Okay, so I clearly marked this article as an editorial because I may have a rant or two incoming. Phil Schiller was interviewed by The Independent and in that interview Mr. Schiller was asked why Apple had done away with the SD card slot on the new MacBooks. Mr. Schiller responded with the following quote below.
Because of a couple of things. One, it’s a bit of a cumbersome slot. You’ve got this thing sticking halfway out. Then there are very fine and fast USB card readers, and then you can use CompactFlash as well as SD. So we could never really resolve this – we picked SD because more consumer cameras have SD but you can only pick one. So, that was a bit of a trade-off. And then more and more cameras are starting to build wireless transfer into the camera. That’s proving very useful. So we think there’s a path forward where you can use a physical adapter if you want, or do wireless transfer.
Cumbersome Mr. Schiller? As if removing the MagSafe connector and replacing it with USB Type-C isn’t cumbersome? Don’t get me wrong, USB Type-C is a wonderful thing but for charging your $2500 MacBook Pro, MagSafe is the safer option and much less cumbersome. I hate to break it to you Mr. Schiller, but, millions of photographers would disagree with you that the SD slot is cumbersome. Millions of photographers would also disagree with you that wireless transfer is ready for prime time. Furthermore, millions of photographers would rather just stick the damn SD card into the computer rather than putz around looking for an SD card reader.
In a follow-up interview a day later, Schiller also notes that there has been “a lot of passionate dialogue and debate about the new MacBook Pro.” He adds that he’s been surprised by the criticism, but says the decision to only use Thunderbolt ports was a “bold risk” and Apple will “help people through these changes.”
Listen, I use a 2012 MacBook Pro and I’m likely going to buy this new MacBook Pro (though that Surface Book 2 is looking tasty) but Apple’s logic is often arrogant, uninformed, and misguided. I think the company has some great ideas and I’ve been used to them forcing users to adopt new technologies, but this is putting the cart before the horse. Exactly how Mr. Schiller and Apple intend to “help people through these changes” remains to be seen. While there will be photographers who don’t mind that the SD card slot is gone, there will be many more who might just be considering a PC this round.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
[button link=”http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/2/13496968/apple-mac-book-pro-sd-card-slot-wireless-transfer” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: The Verge[/button][button link=”http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/apple-macbook-pro-new-philip-schiller-interview-phil-iphone-ios-criticism-a7393156.html” icon=”fa-external-link” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: The Independent[/button]Last Updated on January 23, 2017.
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