The ExpressCard/34 in the MBP

One of the biggest mysteries and most forgotten features of the MacBook Pro is its ExpressCard/34 slot. When the MBP was introduced, most Mac users frowned on the idea of this new, incompatible slot appearing on their computer. However, after a little research and a lot of reading, I have determined that the ExpressCard slot on the MBP is actually a blessing in disguise, excuse me, will be a blessing in disguise.

First off, lets start off with a little bit about the ExpressCard/34 slot. For this, we turn to Macworld. Macworld?

ExpressCard is a faster, serial replacement for the parallel PC Card standard used on many laptops, offering up to 250MBps of throughput in each direction. The ‘34' refers to the width (34mm), which is much slimmer than the 54mm of a PC Card module. Current PC Card peripherals won't fit in the new slot and aren't compatible. However, the ExpressCard slot does have a lot of potential on its own: it's got access to the full speed of the USB or PCI Express buses, meaning that cards attached via the slot will be able to move data at tremendous speeds.

This means that while you may not be initially happy that all your old PCMCIA adaptors don’t fit into your new computer, you have lots of potential, better potential, for the future. ExpressCard/34 cards are being developed as we speak, many of which will be released sometime in the not-too-distant future. Here is a list of current ExpressCards available. Make sure to pay attention to the size (the MBP only takes 34mm cards, not 54mm).

So, essentially, although there may not be a whole slew of 34mm ExpressCards eagerly waiting to jump inside your MacBook, they will come. The slot’s support of the 480 MB/s USB 2.0 bus, as well as the 2.5 GB/s PCI Express bus, allows it amazing potential for FW800 cards, memory card adaptors, TV tuners, SATA cards for fast SATA hard drives, and much, much more. All you need to do is wait. They will come.