With the arrival of the new MacBook Air, all Macs will have SD card readers. The Air doesn't have an optical drive. What do you all think of the likelihood of Apple distributing OS X on SD cards going forward?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
OS X to be distributed on SD cards?
- Thread starter ipedro
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
SD cards are too easy to lose, cd/dvd media is still dominant in the marketplace and inexpensive. They'll switch to downloads only before they do that.
MacBooks don't have SD slots. Judging by some of the threads here on MR asking for help, it appears to be just as easy to lose a DVD as an SD card.
Flash based media is still much more expensive than e.g. DVDs and Blu-Rays are (i.e. optical media). Also, SD cards can't be pressed while optical media can so that would increase the manufacturing expenses.
MBA has never had an optical drive but Snow Leopard came on DVD. You can use other Mac's DVD drive or an external DVD drive via USB
MBA has never had an optical drive but Snow Leopard came on DVD. You can use other Mac's DVD drive or an external DVD drive via USB
There may be some online distribution of OSX in future. I wouldn't be surprised by that, considering the Air...
Can an SD card (or flash drive in general) be made Read Only? The old floppies had a mechanical "switch" that could be flipped to make it impossible to write to a floppy. CDs are of course by nature Read Only. It only makes sense to distribute installation software on Read Only media.
If SD cards can be made Read Only, I kinda think that Apple may be going that way. It's not just the cost of the card, but also the cost of packaging and shipping. Plus, Apple may be thinking environmental issues too. I don't know what the green credentials are SD vs CD, but there might be some motivation there.
If we continue to see SD slots added to Macs, then I expect there is a good reason.
If SD cards can be made Read Only, I kinda think that Apple may be going that way. It's not just the cost of the card, but also the cost of packaging and shipping. Plus, Apple may be thinking environmental issues too. I don't know what the green credentials are SD vs CD, but there might be some motivation there.
If we continue to see SD slots added to Macs, then I expect there is a good reason.
The software reinstall drive is a USB key. Same direction, different format.
I just knew that with Apple heading in the direction of dropping optical media that they had to start shipping their Macs with a physical version of the OS on Flash memory. Here it is: the Reinstall Drive.
I just knew that with Apple heading in the direction of dropping optical media that they had to start shipping their Macs with a physical version of the OS on Flash memory. Here it is: the Reinstall Drive.
I can see them doing that with 10.7 as all macs have USB, SD cards won't happen since not all macs have them, but USB would work well.
Is the USB Key Read Only? I suppose with it's Unix underpinnings it wouldn't be hard to set it Read Only? I don't know, I'm a photographer, dammit, not a developer. (sorry - no pun intended)
Anything set at the filesystem could be unset so I see nothing about OSX being Unix or not that would effect the read-only state of the card. It could be read-only at a hardware level though.
The same way SD cards are. I hope they are read-only, otherwise some people could think "hey a nice flash drive! I'm going to format it".
Honestly, I don't really care what they distribute it on going forward. What I hope, is that they introduce a digital download.
I'm in India, and it takes up to 3 months for the software disks to reach here officially. I have a fairly decent unlimited connection, why can't I pay using my card and download the damn disk image?
I'm hoping their new datacenter in X Carolina will be something.
I'm in India, and it takes up to 3 months for the software disks to reach here officially. I have a fairly decent unlimited connection, why can't I pay using my card and download the damn disk image?
I'm hoping their new datacenter in X Carolina will be something.
haha thats a cute box, if it comes on a USB pin i'm going to reformat it! thats like the most awesome USB pin ever! I'll just rip it to another USB pin
I'll just rip it to another USB pin
USB flash drives are much faster than DVDs. SD cards too. If you have to reinstall, it is much more convenient.
And besides, I would definitely buy a MBP without DVD drive...