Comments deleted.

I'm sure it would be useful for the new macbook to have one, and perhaps Apple has listened to constructive feedback and it will be reintroduced to the macbook.

But some people seemed to have lost the plot over this.
Lets see:
I can still buy a macbook pro with firewire
I can still buy a desktop mac with firewire
I can still even buy a macbook with firewire - the plastic version and at a cheaper price now

stupid, stupid, stupid....grow up. how many windows laptops have a firewire port? Not many. BTW i do own a MB Pro and never really use the port. I have a video camera that records on SD cards in HD. A 16gb card will hold about 1 hour of video (HD) and about 3 hours of video @ 800x600. I almost forgot, if you don't like the 13inch model then get the 15, from what i remember the 15inch has the fire wire 800.

stupid stupid stupid... I don't need that option so how could you? I have a video camera with some specs and it records video. I almost forgot, pay more money than you want and quite your discontent.

This is retarded - first they change the voltage of the ipod dock connector on the new nano so that it doesn't work with any of the 3rd party products and now this.
This is an interesting move considering apple touts its "iLife" suite with "iMovie" - gee I wonder how people are going to import their video now? and it's not like Apple includes an expansion slot (like EVERY other laptop has) so that you can add a firewire card.
and NeBuN - who cares if you can record 3 hours of crap video on an SD card- most people like to use REAL video cameras not cheap pieces of junk. (oh, and there is ONLY a 13 macbook - the 15" is only available on the pro)

unatommer HD recording is not as you would say "cheap piece of junk" if you know anything about high speed SD cards you will come to realization that they don't come cheap. let me say it again, "i can record in HD" and don't have to worry about connecting my camera to transfer the movies to my computer. maybe you need to buy better equipment, lol

ExpressCard is only available in the MB PRO, which still has firewire. The new, non-pro MB don't have any options...

So let me get this straight, people buy a new macbook without actually looking at the damn thing, and then complain it doesn't have what they want?
And, BTW, most notebooks today DO carry firewire ports, and pretty much all of them have expresscard slots, if not pcmcia.

Guess all those people will have to get PC's, which can crush those silly macbooks at everything they do.

And, "beefier graphics"? Really? A 9600mGT performs almost the same as the 8600mGT it replaced. You can't tell a difference between the two. When apple loads them with a better GPU and doesn't increase the price $500, then we'll talk beefier graphics.

For music, firewire is the defacto for transfer rates, as the real time through put of fire wire is faster then USB 2.0.

Mac is the big name in audio and is what many people will turn to for mobile recording. No firewire is a mistake from that point of view, as it was mac that originally pushed firewire.

Firewire 400= 400 mil
USB 2.0 = 480 mil

Why do Appleheads always think that their crap is always faster and better?
When it almost NEVER is. Or else, they'd have been gaming for the last 6 years, instead of hiding.

Devin here

I think the reason a lot of Mac owners are upset is that FireWire is an Apple-created connector. Plus, a lot of those people complaining are coming from a video editing background. If you are using top end Mini DV-based camera, which is what a lot of students in film school use nowadays, you can no longer connect it to a MacBook because these cameras only use FireWire for connectivity. So, while the MacBook Pro has a lot to offer over the regular MacBook, many people who would have been content with a regular MacBook now have to shell out another several hundred dollars just to get a port? Seems a little unfair to me.

Lets see
Macbook pro $700 more for a $6 port plus more weight and bulk
Desktop (I'll just hop on the plan with a Mac Pro and 30" Cinema display)
Previous Macbook (I don't buy a new computer to get previous generation parts plus it does not have the GeForce 9400)

As for the people saying they don't need firewire so you don't either. Well I for one like fast external hard drives over firewire which also won't tax my CPU like USB will. However Apple did keep the more expensive blutooth which I am sure even less people use than Firewire and the more expensive 802.11n when for the vast majority 802.11g is fine. The most erksome part of Apple dropping firewire is not knowing what the future holds for the rest of the lines and if we will ever see FW3200 on a Mac.

If they are concerned about space they could use mini 4 pin connectors rather than the 6 pin.

I would have been fine with this if they gave us an expansion slot to use a third party card at least. I guess I can always go the Hackintosh route.

Apple try's to play off as the hip and cool company buy they really aren't. This isn't the first time Apple has tried to censor any criticism or the existence of major problems.

When you look past their marketing you will see how bad of a company they really are. Any company that blatantly censors its consumers voices just to keep people uneducated about a products flaws (such as that monitor problem they had) just so they continue to make more sales of a product simply doesn't deserve to stay in business.

For the $1999 price of the Macbook Pro, I would much rather get this HP:

* • Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)
* • Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.4 GHz)
* • 17.0" diagonal WXGA+ HD HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1440 x 900)
* • 8GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* • 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
* • 320GB 5400RPM SATA HD with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
* • HP Imprint Finish (Mesh) + Microphone + Webcam
* • Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
* • SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
* • 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery


Especially since Adobe CS4 is 64-bit on the Windows side only. You can utilize much of that ram if you're working on some major project in CS4. Also, HP offers very similar specs on their new 13.3" laptop as well. With 64-bit computing now on our doorstep, I think for a high end laptop workstation, 6GB - 8GB of ram is the way to go, if you want something that will last your 4 years.

Very true you could get a awesome laptop like that for the same price and actually be able to run 99% of software rather than limiting yourself to the mercy of whomever feels like throwing Mac users a bone.

lol apple is the biggest scam of a company ever created.

It is true that many students and Video Pros have the higher-end video cameras. If your going to spend all that money on a high-end camera why not just buy a higher-end Notebook (one with firewire)? How about this idea, buy a USB-to-Firewire cable, seems like a trivial issue.

Because Firewire is faster than USB. Though USB is technically 480 vs 400, due to a very different architecture, Firewire actually has a much higher sustained throughput.

That is the theoretical maximum speed. Anyone who's used both with the same external case or has ever read an external case review which uses both USB 2.0 and Firewire knows that Firewire is indeed faster in most cases.

It isn't just Apple. Lots of companies delete comments. The whole idea of administration privileges over any public forum is censorship. It happens here, and I've seen it happen in online shopping websites, specifically Ewiz.com. It's likely part of the reason they changed their name to EBiz. It's really disappointing that they would delete a review of a bad or overpriced product. The whole idea is that people be allowed to express their opinion of something for the benefit of others. If I don't like something, I should be allowed to say so openly and freely, without being stripped of my voice. I was closed to the idea of online identification practices for a long time due to privacy issues, but I think an international age-related access system for websites really needs to be in place. When I go to Newegg to shop, I want to know that a motherboard is a motherf'n POS and why. I don't need it G-rated. But I don't want my kid going online and going anywhere that isn't. Credit card verification is unsafe for my personal financial security IMO, and it isn't hard for a child to steal mom's card out of her wallet. Heck, I did that once 12 yrs ago to get my folks signed up for dialup because they weren't keeping up with the times. LOL

Honestly, everyone is complaining about the lack of firewire in their consumer based laptop line. True i am not happy about it, i like to have the option of using it, but everyone who is complaining is talking about their fast drives, and HD cameras. If you are doing any major Video work, then you really have no place using a macbook. You should be using the pro for its larger screen, its Firewire 800 port and higher processing power. The macbook is geared for the average consumer, the guy or gal who wants to go around check their e-mail, maybe do some light video work, where cameras use usb. And you want fast HDD, you want firewire 800 which was never available on the macbook, only on the MBP.

Really people, realize what each laptop is designed to do. You got your macbooks for the average consumers and you got your MBP for the professionals and rising pros. If you got all of that gear and its your career then spend the money in the right direction.

First of all there IS a FireWire port in the new MacBook Pro, it is a FireWire 800, here are the tech specs at Apple http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html, second using the word infamous tells me this site is biased and before you make articles like this DO YOUR RESEARCH!!

Why no eSata ports? Do they hate superior transfer speeds or something?

They don't have to shell out more! They can in fact pay less.
They can still buy the plastic macbook, which is cheaper than the new one.
While I agree that it is a mistake for Apple to drop the port in the new macbook, if people are pleading poverty here get the cheaper one that does have firewire, or alternately wait till the next rev of the macbook and hope that one has firewire... This idea that consumers are without choice over this issue when even limiting yourself to just Apple products is pure rubbish.

There really shouldn't be much of a big deal on this. My last PC upgraded didn't include a firewire port, but it didn't bother me really as I still have an older PC with firewire. My next camera will either be Hard Drive or memory card... no more tape or transfers. If apple sells 1 million macbooks in which those people are NOT missing the $4 connector/controller vs 2~5 that would, thats $4million dollars saved.

Just like using firewire was a GREAT step up from transfering A/V over composite cables, it still took 1hr to transfer a 1hr video to a computer. With modern HD/memory cams, that same 1hr video is transfered to the computer in 5~10minutes.

To the guy who called them "appleheads" - Firewire is better than USB 2.0, and has been around before USB 1.0. Its not just an apple thing, SONY and TI got on board and created an I/O standard that has worked very well. (In the real world, Firewire400 is STILL faster than USB 2.0... and we're not including Firewir800. Keep in mind that Apple was first to make USB a standard to add to a personal computer.

actually to be fair for that $700 you get better hardware not just a $6 port (assuming that's the cost involved putting one into the unit?!).

I'm not disagreeing that it is going to be a pain for some people.

But you can't please everyone... My issue is really with how over the top some people are being about this port, when in reality there are so many options to get around it it isn't funny.

Ok maybe it scores slightly less in some benchmarks if you go back to the plastic model, well then suck it up and get the pro. If you can't afford it accept that you will have to make a compromise, or get a Dell.

You people don't understand...
All Steve wants, is for you to buy all NEW equipment when ever a new Mac (or iPod) is released.

What's the problem?

Quote " If apple sells 1 million macbooks in which those people are NOT missing the $4 connector/controller vs 2~5 that would, thats $4million dollars saved." End quote

Yes but if there are 50,000 who must have firewire and who don't buy, then the total profit on that 50,000 will be lost, plus some additional loss because unit production and marketing costs rise on the rest because 50,000 less are sold. I have no idea what Apple's profit per Macbook are but let's imagine a hypothetical figure of $150 per unit. $150 times the 50,000 units in lost sales = 7.5 million.
Admittedly, this figure is rather meaningless because it will be partly offset by many of the 50,000 purchasing the white Macbook or Macbook Pro.
We could go around in circles here for nothing. No, I think the real cost involved here is Apple's Goodwill.
The firewire users are almost certainly amongst the Mac users most devoted to the Mac. Their collective enthusiasm has been the main force in spreading a positive image for the Apple Mac over past years. Suddenly, since 10/14, huge numbers of them are screaming, calling the decision "stupid", "dumb". This mass protest on internet sites is bound to be picked up by the media as a "fun story to run with", and it would be astonishing if certain vendors of other computer brands, and many of their users, don't see this as a wonderful opportunity to knock Apple.
The real bottom line to Apple will be the extent to which Apple's image is hurt by this act.


Quote "Just like using firewire was a GREAT step up from transfering A/V over composite cables, it still took 1hr to transfer a 1hr video to a computer. With modern HD/memory cams, that same 1hr video is transfered to the computer in 5~10minutes." unquote

Agreed 100 percent.
But -
A - In that 1 hour transfer time you have the opportunity to watch the video clips going into iMovie and decide then which to keep and which to reject. If you don't see them then you will have to spend that hour later watching the file.
B - Normally, this hour of capture is only a tiny part of the total time necessary to capture, edit, insert titles, convert codecs, and finally toast the whole thing onto a DVD (Or one day a 1920x1080 disk).
C - Recording on tape gives me this cassette as an easily portable and permanent archive at very little cost. (Stable for decades I hope). And for the price of another cassette (1 to 2 dollars) I can also make a copy on a second back-up tape, camera to camera. In addition I keep what I capture to iMovie as further copy or copies on external hard drives (Though as I film more and more I need more and more hard drives, and I have a shelf-full of firewire drives above the computer already).
With a camera recording on SD cards I would only have the copies on hard drives, unless I want to save the originals on 16 to 64 Gb SD cards and these are, at present, hugely more expensive than DV tapes.

Why the @#$% would i buy a plastic white one if a i want a 13inch laptop with firewire?why downgrade? As an A/V student and $1000s invested in small home studio I took it as a slap in the face. Firewire is vital A/V market and Education market. Mac OSX is great and the software is awesome. but im not going to do whatever a CEO(who seems to be losing it)wants me to do, downgrade or fork over about $800 more. this "Pro" notion is pure crap that only hipsters(Ipod,Email,coffee shops) would believe, I dont think that a smart chimp would.
If enough consumers who hold out on buying the new Macbook, this should hit Apple's revenue and hopefully make them implement a FW port on their next revision. An online petition has had 17,000+ signatures and more than 3/4 have already expressed their discontent to Apple.

Strong words Fern but much as I used to trust the Apple of the old days, in general I agree with your sentiments.

Dropping firewire, and not mentioning it in the Oct 14th speech looks like trying to put one over on the customers. From my personal point of view it looks like arrogance.

I went into shock. Firewire is what makes a Mac a Mac isn't it?.
A Mac without firewire... ? How would I connect to that ? My computing world fell apart. I felt hurt and betrayed.

Lack of space for firewire cannot be the cause. The ethernet port was left on and is not essential. I run ethernet through a USB port using a 30 dollar non-Apple adaptor, and it runs quicker than my ethernet port does. I don't know of any alternative to lack of firewire except look for another computer that has it.

I could buy the little white Macbook but won't for I have a similar and slightly slower one already.

I could buy the Macbook Pro but won't. Here in Europe the basic model costs 1799 euros. When you add the 3 years after-care insurance to that it comes to almost 2000 euros which is about 2600 US dollars.

So, I have borrowed a Windows PC to try it out. It took about a day to get used to the operating system. I love its connectability and all the applications available. And about 90 percent of the computing world uses them so they can't be that bad.

I'll wait to see what early next year's top of the line Mac Mini offers. If it has Firewire 400 and 800 and maybe a SATA or eSATA port or an expansion slot and enough other attractions I will buy one or two. If not it is time to move on.

I read on the internet yesterday that Apple took on 8000 extra retail staff in 2008. Perhaps this was to sell more music or ipods or iphones.
Or was this to fight the firewire resistance I asked myself ? If so, a better alternative surely would have been to reduce prices and make sure you make computers that are unbeatable.

I get the side who are upset over the loss of an important technology on the new 13 inch book from Apple. These are legitimate concerns that should be heard by Apple.

I don't get the side who are outraged over the former's outspoken voice against the omission. To those who wish to squelch the dissent: How does this serve you?