Haha. Exactly my experience. Macs look so beautiful when you unbox them. Once you hook up all the necessary cables and adapter, it becomes a mess.
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Mac Mini to Lose Its USB-A Ports Later This Year
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Yeah, the marketing shots never show the reality, which is cable spaghetti all over the place
The Apple cult is so funny to me
If Apple came out and announced "more USB-C ports and still retaining a USB-A port so our customers have the best and most compatible, out of the box, experience"
..so many of the same folks praising "all and only USB-C" would also be lauding the decision with things like:
"Apple gets it"
"Great move -- only from Apple!"
"Putting the consumer first! This is why I love Apple!"
Some of y'all are so neck deep in supporting anything they do or say ... really some introspection would be good.
If Apple came out and announced "more USB-C ports and still retaining a USB-A port so our customers have the best and most compatible, out of the box, experience"
..so many of the same folks praising "all and only USB-C" would also be lauding the decision with things like:
"Apple gets it"
"Great move -- only from Apple!"
"Putting the consumer first! This is why I love Apple!"
Some of y'all are so neck deep in supporting anything they do or say ... really some introspection would be good.
No one in their right mind would switch from a Mac Mini to paying multiples more for a Mac Studio, just to get more USB ports. I'm astonished you'd type that suggestion without sarcasm. Also, why do you keep writing posts that imply you don't realise the non Pro chip variants of the Mac Mini exist? 🤷🏼♂️
Note that “legacy” USB-A ports contribute to that - whereas USB-C is a possible solution.
I can run my 4K display, Ethernet connection, USB mouse/keyboard dongle or speakers over one single cable with USB-C. And even provide power to my mini-PC, if my Mac Mini supported it.
Maybe, and I can agree from first-hand experience over the weekend that the USB-A port came in handy, when I had to connect some old peripherals.
That said, I’d much rather take another USB-C port over USB-A - an it’s not as if USB-C ports are abundant on the current (non-Pro) Mac Mini.
That may explain why the iMac remains my favourite desktop computer. All those cables (eg: speakers / webcam / display) tucked away neatly inside the chassis, with everything else (keyboard, mouse, trackpad) all connected wirelessly. A single power cable snaking out...you really don't get any cleaner than that.
That's really the start and end of it for most of us
The rest is just "justification to support an Apple decision" (not you, but from the general Apple cult around here)
Nobody is advocating "not having USB-C ports", so having "only USB-C ports" is a functional and usefulness downgrade for many of us, full stop.
I just wish more people would realize that Apple doesn't do things that are "good for you"
They do things to cut costs ... that's modern Tim Cook Apple
And with Apple’s HUGE market share in the desktop space - they are just the ones to do it!!!
Agree.
But I’argue giving Apple Silicon Mac Minis USB-A was a cost-cutting measure already (so was reusing that old case design - oversized for the innards it’s housing).
And standardising on USB-C is the opposite. That’ll cost them more - assuming they’re offering a usable number of ports in the first place.
I agree. Writing this on a 2017 27" iMac. I had to go with a mini though for my personal Apple Silicon transition. The current iMac is just too small for my needs.That may explain why the iMac remains my favourite desktop computer. All those cables (eg: speakers / webcam / display) tucked away neatly inside the chassis, with everything else (keyboard, mouse, trackpad) all connected wirelessly. A single power cable snaking out...you really don't get any cleaner than that.
I've experienced bad implementation with BT and with wireless audio, and I try to avoid either in my home. Apple couldn't even make their HomePods work well or synch with my MacBook Air when watching videos. Maybe they partially fixed those problems after many years of updates, but for at least the next decades it's wired audio all the way for me. I'm sensitive to tiny stutters and skips, and they really piss me off.
That may explain why the iMac remains my favourite desktop computer. All those cables (eg: speakers / webcam / display) tucked away neatly inside the chassis, with everything else (keyboard, mouse, trackpad) all connected wirelessly. A single power cable snaking out...you really don't get any cleaner than that.
Imagine that..
A desktop computer with all the spaghetti on the inside!
iMacs were awesome
(I don't hold the current iMac 24 in the same regard as the 21/27's of the Intel era)
I do.
That’s why for my x86 (gaming and virtualisation) needs I recently purchased one of these little guys.
Just wish it had another USB-C ports or two, instead of so many USB-A ones.
That said, with 5 USB ports and HDMI in the palm of the hand, it seems to support your case that there’s enough space for a legacy USB-A port or two. 😉
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Watch it get smaller and go fanless ... and then we can see everyone complaining about the thermal throttling
lmfao
Of course the cult will just pivot right to "BUY A STUDIO!"
(more money for TimCo of course...)
It's silly to compare Lightning, a proprietary connector used only by Apple on mobile devices for a solitary decade, to USB-A. That's not even comparing apples with oranges, that's comparing pebbles with binoculars. 😅🤦♂️
this sounds great - to hell with USB-A.
I hope there will be a 10GB/s Ethernet option.
I hope there will be a 10GB/s Ethernet option.
Lightning was a superior alternative and replacement that blew micro-USB out of the water.
But the days of micro-USB are long gone - and so should be the days of Lightning.
Yes, and especially in the last year, would you say this has been a positive or a negative for the people buying those things?
More and more people are getting fed up with streaming services because the streaming services keep turning up the water temperature and we can now feel it boiling.
It’s cheaper and better to just buy what you want to watch.
Also local backup media to Blu-ray would be super useful. Especially with small local drives in Macs.
So yeah, I think we should push back on that trend.
And it’s a shame. The capacity is still there. The read speed is still there. It’s the last way to buy content that can’t be easily and immediately taken away at a moment’s notice.
I haven’t used it a ton either, but as I said above, that’s because the powers that be have been trying to make it go away in favor of things that give them more control. Streaming everything is all well and good until Darth Vader alters the arrangement, and just keeps altering it further.
How do you hook up a UPS/battery cable to the iMac. Mine all have USB-A proprietary cables (a Ethernet like connector on the UPS side). The Mac still has to shut down properly when there is a power outage or you can get data corruption and have to rebuild your OS unless I am just wrong about that now.That may explain why the iMac remains my favourite desktop computer. All those cables (eg: speakers / webcam / display) tucked away neatly inside the chassis, with everything else (keyboard, mouse, trackpad) all connected wirelessly. A single power cable snaking out...you really don't get any cleaner than that.
It doesn't mean the two are mutually exclusive though. I am intrigued by how much space Apple is able to shave off the Mac mini (there is currently a lot of empty space in its current design), I am not certain that replacing a bunch of older ports with a couple of newer ones really saves Apple anything (and you don't even have to get your adaptors from Apple), and while I suppose you could argue that a smaller form factor means less costs in raw materials, I find I am generally able to get on board with the majority of Apple's design choices.
I have never had to do so.
Why does it need to be smaller? It’s a desktop computer; it never moves. I’d like it to be a bit larger with more port selections. Even better, a mini version of a Mac Pro with a couple PCI-e ports. Last thing I want to use is a dock for a desktop, which sounds ridiculous.