When Apple showed off its new Intel based notebook at Macworld last week, many were surprised to find the lack of a Firewire 800 (1394b) port. Where was it? Since most of the Apple staff on site was seeing the MacBook Pro for the first time like everyone else, no one could be found for an answer to why it was gone. Search the web resources and you simply are told it was due to the fact that there just isn’t much FW800 devices out there. The faster version just kind of flopped.

We asked Apple why the speedier port was dropped and we got an answer for you. Janette Barrios, PR Program Manager for Portables & Wireless, told SvenOnTech, “The FireWire 400 port accommodates FW800 devices with the correct connector (9 to 6 pin cable).” Further, Barrios continued, “In addition the new ExpressCard FW is designed so that devices can be daisy-chained together.”

Most have known about the ExpressCard “fix” but the 9-to-6 pin connector has not been officially announced by Apple until now. SvenOnTech is still attempting to confirm from Barrios that faster speeds of FW800 are still reached and not “dumbed” down to the slower FW400 speed. Once we have that confirmation, or correction, we’ll be sure to update you with the news.

So for now, FW800 fans, you can at least still plug in your FW800 devices into the MacBook Pro when released at the end of February. Let the fire burn!

Tags: macbook, firewire, fw800