[Macworld]

Post your comments for The case of the missing ExpressCard slot here

[hillstones]

Hey Peter, the message boards keep crashing and paragraph breaks are not recognized. Replying to messages sometimes result in a System Error on the website. Are you guys trying to fix the error?
I think there are more people that will use the SD slot than an ExpressCard slot. I never used the PC Card slot in my PowerBook G3 or G4. I have been on vacation many times in which family members each had a digital camera and unable to obtain their photos because they did not have their USB cable. The SD card slot solves that problem.
Some people may miss it, but I think that number will be very small. People's request for an SD slot obviously outweighed the ExpressCard slot. Explains why every PC laptop has an SD card slot.

[drimwit]

I don't think that the SD slot is that curious. As a read/write medium it makes much more sense than the optical drive, whose days must be numbered - it's huge, heavy and for an increasing number of people, useless.

[cv]

I'm just talking aloud here, but what if, just by chance, Apple had some SD card-equipped gadget waiting in the wings?
The addition of the SD slot on the 13" model sounds perfectly reasonable: it's really a consumer notebook. The omission of the ExpressCard on the mid-tier model is odd. SD card readers are very cheap (I think I have an Iogear one that was $5-10 and reads multiple card types, including Sony Memory Sticks).
Oh well, they could always add the ExpressCard slot in a year.

[newguy21]

Has anyone see specs on whether the SD card reader is SDHC compatible?
If it isn't, it's useless for any SD card above 4Gb capacity such as those typically used in current generation DSLR cameras.
Apple should have left the ExpressCard slot alone and included an ExpressCard-5-in-1 mediacard adapter in the box instead.

[leicaman]

Apple seems to be unaware that the really high end digital cameras still use CF cards. Exclusively, or in addition to SD cards.
But then the best CF readers are Firewire 800 compatible anyway. So no big loss.
I wonder if the next iteration of MacBook Pros are going to have eSATA connectors? Like the MacBook losing Firewire temporarily, this could be a transition period. They should have had eSATA already.

[WilfredLaurier]

What about people who have cameras that don't use SD cards? I thought CF cards were still common for professional photographers. For those people, they lose the ExpressCard slot without gaining anything.

I wonder what is the chance that if enough of a ruckus is caused, Apple will return ExpressCard just like they returned Firewire 800 to the 2nd gen 15" MacBook Pro and now to the 13" MacBook (Pro)?

In regards to high-speed interfaces, I don't understand why Apple hasn't incorporated Firewire 3200 yet. It uses the same port and I believe the protocol is more similar to Firewire 800 than Firewire 800 was to Firewire 400. Isn't Apple supposed to be a major supporter of Firewire?

In terms of eSATA, other manufacturers have shown it's possible to make hybrid eSATA/USB ports. If Apple wanted to, they could support eSATA without sacrificing other ports. Although the need for eSATA is reduced if Apple upgraded the Firewire 800 port to Firewire 3200.

And seeing that the SD slot takes up less room than the ExpressCard slot, it's too bad that Apple didn't at least take the opportunity to better space up the ports, especially the 2 USB ports.

[natmusak]

The two main uses for an ExpressCard are faster interfaces (eg. eSATA) and 3G cards. Both of these could be delivered in future Macs within a year from now, especially 3G. If Apple embeds 3G WWAN antennas into their MacBook Pros/Airs, which Snow Leopard (according to leaks) supports and which Apple recently posted a job listing about (which they then pulled when it got a lot of press), that would be far better than a bulky ExpressCard with a goofy antenna sticking out the side.
As for eSATA, they'll either adopt it or move to FW3200 as I see it. Any IT pros who need it will have to stick with their current MacBook Pros or deal with the slower FW800. Of course, I could have swore many "mobile pros" were also quite upset about the consumer aluminum MacBook lacking FW800, so maybe that will offset the removal of the ExpressCard slot from the 15" MacBook Pro.

[bastion]

I think the key point is in that last sentence:

"So while the 15-inch MacBook Pro model may have gained some ease of use for those users who own a video camera or still camera that stores files on SD card media ... there’s another bunch of people that are steaming mad at this change ...."

Some subset of users is going to be steaming mad at any change. It doesn't matter how much business sense it makes to Apple or how much research they've put in to justifying it.

[natmusak]

drimwit said:

I don't think that the SD slot is that curious. As a read/write medium it makes much more sense than the optical drive, whose days must be numbered - it's huge, heavy and for an increasing number of people, useless.

That's a good point. I didn't even consider the move to built-in SD support could be a move in anticipation of the seemingly inevitable death of built-in optical drives on notebooks.

I can only imagine what the screams would have sounded like had Apple killed the ExpressCard slot and internal optical drive simultaneously. The SD slot is then not just a new features, but a transitional move towards MacBook Air-like slimmed down, optical drive-less MacBook Pros. The standardization on non-replaceable batteries is another obvious clue.

[julianlove]

It does seem very short sighted to remove the express card slot from a "professional" notebook.
I am a photographer and an SD card slot is useless - all high end SLRs use compact flash. With the express card slot I could insert a CF card reader when out shooting on location and then insert an eSata card to connect to my high-speed external drives when back in the studio. The 17" notebook is too bulky to carry on location. I'm sure lots of audio people will miss the express card slot too.
Along with the lack of a matte screen option, Apple really seems to be forgetting their core customer base of creative professionals...

[coat]

17 inch is too big for my use. 15 inch doesn't have high speed access to a 3G carrier. Therefore, no sale to me by Apple inspite of wanting to upgrade.

[hillstones]

julianlove said:

It does seem very short sighted to remove the express card slot from a "professional" notebook.

I am a photographer and an SD card slot is useless - all high end SLRs use compact flash. With the express card slot I could insert a CF card reader when out shooting on location and then insert an eSata card to connect to my high-speed external drives when back in the studio. The 17" notebook is too bulky to carry on location. I'm sure lots of audio people will miss the express card slot too.

Along with the lack of a matte screen option, Apple really seems to be forgetting their core customer base of creative professionals...

Use your USB CompactFlash Card reader. This article has nothing to do with the matte vs. glossy. More people prefer the glossy display (even published in Macworld), and more people have consumer based cameras with SD cards. If you don't like it, go buy a PC laptop...all their options are glossy too! Audio people use FireWire. I wonder how you "Professionals" survived the decades using a GLOSSY CRT monitor!

[bastion]

WilfredLaurier said:

What about people who have cameras that don't use SD cards? I thought CF cards were still common for professional photographers. For those people, they lose the ExpressCard slot without gaining anything.

I have a suspicion - not founded on anything, I'll admit - that people who buy $8000+ cameras aren't going to balk en masse at the price, size and weight difference between the 15" and 17" notebook. If they're professionals it's a professional tool and should be approached as one. It won't be perfect, but no tool is perfect for all users/tasks. And if I'm wrong, USB-based CF readers are cheap, fast and tiny. Or, if you're in an environment where it's viable, shoot tethered.

Quote

In regards to high-speed interfaces, I don't understand why Apple hasn't incorporated Firewire 3200 yet. It uses the same port and I believe the protocol is more similar to Firewire 800 than Firewire 800 was to Firewire 400. Isn't Apple supposed to be a major supporter of Firewire?

If "creator" implies "major suporter," yes. Technological capability isn't the slam-dunk though. There's aways the question of whether it makes business sense. Are customers being lost because they don't have FW3200? Will customers be acquired or retained because of the addition of FW3200?