Topic: Apple releases new Macbook Pros...with no optical drives.

I just visited Apple's website to see what they're up too and I see the Retina Display Macbook Pro, which is just SEXY and makes me wanna see the new display in action. However, I take a look at the product page to see that they removed the optical drive, which makes me a bit unhappy. I think they're taking digital distribution a little too fast, and it makes them seem a bit..I don't know, pompus with their mommy-knows-best-approach. Essentially, I think they removed the drive too soon. Any opinions?

"... to date, the least repairable laptop ..."
"... virtually non-upgradeable ..."
http://ifixit.org/2753/macbook-pro-with-retina-display-teardown/

If Apple tells people they don't need optical drives any more, they won't want them. They're probably already fighting in the streets for these things. Silly people.

I don't think it's too soon though. Besides, you can purchase an attachable drive but I can't remember the last time I needed one for anything. A lot of people are migrating towards tablets, which of course don't have them.

Max out at 16GB now, or forever hold your peace—you can’t upgrade.

I lol'd. This won't even hold my collection of po-

Potatoes.. I'm an avid potato photographer. I have a farm and everything.

Considering they want to make thiner computers every time they make a new one, I'm not surprised...

Though from that page the_shpydar posted, I really sounds pretty cheap... In the "break it, buy a new one" kind of way. Though 16 gb of ram is much more than what most people need on a computer.

OH HAHA RAM

My quick-reading skills are second to none

Then it should store my potato collection quite nicely. Quite nicely indeed.

I hope you don't farm your own potatoes

It wasn't too soon when they launched the MacBook Air. I have a Mac Mini and I only use the optical drive when a friend brings a DVD over - I don't even use it to rip media because it's slower than my £30 external Samsung DVD RW and I only purchase downloadable software. I think Nintendo could have released the Wii-U sans optical with an add-on for backwards-compatibility too.

The end of packaged media isn't imminent, but it's no longer essential to integrate playback units in multi-purpose devices like computers and game consoles with the ubiquity of USB.

I like you.

@Sean_Aaron But Apple's supposed to supply an intuitive experience out of the box. It's somewhat inconvenient for consumers to buy an external USB drive and worry about another device and its weight. Don't get me wrong, I ususally don't see boxed Mac software at stores, but Apple's offering is a little harder for DVD-goers and other disc drive users.

@AlexSays Those are some huge photos of your potato collection

I've seen his potatoes. They're not that huge.

^ lies ^ lies ^ lies^

That's good to hear. I have a pretty extensive fan club around here somewhere, I'm sure they'll let you join.

You're tellin' me. Perhaps I could lend you one for your photography tutorials.

I love how an extra $600 only gets the user a 0.3 boost in processor speed and doubles the storage memory. With about $300 I could get one of the most powerful, commercially available eight-core p... and a terabyte (1000 gigabytes) hard drive.

Eh most people who are using the optical drive are pros and they're most likely using a rig or an all in one. Though I did help my mom install software through a disc yesterday so who knows.

I don't mind alack of optical drive. My next laptop will probably be a hybrid and I'm sure it doesn't have a optical drive (though the keyboard dock might have one) I have an all in one for optical drive needs.

I was watching that without sound just to see what it was, and at one point the screen goes black and says HOPE IS LOST. Is this the new Windows 8 slogan? I like it. At least they're being honest now.

Yep. Windows 8 is skynet.

Apple is pushing iTunes, so I don't think they care about a niche market of people who watch DVDs on their laptops. I did raise eyebrows at dumping the MacBook, but I'm thinking the sales must have been less than the air which overlapped it anyway.

Next thing on the list to drop will be hard drives which I notice are now entirely absent from the Air line. I probably won't upgrade my MacMini until solid state storage is standard (I know I can get an option, but an extra £400 seems a bit dear for 256GB).

@Sony_70
I was thinking the phrase was meant reflexively, but that's a fun take on it, too. Though if I were a Terminator, I don't think I'd take orders from Windows 8. Much too embarrassing.

The iPad has taught me that optical drives are pointless if you have a wireless Internet at home.

With the sole exception of some games, I can't remember the last time I did something as primitive as put a disc in a drive. I have iTunes and Music Unlimited for movies and music.

Its still at least five years out before SSDs takeover.

But yeah no real. Use for optical drives . I use a mix of spofify/Itunes/Google music for my tunes and netflix/xbox video for movies.

And all the software I need is downloadable.

We all know it's to stop customers installing other Operating Systems when they find out they don't have any control over their OSX system and want to switch to another Operating System. E.G. Linux and / or Windows.