no cd drive in new macbook?

Is there a definition somewhere that says a pro device should have a cd/dvd drive?

You watch dvd's?

You install software from CD's?

Good that you are not buying. I'll get mine sooner.

You do realize that Apple does in fact still sell a 15" MBP with an optical drive, right? it doesn't have a Retina Display, but you can still get the RAM up to 16GB through 3rd party RAM, and you can get a 3rd party 640GB SSD... processor options are still the same. BOOM! SOLUTION! Quit whining...

there are currently two updated MBP models.

the updated regular MBP, exactly like the previous version but faster. same ports, cd drive, upgradable RAM and storage, cheaper.

the Retina Display MBP, fewer ports, no cd drive, SSD only, higher res screen, not upgradable, more expensive.

if you want a cd/dvd drive get the first one. for my use the first one is better, the Retina is too expensive for the configuration i would want, i dont like the non-upgradability, etc. for many the Retina Display is enough of a draw to put down more money for the screen and slimness.

as long as they offer both, i will be happy. if they ever drop the regular MBP and make only one non-upgradable, more expensive model, i will be unhappy. you wont get any sympathy from most of the posters on this board in any case.

What you guys ar ignorant to is quite a handfull of things:

1. Outside of the U.S. Netflix, Huliu, and other interweb luxuries are not available. So YES, I still watch DVD's

2. Outside of the U.S. a lot of countries still don't have iTunes available to them. So YES, I still need to put my music on from a CD. I KNOW RIGHT?! I'M SO BEHIND!! (I'm being sarcastic). Plus, a CD, is much better quality than whatever you can get on the internet.

3. I can understand no CD in a MacBook. But a MacBook pro?!! First, you need to install editing software (because in your country you cannot download online), second you need to be ready for on-the-fly projects, third, I want to burn a CD for a friend/ a Master for an artist/ a DVD for a client/ I have to carry around that external thingy and have no place to put it while working on the plane, train, bus, or whatever.

Someone said it's better than carying one around whether you need it or not.. seriously?! how heavy is it?! half a pound?! just take off your watch and you make up for the difference. How lazy can you be?! How heavy can it make it?!

I can't believe someone can look at a draw back and try to justify it. With the iPhone service problem they said people are holding it wrong. DVD's CD's Blurays, burning CD's, it's not of the past and will not become so anytime soon.

What Apple is trying to do is force everybody to get things on the App Store because it's cheaper than buying the external CDdrive, and in a lazy world which would be bothered to carry the built in CD drive around, they are the winners because we're such babies who want things NOW and don't want to wait for the hard copy.

Putting all the above aside.

Lets say I need to re-install my software after formatting for whatever problem, how do I do that? And yes, in the dreadful situation where I need windows for some awesome software that OSX does not support, how do I do that?

Yep that is the solution, of course even a better solution would be to have the older style with a retina display. However, the thin versions are really pretty nice. At my job I still get a lot disks from clients etc and I also have to exchange docs on doc as well for certain reasons. But I wouldn't mind having a little external burner like Apple offers. Just goes into the pack, not really a big deal.

What is the solution for the situation whereby an osx user is forced to boot from the osx install disc to reformat, or run a disk utility sweep of the OS drive? These things happen you know. What is the solution? You want to reformat you have to pay 80$ ? Really?

Want a new MBP that has an optical drive? Buy a new MBP that has an optical drive. You've gotten along fine without a Retina Display up to now, haven't you? So get along without one for a while longer. Almost nothing is ready to take full advantage of it now, and by the time a lot of software can do so, Apple may be offering machines with the same display but additional features and options.

Yes, maybe they will maybe they wont. They never do say. But the frustrating thing is that they have priced it so the retinas are actually cheaper than non retinas. add a SSD to a non retina and the price is 3099 while retina is 2999, plus you get 16gb ram vs 8. That is a huge difference when you also consider you get the top of the line display. it is frustrating to those of us who have waited over 5 years to get a new macbook.

NOW, i am hoping for some insight on my question...

What is the solution for the situation whereby an osx user is forced to boot from the osx install disc to reformat, or run a disk utility sweep of the OS drive? These things happen you know. What is the solution? You want to reformat you have to pay 80$ ? Really?

No installer discs have been shipped with new Macs since Lion was released. To repair your hard drive directory or permissions, reinstall Lion, restore from a backup or do the other things you used to use an installer DVD for, you hold down Command+R at startup to boot into the Recovery Partition, and all those options are available.

Installing Windows 7 for Bootcamp without a disc drive is a pain in the ***, especially if you don't have a Windows-formatted USB drive handy. It's so stupid not to have a disc drive. Will you use it every day? No. But is it a nice option to have? Yes.

Meanwhile, the Macbook pros for disc drives. It's just the stupid pointless overpriced retina that doesn't.