New Apple laptops- No more FW400 ports?

DChang

DChang

Well-known member
Currently just a rumor, however, word is that the new MBP have had some I/O removed, including the FW400 ports. And comes with one "hybrid" FW800 port.

Good move? Bad move? Forgetting about the Pro users?

Also the DVI port is gone...replaced with a mini-DVI port.

This picture also surfaced today
 
Well, an 800 port is better for Pro users than a 400 port. If the rumor you quote is insinuating that it might be a FW3200 port... that would be even better, of course.

Remember, all you need is the proper cable to connect FW400 devices to a FW800 port.
 
Apple's clearly moving toward the thinner is better aesthetic.

Of course the Air is the front runner in the trend, with iPods and iPhones following suit. Quite predictable that the larger laptops will slim down at the expense of some ports. Not always a good thing for pro users- I had the first rev MacBook Pro with just one FireWire 400 port and it was glaringly obvious that the loss of the second Firewire 800 port was a mistake by Apple. They subsequently replaced it on the next revision. Allegedly the removal was a concession to the Intel motherboard available at the time.

Hopefully if they move back to one FireWire port will at least be a backwards compatible 3200 flavor. The 3200, if it ever sees the light of day, is in the ballpark of eSata speed with the bonus of not needing an Express Card connector to achieve that speed (which is a conundrum when you need to use a Duel adapter!)

Removal of the DVI port would be a bummer. One more dongle to lose.

Less ports is NOT a good thing for us... unless... still waiting for the return of the excellent Duo style docking station option which Apple dropped over a decade ago!
 
Hazard said:
It's the loss of the port that is the problem. Sure you can still use your FW400 device with a cable, but you only have 1 FW port total.

If the rumors are true of course...
Click to expand...


Well, Powerbooks (and MacBooks) have only had 1 FW CHANNEL for a number of years now... so plugging a second device into the computer isn't really different from daisy-chaining or using a hub. So, yes, there is a small convenience benefit to having the two ports, but really it's not much.
 
Hazard said:
It's the loss of the port that is the problem. Sure you can still use your FW400 device with a cable, but you only have 1 FW port total.

If the rumors are true of course...
Click to expand...

Has Ullanta states, regardless of how many PORTS you have, you still have only one firewire BUS.

That's why getting either an ExpressCard 34 FW or eSATA card makes sense.
 
David S. said:
regardless of how many PORTS you have, you still have only one firewire BUS. That's why getting either an ExpressCard 34 FW or eSATA card makes sense.
Click to expand...

Agreed. But having owned a first generation MacBook Pro with a single FireWire port, the second port of the previous and future models was sorely missed for the simple convenience of having more than one bus powered device connected simultaneously on battery power.

Ideally their would be two FireWire ports each on its own bus, but Mac Pro's don't even offer that. It's still all on one FireWire bus, but with two ports you do have more electrical power output through those ports for the actual devices connected. (As opposed to daisy chaining them on one single port).
 
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