no cd drive in new macbook?

Only if for some reason you also want to wipe the Recovery partition. But if you do want to do that, yes, burning a Lion installer DVD or making a bootable Lion USB flash drive is a good idea.

wait- I just got a macbook pro...it has a slot. What does the thing DO if not play and record cd's and dvd's????

crampy, there's now two models of 15" MacBook Pro's: the regular updated MBP with a cd/dvd drive, and the Retina Display MBP without a cd/dvd drive.

Hey...Thanks.. and the 13 macbook, does also have it too then, I was told in a different thread in a conversation.. PHEW, scared me!

the 13" MacBook Pro has a cd/dvd, the 13" Air does not.

that is such a relief. I only got my macbook pro this friday...no time to see all items yet..thanks.

Upon the release of OSX 10.7 (Lion) Apple started marking a recovery partition which you would wipe disks, reinstall OSX, repair disks, etc. Lion is only available from the App Store, so a DVD isn't even included with the computer upon shipment. It is suggested to keep a USB flash drive containing a recovery disk on it, so that if you were ever to mess up your harddrive and wipe it accidently, you may recover. Although, I do not agree with removing the optical drive from the MBP, since apple still offers the non-retina model with an optical drive, I don't mind. I was surprised to see they no longer offer a 17" option, although, this was anticipated because of the lack of sales. Most people looking for a portable computer do not wish to carry around such a bulky device. Although the retina displays are nice, I do not see them being beneficial enough on a 15" screen, if I wanna watch something in true HD, I would want it on my 40" HDTV. That small of a screen, you are not going to notice that much of a difference than the old monitor; granted, it is easier on the eyes, and everyone's love of the ipad and iphone retina displays has pushed this, it is simply unnecessary for its size.

Interesting. May I pester you for a name/size of a good flash drive, and must I do anything to it to format before doing the back up? And what sort of price are they sold for?

It is not only about watching dvd. Almost all diagnostic imaging examinations are released on cd or DVD .

Apple Gives a very consistent platform to medical imaging software. It is a waste of reputation not to offer any more a cd drive.

Any flash drive will work, I use a Sandisk Cruzer, because I have millions of them laying around, i believe 2 GB would suffice but it may require 4, i don't remember, its not much more expensive, so you might want to just go with the 4 GB. Apple offers a flash drive with the recovery partition already installed for $70, but you can save that money go get one from amazon for a few bucks (I've bought ones that were only $0.96 that would work) and use the Lion Recovery Disk Assistant (http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1433) to make that a recovery disk, and there you go

I didn't make it too clear with my original post, but a recovery partition already exist within the built in harddrive, (you can boot to it by holding the option key when turning on your Mac) the flashdrive suggestion was just in case you delete that by accident, which is possible, because I did that

Thanks. I will look at staples and apple store... I also want to look into the slot on the side of the macbook pro, between the headphone and USB ports.... i understand it can store pictures and video. COOL AND A HALF!

Apple also sells a USB Superdrive that can be used with the new MBP, the MB Air, and the Mac Mini... You can also share a drive from another computer...

The future will get here fast enough and making the new MBP without options seems like a clear mistake... We know that apple is pushing for a "Apptopia" but it simply hasn't happened yet. A little more grace to ease the prosses along would make sense.

with all due respect,

why not make your product embrase the market rather then strong-arm it? I know the strong-arming approach was the Jobs way (peace be upon him) but the market needs diversity to be healthy and lets face it, apple is a juggernaut who makes the best consumer computers around... who is really compeating with apple?

Everyone said that about removing the floppy drive in the first iMac and replacing it with a CD/CD-RW drive. I think Apple knows a thing or two about pushing the envelope successfully...