Discussion about
WHY no optical drive or Ethernet port and it costs more then the ones that do!
this mac book pro is a like a Porsche car you can get a base model one that has a navigation system plush carpeting leather seats, air conditioning and speed and give you the full Porsche ownership experience. OR you could spend more for a faster Porsche with a tuned engine but forgo the navigation system and in some cases a radio, no air conditioning, racing bucket seats with a harness instead of leather and a full roll cage instead of a passenger or back seat. That is what the new Macbook pro W/ Retina display is it is paying more and getting less for it
Because they're relatively thick.
I won't miss the optical drive (I've already swapped it out for an SSD in my current MBP).
Ethernet is unfortunate, but the dongle is a good enough solution for me. Note that the Thunderbolt Display has gigabit Ethernet, so there's certainly an argument to be made that for many users, they'll use the display's Ethernet at home/work and Wi-Fi everywhere else.
There are always trade-offs, but these seem like reasonable choices to me.
I won't miss the optical drive (I've already swapped it out for an SSD in my current MBP).
Ethernet is unfortunate, but the dongle is a good enough solution for me. Note that the Thunderbolt Display has gigabit Ethernet, so there's certainly an argument to be made that for many users, they'll use the display's Ethernet at home/work and Wi-Fi everywhere else.
There are always trade-offs, but these seem like reasonable choices to me.
i still use the optical drive i buy CD's and burn mix cd's for my car so i still need an disc drive and when i need to transfer files across my home network i prefer being hardwired becasue last i checked you cant get gigibit speeds over wifi and having to use a dongle is just STUPID because knowing me I will lose it
Leave a dongle attached to your network cable at home. They're only $30. You'll have to go external on the optical drive, but Apple's drive is small and bus-powered. It's a compromise. Leaving the optical drive out of the chassis means more room for battery.
I understand it's frustrating, but I think “STUPID” is overblown. The optical drive is, over time, being used less and less by fewer and fewer users. It makes sense to pull it from the core product and make it a well supported accessory instead. With Thunderbolt, people who use Gigabit Ethernet are more likely to be docking to Thunderbolt Displays or some other docking setup in the places where they need the speed. I myself will need an external optical drive (occasionally) and Ethernet dongle at home, since I can't afford a home Thunderbolt display yet. But I look around at friends, family and colleagues and many of them don't need them. But ALL of us will benefit from the lighter system and all that internal space going to the battery.
I understand it's frustrating, but I think “STUPID” is overblown. The optical drive is, over time, being used less and less by fewer and fewer users. It makes sense to pull it from the core product and make it a well supported accessory instead. With Thunderbolt, people who use Gigabit Ethernet are more likely to be docking to Thunderbolt Displays or some other docking setup in the places where they need the speed. I myself will need an external optical drive (occasionally) and Ethernet dongle at home, since I can't afford a home Thunderbolt display yet. But I look around at friends, family and colleagues and many of them don't need them. But ALL of us will benefit from the lighter system and all that internal space going to the battery.
If you are that upset you can look into alternate options. The last generation (yesterday's generation) MacBook pro has both ethernet and an optical drive. It will run mountain lion, and now is much less than $2200
In fact you can get a refurb for $1659 from Apple
store.apple.com/us/product/FC847
Otherwise you could look into an HP envy machine or similar.
In fact you can get a refurb for $1659 from Apple
store.apple.com/us/product/FC847
Otherwise you could look into an HP envy machine or similar.
Ethernet and an Optical Drive cost pennies compared to the tech that has to go into the Retina Display, SSD (which are very expensive compared to a standard HDD) and everything else they've done with the new Macbook Pro.
Apple is in the business of making money. Including the dongle(s) doesn't make them more money.
Apple is in the business of making money. Including the dongle(s) doesn't make them more money.
The problem I have with apple is that they didn't just remove it from the core model, they removed it from everything. They don't have a model for anyone who needs a dvd drive and an ethernet port and a retina display. THEY ONLY HAVE 2 MODELS OF MAC-BOOKS so they need to put in all the features they can to the high-end one. I can see them removing everything from the air, but the pro is supposed to be for profesional applications, where you might need the DVD drive, or the ethernet port, or the separate microphone jack.
Think you might be a minority. These days with smart phones, the number of people burning CDs/DVDs are minimal. Music syncs over USB or even via cloud services. Streaming movies/tv from Netfilx/Hulu eliminates the need for technologies like Blu-Ray for many (even though the quality is not yet comparable).
Apple definitely saved a TON of space by ripping out the optical drive. I honestly only used mine in the past for installing the operating system, but I can even do that with a USB Flash Drive these days. Apple is also pushing the Mac App Store to eliminate boxed software and provides a system recovery OS on a flash drive as well.
I think you will quickly see most manufacturers dropping the optical drive in the coming months since Apple just took the first step. Unless you burn discs very regularly, I would just buy a external drive for the times you really need it.
Apple definitely saved a TON of space by ripping out the optical drive. I honestly only used mine in the past for installing the operating system, but I can even do that with a USB Flash Drive these days. Apple is also pushing the Mac App Store to eliminate boxed software and provides a system recovery OS on a flash drive as well.
I think you will quickly see most manufacturers dropping the optical drive in the coming months since Apple just took the first step. Unless you burn discs very regularly, I would just buy a external drive for the times you really need it.
Two Thunderbolt ports. 16 GB RAM. 768 GB SSD. Retina Display. It's plenty Pro. We all have favorite features and are annoyed when [insert product here] doesn't have the feature we want, but don't miss the forest for the trees here. This is an absolutely professional class product, and if it's the best tool to do your job, you can deal with a dongle and an external optical drive. If, to you, the Retina Display isn't a killer feature worth dealing with a dongle, then get the updated non-Retina MBP; it still has faster graphics, 16 GB RAM, and options for up to a 512 GB SSD. It's a nice update. You just can't have everything without any trade-offs.
I honestly could see this as being the device for video pros on-the-go. Video has long been a key reason to push something like Thunderbolt. I would imagine that the extra video memory and improved graphics would "justify" the expense. A video pro stares at their display all day... any improvement that makes staring at it easier and improves work output is worth it (and Apple knows this). I'm sure the price will come down to "normal" MBP levels in the upcoming iterations. I think Gruber put it best when he said that this new MBP is like the 1st-gen Air... good-yet-expensive tech that shows the direction the line is taking but not the "end game".
The optical drive won't be missed by me at all. I can't even tell you the last time I used any disc other than playing a blu-ray in my living room.
Ethernet is a mixed bag for me. Overal not a big deal as the dongle is more than fine for me. I'll just leave it attached to a cable so it's always available.
I also love that no one seems to care FW800 is missing and the dongle isn't available yet either. No one really seems to care about that and pretty soon optical and ethernet will be in the same boat. 802.11AC will come close to replacing the ethernet port when it takes off.
Ethernet is a mixed bag for me. Overal not a big deal as the dongle is more than fine for me. I'll just leave it attached to a cable so it's always available.
I also love that no one seems to care FW800 is missing and the dongle isn't available yet either. No one really seems to care about that and pretty soon optical and ethernet will be in the same boat. 802.11AC will come close to replacing the ethernet port when it takes off.
The one thing I disagree with you about is ethernet. It will always have its place and be in use. For me my Macbook Pro goes from wifi to wired within my own apartment depending on where I'm at. Wireless is always going to have the downfall of range and will be slower than a wired connection for most for awhile to come.
follow this discussion
share:
Products mentioned
10 users following this discussion:
This discussion has been viewed 1600 times.
Last activity .