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Phil Schiller Says the MacBook Pro Doesn't Need an SD Card Slot (theverge.com)
Apple's new MacBook Pro models have upset many people for many different reasons. Some are unhappy with the inability to get more than 16GB of RAM, some are upset with the high-price, some are unhappy about the missing physical Escape and function keys, and many are unhappy because Apple didn't put an SD card slot in the MacBook Pro. But Apple has an explanation. From a report on The Verge: Speaking to The Independent (paywalled), Apple exec Phil Schiller said the company had dropped the SD card slot as it was "cumbersome" and because wireless transfer technology for cameras is "proving very useful" as an alternative. Schiller said, "Because of a couple of things. One, it's a bit of a cumbersome slot. You've got this thing sticking halfway out. Then there are very fine and fast USB card readers, and then you can use CompactFlash as well as SD. So we could never really resolve this -- we picked SD because more consumer cameras have SD but you can only pick one. So, that was a bit of a trade-off. And then more and more cameras are starting to build wireless transfer into the camera. That's proving very useful. So we think there's a path forward where you can use a physical adaptor if you want, or do wireless transfer."
Just take the er off his last name and you've pretty much summed the prick up perfectly.
Apple's idea of value is hilariously distorted. Let's charge more than everyone else and deliver less.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
http://www.apple.com/shop/prod...
$49.95
Here is a thought to all you people complaining about Apple's decision making on their products ... DON'T BUY IT.
The only way to get Apple to listen, is to vote with your dollars. If you buy their products, you prove them right.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Let's be honest. The last few changes from the Apple design team have afforded little or no explanation behind them, and they certainly were not done based on consumer input.
Provide all the weak-ass explanations you want Phil. We know the real answer is Fuck You, that's why.
The disgusting nature behind this behavior from vendors is the Fuck You mentality is becoming rather addictive.
Consumers, if you want design change that even hints towards what you may want or need, vote with your wallet, because all other channels have been effectively silenced.
Because if you put two card readers on a laptop that would be crossing the streams open a vortex? Seriously the amount of bullshit these 'journalists' accept from company mouth pieces is absurd.
Or, more likely, Apple just couldn't figure out how to get a SD reader into the stylishly small housing for the MacbookPro. Style over function - welcome to Apple's world.
In the near future, any Apple user will be easily identified by the bag of expensive dongles he/she would have to carry to maintain functionality. Wireless?! Gimme a break, anyone that shoots photos in volume with a DSLR (I routinely get over 1000 shots from a single live music venue shoot, low/variable light and moving subjects makes for a huge number of throwaway shots ) knows that wireless, even relatively current 802.11ac (which nearly no cameras have) can't keep up with a high volume shooting situation for even just still JPGs, let alone RAW files or video. The physically connected card has nearly an order of magnitude advantage in throughput. They are basically ceding the professional market to Linux/Windows machines.
That's the smell of iRome burning.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
The problem is that every professional case is a niche case, and every niche is angry that Apple's not directly catering to their needs and instead offering a platform that requires they buy a couple dongles (which are a pain, no argument) over having one port they'll use and three more they won't.
"No SD slot? Who cares! But I need HDMI-out/firewire/ethernet/RS-232/etc. to do my job! Clearly Apple doesn't care about their professional users!
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
The problem is the guy that knew what the world wanted died and as a result the rest of the monkeys were left in charge.
Actually, here, if a camera has a USB cable, why not just have a micro-USB to Type C cable, so that one can directly connect the camera to the MacBook Pro and move the photos?
Professional cameras are expensive. Even amateur photographers will have many thousands, even tens of thousands tied up in their equipment. These people are not going to buy one of your new "pro" laptops Apple, because you've taken away the ability to either plug the (camera end) proprietary USB cable into it or the the SD card. Your solution, which is to hope that we all upgrade our camera bodies to something more convenient to you, or buy a dongle from you so we can use our cables is not going to cut it.
The counter argument to this is that people who already have thousands invested in their expensive equipment won't mind spending a few more dollars for the adapters if they want to stay in the apple ecosystem. Because you can charge people who are already spending a lot of money to spend a little more. Apple knows its target audience REALLY well. The solution to buy a dongle is definitely going to cut it for a lot of the people.
I'm a guy that is full in the Apple ecosystem and I make money programming for apple devices. But the latest macbook pros are NOT pro.
Wireless from the camera? Is this guy that much of a dipshit? Go ahead and see how fast you can transfer these 36 Megapixel RAW images from my D810 camera. Yes I use the XDHC slot and I dont want to wait a week for these to transfer over wifi. slapping the card in the macbook was super fast and worked great.
Macbook pros are not for pros anymore. It sounds like they really want to eliminate any professional use of their products by removing features that pro photographers use heavily.
It is pretty sad when the last version of the product is significantly better than the latest version.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
It seems that Apple wishes, in the end, to sell people what will ultimately amount to slabs of metal and glass. I can see them removing just about every port from their hardware that they can. The Macs will eventually ship with only 1 USB port, with Apple telling customers to just get adapters, etc. Why, because fuck you we're in the dongle and add-on business now, that's why. Oh, and don't go buying that cheap shit off Amazon, because it will only break your machine, conveniently.
The iPhone? Oh, I'm calling this one right now. In the next few years, the iPhone will ship with no ports or physical ways into it, whatsoever:
The "New" iPhone will be 100% wireless, and serviceable only by Apple. Why? Because fuck you, that's why. Thinking of switching? Good luck with that, all your apps, music, movies, books, and shit you bought from us are tied to our services. You don't own it, remember? Now, how would you like to pay for your new phone, charge pad, Airpods, and extended warranty?
Ah, good choice, sir. Yes, we do offer financing. Why pay for it now when we can fleece you for 15% more over 2 years ...
Who are you talking to? Do you really think Apple designers are reading Slashdot to see what old angry nerds are thinking?
Professional photographers who already have computer setups and a lot of money sunk into software are not going to switch systems because they have to buy a mildly inconvenient dongle that you can get at the local drugstore for $5. They likely are already dealing with such a dongle for their CF cards. Getting rid of the SD card is mildly annoying, I guess. Don't overstate your case.
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
There are two major SD card form factors, three if you include compact flash. There are two major USB connectors for computers (USB and USB-C, not including two the two micro-usb form factors or the large square 'device' connectors). There are *five* video form factors, four of which are still current (DVI, HDMI, DP, Mini-DP).
So he has a point. However, the new macbook-pro goes too far in removing ports. Standard USB ports are still *extremely* useful and for a laptop having a bunch of them is also extremely useful. They removed the separate power port, which basically means there is only one USB-C port available for peripherals.
To say it is stupid is not being critical enough.
-Matt
Actually, Canon has been transitioning their DSLR product line to SD for several years, starting with the 6D (2012). Their newer offerings have an SD card slot to make it easier to get data into your laptop.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Professional cameras are expensive.
Yes they are, and as a result...
These people are not going to buy one of your new "pro" laptops Apple, because you've taken away the ability to either plug the (camera end) proprietary USB cable into it or the the SD card. ...as a result this is not what most professional camera users do. That's because they are using cameras with multiple SD slots, and capture a lot of data - so they don't use a slower internal SD reader that limits them to one card at a time when they can use a faster external reader with more slots to finish transferring images faster.
The only reason the professional camera users ever attach to a laptop via cable is for tethering use in the studio, and then all they will need to carry on is a USB adaptor cable...
Your solution, which is to hope that we all upgrade our camera bodies to something more convenient to youM
Apple's solution is either an adaptor or getting a USB-C to whatever flavor of USB your camera supports cable, or as I said an adaptor - don't be a dramatic idiot.
You also killed your Aperture application after we all spent hundreds of dollars on it
It was "hundreds of dollars" maybe five years ago? It was $70 for a long time before Apple stopped selling Aperture... which by the way still works fine. I agree that Photos is not a good replacement but it's not like there are not a lot of other photo management choices also (though to be sure, I preferred Aperture to anything around now so I am sad to see it no longer supported).
Clearly you don't want our business anymore.
Right because you are going to drag around a Surface Desktop unit... The new MacBook Pros have better screens for photo editing than the Surface Book (the only surface model with an SD card reader), and by the way the Surface Book is using the same GPU as my late 2013 MacBook Pro that I am upgrading from.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Okay, technically my employer purchased the one I'm typing this on now - a 2015 MacBook Pro, which was purchased this past spring specifically because of the (accurate) rumors stating the next version would be losing most of the ports and slots.
I really like this thing. I use the SD slot once or twice a month. I use the Thunderbolt/Displayport ports and the HDMI ports to drive external monitors. I like the MagSafe connector. This machine is well built, and plenty fast. Plus all my Unix stuff runs on it too.
Why am I bothering to say all this? Well... there's a darn good chance my next laptop purchase. a few years from now, won't be a Mac. I'll need to do a fair bit of testing, of course, but I will be looking at how much of a hassle going back to a Linux laptop will be. It's ironic, because I originally moved to Mac from Linux to get away from the hassle. And, all in all, I'd really prefer to stick with OS X... er, macOS, as a platform. But Apple seems hellbent on making their laptops less useful for those of us who actually do need a laptop for work. Sure, having to use a VM to run Photoshop a few times a year will be a hassle... but carrying around a dozen dongles is even more of a hassle - and it's harder to misplace a VM.
#DeleteChrome
I see they didn't have the courage to remove the headphone jacks on the MacBooks yet. Interesting.
That's because that's what makes a laptop a professional model: a bunch of parts that you may or may not ever use.
Any real business laptop these days has an HDMI or DisplayPort output, and probably even a VGA output, because conference room monitors use those connectors. You can't go to some customer site, where you don't know exactly what their conference room has (and they probably don't either, off the tops of their heads), and then bitch at them for not having some brand-new USB-c connection or not having an adapter for your laptop.
Real business laptops have Ethernet jacks, because many businesses (and governments especially) require them for security purposes. How exactly do you think you'd ever use a MacBook with no Ethernet on a secure government network? You wouldn't; those networks are NOT wireless.
A "professional" laptop is not going to require you to carry around a bunch of adapters for all the circumstances you might find yourself in and not anticipate beforehand. This is why *real* pro laptops have all these ports, even if it does make them slightly bigger and heavier. For cheap-ass consumer-grade computers, leaving out stuff that's not used as much may be just fine, but that doesn't work for serious business and professional users.
Where is the use case that they are lugging around a DSLR, lenses, lights, tripods, and a laptop but are really put out by the SD reader?
Its not about the 'lugging it around'; its not even about the cost; it's about the sheer blind arrogance and idiocy of making a tool less useful. The 'pro' series stuff is supposed to be a TOOL for PROFESSIONALS.
Tools are supposed to be functional. When they are less functional for absolutely no good reason, people who use them get pissed.
Nobody thought that macbook pro was too big, nobody wanted it thinner. Nobody wanted them to remove the sd card.
Meanwhile apple comes out with this nonsense...
"and because wireless transfer technology for cameras is "proving very useful" as an alternative"
You know how a photographer works? They fill a card, pull it out, and put in the next one and keep going. They don't sit around for 2 hours doing an 8 or 16GB wireless transfer.
" Then there are very fine and fast USB card readers,"
And it used to be built in.
"and then you can use CompactFlash as well as SD"
Great idea Apple. Add a CF slot. That would be an actual feature.
"we picked SD because more consumer cameras have SD but you can only pick one"
Bullshit. You can pick more than one. You've got all that space from taking the DVD out, and the expresscard slot out, and the SSD is a fraction of the size of the old hard drive... so room isn't a problem. Add the 2nd most popular slot, and watch people actually get excited about the new laptop instead.
Better still make it a modular part, so if it breaks, it's easy to replace. That would be how you design a professional tool.
Oh... you took all that space and made it thinner instead... nobody wanted it thinner.
Imagine you used a heavy duty pickup truck for work.
Then the next years model is announced its new truck, basically a Porsche 911 with a trailer hitch.. And the maker told you, well... this is better because people need to carry different cargo... and this way you can buy exactly the trailer you need!! Oh and with the availability of courier services (aka 'wireless transfer') a lot of people don't even need a truck bed at all... they just make a phone call and the cargo shows up at the destination!!
And just look at this new 'truck' its smaller, and lighter, and handles great. Look how sleek it is. (Well.. until you actually hook up a trailer (aka usb dongle) to it and then its unwieldy as shit... but we didn't REALLY want you to use a trailer with it... did we mention you can get a courier to move stuff for you!!)
Oh, and it's virtually un-serviceable except at specialized dealers; so keep it in the city and maybe the highway -- don't take this truck onto farm roads and mountain roads. Its just not built for that. If you need something from a farm or mountain road... it has this great built in phone you can use to call real professional with actual tools to do it for you!
That's about apple's recent approach to dealing with 'professionals' who need 'tools'.
Any other REAL "pro" laptop will do the job. You know laptops with USB, HDMI, .. ports, SD card, more than 16GB RAM, a full keyboard, ...
Will $CURRENT_YEAR be the year of the Linux Desktop?
Don't worry, "macs4all" will be here filling the comment section with rebuttals to everyone's anti-Apple comments and telling us how Apple can do no wrong.
How does a USB dongle with a reader attached to it stick out less than an SD card mounted in the laptop?
You forgot the argument about pro-level cameras making 50MB RAW files, and how long this will take to transfer wirelessly when you shoot 1000 pictures in one night.
The solution is simple: you just need to stop using RAW, and set the camera to record in a low-resolution JPEG format; that way, wireless transfer will be pretty quick. It takes a courageous company like Apple to make professional photographers realize they're being silly by using these ultra-high-resolution image formats instead of a more convenient, highly compressed JPEG format in low resolution.
That is nearly accurate, except that *every* professional would appreciate a USB port and a Gigabit Ethernet port. They may not always use them, but they are just essential for a lot of different jobs. On the SD card I half agree: I like it, I use it a lot, but it is getting less common.
Of course the elephant in the room is that both USB port and SD port can be used for (cheap) storage extensions. And Apple absolutely wants to prevent that. So I think that is the real reason: form and money over function.
The counter argument to this is that people who already have thousands invested in their expensive equipment won't mind spending a few more dollars for the adapters if they want to stay in the apple ecosystem.
All their expensive equipment will work just fine with a PC, which won't force them to use a dongle just to read an SD card. That's just more shit to carry and potentially lose, and they already have stacks of that. Since Adobe software is now subscription-only, there's nothing keeping most of them from switching. They don't have software licenses they have to leave behind.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Never underestimate the power of convenience. The slot in your laptop is there as long as you have your laptop with you. An external reader is something you have to dig out of your bag. I'm typically doing other things while Lightroom imports photos anyway, so the difference between a minute and two minutes is mostly irrelevant.
Thus, even though I own a UHS-II reader, I only bother to get it out if I need to import contents off of a CF card (because it does both) or when I need to bulk import an unusually large number of images from multiple cards.
Not really, no. Inside the computer are multiple USB hubs—one that provides service for the keyboard, trackpad, and SD slot, and (at least) one that provides service for the ports on the side. The SD card slot was tied in with the keyboard and trackpad, which are almost certainly not using USB 3 communication.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
I have one of those wireless capable cameras. Nearly worthless feature.
First, you have to connect your laptop/phone to the camera's wireless AP, not the other way around. Goodbye internet while transferring files, and having to fuck around with the wireless settings. Want to transfer files to desktop? Nope.
Second, on the cameras I have experience with (Olympus and Sony), you have to use the manufacturers app to transfer files. Want to simply access the files as a disk? Nope. Want to transfer RAW files? Nope.
The only thing the wireless feature is useful is as a remote shutter trigger and viewing the LCD screen when the phone is on a tripod.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
Make it a modular part? That's a great idea. Like, maybe they could make it detachable, and then it would be easy to swap. They could use a standard interconnect for it, maybe with a standards based cable that's really fast, so you don't have to worry about bandwidth.
Modular is good, that way people that don't need it don't have to have their laptop burdened with a useless port.
Not all people that buy Mac Pros are photography professionals. We have a Nikon D3s at home--a pro level camera--and it uses compact flash, so we've NEVER used the SD card slot. My point-and-shoot camera uses a mini-SD card, so I still can't use that SD card slot. Just give me a USB port and an adaptor so I can put WHATEVER thing I want there.
Not all professionals are the same, and not even all professionals of the same type have the same needs. More ports, yes, but more multi-use ports.
On the contrary, he understands that point perfectly well. God forbid someone adds 1 TB of storage to the laptop without purchasing an overpriced SSD from Apple. This is all about selling upgrades, or enticing people to buy the next higher priced model. SD cards are a loophole that had to be closed.
I can't really see why I'd prefer the newer ones. It's not that they're just poor in comparison to the older systems, they're much worse. No USB ports, no MagSafe cord, the price is $400 more, and while I'd rather have a 4 lb computer instead of a 4.5 lb computer, I just don't care enough to abandon USB ports and the MagSafe adapter. There isn't even a good dongle for attaching a couple of USB 3 drives to the machine, which is bona fide insane.
It seems like my decision is made. What I *don't* understand is why Apple came up with these deliberately crippled machines. They're close to unusable.
The problem is that every professional case is a niche case, and every niche is angry that Apple's not directly catering to their needs...
Maybe if we could buy a MacOS laptop from someone besides Apple we wouldn't be so insistent they make a machine that fits what we need.
this latest flap over ports will have faded into history as the rest of the world moves to USB-C too.
So what you're saying is that right now it's as useless as teats on a bull?
Let's be clear about something. No one would be bitching about this if the announcement were made in 2020. Right now I can't find a single "Professional" use case for this laptop other than to give it to the receptionist at some hipster new startup to show how "cool" they are.
USB-C is coming. Everything will plug and play without adaptors. Just in time for this generation of Macbook "un-Pros" to be relegated to the dustbin and upgraded.
but in fairness: no major-brand, professional laptop has had VGA or DVI outputs for awhile. HDMI and [mini-]DisplayPort for sure, but not the pinned ones. Both VGA and DVI are too thick. Most professional laptops have also dumped the ethernet port for the same reason.
What are you talking about? My Dell E6420 isn't *that* old, and has both VGA and Ethernet (and HDMI). My HP laptop at work is about a year old, and also has these same ports. You can't have a professional laptop without Ethernet. Where I work, there is NO wifi at all, for security reasons. Ethernet is the only thing allowed.
For example, the Surface product line has gotten along just fine without HDMI, VGA, or DVI. They expect you to use a dongle, which is itself fine.
That's fine I guess for a consumer product, not a professional laptop. I'm not going to carry around dongles just so I can use the conference room systems at work. And I don't have to, because they're smart enough to buy laptops with a full complement of ports.
Most importantly though? I use ESC without looking and I also use function keys regularly throughout the course of the day: keyboard brightness (up/down), play/pause, and volume (up/down/mute). Now, not only do I get no haptic feedback when I use them, like Surface's failed TouchCover, but they're context aware, which means that they won't always be there!
Yeah, that's really lame. But to be fair, a lot of consumer laptops got rid of the dedicated volume/mute keys ages ago too, just to save money. You're supposed to change volume in software I guess. Business laptops still have these though. So again, Apple shows the new MBP isn't a real business laptop. And not having an Escape key is an outright deal-breaker and makes the machine completely unusable.