so that it would not need a power cable. This probably goes along with the Air concept of being wireless. Too bad they didn't make a FireWire equivalent drive for all the other Macs. That could give it enough power to run off of a port.
Like you said earlier, I have to wonder why the original poster did not see that the MacBook did not have a Superdrive. That, and the processor, are the only differences between this MacBook rest of the MacBooks. Not to mention the Combo drive makes it different from the entire MacBook family... Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Mini and the low-end MacBook are the only Macs available now with a Combo drive option, which is clearly stated in the configurations online. It seems that this can be overlooked.
Apple eliminated the Combo drive feature all together in the iMac line, as well as the low-end 17-inch model. Surely this may indicate that this will be done to the remaining low-end machines that they still offer. Though come to think of it, all of Apple's offerings aren't really low-end
.
-BMF