No Optical Drive on the new iMac Desktop

I was planning on purchasing the new iMac 27 inch Desk top that is coming out in late October .. But I just read on Apple Insider that the design will be slimmer because of the removal of the Optical Drive ..
Which means I won't be able to play my DVDs or CDs or download music from my CDs ? Is this true ? If so , I am passing on this purchase .. Not Cool at all ..

External DVD drive problem solved.

You read it on Apple insider, which means there's a 50/50 chance of it actually being true

Oh for heaven's sake, of all the things to get one's panties in a twist about.

Optical drives = antiquated for everyday use. I can certainly understand someone just getting around to ripping their CD collection or wanting to convert a DVD of theirs, but I think I've used my built-in optical maybe three times in the last year, if that.

On top of everything else, the trayless opticals used by most Macs can't take odd-sized discs, tend to burn out after prolonged use, get discs stuck in them when the grabbers go, and are VERY expensive to repair since the entire machine must be disassembled. You should be CELEBRATING that the next round of Macs will lose this useless, prone-to-failure boondoggle.

Spend a whopping $30 and buy a USB2 external optical. Spend $50 and buy a FW external optical if you need one. This is a silly non-issue when it comes to purchasing a new computer and should be a dealbreaker for exactly NOBODY, especially if we're talking about a desktop Mac.

Next you'll be telling me you're not going to buy it because it lacks a built-in printer. Or a fax modem.

chas_m said:

This is a silly non-issue when it comes to purchasing a new computer and should be a dealbreaker for exactly NOBODY, especially if we're talking about a desktop Mac.

Click to expand...

deancorso19 said:

Is this true ? If so , I am passing on this purchase .. Not Cool at all ..

Click to expand...

There goes that theory out the window. Dealing in absolutes - those are rarely right.

Well OP it was terrible when the first iMac did away with the floppy. End of Apple was forecast. Who uses floppies now? Same with DVD's there day has had it. As suggested use an external if you have any programs that require DVD installation.

More and more applications will be downloaded, such as Office 2011, and Apple has shown the install DVD is finished.

I've probably used the optical drive on my Mid 2011 iMac a total of 5 times since I bought the machine in May 2011. I have an external optical drive that I paid $29.95 on sale at Best Buy which works just fine. And it's a tray loader not a miserable slot loader that's used on Macs. I have to agree with comments above from chas_m and others.

Considering the price you would be paying for an iMac, the price of an external drive is nothing in comparison. Having said that, i would still like one standard with my computer. Maybe they will become obsolete, i think within the next 10 years this will probably be the case and new computers wont come with a dvd drive as standard. Is apple just to eager to get ahead of the game? In my old PC i used it less and less, although i still made use of it for some games (others were downloaded from the internet) and various programs/CD's. I am still happy to go to a shop and buy a CD rather than just download from the we. I have also found it annoying that iDVD or any way to burn your own DVD's cannot be found on the latest macs.
I think we are to early to do away with the dvd drive. Downloadable content is fine as long as you have a fast connection and an unlimited data allowance, until both of those are common practice then its not practical.
I went slightly off course then so i will come back to the original post. If i was you i wouldn't let the lack of optical drive effect your decision. I am with you with the fact i still believe they have their place, but with the price of a new iMac, an external drive won't trouble you to much, although maybe some added hassle to start with.

I'm looking forward to having an iMac without one. Oh wait... I yanked the useless thing out of the one I have now and dropped in an SSD.

Look... optical media is on the way out. These slot-loaders have always sucked anyway. There are a LOT of people who don't need, use, or want a built-in optical drive. Why should Apple continue to compromise the design of their computers for the sake of some holdouts? Getting an external one is trivial anyway; will last longer than the built-in one would; will open up more options if you need Blu-Ray support; and even if it did break, it'd be trivial to replace. Quite frankly I think it's a no-brainer. There's plenty of space for an external one right there under the chin of the iMac.