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Yes. I want a graphics card and i5 in the 13" MacBook Pro in exchange for the optical drive. It takes up SO much space and almost no one uses it :mad: I mean, this is 2010... Optical drives have had 15-20 years in the sun, and now its time for them to fade out - just like VCRs.
 
I'm holding out for the refresh before I buy a MBP. I'm hoping that they ditch the optical drive in favor of more battery space and some bigger SSDs & a better video card.
 
I like my optical drive. I use it all the time to install audio software and burn off audio disks. That said, I'd deal with the external SuperDrive (it's fully bus powered right?) if they put a third USB port on the new 13".
 
If they remove it, what does it about Apple adding a BluRay drive? I highly doubt Apple will have the option because that requires Apple to design two models and we know Apple loves their profit margins.
 
We should probably wait and see how the Mac App Store and the new Software-on-USB-Drive (from factory) thing works out first. I'm not going to hold my breath for a Wholly diskless line until Apple stops selling the external drive and kills the "remote disk" utility while simultaneously beefing up diskless options such as easing distribution of OS images or onboard flash options.

Diskless may be the future but at the present, the only people ripping movies and software images to multi-terabyte NAS servers are pencil headed nerds (no offence :D) who can work such solutions. Average joe users don't understand .dmg/.cdr/.iso et al.
 
I think in two year it will definitely be gone. I can see it happening within the next year but you never know.
 
Will the MacBook Pro line be free of optical drives in 2 years? I reckon the 13" one will be at least.

There is no way any of us at MR could tell. We could makeup stories and possibilities of what might happen though.:)
 
No. The MacBook Air fills this role close enough that it isn't worth making the MBP into a very similar product.

A removable drive is possible but unlikely.
 
I'm hoping that they ditch the optical drive in favor of more battery space and some bigger SSDs & a better video card.
If they make an SSD standard on the pro line get ready for major price bumps. I couldn't live with a 128GB internal drive any more no matter how fast it is.

I'd settle for just increased CPU/GPU power in the 13" and a better battery in lieu of the Optical Drive. Hold the prices though.


How Apple keeps distinguishing the 13" Air vs. the 13" Pro is going to be interesting over the next couple of years.
 
If they make an SSD standard on the pro line get ready for major price bumps. I couldn't live with a 128GB internal drive any more no matter how fast it is.

I'd settle for just increased CPU/GPU power in the 13" and a better battery in lieu of the Optical Drive. Hold the prices though.


How Apple keeps distinguishing the 13" Air vs. the 13" Pro is going to be interesting over the next couple of years.

I could see them doing that with the 15" and 17" to really make it a pro. With a cpu/gpu and battery combo that is really above all of the other laptops.
 
I'm hoping its as soon as April. Such a waste of space.

My opinion is the same. OD is EATING the space
which could be used for better GPU, CPU and other goodies.

I would prefer (better GPU + external drive (30$)) than OD
 
When SJ called the MacBook Air body style the "future of laptops" or whatever, I assumed they would be phasing out the optical drives in short order.

Random thought: How much juice does a Superdrive use while burning a disc? Is it remotely feasible to have a wireless (Bluetooth? Wifi?) form of Superdrive? I don't have the technical knowledge of these things to know how much of a battery this would require, or whether Bluetooth could handle that much data transfer. Maybe having integrated Wifi to allow some sort of ad hoc network sort of a deal would be better. I really have no idea, I'm just rambling.
 
When SJ called the MacBook Air body style the "future of laptops" or whatever, I assumed they would be phasing out the optical drives in short order.

Random thought: How much juice does a Superdrive use while burning a disc? Is it remotely feasible to have a wireless (Bluetooth? Wifi?) form of Superdrive? I don't have the technical knowledge of these things to know how much of a battery this would require, or whether Bluetooth could handle that much data transfer. Maybe having integrated Wifi to allow some sort of ad hoc network sort of a deal would be better. I really have no idea, I'm just rambling.

Or, say, you could have the external OD plugged into a power outlet in your bedroom and your router. Then you could easily read play movies or burn disks from anywhere in your house via your home network. All you need to do is go and put the disk in, take your MBP into the living room, sit down on the couch with it and enjoy (without all the noise or the power sucking that are the OD's fault).
 
Or, say, you could have the external OD plugged into a power outlet in your bedroom and your router. Then you could easily read play movies or burn disks from anywhere in your house via your home network. All you need to do is go and put the disk in, take your MBP into the living room, sit down on the couch with it and enjoy (without all the noise or the power sucking that are the OD's fault).

Cool. Apple could remake the Time Machine into such a device. It would be like a little cloud. Call it Local Fog, or The Mist.

We will get what Jobs wants us to get. Jobs lives in a world of fast downloads and perfect reception, and it is unlikely he has used a disk in years. And above all, he likes thin.

So, no disks for us. MBPs will be wider Airs with bigger screens and higher specs.

Personally, I need a disk now and then and it would be irritating to have to buy and link up an external device for occasional use. I would like MBPs to be as flexible and complete as possible and for Airs to be...Airs.
 
I would like the option to replace it for an SSD, so you get like a 256GB SSD to store the OS and applications. And you got an traditional HDD to store your content.
 
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