Apple Cuts USB-C Adapter Prices In Response To MacBook Pro Complaints (theverge.com) 212
One of the biggest complaints with the new MacBook Pros is the lack of ports. There are between two and four USB-C (Thunderbolt 3) ports depending on the model you select -- that's it. If you need a SD card slot, HDMI, USB, or VGA port, you will need an adapter. In response to the criticism, Apple says they will be cutting prices for all of its USB-C (Thunderbolt 3) adapters: "We recognize that many users, especially pros, rely on legacy connectors to get work done today and they face a transition. We want to help them move to the latest technology and peripherals, as well as accelerate the growth of this new ecosystem. Through the end of the year, we are reducing prices on all USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 peripherals we sell, as well as the prices on Apple's USB-C adapters and cables." The Verge reports: It's a sign that Apple recognizes these dongles are a hassle, and it seems to hope that reducing the prices on them will lessen the pain of this transition. Starting immediately, all of Apple's USB-C adapters and some of its USB-C cables will have their prices cut by $6 to $20: USB-C to traditional USB adapter from $19 to $9; Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter from $49 to $29; USB-C to Lightning cable (1 meter) from $25 to $19; USB-C to Lightning cable (2 meters) from $35 to $29; Multiport adapter with HDMI, USB, and USB-C from $69 to $49; Multiport adapter with VGA, USB, and USB-C from $69 to $49; Only USB-C charging cables aren't being discounted. Apple is also cutting prices by around 25 percent on all third-party USB-C peripherals that it sells. SanDisk's USB-C SD card reader is getting a slightly steeper discount, from $49 to $29. The discounted adapters will be available at Apple's physical and online stores through the end of the year. It still has no plans to ship adapters in the box with the new MacBook Pro.
In the Apple Store... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's only when you buy one and need to use it in the real world, interfacing to the gear you have, that Jony's sleek lightweight machine is encumbered with dongles and the like, because having a star designer in control of everything seems to mean function now comes second to form. Do the engineers get a look in?
It's in keeping with their recent trend (Score:2)
The Mac Pro is the same way. (Some) People think "Oh look it is so small, and sleek, how cool!" Yes, indeed it is quite a small case that tucks away easily and is very sleek and featureless... until you need to do actual pro work with it. Then, because it has no drive bays, no PCIe slots, and so on you end of having to chain a bunch of shit off the ports on the back and have that laying all over your desk. It maintains its minimalist setup only if you make use of it in a minimal (meaning just normal computi
Reality Distortion Field Feedback (Score:2)
The Mac Pro is the same way. (Some) People think "Oh look it is so small, and sleek, how cool!"
Really? The first thing I think of when I look at it is "Oh look it is almost old enough to belong in a computer museum why the heck are they trying to pass off a 3 year old machine as new".
Apple's famed reality distortion field seems to be suffering from severe feedback. Rather than us being affected it seems to now be affecting them which would explain why they think a their new laptops and desktops (3 year old MacPro, 2-core mini) will sell, at least after the Apple fan boys have purchased the initia
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This is only a temporary problem. In a few years, USB-C will be the standard, and monitors, keyboards, mice, thumb drives, etc. will use it. Dell, HP, etc. will follow Apple's lead, and all the old ports will fade away. But if Apple provided legacy ports, the device manufacturers would continue to use them, and there would be no movement to a better standard.
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they use proprietary ports instead of industry standard ports
While Thunderbolt 3 is proprietary (but to Intel, not Apple), its use is completely optional on the new Macs. USB-C, USB 3.1, and DisplayPort are all industry standards which all major PC vendors are adopting; Apple is just ahead of the curve.
Adapters are required because the USB-C connector is too new, not because it is proprietary. In two to five years, most new peripherals will not require the adapter, regardless of which company made them. The real issue is that by the time the adapters aren't needed an
Re:In the Apple Store... (Score:5, Interesting)
Adapters are required because the USB-C connector is too new, not because it is proprietary. In two to five years, most new peripherals will not require the adapter,
USB-C does not replace or supercede or do what HDMI and Ethernet connectors do, however.
These are not legacy, and there's nothing to replace them, except in Apple's world, where they'd like people
to use Thunderbolt for video, instead
There are still brand new monitors, video capture, and other video In/Out devices being released by most manufacturers which
have 4k HDMI and no 'Thunderbolt' or 'Displayport'... It's not a great idea to have a Laptop that you won't be able to make your Powerpoint presentations on, because you have these foreign interfaces which only Apple is adopting.
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...because you have these foreign interfaces which only Apple is adopting.
Again, this is not true. DisplayPort has been pushed by other companies (NVIDIA, AMD, Dell, probably others) for years now; they just don't subscribe to Apple's "all or nothing" approach. My household has multiple DisplayPort systems, none of which include any Apple components. DisplayPort is favored by the computer industry because it's royalty-free and technically superior. Momentum and home theatre equipment are what keep HDMI alive.
Likewise, USB-C is not "foregin"; it's the official next-generation USB
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USB-C does not replace or supercede or do what HDMI and Ethernet connectors do, however.
What I have been doing for years is have a collection of cables with the adapters attached, I just treat them as one cable with a lump in the middle. You have to have the right cable to connect one device to the other, just get the right cable. I don't understand the frustration here. When I pack up my laptop I toss in a few things, a mouse (because I hate trackpads), the laptop charger, an Ethernet cable with a USB adapter attached, a DVI to HDMI cable, and a DVI to VGA cable. If I think I'm going to p
Re: In the Apple Store... (Score:2)
"So far it's been a matter of days since Apple released this computer and again we see a lag of devices."
It might be worth mentioning that the USB-C only "New macbook" was introduced a year and a half ago and is on its second iteration already.
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It's not a great idea to have a Laptop that you won't be able to make your Powerpoint presentations on
I think laptops that you can't make PowerPoint presentations on would be great. I wish everyone had one.
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Adapters are required because the USB-C connector is too new, not because it is proprietary.
Apple's whole strategy around ports is an inconsistent mess at the moment, the fanboys defend it as Apple being "ahead of the curve" but that is untrue, this is just Apple going against their traditional strategy of minimalist design with products that seamlessly work together. Travelling on the plane I couldn't use bluetooth headphones so I took wired ones, I couldn't take the lightning earpods that came with my iPhone7 because the Macbook Pro inexplicably still doesn't include a lightning port so I had to
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"Standard" can also mean commonly used. Whereas the USB-C may follow a technical standard it is also very rarely used.
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Let me translate your comment. Ahem. ...no...I can't seem to translate the sounds of you sucking off Tim Cook.
Dreadfully sorry.
You gotta go a better job of entertaining us coward. So far, not so good.
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> I am superior because I buy Macs
This sums up 99% of my issues with Apple: not so much their anti-consumer practices (I don't buy from them, it's not my loss), but how insufferable their users are.
You ought to try looking at yourself once in a while.
If I am superior, it isn't because of what computer I buy. Or phone. Or Operating System. Or blah blah blah.
Having Mac and Windows and Linux and iOS and Android and ChromeOS devices, I can make some pretty informed decisions about what is good, which is better or worse.
That situation also makes it a little difficult to bullshit me. Let us not forget that you are on the side of the AC and others who accuse me of engaging in oral sex with the head o
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But on a Mac? Fucking unforgiveable.
It's unforgiveable[sic] because they use proprietary ports instead of industry standard ports, which you then have to use an adapter to convert back to a standard port.
Time to go back to the basement and work on your GED.
The point is, talking points like the adapters needed are just silly. All computers may need them at times, and I have them on my Windows machine, My Mac, and even on a RP3.
I doubt, despite the brouhaha about it, that it is much of an issue. Its like the headset plug on the iPhone 7. I have a 7, and plugging in the headset to the adapter is done exactly once. After that, you pull out the adapter and leave it on the headset (note, I use Bluetooth, but if I did use a wired headset, that's how I'd do it. I
Re:In the Apple Store... (Score:5, Insightful)
Why on earth does she have a pro then? Seems she'd be much more suited to the standard MacBook if all she does is use a text editor and a web browser?
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Because she likes to type on the computing equivalent of a Rolex watch. A Casio would do just as well to tell time but then it wouldn't look as cool when she goes to the coffee shop to write.
It could also be that she wants the larger display. It's like wanting a car with nice seats, you might not want or need the fancy stereo and bigger engine but if you really really want those seats then you'll pay for the rest of the package.
I've become spoiled with having laptops with a 15 inch display, I wouldn't con
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I too have become spoiled with having laptops with USB ports and SD Card readers :D
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Why are you even talking?
If I knew then I'd tell you.
You're telling us all about how your wife doesn't need a Pro computer. But she likes it, and that's fine.
I'm not the original poster, just someone speculating on possible reasons. So, not my wife and I don't know the person posting.
Meanwhile there is a very large segment of users who do a hell of a lot more with your computer than your wife does. These people now have to look at companies other than Apple to find a computer that does what they want.
I consider myself an IT professional and I've come to the realization a long time ago that adapters are just the cost of doing business. If I have a $2000+ laptop and a $200+ display then I'm not going to throw a fit over a $15 cable and $15 adapter to connect the two. Put this in perspective and consider what you are bitching about.
When I pack my lapt
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They released a Mac that you have to unplug to plug anything else into. It hurts so bad.
I spend a lot time working a computer repair shop, we've only had one come through so far.
It needed data restored from a dead Mac, and to be backed up to an external hard drive.
This involved charging it fully, unplugging it while we attempted to migrate data from the hard drive of the dead Mac in an enclosure
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You don't need to buy the absolutely top end tablet. Jesus, the whole point of using the iPad in this context is that you don't need the capabilities of a full computer.
The MacBook is not a tablet alternative, the tablet is a MacBook alternative. Let's not let them screw things up by giving them THAT idea.
It's been really strange to me that Apple hasn't conv
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It sounds to me like all that you are arguing is that you are not in the market for this product. That's fine, I'd want something else too.
The MacBook is not a tablet alternative, the tablet is a MacBook alternative.
That's all a matter of perspective and opinion, is it not?
I think back to my classes this last summer and I recall two students that took tablets to class. One student had a nice case/keyboard combo that made me think for the first couple days of class that it was a laptop. He used it pretty much like a laptop, at least during class, taking notes and such. The other
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Acer Chromebook 15 CB3-531. Sub-$200, 15.6" (Admittedly wide) display, MIMO and 16GB SSD. Around $175 all day, even less if you want to mess around on eBay. Claimed 11 hour battery life, could be true. Tether it to your phone and cloud save so that nobody gets your data if you lose it. And you can have several for the price of a Macbook.
I admire Apple's physical design, and their success at selling Unix to newbies, but in this case a Macbook is bananas.
She also doesn't need a $2000 laptop (Score:4, Informative)
If all she's doing is using a word processor (and presumably basic Internet stuff) then a high end laptop isn't something she needs. A sub $1000 laptop would do very nicely for that. All most users need is a simple laptop. The only people who have a need for a higher power laptop are ones who ask it to do more. People who have few needs may wish to get a powerful laptop just because, but trying to argue this is an "everyman's" device is quite silly given the price tag.
That aside, display output is something many users need. At work (a university) we have a number of little loaner laptops. They are 11" Dell Latitudes that were chosen because they are very cheap, so they can basically be regarded as throwaway, very small and have an HDMI port and USB port. That last one matters because a common use is to hook them to a projection system and present, and HDMI has fast become the standard for that. The USB port, USB-A, is important because often things need to be loaded on via flash drive and essentially 100% of the flash drives out there are USB-A interface.
Re:In the Apple Store... (Score:4, Insightful)
The thing you are missing is that YOU may need those dongles, but the average user will not. My wife, a professional writer, has an older MacBook Pro. She does not use an external monitor or hard drive. She has no USB devices plugged into it. When she needs to transfer files, drop box works perfectly well.
The thing you are missing is that your wife doesn't need a "pro" anything. A writer could work on a chromebook. This is not a macbook pro. This is just a macbook. Where is the pro?
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Re: In the Apple Store... (Score:2)
Who uses an external drive for Time Machine? The only people I know who actually have a regular backup do it over the network either to Time Capsule or some kind of other NAS. I use Synology.
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I can grab the hard drive and run out of the house. I can't go into a burning datacenter to retrieve my information.
Anyone that isn't in FULL CONTROL of their backups is a moron.
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The Macbook Writer?
The Macbook Consumer?
Certainly not the Macbook Coder, Macbook Photographer, Macbook Artist, or Macbook [insert nearly every other profession]
The thing about a Professional laptop is they historically came equipped with far more hardware than any single profession would use. They were all powerful and even more flexible. Quite unlike the current lineup of Macbook UnProfessional.
Your wife can use it? Great! More power to her. In the meantime there are many other professions out they that a
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Very likely because a high end laptop with low end specs must be pretty rare.
Chromebook Pixel would be an example, although the CPU still is "too much" high end. The display is smaller than a 15" 16:10 and you make some severe and unclear compromise on software - which may bite even normal users, i.e. can it deal with that USB drive, a plain regular printer, an unsupported codec? So this is basically 100% idiot box or nerd machine, nothing in between.
Upcoming AMD "Stoney Ridge" CPU ought to be great. It's a
It's not the price (Score:5, Insightful)
Let's face it... the dongle prices are nothing compared to the 2,500 to 3,000 € that you need for the macbook pro.
It's the hassle. For some people, including myself, also this (from an older comment):
I see one major problem with eliminating USB 3.0 ports. Currently there exist very small USB 3.0 sticks (example: Lexar S45 [amazon.com]) that can fit in the current MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops and increase the total storage capacity. These drives are so small that it's not necessary to plug them out when carrying the laptop around in a backpack, a fact that makes this setup an attractive way to save hundreds of dollars that would be necessary for buying a laptop with a 256 GB SSD instead of 128 GB let's say. The USB stick can be used to store music and photos for example, without affecting the overall perceived speed of the machine. There is no equivalent solution with USB-C AFAIK.
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Also touch authentication keys (e.g. YubiKey). As a result, this new design is likely to be a non-starter at many companies, at least in the short term.
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This is also probably the real reason apple removed the SD Card reader as similar devices are available to use the SD slot to increase storage.
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Let's consider :
- you buy one $45 drive not two
- you've spent $45 not $200
- at least it's better than USB 2.0. But it's not like you need super high performance for your media files. They're still fine even on IDE hard drives.
- there is also the SD slot, and in future computers the UFS slot.
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Netbooks came out in like 2008 quite disrupted the computer market. Suddenly, you paid LESS money for a more integrated, compact and smaller computer. A couple years later you got crappy $100 tablets, and a couple years later still, good enough $100 tablets i.e. the MORE it was integrated the LESS money you paid for it.
Apple saves $2 on internal and external connectors etc. while allowing the laptop to be 1mm thinner, that's why it's very profitable for them.
Legacy?!? (Score:5, Insightful)
HDMI, USB, and SD cards are legacy? Seriously? ISA is legacy. PCMCIA is legacy. Apple is looking at a second year of declining profits if they continue the high-handed behaviour that just assumes the rest of the world will bend around them.
Re:Legacy?!? (Score:5, Insightful)
just assumes the rest of the world will bend around them.
Evidence from their customers seems to suggest this is indeed the case.
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Evidence from their customers seems to suggest this is indeed the case.
Like they say in the stock market, past performance is no guarantee of future results. During the Jobs years you had the iPod, iPhone and iPad that were all huge hits. What does Cook have except for incremental improvements of existing product lines? The Apple Watch I guess, but that doesn't exactly inspire confidence. I'm sure they can make money improving what they have, I have the iPhone SE which is a highly defined design but the reality distortion field that made people take a leap of faith is fading.
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Wrong.
I worked at a supercomputing company that sold Alphas NON-STOP for 20 years.
Navy, clusters, Army, you name it, they had Alphas.
So, no. Do some research.
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HDMI, USB, and SD cards are legacy? Seriously?
USB hasn't gone anywhere. The new MacBook Pro still fully supports USB; it's just using the new Type C connector standard designed by the USB Implementers Forum, not Apple. Everyone will be using Type C in a few years, but until then you can use a cheap, reliable, passive adapter; electrically it's fully compatible with the old standards.
It is, however, true that they really did drop the SD card reader.
I'm not sure about HDMI; the Type C connector and the Thunderbolt 3 controller are supposed to be compatib
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but until then you can use a cheap, reliable, passive adapter;
Apple's adapters are NOT cheap. And for the price of the Macbook Pro, you should be able to choose one you want up front FOR FREE.
But hey - it still has a headphone jack.
Thanks.
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Apple's adapters are NOT cheap.
Why would you buy Apple's adapters? USB is an industry standard; there are a zillion other vendors offering Type C adapters.
And for the price of the Macbook Pro, you should be able to choose one you want up front FOR FREE.
True.
For Apple "legacy" means "we don't like it" (Score:3)
Apple has never based their deprecation of anything off of real situations. They don't evaluate the use of their system or peripheral market and say "Ya there is little, if anything, that uses this anymore, we should deprecate it." They do it and then act as though it was visionary.
That's how it with with USB originally. Suddenly, new Macs had USB instead of ADB. No transition period, there weren't ones that did both, it was you had one, and now you had the other. So all those ADB peripherals you had that w
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Have a nice ergonomic keyboard? It uses USB-A, none of them have C cable I know of
This surprised me as well. Besides dongles, the solution that I came up with, is to get a keyboard with a detachable cord. Then you can replace it with a USB-C version. There are plenty of those, but the CoolerMaster keyboards are the first that came up in my search.
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That's how it with with USB originally. Suddenly, new Macs had USB instead of ADB. No transition period, there weren't ones that did both, it was you had one, and now you had the other. So all those ADB peripherals you had that were expensive like high end keyboards or dongles for software licensing just wouldn't work at all on new systems without an adapter. They weren't replacements available for many of them initially either. It took time.
That's not true. The PowerMac tower computers had an ADB port to plug in the old ADB devices. The iMacs didn't keep the ADB ports but the towers did. I had to haul out a lot of old beige PowerMacs and replace them with blue PowerMacs so I know what I'm talking about. Most of the people I worked with wanted to have a new keyboard but a handful of them kept their old beige ones. When the blue PowerMacs were hauled away though then the ADB keyboards had to go too. The G4 PowerMacs didn't have the ADB por
where is the keyboard with the touchbar? (Score:3, Informative)
Ok, so they brag about how great the keyboard is and that you can connect to a bunch of monitors. But I don't know anyone who connects to external monitors and still types on the laptop keyboard.
Of course most of the people I know touch type and don't look at the keyboard anyway, so that 'feature' is just going to be a pain.
After this I'm done with macs and that's saying a lot considering how many how many I've used over the years.
Re:where is the keyboard with the touchbar? (Score:4, Informative)
"I don't know anyone who connects to external monitors and still types on the laptop keyboard."
I do. My laptop keyboard is great. I have an external 27" monitor. I touch type.
I will agree with you though that the new bar across the top is not appealing. I don't look at the keyboard. I look at the screens. I want the function keys to be what I mapped them to be and not switched by applications. I also want them to be tactile. I touch type and need them to be where I expect them to be. I also cord. Gives a lot more functions.
But then you don't know me so your statement holds true. Barely.
Apple misses the point (Score:5, Insightful)
(Gordon Ramsay voice): It's not about the price of the bloody dongles you fucking donkey!
It's about not having to deal with all the extra connectors, keeping track of them, taking them with you when you travel and then worrying about losing them. It's about Jony Ive and Tim Cook having the arrogance to design both the iPhone 7/7+ and the new MacBook Pro with release dates less than a month apart, yet not include in EITHER BOX a cable that lets you connect these two devices directly to each other. What the fuck is that, Jony? Just tryy to justify that decision. I dare you. It's about marketing USB-C as the future but not actually providing any cables out of the box that connect to those ports! How many devices exist in the market that support this connectivity?
Anyone who has the money to spend on this laptop is not going to balk at another $50 of cables. But the fact that Apple expects them to play pin the tail on the dongle with their new laptop is a slap in the face. Every time you have to fiddle with a dongle, it is like Jony Ive personally reaching out and bitchslapping you.
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This x 1000
Needs a new Ringleader. (Score:4, Insightful)
Jony Ive and Tim Cook
Are both brilliant in their own right but it was Jobs that kept them inline. They designed what Jobs told them to.
Using a dongle on the latest and greatest of your flagship products is not something Jobs would have allowed. Knowing jobs if they came to him with that idea he would have replaced them both. He did it to Woz before them.
It sounds like the different departments at Apple aren't communicating. They need a new ringleader to keep them inline.
Re: Apple misses the point (Score:2)
Also, note that this is the first time you cannot use your iphone headphones with your macbook.
"Legacy" (Score:5, Funny)
"We recognize that many users, especially pros, rely on legacy connectors. . ."
Nice of them to throw a bone to their legacy customers.
Ridiculous (Score:4, Insightful)
Seriously, if I can't plug a flash drive directly into the machine then fuck it, I'm not buying it.
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No worries, here you go: https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk... [amazon.com]
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95%?
Try 99.999%
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Or look at the one in this thread?
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It should have at least one full sized USB port of some sort.
Courage (Score:2)
It just means everyone will dust off their 4-port USB hubs they have in a drawer and connect them via a USB-C-to-A cable.
Naturally they'll need a USB-C-to-Lightning adapter if they want to share peripherals with their iPhone 7 :)
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I'll be the first to admit I don't use thumb drives on a daily basis or have tons of USB peripherals (Mice, keyboards, joysticks, cameras, but not a ton of them....) I don't mind using adapters I have an OTG adapter for my tablet that I use once in a while. My view on this situation though, is that if your paying out the butt for a laptop. It should cater to the users needs and it's large enough that having a normal port isn't too much to ask.
USB is far from out dated and new devices are being made for that
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Seriously, if I can't plug a flash drive directly into the machine then fuck it, I'm not buying it.
Shhhh! "Look at the touch bar at the top of the keyboard! <Apple User> Ohhhh, Pretty colors!"
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While I admit there isn't enough ports on the damn thing, I've done a quick google and USB-C flash drives do exist in the 128gb range.
Modern and legacy (Score:2, Insightful)
Just because some firm removes current interfaces, it does not make them legacy, in the same way newly written software need not necessarily be modern.
They recognize what? (Score:2, Insightful)
"We recognize that many users, especially pros, rely on legacy connectors to get work done today and they face a transition."
Really? I got the impression from the latest product design that they didn't recognize that fact at all.
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They need to make a Pro Pro model that actually has a regular USB port on it... lol
Too little, too late, and wrong anyways (Score:5, Insightful)
You see, even when Apple is taking a step back and recognizing a necessity for professionals, they still have to act like cocky condenscendent f*ckers that do not understand the needs for the category. Just further confirms what I see wrong with Apple these days.
There is nothing f*cking "legacy" about these connectors. The company is bonkers and delusional. Professionals don't need help making any transition, and Apple does not offer a professional solution for most of the connectors they eliminated. No one wants to make a transition to a more primitive time when every company had their own proprietary connectors. This is bullshit.
It's just absolutely crazy. Does Apple really think now that ports not approved by the company are automatically legacy? This god complex of them is what's going wrong in recent years. Not only they stopped caring about what professionals really need, now they think they can tell what professionals should need, even though they seem to have no idea of what professional works composes outside their own headquarters. How about taking a walk on the real world every now and then to see what's really happening around? No one cares if you think removing a headphone jack is a corageous move.
Yes, professional cameras still uses memory cards. And a whole bunch of them don't have good wireless connection, when they even have wireless at all. Yes, most clients and 3rd parties still deliver content to be used in production with external HDDs and pendrives. No, most peripherals are not using USB Type-C and we don't expect this to change fast, even more when the standard has so many conflicting configurations. Most equipment on the music production and audio side are still on regular USB.
The rest of PCs, electronics and professional gear overall - which composes the vast majority btw - will keep using universal standards.
And those standards will keep improving. Professional work couldn't care less about what Apple thinks of ports, they'll be used as demanded.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with having multiple different ports inside laptops with dedicated hardware to work with them.
Close to even gaming laptops, with all their glaring looks and "look, I'm a gamer" designs, the Macbook Pro looks like a kid's toy.
Professionals needs ports to connect external drives, sd card readers to transfer content and backup from multiple devices, ethernet ports to transfer files fast and in a reliable way, graphics cards that are on the higher end, HDMI connectors because that's the type of connector they will find in any situation, expandable RAM for fast renders and multitasking among a host of other stuff. Outside very few businesses, there is no Apple-only workflow.
There's nothing Pro about the new Macbooks. It's ok for regular use, but in the vast majority of jobs involving content creation you will need multiple dongles to handle demand. Macbook Pros basically degraded into Ultrabook territory. Yes, they are still plenty fine for a huge category of users, but other than the core spec upgrade, I'm not seeing many benefits for professionals. They should just be honest about it and remove the Pro from the title altogether. These are nice all-rounder machines, but a severe downgrade in philosophy for people who intend to use these laptops for content creation.
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The rest of PCs, electronics and professional gear overall - which composes the vast majority btw - will keep using universal standards.
The USB-C ports on the new MacBooks is from a "universal" standard, that's what the "U" in USB stands for. What is rather compelling about these ports is that every port will support USB, ThunderBolt, DisplayPort, and power. If you want to plug in a DisplayPort display then use a DisplayPort cable, not an adapter but a cable. Just like how people routinely buy a DVI to HDMI cable to plug a computer to a display its not a matter of the cable doing anything more than carry the signal, it doesn't "adapt" an
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I'll take a portion of your rant line by line.
Professionals needs ports to connect external drives,
There are four USB-C ports capable of ThunderBolt 3 which can give 40Gbps speeds. The best I see on most other laptops and desktops are USB 3.0 (5Gbps), eSATA (6Gbps), or the older ThunderBolt (10 or 20Gbps). Just what do you expect? One might need to get a new cable or dock to connect their existing drives to the USB-C port but any professional that needs to connect to various drives to transfer data will have a dock on their desk or a fistful of cables in t
Thank you, Apple (Score:4, Insightful)
Let me once again reiterate how grateful I am for Apple to have the courage to put the first nail in the coffin of the old, mildly annoying USB type A. I like the USB type C port better, and hope it replaces not just the Type A but also other ports. And, as a non-Apple user, this doesn't inconvenience me in the least and also gives me a good chuckle and another anecdote to point out the dangers of vendor lock-in.
Re: (Score:2)
Does Dell have more courage? The Lattitude 7370 we started evaluating last August had USB-C ports, and charges via USB-C - ages before Apple did it. It doesn't have ethernet ports either (does have hdmi/display ports though).
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Wrong
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and hope it replaces not just the Type A but also other ports
It will. In fact many (most?) laptops on the market now have USB-C ports. This didn't need Apple's help, and certainly not if what they were doing was burying it alive.
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Let me once again reiterate how grateful I am for Apple to have the courage to put the first nail in the coffin of the old, mildly annoying USB type A.
Agreed. I hate having to figure out which way is up on those damned connectors. The "big" A connectors are bad enough, when using the micro connectors for my cell phone is worse. considering that I have to plug in the phone everyday I'd appreciate a connector that can be flipped either way and still fit.
And, as a non-Apple user, this doesn't inconvenience me in the least and also gives me a good chuckle and another anecdote to point out the dangers of vendor lock-in.
As a long time Apple customer I appreciate that Apple has decided to adopt more widely used ports on their computers. Technically the old connectors like ADB and NuBus weren't Apple only but they were so
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No, I don't want one of those. They are messing with the standard and getting predictably mixed results. I read the reviews on that page and I'm not impressed. I bought my last phone for something like $50 knowing that I'd not be using it for long. I gave up on getting a new smart phone at the time since I saw all kinds of craziness with the charging ports used. I now see that I have a choice with getting a phone with USB-C or Lightning which don't have the "which way is up" problem of the older iterat
Pin compatibility (Score:2)
What would happen if you desoldered the USB-C plug and (would it even fit??) put a standard USB connector in place of one port?
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How many different USB devices do you have that you'd even consider soldering a USB-A port to your new laptop?
I saw a small cheap (about $10) USB-A to USB-C adapter on Amazon. Given the small size and low cost it should be trivial for someone willing to invest $2000 in a new laptop to buy a handful of these adapters to leave on the cables for the devices they'd be plugging in. That's assuming one is too lazy to just keep track of a single adapter.
To answer your question, yes the wires would fit. The USB-
Re: (Score:2)
Why would you have registers if they were slower than cache?
You would lose your warranty and most likely damage the machine. Definitely take half of the resale value off. Instead you could just buy an adapter for 8 dollars or less.
Simple Solution (Score:5, Informative)
Buy a used MacBook Pro.
This gives you the connectors you want.
The used MacBook Pros are almost as fast as the new ones. Trivial difference.
The cost of the used ones is about 50% of the new ones.
Buy used and you save. Of course, Apple doesn't make any money off of that transaction which is your way of voting with your pocket book. Apple will pay attention to this when Mac sales crash due to them releasing machines people don't want. They will pay attention and notice the sales of the used machines are doing well. They'll figure it out.
Lastly, leave Apple feedback here:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/... [apple.com]
They do read the feedback and that is your conduit to change.
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This is actually my plan, I was waiting on the new MBP as I want the 2TB SSD and the 'e' key on my current MBP is broken.
However, I need a fully functioning SD Card reader in the field and the ability to copy data around with a USB key to other people and I can't be bothered of the burden of having to ensure I've packed a separate card reader and USB-C -> A converter in one of the three different bags to guarantee I can effectively work.
I'm unlikely to forget to take my laptop to work but I forget the SD
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Another way is to get that Microsoft Surface Book, the one that has normal USB ports, SD card reader and a 1st party dock for extra USB, 1xGigEthernet and 2x display ports. They claim the SB is faster than the contemporary MacBook Pro, however bear in mind that Microsoft is a software company and Apple is a hardware/consumer electronics company, so they might lack the courage to keep in tune with what the market wants and needs in the way that Apple does.
$2,500 for an Apple Ultrabook (Score:2)
I have to admit, USB Standard does suck a little. (Score:2)
You never get them in the right way. I sort of appreciate Apple just ditching the standard connectors altogether and moving to USB-C.
It's a jerk move of sort, but they actually can get away with it and that way more will make the switch sooner as well.
It's not the dongle, it's the specs (Score:2)
Apple Overreach (Score:2)
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I'm of two minds on the loss of the Magsafe port. First is the point you make, the cord will break free and not drag the computer down if tripped over. This is nice but I've had problems of it not making a proper connection because, for example, a small stack of papers slid under the cable. It would appear connected at a glance but it would be tilted just enough that power wouldn't flow. What is nice about having the USB-C port for power is that the power brick can be plugged in on either side of the la
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Thanks, you've pointed out the one real and considerable improvement. It makes me think of trashed Dell laptops, I know of one. The power supply died after a few years and then the replacement ordered on the ebay or amazon quickly died out too (no idea if the computer still reliably works).
A single USB-A on a laptop along two USB-C would be fairly decent. The problem with "get an adapter" : most existing adapters plug onto USB-A . So it's get an adapter for the adapter.
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A single USB-A on a laptop along two USB-C would be fairly decent. The problem with "get an adapter" : most existing adapters plug onto USB-A . So it's get an adapter for the adapter.
My short reply...
As pointed out in other posts on this thread there are manufacturers that offer small and inexpensive USB-A to USB-C adapters. How small? Smaller than those USB to PS/2 adapters common with mice once upon a time., just put the adapter on the device and then consider it just part of the device. How inexpensive? I've seen them selling as low as three for $6. With prices like that I believe quite strongly now that anyone that complains about the lack of USB-A ports on a new $2000 laptop i
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks for the reply, yes the multiple video output standards are the only serious issue. There is yet another option which may sound silly but not that much, use the USB 3.x itself for display output. Well, you hinted at it. Assuming the software or OS support is good, that works no matter the device (e.g. phone, tablet, or just using the wrong port on a PC or hub/dock).
On desktop PC especially, the video standard for USB-C seems to be no video at all.
The courage to be stupid (Score:2)
Or equivalently: fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Keep it up Tim, Apple can afford it. And don't worry about those pesky shareholders, they just don't get what real courage is.
I don't care, I love new tech (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't understand the backlash and the hatred. I love new tech! Although I run Linux on the server, I like running macOS on the desktop so I ordered the new MacBook Pro.
With glee, I'm already planning out the new setup in my office and at my current client. Which cables are cheap? Which are quality? Which are middle-of-the-road? Should I get a docking station? Based on Thunderbolt or is USB-C good enough? Love that shit.
I guess it comes down to two kinds of people: those who don't like change, and those wh
Based on your posting history and content (Score:3)
I'd say you're not a real person but an Apple PR paid sockpuppet account.
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LOL no, but I'm an app developer. So yes, I do earn my money in the Apple ecosystem.
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"I guess it comes down to two kinds of people: those who don't like change, and those who welcome it."
That is condescending bullshit.
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Well, I genuinely do love new tech. But reading it again, that last sentence is indeed just bullshit.
Apple lies (Score:2)
Apple has lost its soul. (Score:2)
There is nothing in the new MBP to make me want to ditch my mid-2015 MBP (actually an insurance fix of a late 2011 MBP).
I have upgraded it to have 16 GB RAM. And a 1 TB SSD. And the processor speed is about the same (and irrelevant because almost nothing is multi-processor aware). I do hate the shiny, glossy screen, but that's not going away. Worst of all, I can't find the fucking Esc key without looking down from the screen (+ monitors)?!? Never.
Now to the race to have a wafer-thin computer, and thus
Re:Your one stop shop (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know about you, but I enjoy news about complaints against Apple.
Your one stop schlock (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah? Well, here's one. They could have put a few dollars worth (if that) of still completely current hardware into the macbook pro, and then no one would need these WAY more expensive dongles.
Here's your Macbook (cough) "Pro", right here. [youtube.com]
Buy now, while you're still DRUNK!