Mac Mini to Lose Its USB-A Ports Later This Year

[AppliedMicro]

Why keep the HDMI port? Just make it another USB-C/TB port. If someone needs HDMI there are multiple USB-C/HDMI adapter cables.

At home, yes.

But keep in mind that offices and classrooms often have HDMI cables pre-installed. It's not always practical or possible to connect your cable to the back side of a monitor or projector - if the cable is detachable at all (think: KVM switches).

 

[platinumaqua]

Or get USB-C devices. Don’t want too then get a PC.

Some devices are not made with USB-C and it's unlikely they will switch over since the C connector is more expensive than the A connector (and not worthwhile to switch over).

"Get a PC" is such a weak argument. I use a Windows PC for work and it's not as scary as some of you make it out. Sure, they have their annoyances, but Apple is making macOS annoying too so they even out.

 

[haddy]

In this case you could just swap your USB A to B cable for a USB C to B cable. Easy!

Or not buy a machine that doesn't have a USB-A port. Easy! Just like I won't buy a machine that doesn't have RJ45 connection.

 

[altaic]

Why keep the HDMI port? Just make it another USB-C/TB port. If someone needs HDMI there are multiple USB-C/HDMI adapter cables.

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I think this is because the TB PHY on die takes up a fair amount of space, and since the laptops require an internal display anyway, the SoC dies have at least one non-TB display.

 

[deevey]

You’ve missed the point. You have a laptop and dock it on your desk and your connections are temporary. A Mac mini is a desktop computer and is always in one place, usually left plugged in and running maybe as long as Apple keeps updating it. In that situation your cheap dongle would fail or not work properly if you loaded up all the ports.

My cheap dongle works great for when really I need a USB-A port (which is not very often) and I have bought new Type-C to USB-B cables for the two devices that I use daily (Sound card & Midi controller).

Should manufacturers just hang onto legacy ports forever? The computer industry as a whole NEEDS to ditch USB-A completely, and Apple should be at the forefront, motivating them to do it just like they did with Floppy drives and CD drives. There's multitudes of USB-A convertors out there, none of them cost very much.

USB-A users are the ones at this point that should be penalized to adapt their setups to make way for modern technology. Not the ones who've already made the switch to USB-C years ago, We should be rewarded with even more (modern) ports.

What is it that you are currently running on those two USB-A ports that could not be substituted for a couple of individual adaptors or cables with ease?

 

[deevey]

Who even wants the Mini to get smaller anyways?

Server farms, POS suppliers, offices, Home Theatre crowd, basically anyone else who wants a really tiny neat setup.

 

[Bezbozny]

Let's see which will be the maximum RAM... I hope it will not stay the same as today...

 

[Allen_Wentz]

But the EU didn't decide on parallel ports or SCSI.
In fact, they didn't decide on ports for data transfer at all.

They regulated charging ports/connectors only - and they made a sensible decision at that. Cause USB-C is here to stay for upcoming decades, with or without regulation.

Apple's Lightning connector getting supplanted is just collateral damage. Which - even when you look at its data transmission capabilities - wasn't promoting but holding back innovation in the development of smartphone accessories for the last few years. Due to the high costs and limited customer base. Take Lightning card readers: Slow, not widely available and slow.


Hardware manufacturers can implement any data transfer port or protocol they want.
Doesn't have to be USB or Thunderbolt at all.

The correct way to look at is isn't: "Oh, but it's holding back development of new innovation in connector technology for data transfers". It's getting rid of barrel jacks and proprietary connectors for charging devices - which suck.

I disagree, not because I dislike USB-C, but because IMO the market, not the EU bureaucracy, should determine how charging is done. If buyers want a MagSafe, for instance, the vendors should be able to invent and sell MagSafe.

The comment:
"The correct way to look at is isn't: "Oh, but it's holding back development of new innovation in connector technology for data transfers". It's getting rid of barrel jacks and proprietary connectors for charging devices - which suck."
is just wrong. E.g. MagSafe v1 was a great badly needed invention at the time, a proprietary connector that would never have been invented if the EU had decided the lousy barrel connectors of the time should be the "standard." The EU did not invent anything; they are just throwing bureaucratic weight around.

 

[v0lume4]

Further proof that Apple lives in a bubble over there at Apple Park.

 

[breenmask]

What's wrong with wanting more ports on the back?

asking for more usb-c ports? sure. I have zero problems with that

the logic of "lightning is bad for the environment" and "usb-c is the future, so we should remove lightning ASAP" is invalid when people fail too apply the same logic to USB-A.

 

[breenmask]

Would leaving a single USB-A port really upset the rotation of the Earth?

would keeping the lightning port really upset the rotation of the Earth?

 

[TracerAnalog]

Nice. Hopefully Apple can push vendors to stop making usb-A.

I always carry an adapter when flying or renting a car.

You have a flying car? 😳

 

[breenmask]

...a Lightning port only partially supports USB 3, can't support Thunderbolt/USB4 speeds, can't carry 4k@60Hz video, can't charge at 100W+ and isn't rapidly becoming the industry standard for charging mobile devices (something that the rest of the mobile market has embraced and only Apple is whining about).

usb-a can't either. get rid of it.

 

[theluggage]

Connect one cable - get power, mouse, keyboard, display, audio, headset, webcam and possibly Ethernet or a Time Machine backup volume connected with a single cable.

...and how does having a couple of USB-A ports stop you doing that? Nobody is asking for Thunderbolt ports to be removed. TB3/USB-C and USB-A have lived happily side by side on iMacs, Minis and Mac Pros for years. There may be an argument for removing USB A from laptops (because having your laptop 2mm thinner is far more important than having a useful selection of ports)

For a long time, I had a very nice 27" Cinema Display on my work desk and - without the "magic" of USB-C it needed a 3-headed cable with MagSafe, MiniDP and USB plugs. I remember the gruelling three seconds I wasted, twice a day, plugging those in - Oh, the humanity! It was such small consolation that, when I got home, I could plug three different devices into the same three sockets without having to spend $300 of my own money on a dock...

5 Gbps of USB (plus the video output)

Except... only expensive Thunderbolt displays/hubs or the very newest USB-C displays (that support DP1.4 with DSC) actually allow that - most displays need all 4 pairs of a USB-C connection to do 4K@60Hz with DisplayPort 1.2 and can only support 480mbps USB 2 speeds alongside video. Most non-TB USB-C hubs with display outputs only support USB 2 downstream.

...and even where that isn't a problem, the 5 Gbps of USB has to be shared between all the devices connected to that dock - plus the added latency of going through a USB hub.

NB - I currently have a M1 Max Mac Studio with 2xUSB-C/3.2, 2xUSB-A, Ethernet, SD and HDMI. That's pretty good - but I use them all - there aren't any spares that could be sacrificed to a smaller box, and I still use a hub - which can drive 'don't care' USB devices leaving the host ports available for critical kit like audio interfaces.

Why keep the HDMI port?

Why get rid of it?
I mean, OK, if you're planning to replace it with an extra full USB-C port that supports displays - but that's not the way it usually turns out.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Why keep the HDMI port? Just make it another USB-C/TB port. If someone needs HDMI there are multiple USB-C/HDMI adapter cables.

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Why have ports at all?

Soon .. why have a Mac at all?

Just login to "Apple Cloud Compute with the Apple One subscription"!

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Apple: USB A is over USB C is the future!

EU: You need to have USB C on your phone.

Apple: I suppose we will have to comply.

 

[WhisperingBobcat]

My cheap dongle works great for when really I need a USB-A port (which is not very often) and I have bought new Type-C to USB-B cables for the two devices that I use daily (Sound card & Midi controller).

Should manufacturers just hang onto legacy ports forever? The computer industry as a whole NEEDS to ditch USB-A completely, and Apple should be at the forefront, motivating them to do it just like they did with Floppy drives and CD drives. There's multitudes of USB-A convertors out there, none of them cost very much.

USB-A users are the ones at this point that should be penalized to adapt their setups to make way for modern technology. Not the ones who've already made the switch to USB-C years ago, We should be rewarded with even more (modern) ports.

What is it that you are currently running on those two USB-A ports that could not be substituted for a couple of individual adaptors or cables with ease?

I have my share of dongles, hubs, and adapters, and enough of them that I will probably be fine for life. I could certainly buy more in the future. The headphone jack is actually more important to me with my current 5K2K monitor and mac mini not working well sending the audio over the TB 40GB connection. Maybe a USB-C headphone adapter would work. I have one for my phone. Probably need an adapter that adapter, because that is a 4 channel adapter, and my speakers are still just stereo. New stuff doesn't always work.

The best use of USB-A that i have today is the Logitech mouse receiver. If fits flush into my 2014 macbook pro leave it in there all the time because it fits in flush, and won't snap off like say a flashdrive would, or the same receiver and usb-c combo. Yes I could by a bluetooth mouse, but I have logitech mice and keyboards so that they will work with my mac mini. Bluetooth in 2018 mac mini is just terrible if you plug anything at all into the mac mini, like a hard drive, etc. Some sort of UBS devices just interfere with the bluetooth. My mac mini is 5-6ft away, and it won't work with an Apple bluetooth keyboard or mouse as far as I remember.

Continually reducing the functionality, configurability, and interface options of the entry level desktop just isn't what I am looking for in the new redesign. And smaller and prettier don't matter to me either.

 

[CraigJDuffy]

It’s been 10 years. Most windows desktops still ship with 1 or 2 USB C ports and at least double / triple that amount of USB A ports. It’s time to accept USB A isn’t going anywhere.

 

[ignatius345]

If this turns out to be true, then no Mac mini for me, even though I have two mini's that need to be replaced.

These exist and work just fine, fyi.

 

[Populus]

Throw in a SCSI also!

LOL! You read my mind. I was going to do that joke hahaha… I actually had an SCSI scanner. That connector was huge.

 

[ignatius345]

Apple's redesigned Mac mini will not have any USB-A ports

About time. There's no conceivable reason to need USB-A ports at this point. I get that there are still tons of USB-A things kicking around, but adapters exist, work and are totally unobtrusive.

Lots of multi-platform periphery used with Macs still uses USB-A by default because USB-C is not a standard in PC world.

Anyone whinging about this, please list out accessories that "need" USB-A. Do you mean things that shipped with a USB-A cable?

Shocker, but cables can very easily be replaced and your life can go on without Apple continuing to put large, slow, unidirectional and badly outdated USB-A ports on computers in the Year of Our Lord 2024.

 

[trip1ex]

power supply in there for weight or not convenient for server farms or more sales or fear of 3rd party supplies or?

 

[dotnet]

Courage.

No, that would be moving the USB-A ports to the bottom of the Mac mini.

 

[BillyBurke]

If this turns out to be true, then no Mac mini for me, even though I have two mini's that need to be replaced.

They sell A to C adapters for next to nothing.

 

[bgillander]

Supposedly this forum is full of tech enthusiasts and early adopters and once again the clinging to old tech around here is like old men and their ‘76 Mustang.

Never 1976. We don’t talk about the Mustang II. 😀