Paul Morris·

Here’s Why 2016 MacBook Pro Has No SD Card Slot

Wondering why Apple chose to drop SD card slot from 2016 MacBook Pro? But retained the 3.5mm headphone jack the company dropped from iPhone 7? Here’s what Apple’s VP has to say about it.

As part of a recent interview, Apple’s Senior Vice President Phil Schiller has discussed in detail some of Apple’s design decisions with the latest MacBook Pro. That chat involved Schiller talking about the reasons behind removable of the much-loved SD card slot but opting to keep the 3.5mm headphone jack, as well as admitting that the introduction of the new MacBook Pro has caused a fair bit of controversy thanks to the not only the features it includes, but also the features and functionality that it doesn’t include.

MacBook-Pro-2016

There’s no doubt that Apple’s new MacBook Pro will be successful. The new machine definitely has enough innovation to it – in the form of the revolutionary new Touch Bar – to appeal to consumers, but there’s obviously also some contentious points, such as the aforementioned removal of the SD card slot, which Phil Schiller defines as a “bit of a cumbersome slot”.

Here’s what exactly he said about the removal of the SD card slot from MacBook Pro:

You’ve got this thing sticking halfway out. Then there are very fine and fast USB card readers, and then you can use CompactFlash as well as SD. So we could never really resolve this – we picked SD because more consumer cameras have SD but you can only pick one. So, that was a bit of a trade-off. And then more and more cameras are starting to build wireless transfer into the camera. That’s proving very useful. So we think there’s a path forward where you can use a physical adapter if you want, or do wireless transfer.

One of the interesting questions raised by consumers, and one that was always going to crop up, was why the company would feel so passionately about removing the 3.5mm headphone jack from the new iPhone 7, but then leave it in this brand new, cutting-edge machine.

macbook-pro-connectivity

Schiller has responded to this by defining the new MacBook as being a “pro machine”, meaning that customers parting with that type of money largely expect it to come equipped with the iconic 3.5mm headphone port, not for the means of just connecting headphones to it, but “studio monitors, amps, and other pro audio gear that do not have wireless solutions and need the 3.5mm jack.”

It’s a really interesting conversation with Schiller, and will definitely appeal to anyone who has considered, or is likely to consider, purchasing the new MacBook Pro going forward. It’s also extremely noteworthy to read that Apple has already taken more orders for the MacBook Pro via its online store so far than any other MacBook Pro model the company has launched before it.

(Source: The Independent)

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