No Optical Drives - it's wrong!

It might get away with one on a post 2008 MacBook. Apple USB 2.0 ports can supply 1100mA in OS X when requested instead of the standard 500mA. Comes in handy for charging iPhones/iPads and powering the SuperDrive.
 
I like the changes personally... I think old technology needs to be shed to push the world forward, people will moan about it but essentially its necessary to progress. At some point the dvd drive has to die out so it may as well be now. I personally haven't used a disc of any sort for at least a couple of years.

The ethernet thing is hardly a problem to use an adapter, they would have had to make the entire chassis thicker to accomodate the single network socket which would be a hell of a shame aesthetically. Not many people (I'd have thought) need to carry around the adapter, I have one at the end of the network cable at work, and would attach one also at home if I really needed it but I dont, wi-fi is fine. When out and about how often do people really "plug in"?
 
I agree for general computing needs optical drives are no really needed, I don't need one for my MacBook Air at all. However I do like to buy films on Blu-ray as one the picture quality is still FAR better than what available to download and the file sizes of said downloads are still pretty large. Then there is storage space, backup space and bandwidth.

I recently moved and no longer have a TV/BD player so I have been watching my movies on my PC using my pioneer BD drive and 1080p monitor. It's nice having discs and not worrying about disc space and backups for all my movies and TV shows that are in full HD:)

Can you imagine 4K QHD movies being released as a download only, the file sizes are going to be gargantuan! Optical discs for 4k please!!!!
 
Apple won't be supporting 4k video on optical media in their computers. The best you can hope for is some kind of add-on like you're basically having to do now with DVDs.
 
The only thing that I use the optical drive for at all is to install Windows onto my machines and rip CDs to FLAC for the hi-fi. The former I don't even need to do, but I do it just because I find it the easiest, and the CD thing certainly doesn't need a permanent drive to do so (and I could just share the drive in my MBP, which has seen more use than my iMac's drive as it is easier to access).

There isn't an "exact" time that they should or shouldn't get rid of older standards. Some will deem it too early, others too "late". However, seeing the way that the market is going, and seeing how big iTunes is, I doubt that many consumers are going to miss it.

And frankly, aside from the uses I mentioned above, there is little use for the disk now. Heck, on a fast connection, if you're busy, it may be less hassle to find the ISO for the software you want to install than it would be to get the old external drive out, seeing as a huge amount of applications out there now are provided legally online.
 
lamboman said:
There isn't an "exact" time that they should or shouldn't get rid of older standards. Some will deem it too early, others too "late". However, seeing the way that the market is going, and seeing how big iTunes is, I doubt that many consumers are going to miss it.
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This is true. The problem is the MacBook Pro is supposed to be a workhorse that is more weighted toward function (as opposed to form) compared to the consumer line. The new MBP is basically just a jumped up MacBook Air.

And perhaps, in reality, that's what most MBP owners actually want and are really buying into the 'Pro' brand and connotations more than anything else. It's become a vehicle for retina displays and an upsell to general consumers interested in buying a Mac laptop.

To me, it speaks volumes that the main rebuttal for questioning the removal of the optical drive is along the lines of, "I get all my music/games/videos online now anyway."

Says it all.
 
It's just another way Apple maximise profits through ripping off their customers by cutting costs and forcing users through itunes. I don't know why people let them selves be told what they want by Apple, you're the customer you should be telling them what you want.

MW
 
Mr-White said:
It's just another way Apple maximise profits through ripping off their customers by cutting costs and forcing users through itunes. I don't know why people let them selves be told what they want by Apple, you're the customer you should be telling them what you want.

MW
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Not really, nobody is forcing anyone to use iTunes. I have for years, as its convenient and generally priced well.

I don't have a requirement for an optical disc drive these days. I buy all my films on BR, as I watch them in my living room, not through a PC. Gave up on buying music on CD about 7 years ago though.
 
PardonTheWait said:
I think that Apple have a history of being the first of the big firms to ditch obsolete, unneeded technology in their computers, and also a history of being right in doing so.

I don't use them, hardly anyone uses them, and the USB one exists if you need one.
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This thread should have ended after this reply, #3.

In fact, if they did fit one to their new range of laptops, I'd be genuinely annoyed.
 
rpg said:
This thread should have ended after this reply, #3.

In fact, if they did fit one to their new range of laptops, I'd be genuinely annoyed.
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As annoyed as those who want it integrated, perhaps? And why would you be annoyed if Apple provided the option to those people? :confused:

The thread hasn't ended because enough people don't agree with the world according to Apple, and because the technology is neither unneeded or obsolete.
 
theheyes said:
As annoyed as those who want it integrated, perhaps? And why would you be annoyed if Apple provided the option to those people? :confused:

The thread hasn't ended because enough people don't agree with the world according to Apple, and because the technology is neither unneeded or obsolete.
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Apple's doing it right. Optional extras to expand 'if needed' is there.
 
mrbell1984 said:
Apple's doing it right. Optional extras to expand 'if needed' is there.
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Right for whom? You can boil it down to two types of customer - those that do want a laptop with the stuff integrated, and those that don't.

Those that don't should be completely indifferent to Apple offering a model for those that do.
 
theheyes said:
Right for whom? You can boil it down to two types of customer - those that do want a laptop with the stuff integrated, and those that don't.

Those that don't should be completely indifferent to Apple offering a model for those that do.
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What is the difference having one integrated making a bigger laptop to one that is external making it smaller but having to put it in a separate bag or something like that?

Apple is doing it right for the majority in my eyes.
 
Where obviously you=majority, so you would think that!

There's at least three things I don't like about externals off the top of my head.
1) The faff of carrying them around and the associated cables and power packs etc. Would take more space in my backpack than a 15" MBP that's a tad thicker.
2) They can't easily be used on a lap and require more desk space.
3) They're USB2. I'd rather rather they were on a bus designed for storage like SATA or firewire.
 
Optical media is slow so it being USB makes no difference. The Apple model is powered from the USB port so there's no power brick. And you shouldn't really use something with a spinning optical disk on your lap anyway, it's a quick way to scratch the media.

Optical media is dead, it's time to move on.
 
Speed isn't the issue, it's the bus. All it needs is another badly behaved USB peripheral and the burn may fail.

Optical media isn't dead, it's just in Apple's interest to make people think it is.
 
Optical drives haven't died but the majority of people just don't use them any more.

Five years ago everyone used discs to rip and burn music, to make back ups, to share photos etc. Nowadays we have very advanced 'free' social networking, cheap pen drives and hdd's, cloud file sharing, cloud music services, Idevices with share buttons, faster Internet connections and so on.

I understand that some people still use optical discs but they are absolutely in the minority. As optical disk use becomes periphery it is absolutely right that optical disk drives become peripherals.
 
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