Yeah that's why even Apple up on FW and stopped removing it from their computers
Or... they needed something even more versatile than FireWire, with smaller connectors for smaller devices.
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Apple Revamps Thunderbolt Cable Lineup with Lower Pricing, Shorter Cable Option
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Or... they needed something even more versatile than FireWire, with smaller connectors for smaller devices.
That's the whole point of Thunderbolt and what most people seem to completely miss... You won't need to get a new Mac to get USB 3.0, all you'll have to do is buy a USB 3.0 adapter.
Thunderbolt future proofs.
Yeah that's why even Apple up on FW and stopped removing it from their computers
That's like saying floppy disks and DVD drives were a failure because Apple "gave up" on them.
They didn't give up on it. After a long life of success in the pro market, Thunderbolt replaced it as something even better. Just because you aren't a professional and may not have a need for it doesn't mean Apple should stop using something as pro level as Thunderbolt in their computers and replace it with something poorer like USB3.
I personally love the fact I can hook my Macbook Air to my Thunderbolt Display with a single cable and immediately have a 27" display, ethernet, and extra hard drive space. All through a single thunderbolt cable. It makes the Macbook Air a pretty much perfect solution for many people and is a very popular setup that would be impossible with USB3.
And that's not even taking into consideration how much slower USB3 is or that it is non-bidirectional.
Both Intel and Apple do not put Thunderbolt as competition to USB 3. Intel sees it as complementary. And USB 3 and Thunderbolt are complementary.
Thunderbolt is not being pushed as a consumer level technology by Intel. People expecting consumer devices/pricing for Thunderbolt peripherals are simply going to be waiting for apparently eternity. Thunderbolt is aimed at the professional that requires easier to setup and maintain technology than enterprise level offerings, but with good performance to go along with it.
This is a niche market. Read the interviews with Jason Ziller back in 2011 about Thunderbolt, he's clear on Intel's stance for the technology. Apple seems to want to push it at the consumer level (on their MacBook Air line-up) but that is simply not the plan for it.
Starving, probably. Expecting a hand out like all poor people do.
Wahh. I work 50 hours a week and still can't afford the insulin shots for all my children.
Wahh. Gas prices are too expensive. I can't drive to work and feed my family at the same time.
Wahh. Thunderbolt cables are too expensive. I have a dock and an external harddrive bay I spent too much for, and the cables alone cost just as much as an eSATA enclosure.
YEAH? WHATEVER POORBIE! I SAY LET THEM EAT CAKE!
Thunderbolt and Lightning very very frightening ME!
Galileo!
Galileo!
Galileo Figaro.....
Too all those TB haters out there...
...There is a nugget of truth to your complainy-ness.
But it's not a zero sum game. USB 3.0 can do its thing, and TB can do its thing as well. They're vastly different. Because TB is more powerful, is more bound up with licensing, and requires expensive parts, it will cost more and there will be less customers and products for it.
For a port standard, success/failure means that users can use the port for what they need it for. So in no way is FW or TB a failure.
So, use USB as much as it works for you. If you have an new mac, you very likely have both.
It's not a popularity contest or race to the bottom on pricing. And USB, TB, FW, Ethernet, these things are not going away. If USB is the most common port protocol, it wins the title of being used more often than other port standards. But that doesn't mean other port standards should go away... and it's weird that anyone would relish having their options limited.
...There is a nugget of truth to your complainy-ness.
But it's not a zero sum game. USB 3.0 can do its thing, and TB can do its thing as well. They're vastly different. Because TB is more powerful, is more bound up with licensing, and requires expensive parts, it will cost more and there will be less customers and products for it.
For a port standard, success/failure means that users can use the port for what they need it for. So in no way is FW or TB a failure.
So, use USB as much as it works for you. If you have an new mac, you very likely have both.
It's not a popularity contest or race to the bottom on pricing. And USB, TB, FW, Ethernet, these things are not going away. If USB is the most common port protocol, it wins the title of being used more often than other port standards. But that doesn't mean other port standards should go away... and it's weird that anyone would relish having their options limited.
Not sure Apple see the MacBook Air as a "Consumer" Device either. If they did they could have pulled money money out of it. It's design target seems to be very much Pro's & Trainee Pro's who value mobility. Which is why I think they went with thunderbolt more as a docking connector just unplug and go.
Sort of surprised we haven't seen more dock in a monitor options for thunderbolt yet.
They told us the high price of tha cable was becuase of the expensive chips inside the ends. If so then why should the longer cable cost $10 more. Did the extra 1/2 meter of wire really add $10 to the cost? Why not sell both at the lower price.
Perfect response
The number of devices that use thunderbolt is laughable
No one bought into apples connector, if they really wanted people and companies to jump aboard these would be $19.99 and $9.99
You can easily buy quality 0.5 metre USB 3.0 cables for under $2.50 from Monoprice and 1.8 metre long USB 3.0 cables for under $4.00 each. Apple would still be massively ripping you off at $19.99 and $9.99.
The cable length on the superdrive could use a few inches.
It's ridiculously short. I suppose it was designed for MacBooks but far too short for the new iMac to put onto another shelf.
As to Thunderbolt- USB3 seems fast enough for the average consumer. Thunderbolt is more prosumer.
It's ridiculously short. I suppose it was designed for MacBooks but far too short for the new iMac to put onto another shelf.
As to Thunderbolt- USB3 seems fast enough for the average consumer. Thunderbolt is more prosumer.
Judging by this... How much will the 10 metre one cost?
Well, the bulk of the cost of TB cables are connectors with intelligent chipsets on them. The copper cable itself is cheap.
Clearly, we are all lucky to have you to explain ignorant Apple what technologies are "dead", and what are "the future".
Thunderbolt is not a mass-produced consumer technology. It's a prosumer technology targeted for professionals and high-end users. There will never be $2.50 Thunderbolt cables on Monoprice, or bunch of cheap peripherals made by Chinese. Creative professionals who spend $1600 on a Promise TB RAID array don't care about saving ten bucks on a cable.
Stick to your USB, and stop commenting on things you don't understand.
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I thought they "relented" and "gave us all USB 3" when Intel built USB 3 support into their chipsets.
Early 2011 - Thunderbolt debuted and initially very expensive and with no accessories and the 2011 Macs don't have USB 3 ports:
"It's a new technology! It will improve and have more accessories over time therefore lowering the cost! It's lightyears better than USB 3!"
Early 2013 - Thunderbolt is 2 years old and still very expensive and with no accessories (well... there are some... like the $299.9 dock?):
"It's not for the mass! It's targeted to the prosumer! The professionals! It's not for the unwashed poor people like you!"
"It's a new technology! It will improve and have more accessories over time therefore lowering the cost! It's lightyears better than USB 3!"
Early 2013 - Thunderbolt is 2 years old and still very expensive and with no accessories (well... there are some... like the $299.9 dock?):
"It's not for the mass! It's targeted to the prosumer! The professionals! It's not for the unwashed poor people like you!"
