Shame, isn't it? People talk about Apple being behind, yet when they try to embrace usb-c, you all instead choose to dig in your heels and stick with existing connectors instead of hopping on board.
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Mac Mini to Lose Its USB-A Ports Later This Year
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USB-C --> multi USB-A multi-port hubs are as simple as plugging it in. No power. Not sure how "non-tech people" would struggle with plugging in a cable in the back (or front).
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I’m guessing for the M4 Pro version Apple doesn’t think the 140W is enough to power a device without a battery to fall back on during times of high load. Or maybe it’s just cheaper to integrate the power supply.
There was a time when a lot of Apple products had an external power bricks (Mac minis and Cinema Displays), and they were all different wattages despite some having the same connector. If you bought one used which was missing the brick it would be a nightmare of tracking down one of the correct wattage, and if it required the higher wattage usually being shocked at the price.
The funny thing is that USB-C at this point… Isn’t even a new standard.
The first devices with it, most of which were by Apple, came out almost a decade ago.
At this point, it’s almost as old as lightning was when Apple started discontinuing it last year.
I don’t have a problem with home devices losing usb-a but I will admit I still constantly have people come up to me with usb-a thumb drives on site at work. I’d value a usb-a port on a mbp much more than an hdmi port.
You know, there's a difference between using adapters and hubs on a desktop computer vs a laptop. No one wants to carry around a bag of adapters and hubs and have to dig one out when they need to plug in a USB-A flash drive. A desktop, on the other hand, can have a hub attached all the time.
Complaining about ports on a MacBook is reasonable to me, but a Mac Mini that sits on my desk can have all sorts of things connected to give me more ports and I don't care.
If anything, it’s better that it happens to a desktop computer than a laptop computer.
Irrelevant, of course, since Apple hasn’t shipped a laptop computer with a USB-A port since 2018, but with a desktop, you can plug in a dock and forget it.
With a laptop, every time you put the thing in a bag, you’ve gotta disconnect the dongles and reconnect them the next time you use them… not a problem with the stationary desktop.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Actually, PC makers would be the ones to "force" such a change. Mac is just a fraction of the whole. There's a little influence from our little slice of that pie... but unless PC goes wherever Apple wants to go... the general remedy for us is buy adapters/hubs/dongles to connect with most stuff... OR pay way up for select accessories that supports where Apple has decided things should go now.
See for example lightning/30-pin/firewire 800/firewire 400, etc (or even EVERY generation of Thunderbolt). If PC makers had mass adopted them too in their time, then peripheral makers would have jumped on in volume. Instead, mostly just Apple adopted them and only Apple peripheral makers sometimes adopted them (at premium prices of course to support a standard for a slice of a much smaller market).
USB-C already has some PC adoption but PCs still generally ship with some USB-A too (particularly USB 4 and USB 3.2 gen 2). While they do, Apple trying to "force" any port is just another case of Apple being Apple... as we've seen many times before.
And the Defenders slinging hubs is exactly the same answer: "SPEND MORE MONEY" to buy hubs/dongles/adapters to replace what Apple is choosing to take away." That remedy fits ANY such choice... such as if they decided to go Lightning 2 Pro Max or a USB-8 Mach 3, etc.
The Defenders are right that throwing more money at hubs/dongles/etc will address the problem being created by a rumored CHOICE... but it costs their fellow consumers (and themselves?) more money (because removal of on-board utility never seems to translate into a lower price from Apple Inc) AND clutters up the desk top (in this case) with additional hardware and cables.
For what purpose? We "spin" to "force adoption of 'the future'"... a 'the future' Apple just resisted adopting in iPhone until a GOV entity had to "force" adoption, with Apple kicking & screaming all the way... and the Defenders joining that chorus with rationalizations like "wobbly", "broken tongues" and "lint magnet." I guess none of that applies here. Now that Apple fully likes USB-C, "we" fully like it too. 🤪 Bring on the "wobbly!"... bring on the "broken tongues!"... bring on the extra expense in hubs/dongles to buy back fundamental utility being ejected from a desktop not really needing to be "more portable" or "thinner" or "lighter" for possibly anyone.
My guess is all thunderbolt ports... and don't we all just love thunderbolt 4 hub pricing??? But we can save a lot of money by stepping down that Thunderbolt power by treating it like only a USB-C port with a cheap USB-C hub. And that's better somehow than just leaving a few USB-A ports in for the peripherals that we already own that still connect that way. Why? Because Apple says so. You will comply. Resistance is futile.
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USB-C should have been the standard a while ago.
Let people add 2 USB-A ports as an extra like they do 10Gbps ethernet.
Let people add 2 USB-A ports as an extra like they do 10Gbps ethernet.
If the new M4 mini starts to ship this month I hope we see it during the September 9th event.
So?
How is that a problem?
USB-A ports are useful. This is a desktop computer, it's not constrained for space, there's no valid reason to make it any smaller than it already is. There's ZERO reason to remove them.
They still make PCs with PS/2 and serial ports. The VAST majority of PCs come with USB-A ports. No one is hurt by this, and they sometimes come in handy. It's only Apple that keeps stupidly removing useful ports.
So if you use Logitech/normal monitors just expect to drop 200 bucks for a TB4 dock.
No one is going to burn a port with a single A to C adapter.
Good docks are expensive don’t buy cheap garbage.
Docks are really fun. Especially with Apple devices. Mac’s are the only things I own that don’t work with them properly. I can buy a Chromebook for 200 bucks and hook it up to my TB4 dock and have two screens keyboard and mouse.
My $1600 M2 MacBook Air can only use one screen. Apple is 100% anti consumer in the computer world.
Love my iPhone but every time I try to mess with a computer from Apple stuff like this annoys me to no end.
Yes I can spend thousands on Thunderbolt monitors that have a resolution I hate (QHD FTW). My monitors are exactly what I want and are what 200 a piece? Work on everything except Apple. Yes I’m aware I can spend 4000 dollars on a laptop I don’t need for extra monitor support.
So realistically this Mini requires special docks etc that will only be for this computer/Apple devices. And no it’s not a cheap adapter on Amazon it’s a couple hundred bucks for a decent dock or thousands for things I don’t need that are Apple compatible.
EDIT: Let’s not forget business either. We have a Mac mini at our Datacenter for building our mobile application. It’s already a royal pain since we had to buy a special 1U shelf and rig an external hard drive to it for backups. Now if we want to replace it we need to purchase a dock just to be able to hook it up (Ethernet and hard drive).
No one is going to burn a port with a single A to C adapter.
Good docks are expensive don’t buy cheap garbage.
Docks are really fun. Especially with Apple devices. Mac’s are the only things I own that don’t work with them properly. I can buy a Chromebook for 200 bucks and hook it up to my TB4 dock and have two screens keyboard and mouse.
My $1600 M2 MacBook Air can only use one screen. Apple is 100% anti consumer in the computer world.
Love my iPhone but every time I try to mess with a computer from Apple stuff like this annoys me to no end.
Yes I can spend thousands on Thunderbolt monitors that have a resolution I hate (QHD FTW). My monitors are exactly what I want and are what 200 a piece? Work on everything except Apple. Yes I’m aware I can spend 4000 dollars on a laptop I don’t need for extra monitor support.
So realistically this Mini requires special docks etc that will only be for this computer/Apple devices. And no it’s not a cheap adapter on Amazon it’s a couple hundred bucks for a decent dock or thousands for things I don’t need that are Apple compatible.
EDIT: Let’s not forget business either. We have a Mac mini at our Datacenter for building our mobile application. It’s already a royal pain since we had to buy a special 1U shelf and rig an external hard drive to it for backups. Now if we want to replace it we need to purchase a dock just to be able to hook it up (Ethernet and hard drive).
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Loosing the USB-A port would be L-move for Apple. There are still a lot of connections that rely on USB-A. Especially if you're using an external mic or hub.
It’s really just about being able to easily use existing hardware without needing to buy extra adapters or cables. And even new hardware, lots is still shipping with USB-A. And since apple hates internal expansion, external is the only choice. So they should have an “all of the above” strategy with ports, within reason.
Even hotels that do have USB-C ports tend to have crappy ones that can only deliver 15 watts with no PD.
This is why I always carry my own charger and end up using it instead of what the hotel provides.
No argument here!
Other than iPad and iPhone hardware I’m not really sure what they do that’s truly amazing anymore.
I suspect it has something to do with saving bus Lanes for other chips. Even if USB-A port is only for 5Gbps speed, they still need to assign some lanes to those ports for them to be useful, or add converter chips to support it, and bean counter Tim Apple Just didn’t want it to happen.
Hah. I hot swapped SCSI for years without issues. I don't recommend it though.
Apple today is just a shadow of its former more rebellious self that shook up industries over and over again. Now, except Apple silicon, Apple has become more and more boring.
What purpose indeed …
Retaining a single USB-A port would be the best solution for the consumer
Then again, worrying about what’s best for customers LONG ago took a back seat to:
“Make number go up”
It’s all Tim cares about now
Anyone thinking otherwise is deluding themselves.
