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Why are there SD slots on the new MacBook Pro's?

harry20larry

harry20larry

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 14, 2008
574
14
Why are there SD slots on the new MacBook Pro's, surely the hint is in the name, pro.
These laptops are supposedly designed for pros, so any photographer with a DSLR should know that compact flash is the only way to go, because is simply better than SD.
I think Apple are trying to reach out to more people with this slot rather than satisfy the loyal customers who buy their products.
Maybe there should be a choice between the two on the 15" and 17"?
 
harry20larry said:
Why are there SD slots on the new MacBook Pro's, surely the hint is in the name, pro.
These laptops are supposedly designed for pros, so any photographer with a DSLR should know that compact flash is the only way to go, because is simply better than SD.
I think Apple are trying to reach out to more people with this slot rather than satisfy the loyal customers who buy their products.
Maybe there should be a choice between the two on the 15" and 17"?
Click to expand...

A pro would probably use a FW800 CF card reader anyways...;)
 
there is a simple answer to this...and the OP is not seeing it.

not only do 'pro' SLR camera's now support SD as standard due to speed and capacity, but the new SD format which is awaiting approval will be waaaay faster and think about that in terms of it being a modem slot or audio card input, not just a £99 1gb sd slot...

apple may be tight arse's these days but they are not going to cripple their new laptop line for no reason
 
Peace said:
Most newer DSLR cameras come with SD cards. My Nikon does.
Click to expand...

All 'Pro' level DSLRs come with at least a CF card slot. I too, don't get why Apple decided to ditch expresscard for a built in SD card reader? If i wanted SD i would get an expresscard SD reader, if i'm not using a multi-card firewire or expresscard reader already.
 
harry20larry said:
Why are there SD slots on the new MacBook Pro's, surely the hint is in the name, pro.
These laptops are supposedly designed for pros, so any photographer with a DSLR should know that compact flash is the only way to go, because is simply better than SD.
I think Apple are trying to reach out to more people with this slot rather than satisfy the loyal customers who buy their products.
Maybe there should be a choice between the two on the 15" and 17"?
Click to expand...

CF is dying... won't be long until it's gone for good.

Cheers,
 
vincebio said:
apple may be tight arse's these days but they are not going to cripple their new laptop line for no reason
Click to expand...

Actually, they crippled it so their 17" would still have an advantage over the other MBPs. It just forces people who need ExpressCards to consider the 17", which cost way more and gives it an additional advantage aside from the much improved 1920x1200 screen.
 
My Nikon D80 only uses SD cards, and I have a Rev. A Macbook Pro with express card slot and Firewire 400/800 that I have never used for anything. I almost got a Sprint express card for internet, but that was $60 versus free for the USB dongle. I have read that CF cards are more stable than SD, but in 3 years and 15k photos later, I have never had an issue with the 4 different brand names SD cards that I am using. My 2 cents.
 
kimnkk said:
Actually, they crippled it so their 17" would still have an advantage over the other MBPs. It just forces people who need ExpressCards to consider the 17", which cost way more and gives it an additional advantage aside from the much improved 1920x1200 screen.
Click to expand...
Yes. Or, perhaps the fact that whiney pros have shunned the 13" and 15" models due to the lack of a matte option has resulted in ExpressCard-dependant pros flocking to the 17", while the 13-15" models have become the darlings of prosumers. As a consequence, ExpressCard usage will have dropped to near zero on those models but demand for a card reader has gone up. Cause and effect.
 
dr. shdw said:
CF cards are faster by a lot. Higher end Pro SLRs have even 2 CF card slots. The D3X raw files are ~140mb each, have fun writing that to a SD card. ;)
Click to expand...

True, but you know they'll just come up with some super speedy SDXLHDHC card to solve that and the new MBP won't support that either. :)

Cheers,
 
All I know is that I just got my 15" Macbook Pro today and I've already used the SD card slot to import photos, but I wouldn't have used the express card slot for anything probably ever. It's like they said at the keynote, less than a single-digit percent of the Macbook Pro owners ever used it, but lots of people have digital cameras so it makes sense.
 
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