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Why did everyone want the disc drive taken out of the MBP?

R

Rocks.

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 12, 2010
56
0
I'm not a Macbook user, so I won't know this personally. But when the retina macbooks were being rumored/announced, so many people so badly wanted the disc drive removed from the updated version. Yeah, I get that it'll make it thinner and lighter. But then obviously, you can't use CD's anymore. I know the Mac App Store is trying to make the transition to downloadable software rather than software on CD's, but there are still software out there on discs. How are those installed? What if you want to play a CD? Or DVD? A computer game?

I'm just curious why people were so strongly in favor of the removal of the disc drive. Personally, I would've been slightly disappointed. Again, I'm not a Macbook user, but is the disc drive really that obsolete on a Mac?
 
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I have not used or bought an optical disk CD, DVD or Bluray in the last two years that's why. With MacBook Air or rMBP you can either buy a external DVD drive or share a drive in another Mac or PC via Remote Disk. Apple still sells a classic Mac Book Pro for those users that still care about optical disks, but clearly the future is no optical disk.

Also with no mechanical drive or mechanical optical drive these were the two parts with the highest failure rate on any notebook so reliability has also been improved as well.
 
It's obsolete in general. I haven't used a CD in over 5 years, honestly.

Weight and thinness, in most people's eyes, were more important than generally obsolete technology

If you have to use a CD, get an external CD/DVD drive that plugs in via USB. Or do 'disc sharing' on your iMac or PC. Easy as that.

Most things on CDs (like device drivers) are often available at the manufacturer's website, and often a more recently updated version at that.

And likewise, the AppStore is only one way to get software. Downloading from other sources is still an option, and often the most used one, I'd assume.

Also, being a Mac user has nothing to do with whether you use CDs or not. Non-Apple computers are seeing this trend as well, like in the popularity of Ultrabooks. The future has no place for physical media.
 
I don't really use CDs or DVDs too often anymore. My media is usually streamed or purchased online. Once nifty perk as that removing the optical drive allows the notebook to be slimmed down a bit, which is always welcome. For the times when using a CD/DVD is unavoidable however, we can always turn to USB optical drives.
 
I agree with disc drives being obsolete.
The only CD's I ever pop in are from my Webdesigners magazines that comes with some handy tools on them sometimes.

I upgraded to a mbp 15" 2012 model this week and the first thing I did was replacing the hard drive with a ssd and place the hard drive in the spot of the optical drive. (taking it out and popping it in a usb case).
 
FYI a cheap $25 USB DVD R/W drive works fine on OS X.

I'd rather have the drive removed, and then pull out the USB one if I ever need it (most likely once every 2+ years).

Seriously, who still uses optical media? The only use case I can see is if you live in an area with virtually non-existant internet, so cant purchase your software and media online. For the majority of people, this is not an issue, so it makes perfect sense to drop the drive in favor of slimming out the laptop.
 
4.7GB on a dvd vs 128GB USB stick.

Plus DVD's are so SLOW! I can download and install MS Office from Microsoft servers faster than you can install it from disc.:cool:
 
The rumour is that new iMac's will be announced tomorrow, I would not be surprised if they removed the optical drive in those, as they are rumoured to be thinner.
 
James Craner said:
The rumour is that new iMac's will be announced tomorrow, I would not be surprised if they removed the optical drive in those, as they are rumoured to be thinner.
Click to expand...

It would make sense, and if someone is paying for an iMac and really wants a superdrive, an extra few bucks for an external drive is hardly going to break the bank.
 
rmwebs said:
It would make sense, and if someone is paying for an iMac and really wants a superdrive, an extra few bucks for an external drive is hardly going to break the bank.
Click to expand...

I see where you are coming from but I disagree. IMO I think that Apple design MacBooks to complement an iMac, so their theory is that you do not need an optical drive in your macbook because if you need one you can share your iMac drive. And if you don't have an iMac then their is always the USB optical drive.
 
I would rather have an option for a 2nd Hard Disk in there, it would get more use than an optical drive, which I could buy separately (if) I needed to use it on an iMac or Notebook.
 
I agree that I never use my disc drive on my 13" MBP, and not only that, Apple never made the move to the newest iteration of disc technology, Blu-Ray. So, it's a bit of an older technology, and for the size of a disc/disc drive, it doesn't hold much information. The thing it had going for it was that CD/DVD drives were ubiquitous, so any content you burned could be shared easily or watched on a DVD player, but I'm not sure if people are watching DVDs as much as they used to.

Apple even discontinued iDVD, which is kind of a shame because it was a great application. They should have at least left it as an optional download for those who use external DVD drives. Of course, it'll probably not work eventually with subsequent operating systems. Apple would never sell their own application to another developer to maintain, which is too bad because I can't see them ever using it again. I remember being amazed with it when it came out, and it still is quite impressive. They were great for sending out to family members. I know you can post video online, but in the year 2012, it's still difficult to get older relatives to watch online video, and Apple has taken away Galleries, as well.
 
James Craner said:
I would rather have an option for a 2nd Hard Disk in there, it would get more use than an optical drive, which I could buy separately (if) I needed to use it on an iMac or Notebook.
Click to expand...

I would rather lose the optical drive but keep the bay as space for storage options. But Apple wants thinner and lighter, not the more functional machines we've enjoyed. Everything is in the "cloud" now after all, even though, ironically enough, you can't access those things when you're on a plane, or somewhere without internet.
 
I would prefer the disc drive gone on my imac as well, especially the slot. I accidentaly shot my sd card into the cd drive when i wasnt paying attention. Not a fun time rooting around in there, but I sure learned a lot about taking apart my imac. lol.

But really, I find that I dont use discs much anymore. even when I think Im gonna do a back-up, after about 3 burns it gets annoying and I give it up. Discs for some are still very useful so an external option I think is the best. Also, it promotes a clean design, less open ports for dust to enter the system.
 
it's not worth it for something I use a handful of times a year. I work at an AV company and we barely deal with DVD or CD discs these days, thumb drives are cheap and there are plenty of web file transfer services. USB dvd reader/burners are like $30 for the rare times it is needed.

Even in my pc tower the disc drive collects dust, whenever I do my next build I will not even put one in it.
 
TRMC13 said:
I would rather lose the optical drive but keep the bay as space for storage options. But Apple wants thinner and lighter, not the more functional machines we've enjoyed. Everything is in the "cloud" now after all, even though, ironically enough, you can't access those things when you're on a plane, or somewhere without internet.
Click to expand...

That's exactly it. Everyone wanted a slightly thinner laptop, no CD drive, maybe better cooling, and amazing battery life. Instead we got an anorexic laptop that still overheats, with no CD drive and typical battery life.
 
Rocks. said:
I'm not a Macbook user
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So u got pass the bouncer how? :D

I am a recent transplant but my old VAIO Z505 Windows, since 2001 did not have an optical drive, so there, not just Mac users.

Because, Glasshopper, hard disk space is abundant and cheap. U got a CD u say, copy it from an USB attached drive, or a lot of us have desktop machines at home and we simply "network" to our desktops with the optical.

But the short answer is, optical is getting obsolete as everybody else here mention. Resistance is futile. Adapt or perish. But it's not the end of the world as u soon find out once ur assimilated. ;)

P.S.: The same way people ask what CD player to get for their cars. I go WHAT? ur kidding? Don't everybody have a multi-gigabyte solid state mp3 player in there? Flip CDs? Comeon!
 
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Nicely put!

thejadedmonkey said:
That's exactly it. Everyone wanted a slightly thinner laptop, no CD drive, maybe better cooling, and amazing battery life. Instead we got an anorexic laptop that still overheats, with no CD drive and typical battery life.
Click to expand...

Nicely put.

Apple had a fetish for competing with the ultra-books, they didn't get their fix with the Airs and had to ********* up the Pro line royally !!!! Luckily I have my hands on a new 17" late Oct 2011 2.5Ghz i7 anti-glare, it ran WAY cooler next to the Retina performing the same tasks, much cooler and in just as much time needed for taxing tasks. Shame on :apple: and the 15" retina macbook puke, they should have stuffed the 17" for 2012 and SACKED the darn 15" and 13" too while I'm at it. Make EVERYTHING retina from air to eyemacs. Eyemacs are stupid though, if you do that, just go for the MacPro and get a TB display sheesh!


Ya..
 
It's been said before; weight and usability. People simply aren't using it anymore. I like having it for the odd chance that I can rip an owned DVD for my personal backup, but I could also do this with an external. Either way, it doesn't hurt to have, but it doesn't serve as much of a point as it used to.
 
Well, because they saw that an external optical drive could be purchased from Apple and is in a way obsolete with the movement towards digital media. And as you said, the notebook can be lighter, thinner, and have room more components such as battery etc. It's not like an optical can't be used, it just needs to be purchased separately and has a separate form to itself.

- Optical drive is most likely not used very much - even so can be purchased separately regardless of a minor annoyance of carrying a separate form or downloaded digitally

- Extra battery, thinness, lightness on the other hand is always used and subjectively has a greater benefit
 
OP - you're behind the times.

If I have to explain to someone why they don't need the optical drive, I'm not going to even bother. Just be thankful Apple still kept the uMBP for you to buy. Later!
 
I've got seven Macs here, six with optical drives, and a PC that only has a CD drive (no DVDs). I probably stick a couple hundred optical disks into a drive each year, but as long as one system has the drive (or I can buy an external drive) I'm fine. Most of the optical drives have never been used other than to test that they worked.
 
AlvinNguyen said:
OP - you're behind the times.

If I have to explain to someone why they don't need the optical drive, I'm not going to even bother. Just be thankful Apple still kept the uMBP for you to buy. Later!
Click to expand...

Too many people want the Hi-Res matte display. That's most likely why it's still available, not because of the optical drive.
 
I would rather have more battery, more power, better cooling, or smaller volume (or a combination of the above) than have an optical drive built in to the computer.

If I want to or need to use CDs occaisonally, give me the choice to carry an external drive around rather than building it in.

Personally I haven't used the optical drive in my 2008 Aluminum Macbook except for upgrading to Snow Leopard a couple of years ago, and maybe one or two other occaisions.

My company uses a handful of laptops for field programming that don't have CD drives even though some of the software we need to install on them only comes on CD. We have a couple of USB CD drives around the office that we use when installing that software. Since they aren't used 99% of the time there's no reason to lug them around as part of the computer all of the time.
 
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