Apple files hint at re-engineered iMac and Mac Pro models, potentially without optical drives (http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/08/09/apple_files_hint_at_re_engineered_imac_and_mac_pro _models_potentially_without_optical_drives.html)

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......


the article continues at the link above

On one hand, I hardly use my ODD anymore.

On the other hand, I'd still expect one to be present on a desktop machine.

I use my Mac Pro ODD constantly.

Not any immediate threat, but some of us are going to have to rethink a decade or two of archival storage...

or buy some external DVD drives...
(and I use my ODD a lot too.)

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 :

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.

just curious, is there any speed benefit to having optical on sata rather than externally usb?

I'd say so assuming you had high speed media and maybe a 14x blu ray burner. Even top of the line DVD burning could saturate a USB 2 interface.

That's why I'd at least get a FW 800 blu ray burner.

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.

What would it matter if the HDD was more accessible? They have proprietary connections and hard drive cables, you can't change it anyway.

Not true for the past 2 revisions - the drives can be changed no problem with anything you want. The Late '09 models had proprietary temp sensor cables.

Not true for the past 2 revisions - the drives can be changed no problem with anything you want. The Late '09 models had proprietary temp sensor cables.

Not true. In the last two revisions, mid-2011 and late-2011, Apple has altered the SATA power connector itself from a standard 4-pin power configuration to a 7-pin configuration. Hard drive temperature control is regulated by a combination of this cable and Apple proprietary firmware on the hard drive itself.

Not true. In the last two revisions, mid-2011 and late-2011, Apple has altered the SATA power connector itself from a standard 4-pin power configuration to a 7-pin configuration. Hard drive temperature control is regulated by a combination of this cable and Apple proprietary firmware on the hard drive itself.

Interesting. That said, I've still swapped in other non-Apple branded drives no problem into Mid 2011 iMac models without issue.

I certainly don't miss the optical drive on the rMBP. For the quiet alone, it's worth it.

I haven't hooked up my external DVD-RW once.

...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.....

Maybe you didn't read the rest of chas_m's post.
In his original post, chas_m states quite clearly why this makes perfect sense.

I'll repost chas_m's reasons for you here:

... 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....

What would it matter if the HDD was more accessible? They have proprietary connections and hard drive cables, you can't change it anyway.

also lol-level hilarious to have a guy calling himself emacman commenting about difficult hard drive upgrades..i would rather change the drive in a current iMac drunk and blindfolded than have to change the drive in an old emac haha

Have to agree with chas_m on this one. External USB tray loading optical drives are dirt cheap, faster and more reliable than an internal optical drive.

The slot loader on my MacBook is pretty much unusable. When it refuses to read a disc, I have to reboot and/or get out the Emergency Straightened Paperclip of Extraction

I bought an IDE multiburner years ago and put it in an ancient FW400 case (remember DVD-RAM? I had one...) and it is a hell of a lot faster and more reliable, plus it has DL that Apple didn't bother to put in my MB.

SATA burners are under $20 and a case still makes it less than Apple's exorbitantly priced unit.

These days, I would splurge and get a SATA Blu-Ray burner and stick it in a FW800 case.

Interesting. That said, I've still swapped in other non-Apple branded drives no problem into Mid 2011 iMac models without issue.

Not likely. Unless you use a software fan controller (HDD Fan Control), the fans rev to 6000 rpm. Unless you short the leads on the drive connector, AHT and ASD (likely MRI too) will fail.

Maybe you didn't read the rest of chas_m's post.


i absolutely did. maybe you didn't read the rest of my post where i said i agree with the move away from it for portables, am indifferent for it on imacs , but completely against it for mac pros. the thread is about the rumour of apple axing it on their desktop models, so when he suggests that someone who used optical media a lot would be better off with an external optical drive i completely disagree. to go through his points:


... External drives are cheap, fast (and going to get faster now that you can use eSATA and Thunderbolt),

internal optical drives already use a SATA connection

easy to replace if they break

just as easy to replace on a mac pro

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....

all not an issue with a mac pro....

but even on an imac, if a user really needed to use optical media they'd still be better off with an internal device. (or at least the option of it being there). if they really wanted an external then they're free to add that after the fact. why should EVERY desktop owner be deprived of that option?

As the owner of a 2008 Mac Pro which will be due for a replacement sometime in the next few years, I'm not all that worried if the optical drive is gone. I can't remember the last time I used mine and can certainly cope with an external drive. I have plenty of USB flash drives (keeping track of them is the main challenge - there IS a downside to making things tiny!) so don't burn things to CD/DVD very often either. I suspect that I may never use up the collection of blank CDs and DVDs I have.

I do still have some software on DVD - Adobe Creative Suite, Windows 7 OEM, etc. However, more and more, my software purchases are online as well.

So rather than lament the things that the new Mac Pro may not have, what do people want to see in the new beasts? I'm hoping that Apple will finally see the light and include eSATA.

Not likely. Unless you use a software fan controller (HDD Fan Control), the fans rev to 6000 rpm. Unless you short the leads on the drive connector, AHT and ASD (likely MRI too) will fail.

We (I personally) upgraded a Mid 2011 27" iMac with a new drive straight out-of-the-box with a bigger drive before the unit even left the store as the customer wanted a bigger drive installed the same day as pick-up. This was a few months ago.