In its infinite wisdom, Apple has removed the SD card slot from the new MacBook Pro. It's gone, it's no longer a thing, it's as dead as the metaphorical dodo. But why has Apple dumped the SD card slot when most people still use one? Only Apple has the answer...

After four long years, Apple recently unveiled the brand new MacBook Pro. It's fair to say reactions varied. Some focused on the innovative changes such as the Touch Bar, while others focused on what Apple removed to make way for these exciting changes.

Apple dumped all of the various ports in favor of USB-C ports. That means there's no room for an SD card slot which most people use to transfer photos from their camera to their laptop. Which seems like a strange decision, and one which has annoyed many users.

Phil Schiller Explains It All

Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller has given an interview to The Independent covering a range of subjects. One of which is the removal of the SD card slot. Schiller was asked why the new MacBook Pro has no SD card slot, to which he replied:

"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 adapter if you want, or do wireless transfer."

Another Courageous Decision

So there we have it. There's no real mystery involved. Apple thinks there are better options available than the SD card slot. So, in the same "courageous" way it decided to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone 7, Apple removed the SD card slot from the new MacBook Pro. Like it or lump it.

What do you think of the new MacBook Pro? Will you be buying one? Or are you going to give this particular Apple product a miss? Are you annoyed at Apple removing the SD card slot? Or do you transfer your photos another way? Please let us know in the comments below!