When will Apple say "Goodbye" to the Combodrive?


Today Apple released the long awaited updates to the MacBook Pro, and tagging along we also got an updated "non-Pro" MacBook.

Looking at what's new with these updates, one can quickly point:
  • Penryn-based Intel processors
  • 17" LED-Backlit display option
  • Bluetooth 2.1 on the MacBook Pro line
  • Multitouch trackpad on the the MacBook Pro line
  • Better video cards on the MacBook Pro line
  • More storage accross the board
Although they may not be groundbreaking updates, they are nice updates. One thing that really caught my attention tho, was Apple's continuing insistence on offering a Combodrive on the entry-level MacBook.

This discrepancy would've been OK circa 2003, but not today. I mean, how much does it really cost Apple to include a DVD-RW burning on the entry-level MacBook? Nowadays I'm betting the price different between a super- and combodrive is nonexistent. It's understandable the storage difference, even the slower CPU, but this?

What's the point of shipping iMovie with all its HD-editing glory when u can't burn the content to a DVD so you can watch it on a TV? Maybe Apple has a warehouse full of combodrives since 2003 collecting dust and they wanna get rid of them any way possible. Perhapsd eep inside the Curpertino-HQ somebody still thinks that Combodrives are useful? Who knows..

To me this is just a greedy move. There's no "cutting-corners" excuse that will hold up today with the prices of DVD-RW DL Drives. So when will Apple say "Goodbye" to the Combodrive? By the look of things, not any time soon.

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