Yes, HDMI may be "only" 2.0 but 4K @60Hz is still more than good to run presentations or watch movies without any dongle hassle, as pretty much all projectors and TVs by now have at least an HDMI port available. It became a de-facto standard over the last 10 years, unlike USB-C which still struggles around.
In general, I will always prefer 3x USB + HDMI + SDXC + Magsafe = 6 ports, over just 4x USB.
There will be always people whining and complaining, of course. For those who
really need a sh*tload of USB-C ports
simultaneously, well, get a dongle. That's what we had to deal with since 2016.
Sure we lost that flexibility on the fourth TB port, but how many people realistically needs all 4 TB ports at once? On the other hand, the number of people who can finally go without an adapter if only the MacBook had HDMI and SD card reader is massive. I'd say this is a net increase in flexibility, not the other way around
100% true. Who ever needs 4 TB ports on the same time, especially on the road? Maybe 1% of all users. And for home, you can use a dock anyway. So no need for 4 or even 6 identical ports + dongle madness.
On a side note, this is a good example of "you get what you ask for". Instead of having the fourth TB4 port and the flexibility to do what we want with it, the dongle-haters have prevailed and now we lose the flexibility. SMDH.
Again, you are the minority. For most people, that magic "flexibility" resulted in dongle hell. Most TVs don't have an USB-C port, neither have projectors or conference rooms. Forgot your dongle? Game over. Chances to find/get an HDMI cable?
Much higher. Need for 120Hz or 8K nonsense in those situations? Zero. So stop bitching around.
