No Firewire; many possible problems, continued

But I do know you can buy an adaptor (adapter) that can be plugged into a usb slot

There are no USB to Firewire adapters. (Desperate aluminum Macbook owners are looking, but it can't be done.)

Firewire MUST be in the computer.

If you need Firewire look at the new (early 2009) white Macbook it has Firewire. (and the new NVIDIA graphics.)

http://www.apple.com/macbook/white/

I was ready to buy the 2.4GHz model when the Macbook came out but realized that the lack of Firewire would seriously degrade my computing life. (I use Firewire and TDM daily to sync my computers.) After months of dithering and some research I concluded that lack of FW was a deal breaker for me.

I picked up a previous generation new Macbook Pro at a fantastic price. I would have preferred the smaller footprint of a Macbook, but the lack of Firewire for me was a bigger issue.

Every time I sync I look back with some horror - what was I thinking? I came close to ruining my easy Mac experience by seriously contemplating going FWless.

I agree. That is why I bought the updated White MacBook. It is every bit as good as the Aluminum MacBook, AND it has FireWire 🙂

I don't care about LED screens, or a tiny speed gain in RAM data flow. It is such a tiny increase in real world speed anyway. In what matters, this new White MacBook can hold its own with its brother Aluminum MacBook. Thank you Apple. I rather like the look of the White MacBook anyway 🙂

-Apple //GS

From Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post:
http://tinyurl.com/cd37gf

"[The new Mac Mini has ] five USB ports, one more than before, plus a fast FireWire 800 data port and both Mini-DVI and Mini DisplayPort video outputs.

Compare that to the scant allocation of ports on the more expensive, less expandable MacBook laptop Apple shipped in October, which offers just two USB ports, no FireWire and one DisplayPort. So do the MacBook's cramped capabilities represent an experiment that Apple will correct with its next laptop? I can only hope so. "
© Copyright 1996-2009 The Washington Post Company

It would be nice if the laptops had as many I/O ports as the Mac-Mini, but I am not to sad. My Early 2009 White MacBook is really nice.

-Apple //GS

The White Macbook getting an upgrade is a good step. I'll wait untill WWDC to see if the Unibody models get updated...firewire 800 would be nice.

I do alot of audio recording and mixing, the multitrack interfaces i have my eye on are firewire. Also i already own firewire external drives.

If we still ahve firewireless macbooks I guess the white one will have to do. Just hope 400 is fast enough for both the interface and the drive!

I would think that FireWire 400 is fast enough. Why would you think it may not be?

-Apple //GS

Just wanted to add my experience about this matter.

It took me a long time to save up the money for a new MB, Logic Studio and the Apogee Duet interface. I was completely unaware of the missing FW port until about 3 weeks after my purchase, when I had the time to install Logic Studio and plug-in my interface. I kept telling myself that there had to me a port somewhere, Apple invented FW. I was really upset because I must have used the word FIREWIRE at least 10 times when I bought the MB from the Apple retail store.

I called the retail store, spoke to a manager and told him how upset I was that the lack of a FW port was not mentioned (even when I said FIREWIRE 10 times to the salesperson). He quickly apologized and said that he would refund my money or I could exchange it and pay the difference for a MBP. I told him I was completely broke after purchasing the MB, Logic Studio and the Apogee Duet. He said that he would give me as long as it took to come up with the difference for a new MBP (as long as the MB was still in pristine condition when I go to exchange it).

It took me about 2 ½ months to come up with the 700 bucks. I am very happy that I have a better Mac that has FIREWIRE, but not at the high price I had to pay.

The MacBook Pro is a great computer. Did you know that the MacBook of early 2009 has a FireWire port, and is every bit as good as the new metal uni-body MacBook?

-Apple //GS

jgmdean wrote:

Apparently you Firewire whiners lost out in terms of the cost of being pandered to in other ways, because you don't vote with your doallars in sufficient quantities either. Think about that.

Evidently our "whining" had the intended effect. We persisted, we won. Now you think about it.

The Gibbon wrote:

I want to point out to my compatriot "whiners" that our opposition has consistently contended that the loss of MacBook sales because of the absence of FireWire was negligible. The first hedge has appeared. Maybe we weren't wasting our breath (keystrokes, actually)!

Before you crow too loudly...

I assume that we can crow as loud as we want now.

So it looks like Apple listened to us. They put back the FireWire I/O port. And it's even better... FW 800! There is even a SD slot now. So to the people that laughed at us "old timers"... HA! 🙂

But I do see that they had to save a little face and call it a "Pro" model. A Rose is a Rose by any other name........

-Apple //GS

so.. THANK YOU APPLE!!! - CrippleMac no more. 13 inch MacBookPro WITH Firewire.

THANK YOU APPLE

G