This is why Apple killed the SD card slot on the new MacBook Pro

Apple is well-known for its penchant for pushing innovation without any compromise, but the tech giant has been facing a lot of heat for its decision to drop most standard ports on its latest MacBook Pro laptop – especially when it comes to the missing SD card slot.

In an interview with the Independent, Apple’s Senior VP Phil Schiller had a chance to discuss in detail the rationale behind the MacBook’s new design, including the reasons for axing the SD card reader.

While Schiller was quick to acknowledge that the decision was a “bold move” that might indeed be met with skepticism, he explained that Apple plans to remain devoted to its cause to deliver the best possible tech solutions and “help people through these changes.”

In this spirit, Schiller said that chopping off the SD card reader made sense as it was “cumbersome” to include in the first place. He further added that new wireless transfer technology is “proving very useful” as an alternative.

Because of a couple of things. One, it’s a bit of a cumbersome slot. You’ve got this thing sticking halfway out. Then there are very fine and fast USB card readers, and then you can use CompactFlash as well as SD. So we could never really resolve this – we picked SD because more consumer cameras have SD but you can only pick one. So, that was a bit of a trade-off. And then more and more cameras are starting to build wireless transfer into the camera. That’s proving very useful. So we think there’s a path forward where you can use a physical adaptor if you want, or do wireless transfer.

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Although Schiller certainly makes a sound argument, plenty of potential buyers will likely beg to differ.

Wireless transfer technology in cameras might indeed be making progress, but it’s not yet the standard – and it likely won’t be for a few more years. Similarly, while there are a bunch of external card readers and dongles out there, such solutions are not always ideal – especially when time is of the essence.

Schiller further says he was surprised by the negative reactions, but remains hopeful the backlash will pass over in time, noting that every new Apple product has its “share of early criticism and debate.”