Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MBPs should have a Dock connector
- Thread starter cube
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Please no. Unless the port was basically invisible with no increase in case size or weight. In other words, fine, as long as I never know its there.
*shudder* Give Belkin or Griffin a bell. I can see this possibly being part of a laptop stand but generally docks are pretty gaudy, cant see apple releasing anything like that.
First, who cares about PC/Mac. How many people have a dock connection on their computers (PC and Mac included) and how many of those people use it? There's no need. Not even the average PC notebook has a dock connector, simply because it's useless.
It would be good if they made it fairly non-intrusive. The docks we have at work for the Dell Latitude E-series laptops perform very well.
Docks are mostly used in a business environment. At my job I'd say at least 60% of laptop users plug into a dock at their desks. Pretty much all Dell business laptops and just about every Lenovo Thinkpad has a dock connector. If no one needed them then why do they include them on the most popular laptops geared towards business users?
For a home user I agree, a dock connector would probably go completely unused. For business, docking a laptop is fairly common.
Docks are quite handy. It wont look any different if the connector is on the bottom. But I doubt Apple will ever put one in though. Macs are mostly prosumer laptops, not business laptops. Still would be nice to go home and just put the MBP on the dock instead of having to plug in wires.
What on earth are you talking about?
And it's not just for business. It's for anybody who has a laptop as their main home computer.
I use my Macbook mostly on my desk and I have something in almost all the port. It's a pain to disconnect and reconnect everything when I want to take the Macbook somewhere. I would definitely want a dock for it. Plus, it's really ugly to have all the cables coming out of the side.
I think a dock connector would be very useful. Notebooks these days are powerful enough that many people are using them as desktop replacements, and that trend is only going to continue imo. Apple obviously recognizes this: the LED display with MagSafe, USB, speakers, etc. was notebook-only when it was released, and shows obvious progression towards an integrated desktop-replacement solution.
It's too bad Apple didn't design a single-port solution, but it's a start...
It's too bad Apple didn't design a single-port solution, but it's a start...
Apple would need to create two model lines then one with the dock and one without the dock because most consumers wouldn't want the added bulk of such a connection. Probably not practical yet as it is more business oriented.
Apple machines are form over function. Unless you want a 7lb 3" thick laptop, then you can have that...
I'll take a slightly large MBP if it came with a dock connector. My MPB is not much larger then my Thinkpad T61P and that has a dock connector. If Lenovo can do it, why can't Apple?
To those that think a dock is only for business use: You've never used a laptop as your main computer. My MBP is my main computer (Thinkpad is used for emulators on TV and media center when its used at all). Whenever I am home, it is connected to LAN, speakers (USB), TV (external monitor and headphone jack for audio), (sometimes) an USB hub, and the AC adapter. Having to take 5+ minutes to unplug everything is annoying, esp when I have to take my MBP to class almost everyday.
To those that think a dock is only for business use: You've never used a laptop as your main computer. My MBP is my main computer (Thinkpad is used for emulators on TV and media center when its used at all). Whenever I am home, it is connected to LAN, speakers (USB), TV (external monitor and headphone jack for audio), (sometimes) an USB hub, and the AC adapter. Having to take 5+ minutes to unplug everything is annoying, esp when I have to take my MBP to class almost everyday.
I have a dock connection on my Sony "T" series notebook and it adds absolutely no bulk. It is simply a very small slot in the bottom of the computer about 1" x 1/8th" and is flush with the bottom. The actual docking station is the width of the notebook and about 5" wide. Hardly a big deal. I just leave it on my desk at work and when I come in I plop my notebook on the dock and I am instantly connected to my charger, my external monitor, my backup external drive, my printer, my mouse and the company network. There are 3 extra usb ports, an ethernet port and a video port. I don't need to plug in all those usb cables and the ethernet cable and the video cable. I would love it if I could do the same with my Macbook Pro. However instead I have to connect everything to the Macbook Pro every time I want to use it. I still use Macbook just about exclusively it would just be more convenient to give er a plop and I'm in.
Except for the Firewire and eSATA Belkin has a dock for the PC that uses the Expresscard slot and provides the functions listed by the OP. The Expresscard alleviates the need for the ugly connector and there is quite a bit of bandwidth across the expresscard bus. No drivers for OSX though so still only a solution for PC...