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Remove optical drive from new MacBook?
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Internet
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Here's the deal see; It's a thought experiment yah?
Consider this; the new MacBooks are half a pound lighter than the previous generation. In the interest of making it even lighter, what is the feasibility of removing the superdrive components? How much of a weight savings would one enjoy?
Anyone have links to a new MacBook (BrickBook?) take-apart?
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20+ year MacNN forum member. MacBook Air 11" 1.6Ghz 4GB 128GB Backlit Keyboard, 4S, iPad Mini
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Caught in a web of deceit.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Internet
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Right on brotha!
Looks easy to try - I'll give it a shot when I receive mine and report back ;-)
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20+ year MacNN forum member. MacBook Air 11" 1.6Ghz 4GB 128GB Backlit Keyboard, 4S, iPad Mini
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Internet
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Ok,
According to this page from Macfixit the superdrive that Apple uses weighs 0.5 pounds.
Therefore removing this component from the Aluminum MacBook bring it's weight down to an even 4 pounds, which is pretty sweet. That a full pound less than the MacBook White, and only one pound more than the Air.
I wonder if the loss of a DVD drive will make much of a difference. I've been using an Air for the past month and have not had any issues...
I'll give it a shot for a month or two... See what it feels like.
I wonder if there is any value in putting additional components where the superdrive used to be? Probably not.
Thoughts?
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20+ year MacNN forum member. MacBook Air 11" 1.6Ghz 4GB 128GB Backlit Keyboard, 4S, iPad Mini
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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I wonder if someone could integrate a 3G/EVDO WWAN card in there?
It would be cool to have a use anywhere Internet connection with no USB device sticking out of the side.
So take out the CD drive, then hack in a USB internet stick modem internally where the modem was. But you would need to figure out something to get a good signal to the antenna.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Houston, TX
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About half a pound... but it makes the weight distribution a little awkward in my Dell.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Durham, NC
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Can any old Mac run as a Remote Disc "client", as it were, or does that software only work on the MacBook Air. If you could take the drive out of new MacBook and use another computer's drive as needed, it'd be pretty sweet.
(Though I suppose you could also just throw the excised drive into a USB enclosure and keep it in a drawer, too.)
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: in front of my Mac
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The optical is now SATA so you can not only remove the SD, but you could actually replace it with a second HDD or SSD. I'm expecting a third-party to come out with a carrier pretty soon.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Originally Posted by Simon
The optical is now SATA so you can not only remove the SD, but you could actually replace it with a second HDD or SSD. I'm expecting a third-party to come out with a carrier pretty soon.
Isn't the optical drive thinner than the hard drive?
There's the keyboard tray that makes the enclosure less deep above the optical drive and might cause problems for an HD.
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Fresh-Faced Recruit
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Originally Posted by analogika
Isn't the optical drive thinner than the hard drive?
There's the keyboard tray that makes the enclosure less deep above the optical drive and might cause problems for an HD.
There are the 1.8" models to consider then. Not exactly easy to find but not rare either. That is what size of storage drive the Air uses if I'm not mistaken.
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Posting Junkie
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: 888500128
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oh yeah. Forgot about those. 250GB 1.8 inches - RAWR!
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