Totally depends on what you use your computer for. I use my optical drive about once every 12 months and all of my important files fit easily into 128GB. With the proliferation of media services in the cloud, that number continues to drop...I now listen to Pandora 10x as much as my iTunes collection.

In the year I've had my current MacBook, I've used the optical drive maybe 10 times: -I've started burning CDs again because I just bought a car from 2003, too new for a tape adapter and too old for aux input. -Occasional DVDs, but most video comes over the web. -Occasional software installation, but I get most software via the web these days.

Burning CDs full of data is already an idea long gone with the advent of various flash devices. Practically no one burns CDs of music anymore since CD players are pretty much gone. Even DVDs are fading; Apple has a vested interest in this happening faster since they sell media online in any case.

With high-speed I/O, an external drive would work just fine for folks who need to read or burn disks only occasionally. These days, that's most people.

So you are one of the reasons there is still a 13 inch Pro. In a couple of years, with a new Air with bigger SSD and more of your data in the cloud, it might make more sense to you.

How is having a bigger SSD going to help him burn stuff to disk or watch a DVD? His point was that he still uses the optical drive.

So you say, well, your DVD will be 'in the cloud'. Never mind that pushing that much data up most connections will take all month, how will he even get it onto his computer with no optical drive in the first place?

Well, you might say, all your new stuff will be on the cloud, so don't worry about it. But consider if he has a massive DVD collection. Heck, not even a massive one, just assume a hundred or s DVDs.... are you Seriously proposing that he repurchase all that media in 'cloud' format? At $30 a pop, that would easily justify the cost of going for a more expensive MBP rather than a crippled Air.

Oh you say, well if it is just a matter of money, you can just buy the external optical drive. But now whenever you take the laptop anywhere, you have peripherals to drag along with you, and that involves logistics. Again, he's better off with the one that is just built in.

Disclaimer: personally I think the Air is pretty neat. I just don't agree with parent's assertion that optical drives are unnecessary.

Streaming Netflix is $8 a month. Its library now is okay. In the next few years, it may approach total coverage of the movies most people want to watch. (There already is plenty of overlap with my collection and what's available through streaming.)

The parent did not assert optical drives were unnecessary. He only suggested they may not be necessary for that person.