Apple picks FireWire, PC does eSATA, and what I/O we can expect in future MacBooks

When Apple announced its updated line-up of MacBook Pro notebooks at WWDC, I couldn’t help but notice a certain pattern in the updates: the inclusion of the FireWire 800 port and the exclusion of a much-faster eSATA port.  Let’s get the facts over with: FireWire and eSATA are both I/O interfaces that handle data transfer much better than USB.  In fact, they can even be called the “professional’s choice” of I/O interface, with USB being more along the lines of the average consumer/computer user.  FireWire 800 transfers data at a rate of 98.25MB/s while eSATA cranks out 300MB/s.  Compare that with USB 2.0’s rate of 60MB/s and it’s easy to see why USB is a consumer-level I/O interface.  But why did Apple pick FireWire over the much faster eSATA and what can we expect to be the de-facto standard for powerful data transfer in future Macs?Pure marketing

It’s no secret that a sizable portion of MacBook and MacBook Pro users (especially the latter) are creative professionals who make a living making, editing, and distributing audio and video.  This market demands the ability to connect external devices such as sound boards, mixers, and high-end video cameras to their computers.  Therefore, it should come as no surprise that FireWire, officially known as the IEEE 1394 interface, has been adopted as the High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) standard connection interface for A/V (audio/visual) component communication and control.  This is the single most important reason that influenced Apple to include FireWire 800, and not eSATA, across the entire MacBook Pro range.  Also, the fact that FireWire 6 and 8 pin connectors provide power + data transfer in a single cable is just icing on the cake.

How ’bout me? eSATA…

eSATA is faster than FireWire 800.  More than 3.05 times faster, to be exact.  Yet the problem with eSATA is that it doesn’t supply power through the port, meaning that external power must be provided to drive the eSATA device in question.  This power can either come from the wall or from a USB port.  The long and short of it is that eSATA – as a standard – requires more than one cable to be fully functional (the eSATA cable plus a power cable).  And this is where the eSATA/USB combo port comes into play.  Standard on many Windows-based notebooks, the eSATA/USB combo port does exactly what it’s supposed to: eSATA speed coupled with USB power, all in one port, using one wire.  On top of that, the eSATA/USB combo port can be used as a standalone eSATA or USB port, which speaks to the amazing flexibility of the port.  Obviously, eSATA – in combo form or not – is absent on the MacBook line in general.  But looking in my crystal ball, I would say it’s very much possible that future updates to Apple’s Pro range of notebooks will include the eSATA/USB combo port: it takes up no more port real estate than a USB port, yet provides twice as much functionality.

Don’t give up on USB just yet: USB 3.0

USB 3.0 is the next version of the ever-so-popular connectivity standard.  The main selling point of 3.0 is that it’s faster than 2.0.  It’s much faster, with a transfer speed of 625MB/s – over ten times the rate of USB 2.0 (60MB/s).  But as is the common gripe of pros using USB for large file transfers, these speeds are not sustainable: USB relies on the processor (host) to do all of the work managing the transfers, and is hampered by this.  Using USB, the host can’t keep a constant transfer rate.  This is not the case with FireWire: instead of relying on the host machine to do all the heavy-lifting, FireWire devices communicate directly, doing all the processing themselves.  The result is a much more steady throughput that is sustainable over large file transfers, while the USB standard is usually good for small file transfers (burst).

All in all, I see the reason why Apple chose FireWire in its new MacBook Pro range of notebooks: it’s fast, it’s a good standard, and it works with the audio/video devices that MacBook Pro users demand.  In the future, however, I expect to see a eSATA/USB combo port, along with USB 3.0 ports.  I like to think that these ports complement, rather than compete with one another – but this might not be the case for Apple: during the introduction of the 13″ MacBook Pro, Apple’s Phil Schiller hinted that it was a challenge for Apple’s engineering team to include an SD card slot along with a FireWire port.  If this is in fact the case, the eSATA/USB combo port would make the most sense: it doesn’t add an additional port to the side of the notebook, but shares an already-existing USB port.  Having all three ports would give the pro user the ultimate coonectivity nirvana: USB for convenience, eSATA for speed an external storage, FireWire for compatibility with audio and video devices.  Moreover, including an eSATA/USB combo port would quell the uproar over the removal of the ExpressCard slot in the MacBook Pro range, since that was one of the most popular uses for the slot.  Until then, let’s hope Apple is thinking along the same lines!

To see how an eSATA/USB combo port would work with an external drive, take a look at this product.

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Posted in Apple, Featured, FireWire, Input-Output, USB