New macbook Pro setback for Audio Production.

Question

the new macbook pro don't come with a Firewire 400 port anymore.
everybody knows that usb is too slow for audio transfer and Firewire 800 is usual.
audio interfaces that use firewire 400 can't be used and with only one firewire 800 port there's no room left 'cause we need that to connect the external drives with audio files.
most interfaces need to be connected directly to the computer.
Any Ideas????

Answer 1

I, too, have an issue with the port configuration on MBPs -- too many USB2.0 ports, not enough FW800 ports. Nevertheless, please note that:
1. Bilingual FW800 FW400 cables (really good ones) are available for less than $20.
2. You can daisy chain external FW HDDs (even heterogeneously, i.e. you can cable your computer to a FW800 device using a FW800 cable and then use a FW400 cable to connect the first drive to a FW400 HDD, etc.). This capability is dependent on having redundant or multi-protocol drive enclosures (that is, you will need drives that have at least two FW ports, such as two FW800 ports or a FW800 port plus a FW400 port, not just a single USB2.0 port).
3. You can go hog wild and purchase a full-on FW800 hub/repeater like the NitroAV Professional Firewire/1394b 8-Port device (google it). I use this device to connect five external HDDs to my MBP (four FW800 drives and one FW400 drive). This hub will set you back $150 -- not trivial, but an elegant solution if you use multiple drives, and it comes with the AC power adapter (believe it or not, some hub manufacturers require you to purchase the AC adapter separately). In my configuration, six ports are used -- five for the drives and the sixth to connect the MBP via a FW800 cable. The hub has the additional advantage of eliminating several of the cables that would otherwise connect directly to my computer, which is, after all, a laptop; the fewer things I have to connect/disconnect when I move my MBP around, the better. You can think of this as a do-it yourself version of the docking station that Apple forgot to give us, at least as far as drive connectivity is concerned!
As an aside, my MBP (see model notes below) does in fact have both a FW800 and a FW400 port. I wish Apple configured unibody MBPs to include two USB2.0 ports and two FW800 ports -- but the above tips make the world right.
Finally, I just don't get the gripe about cabling costs. The unibody MBPs are high end laptops -- most purchasers will have invested well over $3K in their machines. There are a thousand usage patterns; I would much rather buy what I need for my applications without incurring the expense of purchasing bundled stuff that I don't need and which winds up in a (bursting at the seams) cable/doodad drawer.