There's a fair amount of controversy surrounding Apple’s newly unveiled MacBook Pro laptops, with one major criticism from photographers focusing on the removal of the SD card slot. Owners must use an SD-to-USB adapter to physically transfer files from a card to the laptop, otherwise wireless transfer is the only option. When asked about this design decision during an interview with The Independent, Apple's Phil Schiller explained that SD card slots are 'cumbersome.'

When asked why the new MacBook Pro laptops don’t have an SD card slot, Schiller explained:

"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."

During the end of the interview, Schiller admitted that the level of criticism around the new MacBook Pro ‘has been a bit of a surprise.’ He went on to say that he has 'never seen a great new Apple product that didn’t have its share of early criticism and debate — and that’s cool. We took a bold risk, and of course with every step forward there is also some change to deal with.'

Via: Independent