And don’t get me started on display adaptors – I currently have 3 and now anticipating purchasing a 4th since they decided to change it again for no other reason than to make more money. Apple are nothing if not experts at making money!
(btw regarding Will’s “turning followers into plain old fags” comment and Joe’s follow up : while I agree its an unacceptable term in most cases, It IS possible Will was using the term to mean the english private school boy nickname for a junior forced to do the bidding of a senior boy. It does fit & is very appropriate in this instance!)

I have to resort to backups less than 10% of the time.

That doesn’t mean that it isn’t really important.

The idea with expansion slots is not that they’re 100% necessary for a functioning computer, but that they give you options.

Somebody might own a machine for a year, and then it comes in handy. It’s true, lots of people just swear at their computer in ignorance when they’ve got their firewire or USB devices all traffic’d out. Maybe somebody might need to hook into some datacenter while running Linux via supercomputing fabric…

These are the people who really buy computers, and spend money. It’s not something one should marginalise. That’s the future, you know.

Obviously what with how uneducated people are when it comes to computing, the “bottom” or “newbie/lazy/cheapskate” side of the market has a large population, and is easy to sell to.

And guess what? The hard drive heads cxrashed horrible whizzing click of death. Yesterday.

OK so screw platters, we’ll go for an SSD now methinks.

I guess USB 3.0 and ethernet are supposed to take the place of a motherboard bus.

I have no problem with Apple’s obvious strategic move to making its huge consumer segment(s)feel that they are on par with the pros. But on the hand, why would Apple choose to disregard the loyal 10% pro segment that has built its business?

Forget about rewards for customer loyalty. I believe most of us in the film/video industry would willingly pay more to have the new 15 inch model specially configured and dressed to suit our needs, within reason. Is Apple even in tune with how this industry has changed and continues to evolve?

Much like the core values that Apple is perceived to emanate, creativity and innovation is the driving force of the film/video, media and related sectors. But pros of our ilk no longer, all need to be operating from, or occupying a small confined phsical base to do our thing! Team members are now constantly on the go, often miles apart and at different points of the globe,collaborating on one or several projects simultaneously. We care more about traveling lightly and still getting the job done efficiently, wherever we are. Plus, it’s still a team effort for the most part – editors/writers/videographers/sound engineers/clients/talents/other media personnel – and with the current dynamics of the industry there’s a greater chance of more team members having their own “portables”, so we can stay intouch, make adjustments on the go and be updated on projects. Clearly, the the Macbook Pro fintteen-incher is a better option here.

And let’s face it, the 17 inch Macbook Pro still has its place in some professional settings.

I challenge Apple to wake up to the reality and smell the coffee as some would say!

I doubt very much that the competition is fully asleep. I imagine they’re ddddreaming of ways to fill the gap left by by Apple.

But in the meantime, what do I do? I,m ready to move to the next level, where I don’t have to sit in the same room with my editor or graphic artist, or even my narrator or sound engineer colleague in order create wonders on the screen.
Any advice?

An SD card slot is a mockery, a SD card reader cost less than 20$ and is fairly slow and could be connected using either USB or the expresscard. Besides a Professional camera often uses CF cards.
The SD reader if for yuppies and their phones, not professional users.

A bought a new MacBook Pro to use in a event company.
I need the ExpressCard slot for video hardware.
I’m going to en up buying hardware for almost 8 times more expensive because of the missing PCI ExpressCard slot, that is a huge difference. Then the video hardware will use to much of the bandwith to have a functional external storage solution upon that.

Rediculous!!

Apple’s survey was flawed because it was based on the large quantity of non-pro users who buy what the pros use. Of course only 10% of the customer base for this laptop line use the Express Card slot – many of the people who buy this laptop is underusing it, but they bought it because it is the top choice of media professionals. Does this mean the Macbook Pro should be hobbled to meet the needs of the masses? Ducati doesn’t hobble some of their motorcycles because a percentage of their customer base are over 50 and might be better off on an electric tricycle.

I am a video and photography professional and I have a new MBP 15″. It is not as versatile as my last 15″ MacBook Pro and it is severely limited for some of my creative applications. I did not use the Express card sot on my last 15″ MacBook Pro, but now I need faster data rates because I edit bigger video files that need a larger data “pipe”. The Express Card slot is my solution, but instead, I have a slow SD card slot. This is very frustrating because an SD card reader costs about $20 dollars, while replacing my brand new light and highly portable 15″ laptop because it lacks one VITAL slot will cost over $2500, and the replacement will be a tank.

This gets to a larger issue – Data rates to external devices on all Macs are too slow. Apple is still fighting ridiculous data cable battles at the expense of their customers. FW800 should not be the fastest port on a laptop, or an iMac. FW is antiquated for data transfer and severely in need of an update. Today’s data rates for video editing demand eSata or USB 3.0.

Consumers and professionals alike are consuming more media than ever, storing more songs and pictures on our laptops, and using consumer apps like iTunes, iMovie and iPhoto more often… and these apps do not manage data well – they fill our system drives faster than manufacturers can make bigger laptop drives! With all this media clogging our laptops, even the non-professional would likely appreciate it if a Time Machine backup took 1 hour instead of 3 hours, or if we could move 100GB of pictures off a laptop in 10 minutes instead of forty minutes.

Apple needs to keep the Pro laptops pro, or creative professionals will move to some other brand and model… leaving the MacBook Pro to deteriorate via customer survey into a fancy netbook.