[PhilH]

I second your motion drgardner!!!

[chuckstjohn]

This is just Apple sauce (read that...crap!).

I use the Express card slot for two things; Internet access when away from free Wi-Fi and I have a CF card reader I use to load images I shoot as a professional photographer.

I have never heard of a pro shooter using SD cards so that argument is gorram gosa (see: Firefly/Serenity for a definition). We either tether or use CF cards and we also mostly use the 15 " MacBook Pro so we can use the dang thing in coach.

Ditching the Firewire 400 slot was patently stupid as most tethered pro level cameras (MF and the newer ultra MegaPixel 35mm formatted ones) are optimally connected via FW400.

It's one thing to be ahead of the curve here but Apple is steering folks like me into keeping their older MB's till the rest of the world catches up. Not the smartest thing Apple could have done in view of the fact that most of us are (or were) early adopters.

Stupid...stupid...stupid

Chuck StJohn
www.stjohn.net
Birmingham • South Florida

[chuckstjohn]

P.S. One more aggravating issue; If I wanted a new MB-Pro, I'd need to give up my 1TB eSATA drive LaCie back up drives. More fun from the GM school of obsolescence.

How inconvenient!

[cycomachead]

Ok, can we please please please stay away from blatantly incorrect extremes?! MANY "pro" cameras don't yet have SD cards, the x0D series on canon (40D, 50D) and the 5D (and 5D Mark II) all have single CF slots. The high end Mark Series have had dual CF and SD slots for the last to generations I believe (certainly the newest). Nikon uses (as mentioned) CF cards on its cameras D300 and D700. The D3 and D3x have DUAL CF slots.

chuckstjohn said:

I use the Express card slot for two things; Internet access when away from free Wi-Fi and I have a CF card reader I use to load images I shoot as a professional photographer.

I have never heard of a pro shooter using SD cards so that argument is gorram gosa (see: Firefly/Serenity for a definition). We either tether or use CF cards and we also mostly use the 15 " MacBook Pro so we can use the dang thing in coach.

Ditching the Firewire 400 slot was patently stupid as most tethered pro level cameras (MF and the newer ultra MegaPixel 35mm formatted ones) are optimally connected via FW400.

But to say "no" professional uses SD cards is crazy!!!! Most professionals use compact cameras in addition to the main work. If a SD card is available in the camera they'll also use it. I know one photog who's primary shooting is done on a Panasonic LX3. It IS used. Correct, not as much, but I believe that is changing. SD cards now equal CF in speed and capacity, and I've never had an SD card break on me. I've been using both them from almost 8 years now and lots of cards. One of the reasons I believe SD will become more important for pros over the coming years is that you can get about 2 SD cards in the same space as one CF card on the camera body. Also, the SD spec is being actively developed much faster than the CF spec.


Your 2 uses for the express card slot are sold as both USB and firewire adapters that are commonly used. Now, that's obviously not optimal for your uses not to have an ExpressCard slot. However, for your use there's no functional difference.

FW400: Well, it was ditched a long time ago. It sucks that there is less FW ports now (1 800 and 1 400 before) but there is not functional difference. There's 3 common firewire connections: 4 pin, 6pin, and 9pin. There's cables or cheap adapters available for all 3 types.


None of this might be optimal maybe. But technically you use no actual functionality.

[cycomachead]

Well, a lot of people suspected that the 13" MBP and the 15" used the same internals. They actually do use a different logic board, but I still believe they're very very similar.

Here's why the have 2 different boards:
The 13" MBP has NO mic in port anymore, something that's on the $999 MB still. Personally, I think this is a worthy trade off for FW and SD slot, but I lost my favorite trick for recording the computer sounds. (That was a very short 3.5mm cable that I just plugged into speakers and mic-in...). But for this there's a lot of software software solutions so that won't bother me. But I really don't want to have to get a USB interface.

Anyway, that means apple IS making 2 different boards. On the 15" they have a mic port then the headphone port so there's extra stuff there. Hmmmm.

So, I guess apple's reason it really that many people don't use it. I don't this group is the general percentage, but I can't see much reason to remove the express card. Space? but the old Unibody 15" was fine....

[ecphoto]

For us that are upset over the removal of the expresscard slot it isn't about CF cards or SD cards. I am a pro photographer and I use both (CF cards 80% SD card 20%). Since the new unibody laptops arrived Apple removed the firewire 400 port which many creative professionals still use. Almost all medium format digital backs use FW400 and you cannot daisy chain those devices b/c you loose connection & data. I'm sure video and audio professionals have similar issues. So we have only one FW port where before unibody we had two. One for FW400 devices (professional camera) and the FW800 for backup external hard drives (essential for any professional photo shoot). USB is too slow, we argued this when they removed FW for the Macbook. If they kept the expresscard we could use that for extra FW ports or SATA connectors for SATA enclosures like RAID backups or photoshop scratch disks. Some of us need these capabilities in a pro laptop. It seems that the 17" is the only pro model for now and I find it isn't always portable.

Along with the removal of the matte option on the 15" Apple has decidedly moved away from the needs of professional users. Who is their focus group - college kids, gamers and soccer moms? No offense to either but pros need pro laptops and Apple isn't providing tools for our needs. I've been a Mac user for over 10 years so I'm not looking for a windows laptop but I'm very disappointed in the direction Apple is going.

And come on an SD slot? That's bush league. Why not just get a $15 SD adapter and leave it in the expresscard slot?

[Martian]

As long as this world has small (7x10 in footprint), light (under 3 lbs), cheap (under $400) netbooks like Lenovo S10 that has both an ExpressCard slot AND multi-format card reader (not just SD), it is ludicrous to discuss the "choice" between ExpressCard and SD reader as if it is really a legitimate tradeoff. And it's absurd to think this is a cost issue. This is Apple's marketing at its worst.

A bit of irony here--when Apple first scrapped the PCMCIA slot for ExpressCard, the new slot was useless because there was no third party support. Dell did the transition the right way on some models by including both slots for about a year or so.

[scotty321]

Thanks for posting this article, Peter. I've written an entire blog posting on this very topic here:

scottworldblog.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/apple-bring-the-expresscard-slot-back-to-the-15-macbook-pro/

[chuckstjohn]

I stand on my comments and add one: how does Apple explain that the discontinuation of the express card slot will cause those of us that use eSATA back ups to be obsolete? I apologize if by only saying that the CF and Wi-Fi uses were the only reason for my distaste for Apple's move as it seemed like there were no alternatives. Of course there are. I just don't want to use a 17" MB Pro behemoth when I prefer the 15' model.

I agree with other posters; if they take these features away, they should no longer refer to it as a professional platform. Lastly, your comments about functionality are accurate but they require adapters and such which sure isn't professional in my estimation. More connectors ensure more problems as usually the problems we encounter with connectability always involve the cheapest item in the link.

[Martian]

As I said before, if Lenovo can cram an ExpressCard slot AND a multi-format (not just SD) slot into a 7x10 inch footprint, 10.2? display, under 3 lb, under $400 netbook , Apple can do this on all 3 "huge" MacBook PRO laptops.

If interior volume for the battery is the alibi, who would have even noticed if the overall thickness grew a fraction of an inch?

[sterlingz]

Thanks for the article, Peter. This is a very troubling development for creatives, and it really diminishes the "pro" moniker for the MacBook line. I would say the 17" is the only model that can justifiably be called "pro" at this point - especially with regards to the eSATA issue.

scotty321 said:

Thanks for posting this article, Peter. I've written an entire blog posting on this very topic here:

scottworldblog.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/apple-bring-the-expresscard-slot-back-to-the-15-macbook-pro/

I read your blog post and completely agree - I think it's worth it for people to voice their opinion directly to Apple. Firewire came back to the 13 inch, so anything's possible. For me, the 15" is the ultimate form factor. It will fit in most cases, has a big enough screen to edit photos or video on, and can be used in coach on an airplane. The 17" is just too damn bulky to be practical. Nice as a desktop replacement, not great to drag around on location. That's why Apple needs to bring Expresscard back to the 15.

[rab777hp]

So an expresscard slot and an SD card slot?
No one uses the expresscard slot (or at least, the point it is: >1% of users)
EVERYONE uses SD cards.
Following your reasoning to be called 'pro' a macbook must have a floppy a drive and be zip drive compatible.
Not to mention: have 6 audio in ports, and 6 audio out, 12 USB interfaces, and 6 firewire ports. In addition there should be an extra battery slot to add in an additional battery, and there should be a kensington lock port for each model that has been made.

[sterlingz]

rab777hp said:

So an expresscard slot and an SD card slot?
No one uses the expresscard slot (or at least, the point it is: >1% of users)
EVERYONE uses SD cards.
Following your reasoning to be called 'pro' a macbook must have a floppy a drive and be zip drive compatible.
Not to mention: have 6 audio in ports, and 6 audio out, 12 USB interfaces, and 6 firewire ports. In addition there should be an extra battery slot to add in an additional battery, and there should be a kensington lock port for each model that has been made.

I don't use SD cards. I use compact flash cards on professional digital SLRs, and I connect to external RAID arrays that only use eSATA. A lot of professional photographers/videographers are in the same boat. An SD slot is not useful to us as working professionals. The top cameras by Nikon, Canon and Sony do not use SD. They use Compact Flash, and most likely will for some time due to its superior data transfer speed.

But the bigger issue is closing the door on expandability. Because with one single port, you could have dozens of different connectivity options. You could have eSATA, additional FW ports, adapters for any card format out there, including professional video cards, 3G cards, even additional storage in the form of flash SSDs. The point was there was flexibility in expansion, and that's what makes a Pro machine. Not the inclusion of a card format that is going to be of limited use to many creative professionals.

We're not asking for all of the crap you listed in your diatribe. We're asking for the ability to expand our machines through the standard that was adopted since the beginning of the MacBook Pro line, and for which many people invested in cards that will now be useless.

[tech_head]

Quote

EVERYONE uses SD cards.
Following your reasoning to be called 'pro' a macbook must have a floppy a drive and be zip drive compatible.
Not to mention: have 6 audio in ports, and 6 audio out, 12 USB interfaces, and 6 firewire ports. In addition there should be an extra battery slot to add in an additional battery, and there should be a kensington lock port for each model that has been made.

Really???

I don't use SD. I have a professional DSLR that uses CF.
However I can make use of the express slot for a SATA array for editing or connection to my ProTools system.
No Express Slot, they won't get my money.
I'll just keep geting new batteries for my existing MB Pro 15".