an empty CDs, or simply export files to my iPod.
Click to expand...

lol.. often :rolleyes:
importing a couple hundred cds is a nightmare of a task
i did that exactly once (400?).. around 10 years ago. and i still have all the jams..

(oh.. and sold all the cds when i still had the chance ;) )
 
I think the reality is that physical media is a dying format. And yes, optical media is terribly slow and easily damaged.

Did Apple drop support for optical discs before they were truly dead? Yes. Do you have a problem with that? Don't buy an Apple.

Either way, I'm so tired of the endless of complaints about how Apple machines don't measure up in some specific way. If it doesn't fit your needs, don't buy it! Find something that does! The rest of us won't miss the constant complaining.
 
well actually they could include a miniBluRay drive (a drive that supports only mini disc sizes) ... if theres such thing ...

mini bluray capacities are twice the standard dvd drive or equivalent to dual layer dvd ... this is actually feasible as a new standard ... :p
 
skottichan said:
As a heads up, the thing with Netflix wasn't downplaying physical discs. It was the fact that they went from charging $8 for a service to $16, by charging you for both physical and streaming separately.

I'm just baffled as to why the rage over removing optical drives. $40 for a better than Apple provided, external Blu-Ray drive. Simple solution.



Also, I've been seeing people patting themselves on their backs for not buying from iTMS. I'm kinda boggled as to why that's something to be so proud of. Good for you, you don't use a service, do you want a cookie?
Click to expand...

Netflix itself wanted to push its streaming capability and that prompted (supposedly) the idea to split the services.

As for where one finds a streaming service to use, including iTMS, seems to be more a matter of convenience these days. I use at times iTunes for some music singles, HDTracks for some hi end 96/24 music ("albums") and then again Amazon along with Vudu for some movies. I do prefer renting blu rays and buying some of them (keepers) over streaming in terms of quality. As for external drives, I am on board with doing that as I have a decent external blu ray/dvd reader/writer. When I had a Mac Pro, the first thing I did beyond upgrading memory was to incorporate a blu ray burner where a typical CD/DVD drive would go in the front. It served me well and was a selling point for the MP to a video house later on.

The real crux of the matter was why Apple feels the need to call the medium dead when people continue to buy and rent discs and Netflix and Redbox continue to see a large market.
 
I would say their doing it because optical drives are just plain unreliable. Read my first post here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1606636/

DVD-R/W units as far as I'm concerned are nothing but junk. If you use them as read only devices they seem to last, but if you use them to actually write anything with any degree of frequency they fail too often.

Here's my experience with optical drives:
  • CD-ROMS: Invincible. These things last forever.
  • CD-RW Units: Semi-invincible. They go out more often than CD-ROMs but they tend to last.
  • CD-R/W, DVD-ROM: About the same reliablity as CD-R/W
  • DVD-R/W of any type: Utterly unreliable pieces of crap!

About 10 years ago when the DVD craze was hitting the home theater market I ended up going through 2 DVD recording units in less than 6 months. Always the same thing - the drive burned out. Everyone that owned them was complaining about their reliability, and it was all brands too: Sony, Pioneer, etc. etc. Companies that normally got 4 and 5 star ratings were getting 0 and 1 stars with "Don't buy this" messages attached to their reviews.

Finally in one post someone made a remark that the users of these things shouldn't be using them like they'd use VCRs because the life of the lasers used in them wasn't very long. I'd tend to agree. What good is a recording device that only lasts a few thousand hours.

I don't blame Apple or anyone else for getting rid of them. I just had my 3rd one burn out on my iMac and I've had enough.
 
960design said:
May I ask why you need something stored on a physical disk? You mentioned ease of portability, I cannot see how storing something on a little silver disk is easy or convenient in any situation.

I can just drag and drop files from computer to computer using AirDrop or drop them in a WebDAV folder so that I can access it from any computer, just about anywhere in the world.

Can you provide a situation where a disk would be easier, faster, ect?
Click to expand...

These options can be impossible when dealing with your private computer and corporate IT policies. The only accepted option being that you burn a physical disc for use in Powerpoint presentations or media transfer. Which can be annoying for consultants.

The companies may also hand you discs with company materials, &c on them. You do not have the option to download them.

Now there is the option of flash drives. But if you need to be given material or give someone material. It is rather costly to give over flash drives rather than insanely cheap CD's or DVD's. Plus flash drives are not known for reliability half the flash drives I have owned failed in less than a year under light use.

There are many other scenarios in which an optical drive is a great convenience or necessary. Such as a computer technician needing to burn the occasional OS disc or verify a customers disc is valid or if it's their drive causing problems. If you want to watch a DVD on a flight and not be bothered with ripping your movies to disc beforehand. Installing software that is not available for download such as older programs.

I'm not saying Apple should make it standard just leave it an option. Then for those that don't need it that other bay can be used for an additional hard drive or battery.
 
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