Notebook makers are anticipating the launch of the next generation of MacBook Pros and apparently are planning their product strategy around Apple's success or failure.
Rumors suggest that Apple will eliminate optical disc drives from the standard feature set and offer external drives as an option. Digitimes reports that notebook manufacturers such as Dell, HP and Asustek will follow Apple's lead, but only if Apple sees a positive reaction from customers.
Digitimes noted that notebooks without an optical drive could be manufactured for $20 less and could enable shell designs that are about 1 mm thinner than notebooks with an optical drive.
There is some credibility to the rumor that Apple will drop optical drives as the company is moving toward iCloud and content streaming. Back in 1998, Apple was first to drop the 1.44 MB floppy drive when it launched the original iMac. The initial iMacs only had CD-ROM drives and forced users to use Apple's (online) iDrive as a storage alternative to write data.
And I thought ultrabooks were by default without optical drives to save space and weight...
I know a few people that still rely on CD's for mass distribution (of WORK files) because they are too scared to make the change over to servers..
Only a minority of users need optical drives these days. The majority of laptop users carry an optical drive with them every single day even though they've never even used it once.
The space&weight of the optical drive could be put to much better use.
Weren't ultrabooks always supposed to be without optical drives anyway? How else are you going to stay within the size, weight and battery life limitations of the "Ultrabook"?
(lol @ OS X spellchecker not recognizing the word "ultrabook"
And I thought ultrabooks were by default without optical drives to save space and weight...
After all, flash drives are way more portable, reliable, and speedy.
This is not a move to get rid of DVD drive for ultrabook but for full size laptop (Macbook Pro). I hate to see users loose the option to put a caddy in the DVD bay for anther HDD. I hope the manufacturer will use that space wisely (2 HDD bay for laptop below 16 inch) and not just waste the free space.
I don't want to be reliant on the internet for downloading games since the internet is erratic in my place.
they wont waste it... see... 1mm thinner... they are eliminateing it...
thanks again apple for the thin war
Lookup some current ultrabooks for a moment. Dell XPS 13, ASUS Zenbook UX31, and so on. Find me a single ultrabook that has a freaking internal optical drive.
"Notebook manufacturers such as Dell, HP and Asustek will follow Apple's lead"... what kind of uninformed BS is this?
Look at the release dates of the units you mentioned.
Convincing the world that Apple didn't invent the "Ultrabook"-type form-factor with the MacBook Air is going to be an uphill battle. Your time is likely better spent elsewhere me thinks.
How about when Mitsubishi and HP joined forces an released the Pedion in 97? Not only that this laptop was thinner than the original macbook air.
I don't think he's stating that those laptops were launched earlier than the air, but commenting on the title of the news, correctly stating that ultra-books sold from these companies already come without optical drives.
The news is about these manufacturers thinking of dropping the optical drive on their more normal laptops not on ultra-books since these laptops already don't have it.