This is the Beginning of the End for the Optical Drive (Apple removed DVD
Shane Richmond says this is the beginning of the end for the optical drive. Apple last week removed DVD drives from its Mac Mini computers
Apple updated some of its computers last week. The MacBook Air and the Mac Mini both got significant processor upgrades and the addition of Thunderbolt ports. While the additions are interesting, it's something that was removed that is especially telling.
It's not the MacBook, though Apple did quietly retire its trusty old laptop from service, leaving just the Air and the Pro in the MacBook range. What's gone is the optical drive on the Mac Mini.
That means neither the Air or the Mini have optical drives anymore. If you want to play a DVD or a CD - or to save data to one - then you'll need a £66 SuperDrive. The MacBook Pro retains an optical drive for now but it's clear that Apple believes that the disc is living on borrowed time.
Many will argue that it is too soon to ditch the disc. Apple is familiar with that sort of reaction, however, and hasn't been deterred in the past. There was an outcry, for example, when the iMac was launched in 1998 without a floppy disk drive. Apple's other computers gradually followed suit. Dell didn't remove floppy drives from its machines until 2003.
If those who genuinely need an optical drive are not yet a minority then they soon will be. My MacBook Pro has an optical drive but I can't remember the last time I needed to use it. At the end of last year I switched to a MacBook Air for day-to-day use and I've never wished that it had an optical drive.