Internal configuration files in Mountain Lion make apparent references to yet-unreleased new generations of Apple's iMac (iMac13,0) and Mac Pro (MacPro6,0), both in the context of USB booting options that indicate the new Mac desktops could, for the first time in nearly 20 years, lack built-in optical drives.
The discovery, made by an AppleInsider reader Jason, appears in a configuration plist file used by Boot Camp Assistant to designate the Mac model versions capable of supporting either a optical boot disc, or alternatively, a USB flash drive volume capable of installing Windows to a Boot Camp partition.
While all modern Macs can boot OS X from a USB drive, Apple's Boot Camp Assistant references the plist to display a listing of newer Mac models with EFI-level support for booting a legacy operating system from a USB flash drive. The primary advantage to using a USB flash drive to create a bootable Windows 7 volume from an ISO (disc image file) is if you lack an optical drive burner.
The file lists a series of Mac models that support USB flash drive booting, referring to each model by its initials and its internal architectural version number. While it includes MacBook and MacBook Pro models with optical drives, most of the Macs in the supported list are optical free.
The list of models (below) include the "MM50" (the Mac mini 5,x series, also known as the "Mid 2011 Mac mini", which is the first non-Server version of the Mac mini to lack an optical drive), along with other optical-free models including the MacBook Air......
As someone who has relied primarily on external optical drives (for a variety of practical reasons) for a decade, I think this is the biggest non-issue to come down the pike since Apple moved the volume buttons.
If you're the sort of person who uses an optical drive a lot, moving to an external drive is a much better idea for you.
If you're the sort of person who uses an optical drive very little, moving to an external drive is a much better idea for you.
If you're the sort of person who uses an optical drive never, you don't care.
External drives are cheap, fast (and going to get faster now that you can use eSATA and Thunderbolt), easy to replace if they break, don't heat up your valuable computer while running, don't drain the battery, can handle odd-shaped discs and mini-discs since they can be tray loading, can be taken out of one case and put into another, and are just generally superior to the built-in drive in nearly every way except one: ubiquitousness.
Trying to think of how many times I have *EVER* in my life needed to burn a disc when I was not home: that would be ZERO. And if I'm perhaps misremembering, it certainly became zero the day 4GB flash drives got cheap.
Given that Apple has never (and will never) put Blu-Rays in the machines, I don't see that most people care about this at all. Given that they will likely use that space they gain to give me either more battery or more storage, I really REALLY don't care about the built-in optical drive (and yes, I do still occasionally make DVDs!).
If you're the sort of person who uses an optical drive a lot, moving to an external drive is a much better idea for you.
huh? that makes zero sense. absolutely none.
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back to the Original post, this is the most important line from the article :
Quote:
The appearance of new Mac Pro and iMac models in the USB booting support list doesn't definitively mean the models won't have optical drives, as it also lists MacBook and MacBook Pro models that do incorporate an optical drive.
it's pure conjecture. no real evidence.
I can understand taking the optical out of portables, that makes sense. i might see a reason in the imac since it is kind of more about form over function. i see no point in taking it out of the mac pro. zero. perhaps reduce the optical bays from 2 to 1, but to remove it entirely kind of defeats the purpose of the mac pro. it's there to give pros more options.
Would much rather see Apple make the HDs easily accessible in the iMacs. Combine that with a matt screen and I would be heading to Calgary to purchase one today.
Doing away with ODs does make economic sense as Apple no longer ships the OS on Optical Disks. As ODs in the iMacs are so difficult to replace, those who rely on them will end up with external drives whether they want to or not.
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Would much rather see Apple make the HDs easily accessible in the iMacs.
What would it matter if the HDD was more accessible? They have proprietary connections and hard drive cables, you can't change it anyway.
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