A hardware feature that used to be standard on computers and consoles has quietly disappeared. Several practical shifts explain why it stopped mattering.

Apple has always been eager to dump technologies when the company feels they have outlived their usefulness. The original iMac came without a floppy drive. The iPhone 7 came without a headphone jack.

Apple's old Mac Pro, with two optical drives. It now has zero. (Credit: Apple) The disc drive is dead -- or it's at least issuing a triumphant death rattle. The disc drive is dead -- or it's at least ...

Sometimes, it’s worth taking a moment to note the end of an era, even when that ending might have happened a long time ago. Today, Apple announced that it considers the mid-2012 13-inch MacBook Pro ...

The last MacBook to feature a CD drive has now been sent to Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AAPL) purgatory. Launched in 2012, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is now an "obsolete product." What Happened: The 2012 ...

Wow, here’s a fantastic hack from the RetroMacCast forum, in which contributor Charles Mangin creates a new body for a Mac mini – using the body of an ancient Apple Disk ][ drive. The drive door works ...