OWC will cut a hole in your new 27-inch iMac, put an eSATA port behind it
By Tim Stevens 
posted August 2nd 2010 9:36AM
posted August 2nd 2010 9:36AM
posted August 2nd 2010 9:36AM
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They've got to get some flush screws for that thing.
If it's not a combined USB/eSATA port, it won't power a bus-powered eSATA drive. Although FW800 is slower, I like not having to carry a power brick around.
USB 3 and LightPeak will wipe the other standards out so no point in supporting them for the short term really. eSATA is nice but nobody is going to get an eSATA keyboard/mouse so USB 3 wins here and Light Peak at 50Gbps kicks eSATA's ass in performance.
It's a long game - cheap component manufacturers don't understand it, which is why they come and go - the big players play the long game.
In the long game, the winners are mobile devices, optical interconnects, small form-factor computers, wireless interfaces, touch-based interaction, solid state storage and a few others. Everything else just fades away and so will eSATA.
@E30 Kid yeah, and then make a couple other holes for the things that are missing. A hole for coaxial connectivity, holes for USB 3, a hole for a blue ray optical drive, a hole for....
If you have to cut your $1800 machine to put an esata port on it, you blew it?
@Outsider
sucks that we have to adapt to apple instead of having them adapt to the customers needs... same old same old
@Outsider One has to wonder how apple considers themselves cutting edge when they don't include ports that are quickly becoming a standard. I guess that explains the lack of usb on the ipad and no removable sd cards from the iphones as well.
@vstican Apple takes the "less is more" concept too far.
@vstican Things were better when Woz was the one building 'em =). Heh Jobs wanted to yank out extra expansion ports right from the get-go off the Apple //. Oh well, I still like OSX/some Apple products, but I won't LOVE them until I can build one for myself like I can a PC (but then I guess it wouldn't be an Apple product as we know it).
@Outsider can someone please explain this meme to me? i've only seen it on engadget.
@gonintendo
Can't remember exactly because it was a while ago.
Steve Jobs said "If you see a stylus, you blew it" during a question session, talking about other touchscreen cellphones.
Ever since then, many Apple jokes are done in "If you (insert flaw of Apple product here), you blew it" format.
@Outsider ah, i see thank you very much!
@gonintendo @Outsider As well as the stylus I think it was if you see a task manager for multi-tasking (on a phone) you blew it.
@Outsider
look you idiots, the imac is a consumer machine, and as such apple does not go throwing on any random port that happens to be flavor of the month on it. In fact they do the oposite continually taking OFF ports that have become redundant. (ed serial, scsi, and tec like the floppy drive and soon the optical dive). Apple will take this to an extrem soon with lightpeak where you will connect everything via wifi for slower / self powered devices and the screen, ethernet etc... all via lightpeak. it will be fast, simple, work well and understandable to consumers
If you want esata then by a mac pro (like me) and add one for $30 or less
@jameschurchman
...yeah. That makes a lot of sense.
Spend a minimum of $2400 to get something that you can find on a $200 PC.
This isn't "just some random port". This is the external version of the same internal storage connector that EVERYONE uses including Apple.
@jedi That may be... But I have an esata port on my pc, actually multiple... I never use them. And externals are nice if you're tight on space, but a lot of people don't hit their limit very easily. I have a 2 tb drive, 60% full, my parents who eptimoze computer lute rate but average users collectively have about 200 gb of data and that's with a decades worth of saving their data.
And apple focuses on it's ecosystem over any other, for backups they have wireless set ups...
Maybe some people use esata a lot, but a lot of people don't. I still have 4 slots for hdds in my case, don't think imaging to run out of room anytime soon. Hmm raid 01...
@Robhimself
They are "cutting edge" when it comes to gutting their customers for RAM/HDD upgrades, memory cards in an iPhone ? Never ! Apple negotiates such discounts it's disgusting that lock you down so tight.
@Outsider I'm not disagreeing that Apple should have had this built in, but seriously, who uses eSATA? You use USB3 if you want speed, and USB 2 for legacy drives.
@vstican
It sucks that they treat you that way and you still buy their stuff.
Don't complain about getting beat up if you happily walk into it.
@Outsider
If you're buying a computer and drilling a hole in it rather then buying a computer with the holes already there, then I would say it looks like the computers already sporting the holes blew it.
That's awesome... but would that wreck the warranty?
@lucky1995 Probably, it's like opening up your laptop so yeah.
@lucky1995
It done well enough that they won't notice its aftermarket.
@Kurian Yeah the aftermarket wont be a big deal, but the torn VOID IF REMOVED stickers might be a hint.
@Kurian
huh? u think they wont notice an esata port with 2 screws sticking out of a device which shouldnt be having it in the first place?
Ouch, poor iMac
@appleipad yeah :(
More like ouch, poor iMac owner.
@starkruzr
The 27" iMac is a great machine.
Great!
...
Why Apple doesn't support eSATA, thou might ask?
To make the Light Peak jump seem even more spectacular next year, I guess.
@palegolas
LightPeak is so far away, there isn't even a chipset available for end device manufacturers yet. I'm thinking at least 2 years. So what should customers do in the mean time besides get screwed?
@DoctarPeppar
Get screwed and like it.
@DoctarPeppar Well intel keep saying there will be a chipset this year. Since they don't seem to be rushing on USB 3 I would guess that is still the plan. I personally think they will enable the USB 3 protocol over lightpeak as it is supposedly protocol independent.
@palegolas
Because they already have FireWire 800, which is a powered bus and therefore infinitely more useful than eSATA?
Unless you actually enjoy needing a separate power source for any eSATA product you use.
Nothing is perfect sadly
Looks ugly placing it at the bottom. Would be much more elegant if it would be placed at the back, with the other connectors.
@iTakeTwo yeah exactly
@iTakeTwo betting that would be more costly, the back is curved afaik.
@iTakeTwo
Yes in the back where all the other connectors are uselessly hard to get to. They should have put a couple usb ports in the bottom or side.
@tcc3
SIDE?!
How DARE you suggest that we sully our perfect surfaces and lines with great big square HOLES instead of solid Aluminium?!
You'll just have to get used to the inconveniences.
Steve Jobs
Sent From My iPhone.
@iTakeTwo
I dunno. I always thought it was the height of stupidity that connectors were mounted on the back. What if you want to mount one of these machines on a wall? Then how do you get to stuff?
I would rather have the socket/plug 'round the back.
Apple has never been about adopting any new technology. And eSATA is not really a very visible interface in the market. So I think Apple decided not to add yet another interface to the mix and instead wait for established interfaces to get faster.
The question is why the new iMacs and Mac Pros does not have USB 3. Maybe they really are waiting for Light Peak and is going to push that hard instead?
@Tiran Kenja
they are working with intel to produce light peak until then no new ports
@Tiran Kenja The didn't do USB 3.0 because they're lazy. There I said it.
@Jacob1 I hope you're referring to intel, as Apple can't include it until Intel builds in support into their chipsets that support the iX series and Westermere. Apple can't simply slap on a USB3 controller, it;s part of the core chipset, or it isn't.
Also, FW is fast enough for bulk storage external drives, and every drive i've ever seen with eSATA support also had FW800. Very few drives can max FW800 speeds anyway, let alone approach SATA II, at least for applications where that drive should not already be internal based on the use, and anyone using such apps likely would not have an iMac.
For performance needs, Apple offered a dual-internal drive solution (at only $100 more than you could buy the drive yourself for), Adding a single eSATA drive? not really that big of a deal...
Yes, I'd like to see apple add the option, but I don;t think its mission critical for them to do that. (especially since FW has been years since an upgrade, and we're certain one is in the works)
@Tiran Kenja
"Apple has never been about adopting any new technology."
If you recall, there was considerable controversy surrounding the release of the original iMac due to it NOT featuring a floppy disk drive or a serial port. USB only for external device connectivity. At the time, there wasn't a printer on the market that supported USB because the computer manufacturers didn't want to increase their own costs by adding USB. It was a standard that wasn't getting embraced, then Apple released the iMac, it ONLY had USB, and millions were sold. Immediately, the peripheral manufacturers recognized a strong market opportunity in those iMac buyers who had no printers, and they rushed USB peripherals to market.
eSATA? Not really that important to me when I can use FireWire. Cables are stiff and you can't daisy-chain the devices.
@zelannii "I hope you're referring to intel, as Apple can't include it until Intel builds in support into their chipsets that support the iX series and Westermere. Apple can't simply slap on a USB3 controller, it;s part of the core chipset, or it isn't. "
That's completely wrong. There's a dozen or so laptops and desktops out on the market with NEC USB 3.0 chips. And yes, you can just "slap on a USB 3 controller", just like you can with USB 2 or 1.
@Tiran Kenja
You're wrong, I'm sorry.
Apple has never been about adopting technology that is the INDUSTRY STANDARD.
They're perfectly happy throwing out new "innovations" that are made by them for only them: MicroSIM, Micro DisplayPort...
@mrtexasfreedom
"If you recall, there was considerable controversy surrounding the release of the original iMac due to it NOT featuring a floppy disk drive or a serial port. USB only for external device connectivity".
Indeed. But I did say "ANY new technology". There is no denying they have been key in driving some technology, there the rest of the PC market is often too conservative to really get people using anything new.
@Jacob1
Yeah. That was my point. Apple usually has no trouble making their own controller chips. So for a company that more or less forced USB on us all. It seems a bit strange they are not also leading this upgrade. But I guess they simply don't feel anyone needs it right now.
@TheRealCJ
Hehe. Well yes and no.
MicroSIM is a standard as much as the other SIM types. It was just being used yet by anyone. Apple included it in the iPad mostly to get it out in the market. So when they would have it in place for iPhone 4. And I am sure we will see others start using it now. As everyone wants to save space inside their phones.
MINI DisplayPort (not Micro) on the other hand is yet-another-Apple-display-connector. But at least this time they tried to get it out in the market. The most other times they made new connectors it lasted exactly one generation in their product lineup, and then went away again.
If steve jobs thought you needed an eSata port, he would have put one on there... I mean, he knows all and sees all...if you don't like his overpriced pieces of crippled tardicaca -- don't buy them.