No USB 3.0 On Macs Anytime Soon

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Like the “Why can’t I get Blu-Ray on a Mac?” question that was asked to Jobs a few months ago, a 9to5Mac reader allegedly sent Jobs an e-mail asking his Jobness why no Macs are shipping with USB 3.0. It’s a valid point, as we’re starting to see USB 3.0 gadgets and PC motherboards pop up. The (again, alleged. Who knows if these things are real) answer from Steve? They don’t think USB 3.0 is a big enough deal yet.

Jobs’ reply to 9to5′s reader:

We don’t see USB 3 taking off at this time. No support from Intel, for example.

As much as I disagree with Jobs on, his analysis of the current status of USB 3.0 is fairly astute. Intel has been delaying supporting USB 3.0 natively on their motherboard chipsets, and last we checked, they weren’t going to do so until Sandy Bridge, their next generation of processors, which is slated for an early 2011 release date. Manufacturers are instead going with third-party controllers which is generally an impractical solution.

Jobs’ argument against Blu-Ray was that the time for physical media has passed, and it doesn’t look like Apple will ever offer Blu-Ray drives in their computers, save for a possibly a Blu-Ray burner option in the Mac Pro for professionals who want them for backup purposes. But, Jobs’ comment about USB 3.0 seems to leave the door open for the fact that USB 3.0 might one day “take off” and be ready for Macs.