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Ryan Faas

Biting the Apple

New MacBook Pro SD slot is for More than just photos

16 comments

TAGS:Apple, MacBook Pro, SD card, wwdc
IT TOPICS:Laptops & Netbooks, Macintosh & Apple, Mobile & Wireless

Apple's new MacBook Pro models feature an SD card slot. For most users, this means an easy way to transfer digital photos by popping out the memory card and inserting it directly in the MacBook without needing to bother with cables or external card readers. But, that isn't the only advantage.

My first thoughts on seeing this feature Monday were that it would present an alternative to USB flash drives which, while not really big and bulky, are bigger and bulkier than SD cards.

However, Apple's recently published Knowledge Base article on the cards shows that they have some other uses in that they can be used as boot devices for Mac OS X. This gives the slot a lot of advantages as cards can now be used as emergency boot/repair disks, loaded with a copy of Mac OS X and a selection of Mac utility software. This could be a huge space-saver for technicians that currently need to carry either bulky external hard drives or a series of bootable utility DVDs around with them.

Another possibility, not specified in Apple's note that should be possible is that SD cards could be used to boot a MacBook and clone a pre-configured hard drive image onto the machine, which could prove both a viable troubleshooting and deployment solution - particularly for MacBooks in the field without access any form of network-based deployment tools.

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new macbook pros

Submitted by Dm on December 15, 2009 - 8:17 P.M.

I agree completely. My logic board went on my macbook Pro 17 ". Could have bought a 13" for the same price as the replacement logic board. No express card ???? What a useless pile of machinery.

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Apple made a major blunder

Submitted by Jay on June 16, 2009 - 3:26 P.M.

Apple made a major blunder in reduces the usability of the MacBook Pro 15" by getting rid of the expresscard port. The new macs have a built in SD card port -- big deal, I can blug in a $15 adapter into the usb port to read SD cards. But now there is no way to add eSata, extra firewire, Panasonic P2 cards, you name it, the MacBook Pro 15" has been neutered. I think they should lose the "pro" moniker. It's just not "pro" any more.

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I agree...i m a musician

Submitted by Anonymous on September 13, 2009 - 3:48 P.M.

I agree...i m a musician using the older 15" macbook pro with expresscard slot that accomodates 2 firewire 400 port card.

Its a shame they removed it...as a musician, I need multiple firewire.

Its also a shame that apple removed the 400 firewire slot...now there's only 1 800.

As a result, I am still using the older generation macbook pro. Its disadvantage is that it heats faster than the unibody, but the new 'pro' have way too less peripherals...2 usb? come on!

Apple is now targeting the teenage crowd and I feel they don't care for pros.

So I am now switching over to custom DAW PC...and using Sound Forge, Sony Vegas Pro and Cubase.

Sorry apple bye bye!

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http://firmtek.stores.yahoo.n

Submitted by Anonymous on June 24, 2009 - 4:33 P.M.

http://firmtek.stores.yahoo.net/spyderhub.html

I don't think the ExpressCard is the sole factor behind making the "Pro" a "Pro" since any computer can use eSata etc with this thing.

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misleading

Submitted by Anonymous on June 10, 2009 - 4:35 P.M.

The quoted KB article does not talk about bootable SD cards!

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Really... did you read the article?

Submitted by Anonymous on June 10, 2009 - 4:59 P.M.

From the KB article:
Can I install Mac OS X on an SD storage device and use it as a startup volume?

Yes. Change the default partition table to GUID using Disk Utility, and format the card to use the Mac OS Extended file format to do so.

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SD Card is a BIG BIG Mistake

Submitted by Jay Gellman on June 10, 2009 - 4:22 P.M.

While it is nice to have a SD card the loss of the Express card slot is a tragic loss for a Pro rated machine. While the express card slot can hold a SD reader a SD reader can not hold firewire/usb expansion card nor can it hold a WIFI card or Video Capture device or external RAID controller. Not to mention many of the other express cards that are used by the video production users. BIG BIG mistake Apple has made on this bad judgment call.

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WiFi?

Submitted by Anonymous on June 10, 2009 - 8:46 P.M.

Why would you need it for a WiFi card? Macs come with 802.11n built in.

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WIFI?

Submitted by Jay Gellman on June 12, 2009 - 3:07 P.M.

I guess saying WIFI was a boo boo I meant WIMAX cellular cards that are of the express card type.

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Losing The express card slot

Submitted by Steve Markman on June 10, 2009 - 5:32 P.M.

I agree with Jay's comment. Losing the express card slot would certainly be a problem for me. In the field I use very portable eSATA drives with built-in RAID for storing HD video clips captured via FCP. There is no eSATA connection on the new MacBook Pros, thus requiring use of an express card solution.

At least the new 17" keeps the express card interface.

I know there are a few SD plug-in devices for cellphones but is it possible to have a mulitple eSATA connector interface on an SD plug-in card? Sounds mechanically weak. I wonder if SD can handle the thruput anyway for HD video?

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