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Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

macrumors.com

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Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#21

Post by joshuacc »

w1ntermute wrote: post #7
schrototo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aside from the fact that no Apple product will ever have a Blu-ray drive (Jobs: "a bag of hurt"), it wouldn't make sense to phase out optical media on their computers but give the displays built-in drives. The future is digital distribution and I'm certain Apple is 100% committed to that. (If you need to use "legacy" media for the time being, Apple will be happy to sell you an add-on drive.)

Well, without a Blu-ray drive (or a TV to watch movies with a regular Blu-ray player) and a deep-seated loathing of streaming, that leaves me up shit creek with piracy as the only option when it comes to watching HD movies. Maybe I'll just stick to DVDs.

There are also HD rentals/purchases available in the iTunes store. I've been using that quite a bit when working out.

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#23

Post by kylec »

I really hope it doesn't have the wedge shape, they're so hard to get open. What I'd really like to see is for them to ditch the optical drive, make it ~40% thinner or so (but with the same thickness throughout) and to fill the rest of the space with a bigger battery.

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#24

Post by bradleyland »

grk wrote: post #22

Related: Ford begins to kill off CDs too http://www.neowin.net/news/ford-motor-company-begins-to-kill...

That's really fascinating. I'm not sure anyone will be surprised if Apple drops the optical drive from their laptop lineup. Ford dropping it from vehicles is a surprisingly progressive move. Ford really seems to be the "one to beat" in the auto-maker scene these days, and I mean that globally.

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#25

Post by protomyth »

w1ntermute wrote: post #3

I think they will call it an MBP and completely phase out built-in optical drives on Macs. After all, Apple was the first major OEM to phase out floppy drives (when floppies were still very common). Now that the Mac App Store has been launched, the timing is perfect. However, it would be really nice if the new Thunderbolt displays had built-in Blu-ray/DVD/CD-RW drives. That would make it possible to use an optical dr…

As I said in the other thread, I like that it doesn't because there are actually better options than Apple is willing to sell. I like the OWC Mercury Pro (blu-ray, dvd, cd). It is a nicer option and can sit on the edge of the desk. On the new display, hooking it up to to the firewire 800 is a good option.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/optical-drives/

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#27

Post by erikpukinskis »

grk wrote: post #22

Related: Ford begins to kill off CDs too http://www.neowin.net/news/ford-motor-company-begins-to-kill...

I don't understand why these companies are providing USB/iPod ports. Hats off to the ones that provide 1/8" audio jacks, but I don't get why they don't just provide a 1/8" audio cable that comes out of somewhere.

Every audio device since the dawn of time has a 1/8" audio jack in it. Why not interface with the technology that's already omnipresent?

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#28

Post by jws »

kylec wrote: post #23

I really hope it doesn't have the wedge shape, they're so hard to get open. What I'd really like to see is for them to ditch the optical drive, make it ~40% thinner or so (but with the same thickness throughout) and to fill the rest of the space with a bigger battery.

…and a flying pony.

You want a 40% space reduction and room for more batteries in exchange for losing an optical drive that accounts for 10% of the original volume.[1]

[1] The MacBook Pro has a volume of 2175cc. An internal optical drive is about 200cc.

Re: Apple Finishing Up Work on an Ultra-Thin 15" Mac Notebook

#30

Post by jws »

bergie wrote: post #10
omh wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you've got a Thunderbolt display as a docking station then you could just connect a DVD drive to one of its USB ports - even the "Macbook Air" SuperDrive addon, if you want to keep everything Apple-styled.

Except the MBA SuperDrive only works with an MBA.

That is a power issue. I'd be surprised if Apple doesn't include the over powered USB ports in the display since they use that for charging iPads and iPhones as well.
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