This 2012 MacBook has been a cult hit amongst doctors and other medical professionals that I support, largely because patient information is still transferred via CD or DVD.
Also, for reasons I don't understand, if you are a parent you just have DVDs. I don't know why. I don't buy DVDs for my kids ... but we just have them. And more keep coming.
Makes me think that there could be a business in making a snap-in case for the 12" MacBook to add an optical drive, extra battery, Ethernet, etc.
Interesting thought. I could picture it for an iPad Pro as well: a "docking station" with peripherals, that is itself portable. You could market it primarily as an extra battery, the way those "portable USB chargers" work.