So when we got the news from Cleve and his source about the new laptops, the first thing we asked ourselves was how is Apple going to squeeze all of the laptop internals into such a thin Package? Battery optimization? Couldn’t hurt. Making the boot drive into NAND RAM? Possible but still very expensive. Motherboard optimization? Yeah sure but you can only save so much space doing that. Then it hit us: was the MacBook DVD going the way of the dodo? When you consider the facts, it is a no-brainer. What is the largest part of the internals of a laptop and at the same time (as trends go) is used less and less – not to mention its status as a powerhog. What could the average laptop certainly do without on a daily basis? Without a doubt, it is the DVD player. Why?
Optical disks are used infrequently for software installs because of speedy (and frequently updated) Internet software downloads Huge USB sticks replace the need for offline storage Online backup systems replace needs for DVD-R backups Music and video are downloaded far more over the Internet than put on DVD and CD anymore (you think Apple and any interest in this?!)
If Apple takes this route, likely expect the laptops to be bundled with external bus-powered Firewire or USB DVD drives to compliment the package and do software reinstalls. Either that or huge thumb drives! Edit: We are getting a lot of comments with people screaming “what about huge software installs!” or “What about ripping music/Movies” or “I am a photographer and I need it to burn DVDs for my clients!!” Read the post. The scenario we’ve put forth calls for an EXTERNAL DVD drive. IF you need it, take it with you! Plus Apple will probably do it up in a fresh, unique way like magnetized to the back of your screen or a lanyard around your neck. Take that Flavor Flav!!
