No, you can have more ports by puttting them at the back.
Apple hardware is just about fashion.
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Why SD slot in new MBP?
- Thread starter glhiii
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No, you can have more ports by puttting them at the back.
Apple hardware is just about fashion.
As you said it's Apple's design.
There are plenty of other hardware manufactuers out there. Not that you can run OS X on that hardware...
You're probably much closer on the bigger battery front. I'm pretty sure the physical dimensions are the same. Looking at my first gen 15" uMBP, I don't see how the battery could be any bigger physically without it eating into the space where the expresscard port is.
well, the SD card will become the usb stick of the future. kid's can exchange music and data via the sd card slots. everybody has on in the windoze world and now everybody has one on their mac. for consumers it makes perfect sense.
i wish they had left the EC slot in but I guess SD is what we get for the next year or two.
i wish they had left the EC slot in but I guess SD is what we get for the next year or two.
Everyone speaks of the SD card slot as though it was a trade off for the expresscard slot, it wasn't.the 2 are independant of each other.
it would have been totally feasible to put a sd card slot into the old design.
we didn't trade one for another we got something new which is nice (but ive always wondered why apple so stubbornly left it off anyway) and then dumped the one upgrade path available (which was honestly bound to leave people disappointed) and tell us that not so many people used it anyway, a worrying logic.
esata would have been an equal trade-off for a lot of the abilities of the expresscard slot and putting in an SD card reader at the same time would have made everyone here a lot happier. will apple refuse to stay away from esata for another year or two before they install that two?
it would have been totally feasible to put a sd card slot into the old design.
we didn't trade one for another we got something new which is nice (but ive always wondered why apple so stubbornly left it off anyway) and then dumped the one upgrade path available (which was honestly bound to leave people disappointed) and tell us that not so many people used it anyway, a worrying logic.
esata would have been an equal trade-off for a lot of the abilities of the expresscard slot and putting in an SD card reader at the same time would have made everyone here a lot happier. will apple refuse to stay away from esata for another year or two before they install that two?
Holy thread resurrection, Batman!
Since it is back to the top of the list, I'll chime in as well. I use the Expresscard slot on my first gen uMBP primarily to house an SD card reader. I also have a Verizon cellular modem card in the Expresscard format. I *was* planning on getting an eSATA card in the near future to interface with some of my triple interface external disks. At this point I'm afraid to invest anymore $$$ in Expresscard gear as I'm not sure of what the future is as far as upcoming Apple hardware.
Yes, I mainly used it for SD cards, but I really liked having the choice to do what I wanted with that slot. They could have simply left it there and included an SD card reader already inserted.
Boneheaded move by Apple IMHO.
Since it is back to the top of the list, I'll chime in as well. I use the Expresscard slot on my first gen uMBP primarily to house an SD card reader. I also have a Verizon cellular modem card in the Expresscard format. I *was* planning on getting an eSATA card in the near future to interface with some of my triple interface external disks. At this point I'm afraid to invest anymore $$$ in Expresscard gear as I'm not sure of what the future is as far as upcoming Apple hardware.
Yes, I mainly used it for SD cards, but I really liked having the choice to do what I wanted with that slot. They could have simply left it there and included an SD card reader already inserted.
Boneheaded move by Apple IMHO.
I agree (though I know that space is tight in there) that it'd be cool to have the SD slot in addition to the express card reader. I use SD for my little point and shoot, and will be using the express drive AND FW ports for Audio engineering (why I shelled out the extra $$ for PRO. I'm a PRO and NOT a camera pro!) I also agree that the "pro" moniker is desired because it allows us flexibility. If I need to expand, I can. The bottom line is that I can't expand from an SD slot.
Don't misunderstand, I would like the SD slot, but not at the expense of my express card. In the mean time, I have no problem plugging in my 8-to-1 reader into the USB port. I don't have the same problems as lugging camera bodies and lenses in the field, but I definitely have to carry microphones, mixers, disk drives and what have you, and I'm glad I won't need to shell out extra money for 2 extra inches that I do -not- want!
Don't misunderstand, I would like the SD slot, but not at the expense of my express card. In the mean time, I have no problem plugging in my 8-to-1 reader into the USB port. I don't have the same problems as lugging camera bodies and lenses in the field, but I definitely have to carry microphones, mixers, disk drives and what have you, and I'm glad I won't need to shell out extra money for 2 extra inches that I do -not- want!
First off, I love my 13"!!! Anything less is too hard to see and anything bigger is to small. If there isn't enough power in it for you, then the extra .5 GHz isn't going to make that much of a difference. The work needs to be taken to a desktop.
Now, back to the topic. I got about to page 3 when I got tired of reading the same argument.
Everyone seems to be concentrating on the problem and not the solutions.
Now the majority of the "professionals" are mad because of the fact that they took away the express slot. They consensus seems to be that the SD is a waste of space due to the mbp not being marketed to non-professionals. (I hate to tell you, but all macs are marketed toward college students at Starbucks) Narrowed down, there are really only a couple of important applications: eSata and wireless internet cards.
So it seems like the easiest solution for this "mistake" would be for Apple to include an eSata port (which I do wish it had) and a card reader that could support a CF card also.
The wireless card can just be a tether to a phone. Every netbook I bought with the built in service was too slow anyways.
Does that cover all basis? I'll send Apple an email and tell them we've come to a decision.
FWIW, One of my requirements in a buying a new laptop was a SD slot for my new D5000. But I'm only an amateur and wanted something convenient, well built and a dependable OS. Oh...Also it didn't hurt that I needed a back up computer for my wife. She's a graphic designer and has completely lost the ability to use a PC.
Ooops! I forgot the audio guys! Would an optical input work? They're small and could still look good.
In theory; absolutely. However, in my experience (and any other soundwave junkies can throw their two cents in), I am usually just using firewire to connect my audio/in. Usually an MBox2, but I'll also use USB quite often, believe it or not. I don't have the "field" issue that so many photographers have, cause I'm not trying to capture moving subjects, save for the occasional foley gig (but even then, my situations are almost always controlled). Most of my work is done AFTER the audio is captured, and then the post-production would start. That's where the express slot comes in handy, for faster backup or retrieval from external drives
In theory; absolutely. However, in my experience (and any other soundwave junkies can throw their two cents in), I am usually just using firewire to connect my audio/in. Usually an MBox2, but I'll also use USB quite often, believe it or not. I don't have the "field" issue that so many photographers have, cause I'm not trying to capture moving subjects, save for the occasional foley gig (but even then, my situations are almost always controlled). Most of my work is done AFTER the audio is captured, and then the post-production would start. That's where the express slot comes in handy, for faster backup or retrieval from external drives
So an eSATA theoretically would cover your needs too.
If anything, I think that's where Apple dropped the ball. eSata is where a lot of electronics are going. However, USB 3.0 is starting to get up and running which off the top of my head is around the same speed. Still eSATA would have been nice!
Yeah sure it is .... and like some part of your body, when shrunken it becomes pretty much USELESS!
You can come out from under the desk now!
Your pupils? That's an odd thing to reference in this thread.
I'd like to see the EC come back because it was more versatile, but I'm in the group that believes that it got axed to make room for the bigger battery. At least Apple had sense enough to put something in it's place, even if it is an SD card reader, which is probably the most versatile flash memory card on the market.
Camera usage aside, I know of zero cell phones that use CF, and only a few that use MemoryStick or XD. Of course, number 1 is SD (micro and mini variants), and I'd say that there are easily more cell phones using SD than cameras using CF.
Hackintosh?
Although I dont use my expresscard slot yet - I like having the option of being able to choose what i put in there as opposed to only having the SD option. But to me its the same with the battery. I like having a removable battery - I have three batteries and can assure you I can work for as long as any plane journey/coach journey/power outage etc
I do agree with most people though I have noticed a drop in standards since I first got a mac - powerbook G4 1Ghz - awesome machine - ahead of everything at the time......now my uMBP - basically a vaio with OSX