Become a MacRumors Supporter for $25/year with no ads, private forums, and more!
No laptop should have less than 3 USB ports
- Thread starter cube
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
-
Discuss the new announcements in our Apple Silicon forum
Setting up with a mouse, keyboard, and external HDD sounds like it would be at your desk at home or work. Why not just get a USB hub in that case? It would actually mean less work to 'dock' your Macbook at your desk.
Comment
yeah I only see the need for 2 usb on the go.
get home or office, get a proper tb dock, just plug that one cable
Comment
Well spoken.I only need one USB to sync the camera, don't load up my laptop with any more stinking USB ports because dinosaurs can't get over it. Bluetooth and wireless is the only way to go.
Comment
Not a huge fan of USBs...
They eat so much CPU power when you plug multiple devices.
Would rather have FW800.
They eat so much CPU power when you plug multiple devices.
Would rather have FW800.
Comment
Yeah seriously? I just use a bluetooth mouse and keyboard. No need to worry about USB ports being taken up. Also if you need it that bad just get a USB hub.
Comment
I've never found a need for more than two USB ports. Never really need more than that between the printer, some external HDDs, iPhone, iPod, and camera.
Comment
You made a statement. You should back it up with your reasoning as to why you feel that way. Two USB ports seem fine to me.
As others have pointed out, if it's for plugging in devices when at home, a hub is a good way to go.
Comment
Get a Apple Keyboard, it has two extra USB ports on it. And it supports high power USB so you can plug virtually anything into it. Hell, I plug my iPad into it to charge and it provides nearly the same current to it as if I plugged it straight into the computer (I say nearly because the USB spec allows for 2A @ 5V, and the iPad would use all of that except the keyboard uses 0.05A, so nearly the same)
Comment
well then you can tell us where should you put another usb3.0 port on this layout?
sure everybody can simply said i want x-usb ports on my machine, but it too depends largely on design considerations.
Comment
Definitely needs 3 USB ports.
Yeah at home I can be flexible, but in the field I can't go around pairing devices together or if I'm in an environment that forbids using wireless? I need USB ports. I've already migrated to a lot of Thunderbolt devices to minimize using USB ports, but it's better safe than sorry.
Take out the SD card reader and you'll have space for USB ports. If you need to read SD cards, use an adapter and you'll still have 3 ports left!
That said, I'm pretty sure Apple is smart enough!
Yeah at home I can be flexible, but in the field I can't go around pairing devices together or if I'm in an environment that forbids using wireless? I need USB ports. I've already migrated to a lot of Thunderbolt devices to minimize using USB ports, but it's better safe than sorry.
Take out the SD card reader and you'll have space for USB ports. If you need to read SD cards, use an adapter and you'll still have 3 ports left!
That said, I'm pretty sure Apple is smart enough!
Comment
I need an SD card slot way more than 3 USB slots for my photography. Love how most posters in MacRumors assume their needs are what everyone needs.
Comment
People buy the things that they buy because they like it, no? They believe that the thing they're spending their money on will do the job they want it to do. So, when people defend an Apple product, it has nothing to do with the brand but everything to do with the fact that they bought the machine because it fits their needs.
Also, I don't think anyone said that less is more. They simply stated that they're perfectly happy with less because they have no need for more.
Comment
2 works fine for me. Only a couple times in the past year have I needed more. Not a big deal, I just waited for my phone to sync or whatever, then unplugged it, and plugged another drive in. I survived.
Comment
I can get by with 2, however on my MBP the most annoying thing is they are side by side, and USB sticks don't fit properly.
Mouse/keyboard can either be bluetooth or use a single port (i.e. mouse hangs of keyboard), but the fact that the USB stick won't fit in the remaining port is annoying.
Some of them draw too much power to hang off the other keyboard port.
If I wasn't such a stingy bastard, I'd buy a thunderbolt dock and be done with it....
Or even a cheap USB hub.
Comment
Why would be using an adapter and we will still have 3 ports left?
It's just like if you need more than 2 USB ports then get a hub and you still have the SD slot left!
Comment
