Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 10, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The latest example is last Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference. WWDC announced the new Snow Leopard operating system—finally 64-bit—and renewed the MacBook Pro line for professionals. The machines are faster and greener, with a new battery system supporting 1,000 charging cycles and up to seven hours of operation. Phil Schiller mentioned only in passing that the ExpressCard/34 slot now remains exclusively on the 17-inch MacBook Pro.
The upgraded 13-inch MacBook Pro and classic 15-inch MacBook Pro no longer have the slot, receiving an SD card reader instead. Peripheral manufacturers such as AJA, Sonnet and LaCie must have felt their hearts stop on Monday.
Sonnet’s Fusion 2 relies on ExpressCard/34. Sonnet’s initial response to DP was: “E/34 cards are used mainly by professionals. Professional users will buy 17-inch MacBook Pros.” The slot was perfect for additional devices such as eSATA or solid-state drives and RAID systems. AJA is currently touring with its Ki Pro, a very interesting video disk recorder. None of Apple’s partners wants to criticise the company, but their displeasure is noticeable.
Apple’s partners always praise their good cooperation with Cupertino, but this time Apple has scored an own goal. SD card readers are pleasant in a professional computer, but changing a workflow because of one is not trivial. I can import camera images by USB, and professionals always carry the cable. Standard FireWire 800 on MacBook Pros does not help: my costly ExpressCard/34 peripherals will now sit unused. I must find an older MacBook Pro with ExpressCard/34. Remember, ExpressCard/34 itself was once an Apple special path that the company now apparently wants to forget.
Matthias J. Lange, DP Editor-in-Chief
