4 ms·

No USB 3, no TRIM for their SSDs and no Blu-ray. Yay.

yatsyk 16y ago
I don't have any bluray and don't miss about them. Apple has iTunes which could be considered as competitor to bluray distribution. But there is no substitution to USB3 or TRIM now.
Derbasti 16y ago
Well, TRIM seems to be pretty redundant these days. The latest generation of SSDs (Intel, Sandforce) work just fine even without TRIM due to intelligent block management and aggressive garbage collection. As for Blu-Ray, I don't really see them taking off just yet and honestly don't see a point in preferring them over digital distribution. AND, I would gladly dispense with optical drives altogether if I could get a smaller, lighter laptop instead. Remember how Steve Jobs said that they would never build a netbook--and now there is the 11" Air.
- GHFigs 16y ago
  Remember how Steve Jobs said that they would never build a netbook--and now there is the 11" Air. What he actually said was: "We don't know how to build a sub-$500 computer that is not a piece of junk."[1] Notice also how the Air is not in the same price bracket as netbooks, does not have the same performance profile as netbooks, and not referred to by the manufacturer as a netbook. [1]:http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_47/b4156000345421.htm http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_47/b41560003...
  - frou_dh 16y ago
    If only we knew how much it cost Apple to make each Air.
    - masklinn 16y ago
      According to very unreliable BOM analysis (http://www.macworld.co.uk/digitallifestyle/news/index.cfm?newsid=3245509&olo=rss http://www.macworld.co.uk/digitallifestyle/news/index.cfm?ne...), $718 It's unclear whether that's total cost to manufacture or only the price for the parts. It's also unclear how they estimate things like the unibody shell. In any case, that strikes out any chance of "sub-500" as it's very likely an under-estimate.
      - frou_dh 16y ago
        Thanks. Sounds too high to me for the small Air, but what do I know!
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- b3b0p 16y ago
  Regarding your Blu-ray comment. There are many reasons to prefer it. 1. Much higher quality video and audio than you can get from digital distribution. 2. Many people still don't have access to the bandwidth that makes digital distribution easily possible or worth it. Now there are bandwidth caps being put in place by some ISPs making this less desirable. 3. Tangible. You cannot resell that digital copy. You can trade, borrow out, sell that Blu-ray you bought at Amazon or where ever when ever you want. 4. DRM. With the Blu-ray physical copy, you can do whatever you want with it. 5. Price. Digital distribution are priced near or above the tangible version in some cases and it's lower quality and has zero tangible and re-sellable value. One example: Toy Story 3 Right now you can pre-order the Blu-ray which comes with the digital and DVD version also for just under $25. The HD version on iTunes can be pre-ordered for $19.99, which is of course much less quality in audio and video than the Blu-ray. Also, you can't resell it. If this keeps up I honestly don't see how digital distribution will be preferred. I'd love to get rid of all the optical disks and cases, but not if it continues on like this.
jsz0 16y ago
You can add USB3 to MacBooks with PCI-E expansion -- the older 15" MBPs, all 17" MBPs, all Mac Pros. Since Intel has decided not to support USB3 until 2012 it's obvious they are going to push a USB3 alternative soon which will win because Intel dominates the PC chipset market. Apple is probably fully aware of this and doesn't see any reason to support USB3.
- zdw 16y ago
  Exactly. USB3 currently requires an extra chip to implement, and Intel isn't going to release an on-chipset USB3 controller in the immediate future, if roadmaps are to be believed. Apple packs things tight in their laptops (where high speed expansion is most needed) - adding an extra chip would cause design challenges. See also why Apple is staying with the Core2Duo in their 13" and smaller laptops.
  - bbatsell 16y ago
    The reason Apple has stayed with C2D on the 13"ers is because Intel has disallowed manufacturers from using any integrated graphics chipset other than Intel HD Graphics, which is very poor compared to Nvidia and ATI's chipsets. Since the 13" is too small to support a discrete graphics card, they have to stick with a C2D and an Nvidia 320M.
- leoc 16y ago
  The alternative rumour/speculation is that Intel's holding back so it can use USB3 support as a selling point for Sandy Bridge systems.

I don't have any bluray and don't miss about them. Apple has iTunes which could be considered as competitor to bluray distribution. But there is no substitution to USB3 or TRIM now.

Derbasti 16y ago

Well, TRIM seems to be pretty redundant these days. The latest generation of SSDs (Intel, Sandforce) work just fine even without TRIM due to intelligent block management and aggressive garbage collection. As for Blu-Ray, I don't really see them taking off just yet and honestly don't see a point in preferring them over digital distribution. AND, I would gladly dispense with optical drives altogether if I could get a smaller, lighter laptop instead. Remember how Steve Jobs said that they would never build a netbook--and now there is the 11" Air.

GHFigs 16y ago
Remember how Steve Jobs said that they would never build a netbook--and now there is the 11" Air. What he actually said was: "We don't know how to build a sub-$500 computer that is not a piece of junk."[1] Notice also how the Air is not in the same price bracket as netbooks, does not have the same performance profile as netbooks, and not referred to by the manufacturer as a netbook. [1]:http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_47/b4156000345421.htm http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_47/b41560003...
- frou_dh 16y ago
  If only we knew how much it cost Apple to make each Air.
  - masklinn 16y ago
    According to very unreliable BOM analysis (http://www.macworld.co.uk/digitallifestyle/news/index.cfm?newsid=3245509&olo=rss http://www.macworld.co.uk/digitallifestyle/news/index.cfm?ne...), $718 It's unclear whether that's total cost to manufacture or only the price for the parts. It's also unclear how they estimate things like the unibody shell. In any case, that strikes out any chance of "sub-500" as it's very likely an under-estimate.
    - frou_dh 16y ago
      Thanks. Sounds too high to me for the small Air, but what do I know!
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
b3b0p 16y ago
Regarding your Blu-ray comment. There are many reasons to prefer it. 1. Much higher quality video and audio than you can get from digital distribution. 2. Many people still don't have access to the bandwidth that makes digital distribution easily possible or worth it. Now there are bandwidth caps being put in place by some ISPs making this less desirable. 3. Tangible. You cannot resell that digital copy. You can trade, borrow out, sell that Blu-ray you bought at Amazon or where ever when ever you want. 4. DRM. With the Blu-ray physical copy, you can do whatever you want with it. 5. Price. Digital distribution are priced near or above the tangible version in some cases and it's lower quality and has zero tangible and re-sellable value. One example: Toy Story 3 Right now you can pre-order the Blu-ray which comes with the digital and DVD version also for just under $25. The HD version on iTunes can be pre-ordered for $19.99, which is of course much less quality in audio and video than the Blu-ray. Also, you can't resell it. If this keeps up I honestly don't see how digital distribution will be preferred. I'd love to get rid of all the optical disks and cases, but not if it continues on like this.

jsz0 16y ago

You can add USB3 to MacBooks with PCI-E expansion -- the older 15" MBPs, all 17" MBPs, all Mac Pros. Since Intel has decided not to support USB3 until 2012 it's obvious they are going to push a USB3 alternative soon which will win because Intel dominates the PC chipset market. Apple is probably fully aware of this and doesn't see any reason to support USB3.

zdw 16y ago
Exactly. USB3 currently requires an extra chip to implement, and Intel isn't going to release an on-chipset USB3 controller in the immediate future, if roadmaps are to be believed. Apple packs things tight in their laptops (where high speed expansion is most needed) - adding an extra chip would cause design challenges. See also why Apple is staying with the Core2Duo in their 13" and smaller laptops.
- bbatsell 16y ago
  The reason Apple has stayed with C2D on the 13"ers is because Intel has disallowed manufacturers from using any integrated graphics chipset other than Intel HD Graphics, which is very poor compared to Nvidia and ATI's chipsets. Since the 13" is too small to support a discrete graphics card, they have to stick with a C2D and an Nvidia 320M.
leoc 16y ago
The alternative rumour/speculation is that Intel's holding back so it can use USB3 support as a selling point for Sandy Bridge systems.