With a new and extremely large trackpad, Thunderbolt 3 ports and a whole lot more in the hardware department, Apple’s new MacBook Pro lineup comes with a lot of changes underneath and one of those changes, though not for the better, happens to be the lack of SD card support.
With the amount of firepower the MacBook Pro offers, you will obviously need a SD card slot if you’re a content creator or a videographer and because there is no slot, you will be forced to purchase additional accessories and plug them into the Thunderbolt 3 port. Apple has justified why it made the decision to remove the port, and Phil Schiller decides to explain to The Independent why this was done.
“Because of a couple of things. One, it’s a bit of a cumbersome slot. 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 adaptor if you want, or do wireless transfer.”
Another thing the publication noticed that all MacBook Pro models feature the headphone jack, whereas the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus do not. They asked Schiller why the company decided to retain this specification, all the while asking him if it was inconsistent with the approach the company had taken with its smartphone lineup.
“Not at all. These are pro machines. If it was just about headphones then it doesn’t need to be there, we believe that wireless is a great solution for headphones. But many users have setups with studio monitors, amps, and other pro audio gear that do not have wireless solutions and need the 3.5mm jack.”
If you are a videographer or a content creator and you require the firepower and reliability of the MacBook Pro, then you will be required to purchase dongles and accessories for this purpose.