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Use the ExpressCard slot to add FireWire 800 to Apple's new MacBook Pro
Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 10:45 AM EST
By SteveJack
Heard the complaints about Apple's new MacBook Pro's lack of a FireWire 800 port? Well, such complaints are largely moot.
Apple's new MacBook Pro features an ExpressCard/34 slot. This slot can be used for hot-pluggable I/O expansion cards that the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) plans as the replacement for CardBus as the preferred solution for personal computers. Uses for that ExpressCar/34 slot can (or will soon) include such solutons as: TV tuners, hot pluggable FireWire 800 adapters, extra FireWire 400 port(s), Bluetooth mobile phone connectivity products, CompactFlash adapters, Flash memory cards, Gigabit Ethernet networking cards, External SATA (eSATA), which claims peak interface speeds up to 3 times faster than FireWire 800, and more.
ExpressCard Bandwidth support:
• USB 2.0: 480 Mb/s
• PCI Express: 2.5Gb/s
There are two sizes of ExpressCards. The smaller one is 34mm wide (ExpressCard/34) and the other is 54mm (ExpressCard/54). Apple new MacBook Pro features an ExpressCard/34 slot. Both modules are 75mm long and 5mm high. Note that the ExpressCard/34 has the advantage because it will also work in the slot designed for the ExpressCard/54 slots, but not vice versa. Note also for the sake of total clarity and my desire to state the painfully obvious: ExpressCard/54 modules will not fit into MacBook Pro's ExpressCard/34 slot.
Various manufacturers have told MacDailyNews that they are currently working on ExpressCard/34 modules, including FireWire 800 solutions. Expect announcements soon.
So, if you want a FireWire 800 port on your MacBook Pro or a TV Tuner or an eSATA port or something else, Apple has given you the ExpressCard/34 slot, so that you can do exactly what you want. After all, it would be silly to expect everyone to pay the cost of a built-in FireWire 800 port, if they're not going to use it, or they want eSATA or something else instead, right? And, since the cards are hot-swappable, you could have multiple cards and switch them out to your heart's content.
The next time you hear someone complaining about the lack of a FireWire 800 port on Apple's new MacBook Pro, just explain that if they'll just wait a bit for new ExpressCard/34 modules to ship, they can have FireWire 800 or whatever else they might want soon enough.
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to MacDailyNews.
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