“Diving deep into Apple’s specifications, AppleInsider has learned that optical audio output capability found on previous MacBook Pro models does not exist on the 13-inch MacBook Pro with function keys, and is likely not on the higher-end models either,” Mike Wuerthele reports for AppleInsider.
“The technical specifications for the new MacBook Pro on all 13- and 15-inch models list the audio port as simply a ‘3.5-mm headphone jack’ with no other amplifying information,” Wuerthele reports. “In the 2015, and earlier, MacBook Pro, and every other Mac model with optical audio out on the 3.5mm jack, the listing is amplified with a statement like ‘support for audio line out (digital/analog).'”
“Additionally, the system profiler’s report on the 13-inch MacBook Pro has no listing for S/PDIF Optical Digital Audio Output, while the 2012 and 2015 Retina MacBook Pro models do,” Wuerthele reports. “AppleInsider contacted Apple about the matter, and was told that the feature was removed due to a lack of customers using the functionality.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If you want optical audio, use one of the Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports that Apple has provided.
I see the future – it’s all about dongles…
I think that was previewed in 2013 with the Trash Can Mac “Pro.” This is just the next phase.
Dongle madness is not quite complete yes. USB-C has become the “universal socket” for all connections and woe to those who lose a vital connecting dongle, or forget to bring it with them.
And guess what, some older Thunderbolt dongles and adapters/cables don’t work with the new MBP, so the early adopters get to re-buy stuff they thought would carry them forward.
We need a t-shirt with that picture on it.
I would love to wear one to a shareholder’s meeting.
This should be a cautionary designing-with-consequences poster hanging in Jony Ives office.
AAPL is falling like a rock and even once delusional Apple fanboys are even starting to wake up.
Tim Cook Apple is all about:
Using the position of Apple CEO to fight for gay rights
Create the best watch bands for a failed and POINTLESS product
March in the most gay parades in a year
Put your mug in the spotlight as much as you can
Ignore ALL Apple product lines
Milk cash cows into stagnation
Buy worthless companies
Tank AAPL with incompetency
Hire other incompetents for millions
Promote incompetent executives
Ignore Pro users
Bilk consumers for billions with forced adapter purchases
And oh yeah, remove every feature from products that Apple users once enjoyed
Way to go Tim Cook. You have effectively DESTROYED Apple!
Tim Cook isn’t running for office. Nor is Apple. Therefore, if you are presenting argument, you can’t use falsehoods, otherwise, the argument simply doesn’t work at all (unlike in political campaign, falsehoods are your best weapon — see current American presidential election).
I don’t care to deconstruct all of your statements, but one is patently obvious: billions for forced adapter purchases. While Apple makes adapters, most people buy third-party, so Apple sees no money from them. And billions??? Since Apple sells only millions of computers, that would imply that every user who buys an Apple device spends $1,000 on adapter(s).
As for AAPL falling like a rock, apparently, it isn’t. It isn’t really moving anywhere; it’s been between $90 – 110 for the past four years. But if you want to see falling like a rock, you’ll need to look elsewhere (try Go Pro, for example).
Incompetent Strikes Again – over optical audio?
Wow, you are trying WAY too hard.
Same hating doofus troll, same hating Doofus troll channel.
Phil Shriller say it is because audio engineers still use it. But why keep the low quality analog 3.5 mm connector and kill the digital optical option.
Can any audio engineer answer this?
Truth is that most pro Audio uses USB now. Toslink is super handy for home hifi though. Both fully digital options blow analog audio capabilities of any Mac out of the water.
So yeah, Schiller was talking out of his ass. Prosumers and hifi owners who use Toslink just got screwed.
Then it is another design contradiction. Why design a thinner and possibly lighter MBP if now by design more than ever you need to carrie more dongles and adaptors?
Precisely. Apple is lost in the forest. Its product designers are millionaires who have their assistants manage the dongle kit for them.
Current design results in better marketing pics that receive high accolades in the design quarterlies.
There isn’t a good reason except that Apple is half assing things.
I think they are fucking with Mac users hoping they will abandon the platform. I am personally awaiting the Macbook with no screen that is sealed shut because Jony thought displays, keyboards and trackpads are superfluous and intrude upon his obsession with no seams. It will just be a solid block of Aluminum.
Of course, Phil will come up with some bullshit to expainit all away and the lemmings will order their CrapBook. Last year’s processors, fewer inputs, vampire video, no extension cord from the power supply ( it is an option now), and a higher price.
I’m not sure that Schiller specifically meant pro audio users as neither the the Toslink connector nor the 3.5mm jack were used much for pro-audio interconnects. Most professional audio interfaces have been connecting via FireWire or USB for many years. Toslink was mostly popular in consumer equipment such as A/V receivers and MiniDisk recorders. I use the 3.5mm jack on my iPhone to plug in a simple 3.5mm to XLR adaptor, which gives me a highly portable way of quickly testing audio equipment and I assume that I’ll soon have to convert a Lightning headphone dongle to serve a similar purpose, which doesn’t look very difficult and is surprisingly cheap too.
I think that Schiller might have meant other types of pro-users, such as people plugging in external speakers while editing video, or people making presentations by plugging into a video projector and a powerful loudspeaker system. However I’m not convinced by his argument because many such people also plug in other equipment, such as external monitors and hard drives, so connecting everything via a USB 3 hub would make it much easier to disconnect the MacBook pro by simply removing one lead, which can pass power to the MacBook as well.
I don’t think that the number of people connecting MacBooks to HiFi systems is very significant, so I can understand why Toslink was finally abandoned. I’ve got a few bits of equipment that include Toslink connectors, but I can’t remember ever connecting any of them to my Apple gear, except maybe as a test to see if it works.
optical audio out is important for Monitoring your work.
Useful, but far from essential.
Time for a little math, kiddos!
MacBooks in 2016 got a speed bump and a touch bar with a $300-500 price bump depending on model. Okay, let’s not complain too much. Maybe the Geekbench performance will impress us all and the bar will significantly improve productivity (Though many people have doubts about advantage of looking down on the ever-changing Gimmick bar for their workflow. Too reminiscent of the annoying MS ribbon for my tastes).
But wait — Apple Tax time! With one hand Apple gives you a new CPU and GPU, with the other hand, it removes the ability for you to plug in any accessory you currently own.
Let’s restore all the features that Apple took away so you don’t have to replace all your accessories.
Add: $279 OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock
Add: $40 Griffin Breaksafe USB-C charging cable
Subtotal: $319 for more or less the parts that used to come standard in the old MacBook Pros. Still lost Toslink, with sucks big time.
The grand total to restore features you lost from your prior MacBook Pro is $619-$819.
That’s a huge price to pay for next generation processors and an OLED bar that you have to look down at all the time to use.
It is interesting how some people still brag about Apple design while toting around all manner of 3rd party breakout boxes & adapters on top of the massive Apple price increase.
Are there any questions why people are asking about the value proposition of the newest non-upgradeable Apple products?
TLDR, so I’ll translate:
I can’t afford a MacBook Pro! Since I can’t get one you getting one shows you’re better than me so DON’T DO IT!
WA: If paying more and getting less is something you like to brag about, don’t let me stop you.
Decisions like this nearly killed Apple before in its history. When Apple no longer offers superior value, buyers seek other options. It appears the overpaid out of touch management currently running the show didn’t get the lesson.
If not being able to buy a MacBook Pro is your claim to fame, that’s not going to make you very famous.
I also don’t think you’ll be very successful dissuading folks with money from buying it as their thought process usually goes…
1) Do I want a thing?
2) Do I have money to buy the thing?
3) I buy thing!
Ignoramus-
That’s probably the upper middle class. Those that really have money put a lot more thought into it or have people that do it for them. How do you think they made their money and hold on to it?
I don’t agree with your characterization of “gimmick bar”. I think users are going to find it a very useful shortcut to many operations. As for me, I’d rather glance down the very short distance from screen to Touch Bar than to use the trackpad to navigate to a menu item and click. Just modifying brushes in Photoshop was enough to make me want one.
Great, I am happy for you really and for users who find this feature useful, productive and exiting. Apple give us the touch bar and more but don’t mess with the foundation components on “Top” Mac models.
What good does all the productivity you now may get with the touch bar if you run out of memory? Maybe it won’t happen to you. But memory is one of the the most future proof features. Also your computer won’t slow down running more applications at the same time and you will be able to work with bigger files.
Another way to approach this feature balance on top machines is: give me a faster GPU and more RAM so I could finish faster. This way I can iterate faster too and if I run out of battery I will plug in the machine. We are talking about 10 hours and not 1 or 2. Give me back at least 5 of those 10 hours on pure performance.
Hey, I was addressing the Touch Bar, not every other aspect of the machine. Would you still be so dismissive the Touch Bar if the new machine also had a 6-core Kaby Lake processor with 64 GB of RAM?
Spark is just a Tim Cook mouthpiece (literally), probably spending most of his time on his knees underneath Cook’s desk.
Go and tell your boss we think he’s an incompetent that should’ve been fired 6-years ago!
Don’t forget, the extension cord for the power supply is no longer included for the higher price.
If you order one, don’t forget to bend over.
Mike,
Eveyone’s use case is different.
The new set up will work nicely for me. The new laptop is lean with 4 high speed USB-c Ports (faster than anything on my currnent MBPro). At work im more mobile. The dock will work well at my home desk when I am likely to need FW-800 and card reader. BTW, there is a digital out on the dock so I can use my headphone amp with a straight digital cable rather than toslink to digital. I dont mind spending the 300$ for a much faster, capable set up I will use for years.
Danm, I just commented last week that may be apple did not remove the 3.5 jack because professionals still need the optical audio out. This is embarrassing apple.
Oh, by the way, it’s not a matter of being able to afford something. It is a matter of investing in the best value tool for the job.
I just ordered two new 2016 MacBooks for employees who wanted them. They will be running Windows programs at least half the time, so the OLED touchbar won’t benefit them in their daily work. But, being the softie I am, I feel it’s better to keep them happy in the long run than force them into a Dell. But I am now thouroughly convinced Apple is NOT offering the best value in computers anymore. The OS quality gap is narrow, and the Apple pricing, design, and support are all way out of whack. We’re subsidizing too much overhead crap that in the long run will make Apple just as out of touch as any mega corporation.
Maybe if you used a computer as a tool to get things done instead of as a fashion statement and status symbol you would understand, Wrong Again.
I love the (old)Mac. I hate the mac user who only gets it because of fashion and status. Those douches are the one who are ruining Apple for the rest of us.
Do work, or GTFO.
If you are just blogging and browsing then the OS and Computer doesn’t matter because 99% of the garbage you are doing is in a web browser anyways.
WAKE UP MORONS!
I’m finding it hard to believe there are that many dooshes who buy the Mac for a fashion statement. Up to this point, I like buying Macs because the hardware and operating system are produced by the same company. Nothing is perfect, but the symbiosis between the hardware and OS X always brought me back.
However, Apple is treating the Mac as a second class citizen, and it’s making me concerned for the future. They need to get off their asses and compete in the hardware realm. I don’t understand their current strategy.
Optical out of the Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports ??
Possible, but only with a breakout box. So now your audio signal would be transmitted over at least one more converter. Not an improvement over just running USB all the way. More intermediate components means worse timing jitter and/or latency.
I’m glad that Apple has decided that fashion is more important than productivity. I just need to convince my boss of the same.
Dell XPS has all the things you need to be productive.
MacDailyNews, you misspoke. I’m sure you meant to say ‘digital audio’ not ‘optical audio’ in your TAKE comment on this AppleInsider article since the USB-C port doesn’t support optics in its native configuration. And for the record, because Apple didn’t ask me, the dual purpose 3.5mm analog/digital port has long been one of the features for which I have often praised when discussing the merits of Apple engineering vs. the world. Fortunately, it is not retroactive, like software, so all of my other great Apple devices will still support this function.