Engadget: Apple is over the optical drive.

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Flying_Phoenix said:
The point of a Mac Mini is to have a small desktop that is small and light enough to move and carry around. Think of a video game console. Specially the Gamecube, Wii, or PS2/PS3 slim.
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And yet existence of DVD drive in all of those doesn't stop them from being light enough.

The simple fact is APple wants to push more people towards iTunes. There's no other reason for this decision.
 
AdrianWerner said:
And yet existence of DVD drive in all of those doesn't stop them from being light enough.

The simple fact is APple wants to push more people towards iTunes. There's no other reason for this decision.
Click to expand...
Sure.
 
AdrianWerner said:
And yet existence of DVD drive in all of those doesn't stop them from being light enough.

The simple fact is APple wants to push more people towards iTunes. There's no other reason for this decision.
Click to expand...
No doubt that Apple building the user base and infrastructure for a DD ecosystem over the past what, 10 years, factors into dropping optical media, that's genius levels of deduction there. Also they could just want to make everything super thin. A little from Column A, a little from Column B.
 
rkn said:
No doubt that Apple building the user base and infrastructure for a DD ecosystem over the past what, 10 years, factors into dropping optical media, that's genius levels of deduction there. Also they could just want to make everything super thin. A little from Column A, a little from Column B.
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Seriously.
It was going to happen.
Will happen to most all computers in a few years.
 
Lonely1 said:
In 98, 1.4MB was a pitiful amount of memory. And we had a hot method of distributing way larger amount of info faster and cheaper. Today, 7GB is not a pitiful amount of memory. Let alone the 50GB of a Blueray. And flash drives are considerably more expensive. I can burn a DVD and send files to a co-worker for a few cents. It would take hours to upload those and would eat really fast into my server bandwidth cap. A 1.4MB could barely hold a single .Doc document in 1998.
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It's no longer about the size; it's about the convenience gained.

tell me truly: would you rather put your faith in a blank BD or DVD for archival, or a HDD? How many DVDs or BD's do you have to buy to gain storage space equivalent to 1TB+ HDDs, which are all under $100 now?

Then consider the convenience. I can put a 1TB 2.5" external HDD in my pocket. That's the equivalent of 40 BDs, 167 DL DVDs or 228 DVDs. In my pocket. And I can connect it to any other computer and damn near any new TV and have a reasonable expectation for things working.

Still, retail BDs make sense now and for some time yet to come. And for those times when you need to put a copy of something in the mail (like your wedding in HD), there is no better option than optical disc. But if you too can count on your hands how often those times are present, it's easy to understand why laptops would be better served with an external DVD drive option. Think of the practicality of all the weight saved and battery life added.
 
Isn't it funny since they got rid of their last editor Topolsky that they give an Apple product a 6/10 and now this article.... I swear that guy was just a terrible journalist and a shill for Apple.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
It's no longer about the size; it's about the convenience gained.

tell me truly: would you rather put your faith in a blank BD or DVD for archival, or a HDD? How many DVDs or BD's do you have to buy to gain storage space equivalent to 1TB+ HDDs, which are all under $100 now?
Click to expand...

Well it depends. If it's important data, then I'd trust a blank BD or DVD for archival. HDDs are prone to hardware failure where as an optical disc stored safely should be fine over time.
 
I won't miss optical drives.

EDIT: And long ago accepted that DD is the way of the future regardless of weather or not you personally like it (I love it)
 
Marty Chinn said:
Well it depends. If it's important data, then I'd trust a blank BD or DVD for archival. HDDs are prone to hardware failure where as an optical disc stored safely should be fine over time.
Click to expand...
Quite fair.

I prefer the opposite, but only because I've seen too many discs fail before their time and poor quality discs betray their purpose. I have HDDs that are 15 years old that I've connected in the last 12 months. Still just fine.
 
catfish said:
I won't miss optical drives.

EDIT: And long ago accepted that DD is the way of the future regardless of weather or not you personally like it (I love it)
Click to expand...

Same. It's history, access is the future.
 
Zinga said:
Isn't it funny since they got rid of their last editor Topolsky that they give an Apple product a 6/10 and now this article.... I swear that guy was just a terrible journalist and a shill for Apple.
Click to expand...

....Or the new people realize they can get more pageviews by creating more OS WARZ to draw the fanboys.
 
Flying_Phoenix said:
Desktop sales in general will be going down.

Desktops are near obsolete for the common consumer. They arguably already are.
Click to expand...
Definitely is heading in that direction. And where I think it will be felt the most is in the lower-end desktops. Higher performance ones will always have their place, but why get a lower-end PC when you can get a smart device, tablet, media streamer, hybrid, netbook, or laptop?
 
Freshmaker said:
HDD's next.
Click to expand...

Won't happen. You will be alienating a huge majority that use there macs as work stations.

I use my optical drive to burn cds for a couple of my friends, but other then that... I pretty much re ripped all my music to 256 AAC (originally had it at 128) and I'm cool with what I have. It isn't needed, but it sure is nice to have on my macbook pro.
 
Marty Chinn said:
Well it depends. If it's important data, then I'd trust a blank BD or DVD for archival. HDDs are prone to hardware failure where as an optical disc stored safely should be fine over time.
Click to expand...
This just isn't true. Have you ever tried to read a DVD/CD that you burned 10 years ago? They have a ridculous failure rate.

Can't wait till Hard drives don't exist anymore and it's all some form of solid state. (Prices need to drop on this)
 
I can why Apple wants their laptops to be as thin and light as possible and i fully support removing the drive in them. But removing the optical disc drive from desktops is just pointless. The Mac Mini gained nothing from removing it. It is not thinner as the 2010 model. There is still room for the drive and the connector on the motherboard is there too. It is just Apple being stubborn and wanting all their customers to use the Mac App Store. It is the same reason they don't support Blu-Ray. And they probably want to save to repair costs. In my last two macs the superdrive died. Those slot in drives are not very reliable.
 
outunderthestars said:
Apple users are used to getting less for their money.

This is just another step in their AOL styled "walled garden" philosophy.
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Yeah, cuz a Sandy Bridge mini (as high as a quad-core i7, no less) at LESS than it cost a year ago is "less for the money".

Whatever, dude.

AdrianWerner said:
And yet existence of DVD drive in all of those doesn't stop them from being light enough.

The simple fact is APple wants to push more people towards iTunes. There's no other reason for this decision.
Click to expand...
No, but it does give them room to breathe architecturally speaking. But no, making sacrifices for better chipsets and cooling and whatever else they may need to change in the future is madness and shoehorning hubris.
They've taken away external storage!!! Oh, wait, external hard drives and USB sticks offer higher storage capacities and greater convenience for physically storing them.... ummm....
They've disabled my ability to read an optical disc!!!! Oh, no, wait, external SuperDrive AND Remote Disk solve that problem with or without a purchase.... hmmmm.... ummm...

Wait, can someone remind me what people are whining about exactly?
 
Benjamin1981 said:
I can why Apple wants their laptops to be as thin and light as possible and i fully support removing the drive in them. But removing the optical disc drive from desktops is just pointless. The Mac Mini gained nothing from removing it. It is not thinner as the 2010 model. There is still room for the drive and the connector on the motherboard is there too. It is just Apple being stubborn and wanting all their customers to use the Mac App Store. It is the same reason they don't support Blu-Ray. And they probably want to save to repair costs. In my last two macs the superdrive died. Those slot in drives are not very reliable.
Click to expand...
Exactly. My netbook doesn't have an optical drive either. That's fine because it doesn't need one and benefits from a smaller form factor. But my desktop? Why is space a premium there. It makes no sense.
 
saunderez said:
Exactly. My netbook doesn't have an optical drive either. That's fine because it doesn't need one and benefits from a smaller form factor. But my desktop? Why is space a premium there. It makes no sense.
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Don't be silly. Of course desktops benefit from a smaller form factor.
 
NotTarts said:
Don't be silly. Of course desktops benefit from a smaller form factor.
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'Cause adding a 1/2" or so (assuming they'd even need to) would just totally destroy the form factor.

Don't be silly indeed.
 
NotTarts said:
Don't be silly. Of course desktops benefit from a smaller form factor.
Click to expand...
If you actually need the optical storage the external drive you get is going to take up much more space than an internal drive would. And now you have some tacky external drive.
 
I just thought of another good reason to have my optical drives become external, now that usage is much diminished - if an internal drive breaks or becomes faulty (and let's face it, the Apple super drives feel really flimsy to me), what do you do? you have to bring in your whole computer and get it checked out (god forbid if it's an iMac).

With an external, the repair would be much more convenient, or maybe just replace it.


I can understand wanting a drive back in the day when you kind of used it more frequently, but these days I really am thinking a single external for the household is the answer.
 
saunderez said:
If you actually need the optical storage the external drive you get is going to take up much more space than an internal drive would. And now you have some tacky external drive.
Click to expand...
Ehh, that's why you put it away when you're not using it if it's such an eyesore to you. Unless you're a lazy turd, of course, but I can't help with that.
 
mrkgoo said:
I just thought of another good reason to have my optical drives become external, now that usage is much diminished - if an internal drive breaks or becomes faulty (and let's face it, the Apple super drives feel really flimsy to me), what do you do? you have to bring in your whole computer and get it checked out (god forbid if it's an iMac).

With an external, the repair would be much more convenient, or maybe just replace it.


I can understand wanting a drive back in the day when you kind of used it more frequently, but these days I really am thinking a single external for the household is the answer.
Click to expand...
Eh. Let's say I have a HTPC where I don't care about the OS and care a lot of about disc media.
I'm also going to be worried about the cpu, gpu, and hard drive failing. I'd have to send a mac mini in for all of those. On a HTPC with windows I could replace anything myself.
 
Why is the Mac mini considered to be a good HTPC? Atom based nettops running XBMC cost a fraction of the price and do just as good (if not better) a job than the Mac mini. I don't get it.
 
twofold said:
Why is the Mac mini considered to be a good HTPC? Atom based nettops running XBMC cost a fraction of the price and have way more utility. I don't get it.
Click to expand...
Better and easier RAM and HD expandability, if I understand the current nettop market correctly.
That, and it can be a full-fledged computer in ways that a nettop can't, if you need it to be as well.
 
mrkgoo said:
I just thought of another good reason to have my optical drives become external, now that usage is much diminished - if an internal drive breaks or becomes faulty (and let's face it, the Apple super drives feel really flimsy to me), what do you do? you have to bring in your whole computer and get it checked out (god forbid if it's an iMac).

With an external, the repair would be much more convenient, or maybe just replace it.


I can understand wanting a drive back in the day when you kind of used it more frequently, but these days I really am thinking a single external for the household is the answer.
Click to expand...
But I thought that higher price tag was because of better build quality?
 
Terrell said:
No, but it does give them room to breathe architecturally speaking. But no, making sacrifices for better chipsets and cooling and whatever else they may need to change in the future is madness and shoehorning hubris.
They've taken away external storage!!! Oh, wait, external hard drives and USB sticks offer higher storage capacities and greater convenience for physically storing them.... ummm....
They've disabled my ability to read an optical disc!!!! Oh, no, wait, external SuperDrive AND Remote Disk solve that problem with or without a purchase.... hmmmm.... ummm...

Wait, can someone remind me what people are whining about exactly?
Click to expand...
You must not have met AdrianWerner before. He's rabidly anti-Apple. Anything they do must be frowned upon, and he's only too happy to do the frowning.

I've never, ever seen him make a positive post about anything Apple was doing. And you know what? It'll never happen. I've known his agenda for years. Microsoft shits solid gold, Apple is trying to destroy us all. It's old hat. You'll do better to simply ignore him like you ignore the old man shouting at the children on the lawn.
 
Terrell said:
Nothing's 100% fail-proof. Especially when beholden to build quality of your OEM partners.
Click to expand...
Sure but that's been the long standing arguement that the higher price is because of build quality and design. You're paying for better parts and that enclosure that makes it harder to replace. Seems silly to me that it's been a long standing defense of the higher price point and now suddenly an external drive is a pro just in case it goes bad. What about the batteries in the MacBooks? What about the hard drives in the iMac and Minis?
 
Marty Chinn said:
Sure but that's been the long standing arguement that the higher price is because of build quality and design. You're paying for better parts and that enclosure that makes it harder to replace. Seems silly to me that it's been a long standing defense of the higher price point and now suddenly an external drive is a pro just in case it goes bad. What about the batteries in the MacBooks? What about the hard drives in the iMac and Minis?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure about all that. Apple buys from the same companies that others do.

For me, it's about whether the product does what it needs to do. If a PC manufacturer would make a 17" laptop that can get me the 6.44 hours of battery life I got yesterday out of my Mac with the same quality of screen, an i7 quad, similar weight and an equally good GPU...I'd buy it.

Problem? It doesn't seem to exist. The others I've looked (HP Elitebook, Dell Precision, XPS 16, Envy, Asus Stealth whatever it's called) at with similar or slightly more power all go about 2 hours on the battery. or less.

The combination of power and portability (battery life + weight + thickness) seems to be unique to Apple. And consequently well worth the asking price. Now, if I didn't need the battery life, something else may have been sufficient.
 
Good on 'em. I'm building my new PC at the moment and it's the first I've built that won't have an optical drive. Pointless nowadays.
 
Great, I built my current desktop computer over a year ago and I didn't install an optical drive so it's about time they drop it.
 
MrHicks said:
the fuck

BLURAY never coming confirmed
enjoy your inferior streaming/digital media lol

suck a lemon steve
Click to expand...
external BD drives are still just $120. I don't imagine you're watching movies every day right? so pull it out when you do (maybe once a week? twice?) and put it up when you don't.
 
Marty Chinn said:
But I thought that higher price tag was because of better build quality?
Click to expand...

Jeez, you even have to argue when I agree with you :_(

And I don't think I ever said the higher price resulted in better build quality myself - maybe the machining and finish, but not the components. Macs are notorious for lots of bad components - Super Drives failing, cases cracking, inverter boards failing, flickering yellow screens, failing trackpads. I've seen all these troubles in my journeys, but that's life. Component fail. All the parts come from the same vendors. I think perhaps the screens are one of the only components that Apple try to get the best in, and even those have their issues at times. Oh yeah their battery stuff tends to be pretty good too.

My arguments for macs have always been that any premium in price is something I'm willing to pay for for the user experience, which includes design and finish, and software experience. And other neat features such as the trackpad implementation and magsafe. And I've always said that not everyone is willing to go for those price premiums, because people prioritise things differently.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
external BD drives are still just I don't imagine you're watching movies every day right? so pull it out when you do (maybe once a week? twice?) and put it up when you don't.
Click to expand...

Remove drive.
Sell drive back to you.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
external BD drives are still just $120. I don't imagine you're watching movies every day right? so pull it out when you do (maybe once a week? twice?) and put it up when you don't.
Click to expand...


Too bad OSX does not support blu ray movie playback.
 
I'd still get a Mini as my PS3 is around for superior disc playback with BD and all and since the iPad i'm fully used to a 'closed-off' digital only system. Still seems odd though!
Perhaps in another decade all of their portables will have dropped their ports in favour of wireless-only syncing and USB will be gone in place of Thunderbolt on all desktop machines.....
 
There will always be a need for some sort of physical drive so you can load data in emergencies or when you don't have an internet connection.
 
Used the optical drive on my '09 Macbook for the first time since I got it just this weekend.

Funny thing, it was to install software for my daughter's Leapster. Guess what was on the CD. An html file with a link to download the installer. I chuckled at the silliness of it all.
 
I really don't see optical drives going anywhere anytime soon especially since:

- People still buy DVDs/BDs, although with decreasing demand
- Existing optical media won't disappear overnight

Concerning drivers, a USB device already identifies itself with the manufacturer and device names so auto driver retrieval (of a device that isn't already known on the machine) isn't too hard to implement...
 
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