[Brian]

WD has updated their Mac-friendly external with a 2TB hard drive.

Western Digital 2TB My Passport Studio Released

[danwat1234]

No USB 3? That's not very smart of WD. USB2 is 10 + year old technology. Does it really cost that much more to have a USB3 IC in it?

[Kdawgca]

I guess they don't want to alienate Apple users with USB 2.0(Reminds them of something they don't have + USB 3.0 "dirties" their usb 2.0 and thunderbolt ) while charging them extra for the studio version. "Regular" My Passport with 2TB/USB3.0 looks to be $50 less MSRP though maybe the metal design(has to be pretty!) and daisy chaining might justify some of the increased price.

[ChrisMcPole]

That metal shell must be worth the $50 premium! oh wait, it has Apple in description, k nevermind

[Brian]

danwat1234, on 03 April 2012 - 12:24 PM, said:

No USB 3? That's not very smart of WD. USB2 is 10 + year old technology. Does it really cost that much more to have a USB3 IC in it?

The USB 3.0 interface is on the My Passport drive...we recently reviewed it. Are you suggesting a unified line of portables that has USB 3.0 and FireWire 800?

[danwat1234]

No I'm saying they should stop putting USB2 controller chips in their enclosures, it's not a smart move. It's time to move on and unless price is a reason, there is no reason to stick to that old bus revision, it will only hurt sales. If their drive has USB it should be USB3 or nothing.

[ChrisMcPole]

danwat1234, on 03 April 2012 - 11:08 PM, said:

No I'm saying they should stop putting USB2 controller chips in their enclosures, it's not a smart move. It's time to move on and unless price is a reason, there is no reason to stick to that old bus revision, it will only hurt sales. If their drive has USB it should be USB3 or nothing.

It seems WD has some kind of mind block when it comes to Apple-oriented hardware: no usb ports at all, just thunderbolt on the duo studio, and now this...

[danwat1234]

Yeah I think that USB 3.0 jacks and plugs can all support USB2 cables, so no compatibility issues (I think). But there might be some people that would hesitate to buy a USB3 drive if they didn't know it would work on older computers.