ExpressCard: what it is

Apple’s new MacBook Pro doesn’t have a PC Card slot. Instead, the specifications tell us, it has an ExpressCard/34 slot.

What?

If you’re a Windows notebook nerd you probably know all about ExpressCard, as many models already support it, but I suspect most Mac-o-philes have never heard of it before; I hadn’t, anyway. It’s a replacement for the venerable PC Card (formerly PCMCIA card), designed to be smaller, simpler, faster, and more power-efficient. The “/34” suffix refers to the smaller 34mm version. There’s also a /54 version, which is 54mm wide just like the PC Card, with an awkward notch on one side. That size seems to be aimed at transition devices that can’t yet be squeezed into the smaller package.

The expresscard.org site will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the standard, including whitepapers, schematics, and details of its relation to PCI Express and USB 2.0.

They need to update their news page, though. News of the MacBook Pro doesn’t seem to have reached them!