Originally Posted by osamede

In theory, yes. In practice, user experience shows that not all USB optical drives can be relied on to do this correctly. Most hardcore ultraportable users would tell you that. And the moment of crisis is the worst possible time to be having to roll the dice.

If it is possible to put a recovery/reinstall on a large size USB stick and boot from that, fine. That is an unbeatable solution. But is that the case here? I dont know.

However, what is clear is that needing to mess with optical drives in the moment of truth - or having to look for one or carry one around is just not good enough for a mission-critical tool. That weakness has dogged optical driveless ultraportables for years. Doesnt change just because there is an Apple logo on the device.

If of course this is just a shiny toy, then sure, it doesn't matter. But IMO this is 2008. You bring out a device like this then has got to be able to do a reinstall and boot from a USB stick.