This video pretty much sums it up re dongles. Thinking twice about buying the new one as it is ridiculous to have to carry around this much.
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Dongles created for Steve Jobs' devices
- Thread starter Analog Kid
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People are making noise about the one that is offered, I think that's different than being upset that the alternative choice wasn't made.
Which cable do you find missing by the way that you think is motivating all of this fuss?
http://www.apple.com/shop/mac/mac-accessories/power-cables
This is exactly the point I'm trying to make-- every Apple pro laptop I've ever owned has required me to own dongles of some sort-- usually more than one. That has been the expectation. At the very least I've needed to convert whatever video the latest laptop outputs to whatever projector I'm attached to, and whatever high speed bus is currently shipping to whatever high speed bus was in vogue when I bought my storage.
Sure, they could have chosen one adapter to put in the box, but I don't think that would have quieted the incessant whining on these forums. Why only one adapter when I have 2 peripherals? If they included a USB-A adapter, why not HDMI?
And, as you're explaining it, people still would have complained that it was a dongle and not a cable.
I'm curious. When you're traveling professionally, do you try to fit your laptop on the hotel nightstand so you can charge your phone, or do you leave your phone connected to your laptop on the hotel desk and rely on something else as an alarm?
I carry the charge block because it's easier for me. Should my laptop be bigger/heavier/more expensive because you don't want to?
What's wrong with just using the USB-C to lightning cable? My current MBP only has two USB ports on it-- so I can only charge a maximum of two devices, even when I tend to carry three (two lightning, one micro-USB). With 4 USB-C ports, I can charge all 3 and have one left to power the whole system if I want.
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Thanks for posting
I have the 2011 MBP (upgraded to SSD) and use the USB and SD on a regular basis. Plus I've bumped the power cord a few times over the years. I guess I can add my voice to the chorus if whiners that will miss the old ports. Fortunately my MBP still serves my needs.
Right, in the past sometimes people needed a dongle, but usually not one for everything. Personally, I need 2 dongles already to attach my telescope to my current computer, what's one more in the chain. For some people it's not just about having to use them, but possibly having to buy a bunch of them for an already astronomically priced computer. I myself only need 3 and it will still cost me almost $70, for two USB-A and an HDMI dongle, and USB-A ones are probably the cheapest dongles out there.
And I would've included one USB-A because it's the one dongle that almost every user is guaranteed to need at some point. The number of people who may need video out through HDMI on the other hand is likely a fraction of that. First, because not everyone outputs video anyway and second some people may need DisplayPort, mini-DP, VGA, or DVI instead.
What exactly are you buying that those 3 specific things are gonna add up to $70??
That's a lot of dongles but many if not most seem to be used to connect to third party hardware. Your firewire example is a poor example.
If I am not mistaken, Firewire 400 came out in 1995 and firewire 800 did not come out until 2001. That seems to be a reasonable amount of time for standards to evolve. Does not seem like a fair comparison.
Right now if you go out and buy a new iPhone and a new MBP laptop and you have to buy dongle to connect them. Something is currently amiss IMO.
If I am not mistaken, Firewire 400 came out in 1995 and firewire 800 did not come out until 2001. That seems to be a reasonable amount of time for standards to evolve. Does not seem like a fair comparison.
Right now if you go out and buy a new iPhone and a new MBP laptop and you have to buy dongle to connect them. Something is currently amiss IMO.
?? Are you saying that the 2016 dongles don't work with third party hardware, or old dongles didn't work with legacy Apple peripherals and displays?
USB-A came out in 1995 and USB-C came out in 2014.
No you don't. You can connect them via WiFi without purchasing anything, just as you've been able to for years.
If you really want a wire between your $3000 computer and your $1000 phone, you can spend $20 and buy a USB-C to lightning cable and avoid unsightly dongles.
If you're on a budget, you can get the job done with a $10 dongle.
2 USB-C to USB-A adapters at $10 each, one USB-C to HDMI adapter for $50.
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Seems a bit nit picky to me. Besides have you ever tried to load a bunch of music onto your iPhone over Wifi? Plugging it in is much faster. But who am I to be so picky.
Any specific reason why that one? If it's 4K/60 support, Monoprice has one that does it for $15...
http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=13235
I've read about issues with cheap USB-C cables, including fried laptops. Not sure if an HDMI adapter has the capability to damage a notebook or TV, but no need to chance damaging thousands of dollars worth of electronics by cheaping out on an adapter.
I'm reading over our exchange and am completely mystified by the fact that you think I'm the one picking nits.
nitpicking |ˈnitˌpikiNG| informal
adjective
looking for small or unimportant errors or faults, especially in order to criticize unnecessarily.
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That does sound really cool. But it's not actually true yet. Right now, you can't actually do that unless one of the devices you want is a 5k LG monitor. Otherwise, you need at least two. And the machine doesn't actually seem to get 10 hours, either.
... I am also not really convinced by "beautifully thin". Steve actually made some pretty chunky hardware on occasion. When he was doing it, "really thin" was one of several options.
Monoprice is a bit different than the fly-by-night operations that seem to be churning out garbage cables (and IIRC it's more like those fried laptops/phones because they were specifically being used for charging, not the case with an HDMI adapter).
But hey, your money. Just trying to save you some.
That's why the MacBook Air has always had a user replaceable battery and storage. Oh, wait a minute.
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Apple is deprecating physical connections between Macs/PCs and iOS devices. It used to be mandatory when the Mac was the "digital hub." Now it's basically for diagnostics or secondary backups, with iCloud intended to be the primary backup and "sync" mechanism.
And you technically don't need a dongle since Apple sells a USB-C to Lightning cable. I think as long as most iOS devices are sold to Windows users, we'll see the USB-A adapter included until USB-C becomes more ubiquitous both in Windows PCs and charging ports in airports, etc. (which may be a while). By then Apple may have switched to wireless charging and may offer a different connector altogether.
Also, all these analyses completely ignore the hard break Apple made from all the old legacy ports to USB-A back in 1998. They didn't even offer adapters for some of the old ports.
Regarding the time to evolve, USB-A came out in 1997. I think 2015 (when USB-C debuted) is adequate time to move on, particularly when there were so many different variants of USB-B (Mini, Micro, Micro-B USB 3.0).
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