Apple: Why 2016 MacBook Pro Kept Headphone Jack But Axed SD Slot

Schiller

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Marketing Philip Schiller has explained why the company decided to keep the headphone jack and remove the dedicated SD card slot for camera memory cards in the New MacBook Pros. “If it was just about headphones then it doesn’t need to be there”, Schiller said, when asked about the headphone jack, adding that majority of pro audio equipment needs the 3.5mm port.

Is it inconsistent to keep the 3.5mm headphone jack as it’s no longer on the latest iPhone?

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.

Replying to the question of why the new MacBook Pros have no SD card slot, Schiller gave two reasons. “One, it’s a bit of a cumbersome slot. You’ve got this thing sticking halfway out”, he said. He continued that there are very fine and fast USB card readers available in the market, which you can use for both CompactFlash and SD cards. “We picked SD because more consumer cameras have SD but you can only pick one. So, that was a bit of a trade-off”. Secondly, he said, most cameras now have built in wifi.

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.

Schiller also answered questions like how would he describe the response to the new MacBook Pro, and that whether he’s surprised by how vocal the critics have been. Hit up the source link to catch up his full interview.

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