Blu-ray too expensive for Apple

Posted on 15 Oct 2008 at 09:24

Blu-ray is too expensive and too problematic, according to Steve Jobs, and Apple won’t be putting it in Macs until those problems have been resolved.

The Apple chief executive told a Q&A session following last night’s launch of new MacBooks that format caused too much pain for manufacturers and customers alike.

“You know, Blu-ray is a bag of hurt,” Jobs said.

“The licensing is so complex - we’re waiting until things settle down before we burden our customers with the cost of the licensing and the cost of the drives.”

Of course Apple has another motive for eschewing Blu-ray, as it is the leading retailer of movie downloads. Jobs has said in the past that he thinks downloads, not discs, will prevail in the future.

Apple has also decided to ignore HDMI in favour of a new Mini DisplayPort video interface that connects the new MacBooks to the company’s imminent LED Cinema Display.

Jobs said HDMI was “limited in the resolution it can drive”, with Apple’s marketing chief Phil Schiller adding that “for typical computer use, DisplayPort is the connector of the future”.

[photo: DSCF2422s by everyone's idle; some rights reserved]

Author: Simon Aughton / Barry Collins

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