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.
Will the iMac ever have a Blu-ray drive?
- Thread starter spyd4r
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Don't know of any slot-loading BR drives. Of course, with the new ALU
color scheme, they could always duct tape an external tray-loader to
the foot of the iMac pedestal....
...the surest sign of shoddy craftsmanship is wrinkled duct tape,
LK
I'm not sure because if they added it to the Mac Pro, then they would want another reason for customers to go the extra mile and purchase the Mac Pro. If it were on the iMac, it would only be on the top-model and be a BTO. But that's just what I think.
FastMac also offers a slim drive for macs. http://fastmac.com/slim_bluray.php With the new developments of blu laser this past week you will soon see the decline in price and the addition of blu ray drives in laptops. Plus HD-DVD is on the verge of death. 
Did you see the price on that thing? $950! (that's about 50p for you British folk ). If that's making it into an iMac anytime soon, we'll all need mortgages to buy one!
The answer is...
most certainly NOT. There are numerious reasons for this and most of the them deal with the economics of the situation, but it all really comes down to just one:
Blu-ray will compete with Apple TV and iTunes Movie Rental/downloads. Apple wants you to buy your movies (HD versions ofcourse) through iTunes. Adding a blu-ray player gives you the option of buying movies from someone else, inwhich case Apple loses business.
Apple wants an APPLE TV in every living room, not a blu-ray.
By not adding a blu-ray internally, it helps Apple to monopolize the stream of media to any Mac computer. Honestly, I'm fine with that. Downloading files saves me gas, shipping fees, and worries about scratching a disk. Also raises the price of apple stock.
The timing of this is perfect as well. Blu-ray players and disks are ridiculously expensive, while the Apple TV and downloads are at much more reasonable prices. And if toshiba "battles back or whatever," it just makes it easier for Apple to slip in.
FLASH USB sticks and portable hard drives have already replaced optical media as the best solution for transporting data.
Do yourself a favor and go buy an external blu-ray, cause they won't be showing up in a mac.
most certainly NOT. There are numerious reasons for this and most of the them deal with the economics of the situation, but it all really comes down to just one:
Blu-ray will compete with Apple TV and iTunes Movie Rental/downloads. Apple wants you to buy your movies (HD versions ofcourse) through iTunes. Adding a blu-ray player gives you the option of buying movies from someone else, inwhich case Apple loses business.
Apple wants an APPLE TV in every living room, not a blu-ray.
By not adding a blu-ray internally, it helps Apple to monopolize the stream of media to any Mac computer. Honestly, I'm fine with that. Downloading files saves me gas, shipping fees, and worries about scratching a disk. Also raises the price of apple stock.
The timing of this is perfect as well. Blu-ray players and disks are ridiculously expensive, while the Apple TV and downloads are at much more reasonable prices. And if toshiba "battles back or whatever," it just makes it easier for Apple to slip in.
FLASH USB sticks and portable hard drives have already replaced optical media as the best solution for transporting data.
Do yourself a favor and go buy an external blu-ray, cause they won't be showing up in a mac.
takeabyteoutta
I do not want to bash your view on blu ray drives in macs however, if you want true HD, download content will not be able to compete for years to come and apple knows that. We do not have the infrastructure (internet speeds) to handle HD downloads with as high of PQ and AQ as blu ray . iTunes rentals are only 720p and have horrible audio quality compared to discs. HD Downloads will not over take blu ray. Also, you may worry about scratching a disc but blu ray discs have a scratch resistant coating on the disc.
Another reason I believe we will see blu ray drive in Macs soon is that they are not just movie/game discs but have the ability for high capacity storage. Being as most professional photographers/video editors are mac users blu ray disc are a must.
Although they may not show up in the iMac right away I believe it will be a short time before they hit the mac line.
AS YOU DO KNOW APPLE IS PART OF THE BLU RAY DISC ASSOCIATION.
I do not want to bash your view on blu ray drives in macs however, if you want true HD, download content will not be able to compete for years to come and apple knows that. We do not have the infrastructure (internet speeds) to handle HD downloads with as high of PQ and AQ as blu ray . iTunes rentals are only 720p and have horrible audio quality compared to discs. HD Downloads will not over take blu ray. Also, you may worry about scratching a disc but blu ray discs have a scratch resistant coating on the disc.
Another reason I believe we will see blu ray drive in Macs soon is that they are not just movie/game discs but have the ability for high capacity storage. Being as most professional photographers/video editors are mac users blu ray disc are a must.
Although they may not show up in the iMac right away I believe it will be a short time before they hit the mac line.
AS YOU DO KNOW APPLE IS PART OF THE BLU RAY DISC ASSOCIATION.
Hey Ronix
Apple has a simple solution for you... go by an external blu-ray drive or player! If you've got a Mac Pro, you can slide it right into one of the extra bays.
As for the whole quality issue, 720 is relatively just as good as 1080 on 30" HDTVs and under, which is the vast majority of TVs. Seriously, ask the average consumer if they can tell the difference... guess what, they can't. What size is an iMac screen... 24"!
There's no reason for apple to put $900+ slot loading drives into their consumer computers (the iMac and mac Mini... thats more then the cost of the most expensive mini!, even as a BTO), when most people only need a DVD player. All it will do is raise the bottom price line due to manufactoring costs. Plus, without the blu-ray player, people will be forced to think long and hard about itunes movie and maybe even putting an Apple TV into their living rooms instead of a blu-ray player.
Everyone keeps saying blu-rays won because it's got 2/3 of the major studios. Well, case you haven't noticed, itunes has ALLL the major studios aboard. Also, toshiba hasn't caved yet and they've got microsoft behind them as well, so this "war" may still go on yet.
Also, all optical storage has anti-scratch coatings... and yes, blu-ray disks are just as easy to scratch as DVDs and CDs. Deal with it.
Apple has a simple solution for you... go by an external blu-ray drive or player! If you've got a Mac Pro, you can slide it right into one of the extra bays.
As for the whole quality issue, 720 is relatively just as good as 1080 on 30" HDTVs and under, which is the vast majority of TVs. Seriously, ask the average consumer if they can tell the difference... guess what, they can't. What size is an iMac screen... 24"!
There's no reason for apple to put $900+ slot loading drives into their consumer computers (the iMac and mac Mini... thats more then the cost of the most expensive mini!, even as a BTO), when most people only need a DVD player. All it will do is raise the bottom price line due to manufactoring costs. Plus, without the blu-ray player, people will be forced to think long and hard about itunes movie and maybe even putting an Apple TV into their living rooms instead of a blu-ray player.
Everyone keeps saying blu-rays won because it's got 2/3 of the major studios. Well, case you haven't noticed, itunes has ALLL the major studios aboard. Also, toshiba hasn't caved yet and they've got microsoft behind them as well, so this "war" may still go on yet.
Also, all optical storage has anti-scratch coatings... and yes, blu-ray disks are just as easy to scratch as DVDs and CDs. Deal with it.
Blu-Ray will show up in the Mac Pro b/c of the burning necessity but it will take significantly longer for the iMac b/c prices will truly have to drop on slot loading burners before that is an option. At that point it will make sense, but that could be a long way away.
Of course Blue Ray, or some other DVD successor, will come to a consumer level Mac. There will always be a need for higher capacity removable storage. It's not just about the ability to play BR movies.
I wouldn't count on seeing BR in an iMac any time soon. Maybe in a few years. I could be wrong on this, but I believe that DVDs were first announced in 1995. I didn't get my first DVD-ROM drive, for a PC, until sometime around 2000. How long did it take for them to start appearing in Macs? This stuff takes a while.
I wouldn't count on seeing BR in an iMac any time soon. Maybe in a few years. I could be wrong on this, but I believe that DVDs were first announced in 1995. I didn't get my first DVD-ROM drive, for a PC, until sometime around 2000. How long did it take for them to start appearing in Macs? This stuff takes a while.
i love the imacs for its All in one design. If apple offered it for $1,000 i would consider it..... the mac pro while amazing and would love to have one, is big.
I agree. Forward thinking, I would not buy Blu-Ray discs. Looks like in the very near future everything will be digital. No more trips to buy DVDs, no more Netflix envelopes, no huge wall taken up by shelves and shelves of DVD cases. Just one very good hard drive, backed up, of course. No more packaging means low cost and better for the environment too.
Never say never, but I expect it will be awhile since a Blu-Ray drive costs about half as much as the Mac Mini at present.
I certainly wouldn't hold off on buying BR discs based on the idea that they will be obsolete soon. Myself and many others still go to best buy to buy music CDs and we've been able to legally download music for years. I remember people saying that CDs would be obsolete as soon as DSL/cable internet came about, and that was what, 7 years ago?
The whole AppleTV movie download is nice and all, but it is not the same quality as a real Blue Ray movie. It will be many years before we all have the bandwidth to download a real HD movie. Besides, the people who are saying that BR will never come to Macs are forgetting the fact that BR will not only be used for movies. When I buy a piece of software, it comes on a DVD, not 6 CDs. Eventually, software will outgrow DVDs and will come on BR, or something else.
Ok so all optical media has protective coatings but don't tell me you would do this to one of your cds. http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Video_Clips/Blu-ray_Gets_Put_to_the_Test_with_Fan-Made_Torture_Video/450 Also with stand alone blu ray prices dropping drastically, it wont be before to long that it will be very affordable. Look at how much DVD players cost after coming out and although Sony is selling the PS3 for a loss they have slot loading blu ray drives with other hardware in them and are selling for $399. It all seems feasible to me.
sony is profiting
actually, the PS3's been profitable since before christmas, and yet, no price drop from sony's end. I haven't seen any drastic price drop in blu-ray players at all.
I'm not quite sure about this, but I've heard that manufactoring blu-ray disks only produces 1 out of 3 usable disks. That means they chuck or recycle 2/3's of the disks that come off the line.
actually, the PS3's been profitable since before christmas, and yet, no price drop from sony's end. I haven't seen any drastic price drop in blu-ray players at all.
I'm not quite sure about this, but I've heard that manufactoring blu-ray disks only produces 1 out of 3 usable disks. That means they chuck or recycle 2/3's of the disks that come off the line.
And newspapers will be dead by 1999/2002/2007/well, maybe not for a long time.
Even though BR as a specific format will be replaced sooner or later, the media and form factor will be around for quite a while, methinks. It's relatively inexpensive, consumers love it (even grandma can figure it out), and has pretty darn long legs already with several iterations over the last decade or so, with no end in sight. Digital deliveries as a predominant form are a hell of a long way off yet. Even then, discs will be with us for several years beyond that.
I have 60 Blu ray movies and 3 kids under the age of 7.
No scratched Blu rays yet. I certainly can't say that about my DVD's.
After watching full 1080p at high bit rates on a 52 screen, I have no interest in highly compressed 720 Apple TV movies.
I burn home movies on Blu ray and Apples failure to support Blu ray is what is keeping me from buying an Apple computer.
No scratched Blu rays yet. I certainly can't say that about my DVD's.
After watching full 1080p at high bit rates on a 52 screen, I have no interest in highly compressed 720 Apple TV movies.
I burn home movies on Blu ray and Apples failure to support Blu ray is what is keeping me from buying an Apple computer.
Funny thing is, Steve J. seems to agree with you. In the August iMac
intro, he made a strong pitch for the newest "better than DVD quality"
camcorders. "These will change everything!"
...uh, make that everything except iMacs,
LK
complete rubbish.
Blueray isnt cost effective right now or as big a thing as DVD.
and on that point why do apple put dvd players in their machines as they hurt apple tv even more so.
dont be silly
wow, assuming you got those movies at an average of $30 dollars (although blu-rays currently average around 35-40), you spent $1800 on movies.
also, if those movies are 1.5 hours long, you spent 90 hours (nearly 4 days) just sitting around watching your TV.
You could of bought a beautiful 24" iMac with that dough, and it'd have extremely more replay value... and you could of bought some itune movies with the change.
everyone has DVDs. .01% of the consumer market has blu-rays.
DVD's costs a nickel. blu-rays cost and arm and a leg.
DVD's can't hurt APPLE TV (as much) because they're not hi-def
blu-rays can.
"and on that point why do apple put dvd players in their machines as they hurt apple tv even more so."
o, and the MBA doesn't have an optical drive (aka DVD player), in case you haven't noticed.
Most movies were under $10 with free shipping on Amazon BOGO sales. I have not watched all of them yet, but it is painful to watch regular DVD's at lower resolution now.
The PS3 is not that expensive and is a great Blu ray and upconverting DVD player.
The burner and blank media are expensive, but Pioneer recently had a significant price drop.
Apple is seriously lagging when their Mac Pro and Final Cut software will not support authoring and Adobe and Sonic have been supporting it for a year.
Dell has plenty of computer options with Blu ray.
The PS3 is not that expensive and is a great Blu ray and upconverting DVD player.
The burner and blank media are expensive, but Pioneer recently had a significant price drop.
Apple is seriously lagging when their Mac Pro and Final Cut software will not support authoring and Adobe and Sonic have been supporting it for a year.
Dell has plenty of computer options with Blu ray.