iSight Discontinued?

Beepcake

Beepcake

Beepcake

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I went to Apple to pick up an iSight for my new Mac Mini today, only to be told that they've stopped production :( The guy didn't know if any replacement was planned and basically said to check ebay :eek:

Has anyone seen rumors of an updated one coming out? I've tried using my QuickCam with some drivers I downloaded but it's rather hit and miss.
 
With all the current macbooks, macbook pros and imacs coming with them built in, I guess it's only a matter of time before the cinema displays come with them too, then there will be no point in them producing it.
 
Moredhel said:
With all the current macbooks, macbook pros and imacs coming with them built in, I guess it's only a matter of time before the cinema displays come with them too, then there will be no point in them producing it.
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Yeah, that's pretty much my thinking, but it's unusual for Apple to can something with no replacement available.
 
Beepcake said:
Yeah, that's pretty much my thinking, but it's unusual for Apple to can something with no replacement available.
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Not really. They're going to release the cinema displays with isights, and they get a lot more money from them than a little camera :p
 
Matt said:
Not really. They're going to release the cinema displays with isights, and they get a lot more money from them than a little camera :p
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It's unusual that the iSight has been discontinued for a while now apparently, but there's no sign of any replacement (either a monitor with one in, or a stand alone one). Considering Apple's stance with iChat etc is that if it's not an iSight then it's not good enough then it's a bit strange to can it so early. I'm sure there's still a market for the standalone camera with the mac mini as an awful lot of them are stuck under people's TVs as media boxes. The guy even said they get a lot of queries about them so the market is there.

All very odd.
 
wush said:
Didn't it get "banned" in Europe since it didn't comply with some new regulation (RoHS?)
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Yeah some EU directive prohibiting the sale of electronics that contain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and brominated flame retardants.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1830

Doesn't stop them being included in Macbooks and Macbook Pros :o
 
Beepcake said:
It's unusual that the iSight has been discontinued for a while now apparently
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The iSight only went missing from the US store (presumably at the same time as other stores) a few days ago, on the 17th. The fact that it vanished from the US store as well as those in Europe would suggest that the RoHS initiative is not the only reason why they were pulled. Word on the street is that new Cinema Displays with built-in iSights are to be expected at MacWorld San Francisco, which I suppose makes sense considering it has been a long time since the ACD line was updated, and I'm sure panel technology has moved along a bit since then :)

Will_3rd said:
Doesn't stop them being included in Macbooks and Macbook Pros
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I assume the built-in iSights in the MacBook (Pro) and iMacs have little in common with their peripheral counterparts aside from the name ;)

*av
 
Al Vallario said:
The iSight only went missing from the US store (presumably at the same time as other stores) a few days ago, on the 17th.
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Yeah, by discontinued I meant stopping production of new ones, which apparently happened back in September. I don't think there's much chance of me buying an ACD purely for a camera so I guess I'll have to try and find something non-Apple to do the job.
 
The iSight was discontinued because it contains Mercury. There is no evidence of a replacement - but you know how it is with Apple :)
 
I had a vision last night that the Mac mini will be going very soon - to be replaced by this iTV thing. You might get a video cam attachment to one of those for vidconf in the living room.

But yes, it seems the external iSight is being integrated into all products which is a bit bonkers if you ask me. They should still have external ones. Although I suppose they're leaving that to third parties now.
 
ic1male said:
I had a vision last night that the Mac mini will be going very soon - to be replaced by this iTV thing. You might get a video cam attachment to one of those for vidconf in the living room.

But yes, it seems the external iSight is being integrated into all products which is a bit bonkers if you ask me. They should still have external ones. Although I suppose they're leaving that to third parties now.
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IIRC, they didn't chose to stop making the external iSights, they had to under new laws. They haven't mentioned a replacement - but you would most likely expect one.
 
wush said:
Didn't it get "banned" in Europe since it didn't comply with some new regulation (RoHS?)
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Yeah - this has affected absolutely tones of electrical equipment this year. New models have been released, had a huge impact on telecoms equipment and phones, the Tero 650 for one.
 
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