Hey Apple, where's the DVD drive gone?

Does anyone else think Apple's made a blunder by ditching the DVD drive from the new iMacs? Seems to have been done for the benefit of this new thin edge. The thin edge's a bit of a gimmick it turns out - as it looks like whale when you spin it around.

Many clients here still ask for DVDs/DVD-Rs at the end of an edit session and they've often arrive with archive/assets on. The format's not quite dead yet.

Seems to be a case of style over substance. They could have simply bumped up the specs and improved the screen and most people would have been happy.

And they've stuck the SD slot on the back. Grr.

We were just about to buy one for our edit suite. Now having second thoughts.

I don't think they have, you can still plug a drive in if you need to and an awful lot of people don't need to nowadays.

Bit clunky to have to plug an external drive in, when you're paying top dollar for an all-in-one, no?

People said that when Apple eliminated the floppy drive from the original iMac, clunky or not it's not going to stop me buying one.

So long you horrible optical discs that would constantly give me grief.

You won't be missed.

Say hello to Floppy, ADB and SCSI when you get to where you're going.

mistermattsmith wrote: Seems to be a case of style over substance.

I reckon Apple looked at their warranty claims and saw how often "Optical Drive Replacement" came up.

Does anyone think that optical media is the future? I can tell you that for showing work (or delivering work, for that matter), I have not made either a custom DVD or authored DVD in years. All of my ad agency clients only want to see links on the Web, not bits of plastic that they will put in a pile and forget about.

Now that I'm watching most of my stuff on Netflix streaming, my blu-ray player is basically mostly a streaming device (it doesn't help that my local excellent video store went bust...).

If you think about it, Apple has zero reason to continue support for DVDs because:

a) They probably have reams of research that says that very few people use their DVD slots ever (or rarely);

b) They sell downloadable movies over iTunes and Apple TV;

c) It's one more piece of non-Apple hardware that they have to support;

d) All software delivery is now either a direct download or via the App Store

e) DVD drives require more space, extra power and sata ports that could be better used for other things

f) External DVD drives via USB 3 cost $50 and if you really really need one, they're easy to come by

g) DVDs and their cases and their shipping are an unnecessary ecological problem that we can be glad to get rid of

h) Need I go on???

You've got a point (or two). Not saying it's the future, just we get asked to burn a fair few data discs for clients who want something to take away and don't have a USB stick with them. Haven't done a proper DVD for ages and upload/FTP most of our stuff. Personally, I don't use CDs/DVDs at home but this is for the work environment; an edit suite.

It didn't bother me one bit that the new iMac doesn't have a DVD drive. I've used my current DVD drive maybe 3 times this year. Having to pull out a standalone drive the few times I need DVD access is OK.

I placed my order for a new 27" on Friday. Apparently not early enough Friday as it may not arrive until early January. So it goes. I've been waiting since April (when my current iMac turned 4 years old) to order a replacement.

Physical media will always be present, it might not be in a disc shape but it will exist!
The main reason Apple is ditching optical media has nothing to do with DVD or Blu-Ray is dead because this years sales show it is alive beating around.
It has something to there design philosophy it doesn't fit right in how they like it. Which is also the reason why FireWire is now gone from the Macbook Pro but they have now the long waiting USB 3.

Can't say I agree with that sentiment at all. NONE of my friends or colleagues use optical media anymore. It would be stupid to expect customers to pay a premium for technology that is clearly on the way out.

It would be stupid to expect customers to pay a premium

Bought any RAM from Apple lately? :lol:

I think it's a convergence of decreasing usage, hardware reliability and aesthetics that have seen Apple ditch the DVD. I still use an optical drive most days, but the lack of one wouldn't stop me buying a new iMac, not for one second.

Steve Jobs already mentioned that optical drives are on the way out in 2007 or so. No surprise that they are finally dropping it five years after the announcement,

If you really need a DVD burner, get an external one for 40 bucks or so.

I think it's more the fact that people aren't interested in DVD anymore. I can't tell you how many Video Rentals stores I've seen this year with CLOSING DOWN signs on them.

"Convergence of decreasing usage"? To me that sounds like the whirlpool you get when you flush the toilet.

Seanus wrote: I think it's more the fact that people aren't interested in DVD anymore. I can't tell you how many Video Rentals stores I've seen this year with CLOSING DOWN signs on them.

No-one used their Mac's DVD burners to make DVDs for the DVD stores though. I use mine for convenient storage and transport, and plenty of people in my organisation use them for distribution. Still. In addition, lots of stuff is brought to me on DVD. Like I said, the lack of one wouldn't stop me buying a new iMac, but I'll get an external. Just like I bought an external floppy drive way back when. It went well with my Zip drive...

Well, it seems the DVD is dead! I'll bow to popular opinion.

We'll prob go for a new iMac and just get an optical drive until the clients stop asking for data discs. They're only £50, so it's not the end of the world.

mistermattsmith wrote: so it's not the end of the world.

December 21st, they reckon.

I'd agree with others on the death of DVDs.
Personally I do back up data to Blu-ray. I have a single external burner that I hook up to whatever Mac I'm using (I have several). That makes more sense than have an optical drive built into each especially given the risk of drive failure over time and the time it takes to replace especially on MBP, iMac, MacMini.

Generally I find it much easier and better quality to post a 1080p video on YouTube or 720p on Vimeo than use an optical disk with all the potential compatibility issues. For transferring files, DropBox is good. I just send the client the link. All this can be as little as Free.

I surely do agree with DVDs on their way out.
I surely do agree that an iMac is an All-in-one that potentially has no need for a DVD in our times.
I surely disagree with the stick slot on the back though....but a wire can solve that
I surely do agree that some clients ask for DVDs. Like a wedding or a christening the cheap external solution is of course just fine for that...which gives you all kinds of options. (However, here its our job to convince these clients that DVDs are junk - for obvious reasons , ie resolution if your doing video_ts....)
I also surely expect a new MacPro that we can customize to our needs....any news on that front?

Anyway, soon literally everyone will have some kind of viewing device attached or unattached to them to view anything you can make for them....

(oohh and DVD stores closed because of things like netflix, itunes, and torrents)

With Flash drives less than a dollar a GB and much more secure, compact and reusable than any optical media, it makes much more sense to use them instead.

For producers who do social events and corporate videos, absolutely you are going to need an external burner so your clients can watch your work in DVD players. But you are now a niche I'm afraid so it makes no sense for Apple to put optical drives in their computers for only a very few.

What I'd really like to see Apple do is introduce something iCloud Pro where you use it to distribute content to your clients instead of having to use those shiny coasters.