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I’m no Apple fanboy (never owned a product of theirs and never will) but to be fair, those two USB-C ports can do everything the old, removed ports can do and more. The real crime here is not putting enough of them on the laptop.
Edit: The only port I’ll lament the removal of is the headphone jack. USB-C headphones are rare, adapters get lost, and bluetooth headphones compress the audio and have input lag. Everything else can go, though, and won’t be missed. (Okay fine ethernet can stay too.)
I’m good with it to be honest. One port that can do it all. Not proprietary.
The longer we keep including legacy ports the longer they’ll stick around on peripheral devices
Manufactures won’t change until forced. The transition period might be a bit painful, but worth it.
Almost everything I have has a USB A or a DE-9 plug. I don’t have a single peripheral that plugs into a USB C port. I don’t want to deal with dongles and I’m certainly not going to replace my perfectly good hardware.
Eh, it’s been a standard for nearly a decade now. We’d still be on DVI with this attitude.
You don’t have to replace anything, but you will have to buy a cheap USB-C -> USB-A dongle
USB-C is fairly open, and USB4 can do most things Thunderbolt 3/4 can do, but there are exceptions like daisy-chaining. Thunderbolt 5 is also out now, and it has no open counterpart. And Thunderbolt is very much proprietary, requiring licensing and certification from Intel.
The big issue in my eyes is that they cut down on ports period. Yeah sure you can do it all. Here’s 2 ports for your trouble. There’s not a meaningful amount of them after. My current personal laptop has 2 USB a, one type c, HDMI and microsd. My work laptop is the same, but flipped usba and c. That’s fine for a lot of people, including myself. But then you look at other machines like the xps 13 Plus which has like 2. Or a MacBook air. Which also has 2 but at least you get a headphone jack.
When a port is extremely high bandwidth, the number of them stops mattering much. I’m plugging everything into a dock via a single cable anyways, the rest go largely unused. We used to need a dozen ports because each one could only handle a single task and all were relatively low bandwidth.
For sure, 3 on one side and 2 on the other minimum.
But I already have peripheral devices with older connectors. This just forces me to buy dongles.
Also, USB-C can only “do it all” on paper. In practice you have multiple sockets on any given device that support different subsets of the standard. If you’re lucky, the capabilities are printed right on the device or in the manual. If you’re unlucky you’ll have to figure it out yourself.
But I already have peripheral devices with older connectors. This just forces me to buy dongles.
I already have a computer with USB-C - legacy connectors on peripherals force me to buy dongles.
Also, USB-C can only “do it all” on paper. In practice you have multiple sockets on any given device that support different subsets of the standard.
It’s definitely not as good as it should’ve been, but as long as PC manufactures include as many standards as possible it should play well with whatever standard the peripherals are using.
I already have a computer with USB-C - legacy connectors on peripherals force me to buy dongles.
That’s why I want my computer to have both.
It’s definitely not as good as it should’ve been, but as long as PC manufactures include as many standards as possible it should play well with whatever standard the peripherals are using.
Until it doesn’t.
You’re usually safe with Apple’s Type-C port supporting a lot.
Didn’t they have issues with previous MBPs where they’d charge slower on one side than on the other without apple acknowledging it?
But that aside Apple is pretty good ad supporting mostly everything. Other manufacturers are way worse in that regard.
USB-C is awesome though. I carry one charger amd dongle for HDMI and ethernet. It serves my many devices including Steam Deck, phone and laptop.
USB-C does a lot of heavy lifting. Also, MagSafe™ is still there. A little surprised there is also a SD card slot. And a HDMI port. Not complaining about their inclusion, and I do use them regularly, but why did the dongle company give these to us?
This pic leaves out the latest generation of MacBook that brings back some of those ports.
I guess OP would rather generate outrage upvotes, rather than spread the truth.
Dude if you need that many ports just buy a P50 workstation
I dunno - I’m pretty sure I’d choose the modern MacBook Pro’s ports over any of these other options.
An ethernet port is essential for any computer.
It’s really not. I have one on my work laptop and have never plugged an Ethernet jack into it. That stays permanently in my dock and gets transferred to the laptop via USB-C. All other non-desk work is done via … WiFi. Shock! Literally can’t tell the difference when making money.
Exactly! What are you going to do if your router dies (or you mess something up fiddling w/ things)? I may only need it once/year or so, but when I do, it’s really important and I most likely can’t find the dongle.
An RJ-45 port could totally fit on there if they used one of those flip-down things that Dell has on their professional line.
I just this … https://a.co/d/ijxaPae
Only issue I have is max 65W PD, which should be fine for most laptops, but some laptops can charge at 100W.
We’re mindlessly bashing Apple here, we don’t need your sensible reasoning!
From my personal experience Apple products aren’t as great as the fanboys claim but are far far better than they haters say they are.
Continue bashing, they use apple maths and only have ports on expensive models.
That picture is from the tech specs page of the base 14-inch
Where do you see Apple bashing? Most comments are about the general state of notebook ports.
Power, HDMI, a few USBs, and headphones, all you’ll ever likely need.
There’s no doubt a dongle for anything else.
Cause I live toting a do gle around and risk breaking the laptop because of it.
I did enough of that in the 90’s, TYVM
in the ’90s*
Username checks out.
Yes, and it’s better to be downgrading USB-C ports with adapters than to be stuck adapting a USB-A port to USB-C or ethernet.
Unless you want a desk setup. I have 2 monitors, kb, mouse, external dac, usb extension for thumbdrives, ethernet, usb soundcard for my mic and a kvm. That’s dp, hdmi, 6 usb-a, ethernet and I still sometimes plug-in 1-3 devices to charge them.
With that many connections, using a dock or a monitor with thunderbolt seems more practical than having a ton of stuff plugged into your laptop.
It’s not about it being practical. It’s about if it’s actually doable or not and how well it would work. Having the native ports will always be better that using a hub/dock.
Strongly disagree. I use a laptop with a thunderbolt dock. Being able to plug in a single cable to provide power, connect my monitor, all of my input devices, Ethernet, and anything else in a single cable is awesome. If I had to plug 10 things in manually it would be quite cumbersome. I disconnect the laptop daily as I bring it between work and home, as well as use it, well, as a portable laptop.
Kudos to you.
What you could do now is step out of your bubble and consider that other people have different use cases and might need or prefer to have more native ports.
You literally lose nothing by having more connectivity options.
Except the device inevitably ends up bigger and chunkier.
Yeah, because plugging in one thing is way harder than plugging in six.
This is a classic use case for a laptop dock.
That’s a very lazy, short-sighted and first world problem way of looking at this issue.
Why would having the option of using either a hub or plugging things on separately be worse than only being able to use a hub?
Because I don’t want a chonky boi laptop to carry around.
It sounds like you need a desktop computer or a docking station.
That’s a use case for a laptop dock if ever there was one.
Like I already said to another user: No. There are more than a few use cases that require a mobile set up for demos for example but that you’d also want to use in a desk setting. For example, architects or sw dev.
Why are you making an effort to justify getting shafted by corporations?
In this situation a hub is still better. You can pack all the stuff away plugged into the hub for easier set up. If your plugging that all into your laptop, you’ll need to plug it all back in again when you move.
Which might be an issue for you but it’s not for me. Also, I prefer the flexibility to have all of the ports I might need, natively.
We aren’t justifying getting shafted by corporations. What I and the other person are saying is that at some point as your connections and cables multiply, you need to consolidate and streamline your setup for it to be more practical and actually mobile. I’m all for having all the basic necessity ports on my laptop, but when your desk ends up as a mess of cables and pulling out and putting back your laptop becomes bothersome with having to attach/re-attach everything every time, having a dock makes it much simpler. Subjecting yourself to setting up all those cables on both ends instead of just one end is the opposite of having a mobile workstation for quick setup and cleanup.
You’re still missing the forest for the trees.
There’s no real reason why you’d have to choose having a few ports + a hub or tons of ports + the option of using a hub.
If you prefer to “consolidate” your devices to a single poinf of failure on an external device then by all means, go ahead. I just think that it’s pretty crappy that options are being artificially limited and users of all people are making excuses for it.
Cause I live toting a do gle around and risk breaking the laptop because of it.
I did enough of that in the 90’s, TYVM
in the ’90s*
SD card reader is nice to have if you fuck around with cameras and microphones.
Yeah, that can stay too.
Yeah, props to Apple for bringing back the card reader and HDMI. When I bought my early 2015 MBP I specifically went with the older model because these ports were removed on the newer one which also came with the shitty butterfly keyboard as well which they’ve also since discontinued.
If you got that kind of money to spend on a laptop, sure. I really don’t.
Edit: to be clear, I know this is a stack of Mac’s in OPs picture, but the development that the entry models have basically no ports at all is a more recent development. Having to pick the pro just to be able to connect your stuff without dongles or hubs is a bit insane considering the price (and price difference).
It really depends on what you use your laptop for. My 2013 MBP lasted 9 years and was how I got my work done. That comes out to 76¢ per day, and I make a fair bit more than that per hour.
But if you’re looking for a personal computer to surf the internet, yes, that could be cost prohibitive. But then it also matters less what device you buy.
As for ports, I’ve never needed a dongle on the 2013 model. I did need one for a USB A drive on the newest model, but this little thing has solved that problem easily. I didn’t even have to buy that since my monitor has USB A ports – I was just too lazy to reach around the back to use it every time. I’m not sure I understand all the complaints about the occasional need for a dongle.
I have an M2 Air, and all mine is missing from that is the SDXC slot, third TB4 and HDMI, and honestly, it’s fine. A third TB4/USB would be nice for when I’m doing my radio show and have to plug in my controller and mic while also charing my phone, but I already have a hub so it doesn’t bother me.
That said, the limited ports on my M1 mini are quite problematic. Two TB3/USB and two USB3, but one of them is lost to a DisplayPort cable for my second monitor. So I have a desktop computer that functionally has three USB sockets, which ain’t great. But again, I have a hub, so it’s not a huge problem.
Zero USB-A ports? Hell, no…
Yeah M1+ Macs are great. I say this as a diehard Apple hater
I’m on the other side wishing peripherals would catch up and all become USB-C already. I’m tired of USB-A.
It looks like you’re just a dumb follower.
Nobody took anything FROM you. You’re just a blind consumer, fool.
Careful not to cut yourself on that edge
Why not complain about them not having a floppy drive anymore while you’re at it? That’s as obsolete as the non USB-C ports.
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To be fair, USB-C, especially with Thunderbolt, is much more universal. There are adapters for pretty much every “legacy” port out there so if you really need FireWire you can have it, but it’s clear why FireWire isn’t built into the laptop itself anymore.
The top MacBook Pro is also the 2016+ pre Apple Silicon chassis (that was also used with M chips, but sort of as a leftover), while the newer MacBook Pro chassis at least brought back HDMI and an SD card reader (and MagSafe as a dedicated charging port, although USB-C still works fine for that).
Considering modern “docking” solutions only need a single USB-C/Thunderbolt cable for everything, these additional ports only matter when on the go. HDMI comes in handy for presentations for example.
I’d love to see at least a single USB-A port on the MacBook Pro, but that’s likely never coming back. USB-C to A adapters exist though, so it’s not a huge deal. Ethernet can be handy as well, but most use cases for that are docked anyway.
I like the Framework concept the most, also “only” 4 ports (on the 13" at least, plus a built-in combo jack), but using adapter cards you can configure it to whatever you need at that point in time and the cards slide into the chassis instead of sticking out like dongles would. I usually go for one USB-C/Thunderbolt on either side (so charging works on either side), a single USB-A and video out in the form of DisplayPort or HDMI. Sometimes I swap the video out (that also works via USB-C obviously) for Ethernet, even though the Ethernet card sticks out. For a (retro) LAN party, I used 1 USB-C, USB-A (with a 4-port hub for wired peripherals), DisplayPort and Ethernet.
Wow is that firewire? Haven’t seen that in a while
Buy dongles and splitter dongles.
That’s what I mean when I say that Apple is the worst even ever happened to technology.
