Thunderbolt 3 Ports on Right Side of 13-Inch MacBook Pro Have Reduced PCI Express Bandwidth

[840quadra]

Those all became legacy the day that the Thunderbolt 3 over usb-c port was announced. Every one of those can be combined into a single TB3 port that does all those plus a whole lot more. It's exactly the kind of thing Apple would do.

They have also been known to throw a straw or two at users when jumping to a new model. The Unibody MBP still had an Express Slot, and, TB1 and TB2 ports in the RMBP still supported their existing Mini display port adapters.

But, I have to admit, at the end of the day, you are correct. It is simply frustrating that they didn't throw us any straws this time, or any adapters. I guess I got too excited, and assumed they would include a TB2 adapter in the box, much like they now give people a headphone adapter in the iPhone 7. I guess they threw their straw in the iPhone box this year.

 

[imageWIS]

Apple is becoming a company I barely recognize. What happened to their practice of delighting us with "magical" technology. It's now getting to a point where I'm thinking, "I wonder in how many ways this new product is going to disappoint me?"

This is what happens when it's your SVP of Marketing that's trying to be 'courageous' by 'innovating' using his ass. And trust me: that's quite an 'experience'.

 

[Icaras]

Very reasonable! Different wants/needs for different people. I would VERY much not want it to be thicker, and I don't want legacy ports. Port transitions always hurt. They have to happen. I'd suggest looking for a single mini-dock with multiple ports: expect the available selection to balloon in the months ahead!

I for one rarely hang anything off the side of my laptop. I'm OK with a dongle when the need arises. I'm more than OK with a step toward an all-TB-3/USB-C future. But I do know others desire's are different.

(And remember: you won't be achieving merely the same connectivity as last year, you'll be achieving better: you'll have gained USB-C and Thunderbolt 3. That may well matter during the life of the system.)

I use my Mac in almost the same exact way and I also agree with you and Apple about their direction with the Mac thus far. I want it thinner. I want legacy ports gone. Hell I even wouldn't mind the headphone jack going away from the Mac as well (Yes, I really said that so see you in hell Macrumors forum ).

Anyway I have an iMac and use only two USB ports, one of which is a UPS, so if I had a MBP, I would only happily use just one port at my desk at home and none if I were traveling.

 

[Soni Sanjay]

Stop killing the company I loved in the past. Just stop.

 

[840quadra]

The 'problem' is that TB3 allows for up to 100 W of power (in either direction), but dimensioning all TB3 components on all TB3 devices to being able to handle that amount of power makes things even more expensive (and/or delays the release because the lower-power components will come to market first). But I guess, price is no issue for you.

Where did I say anything about price?

At the end of the day, the adapter isn't a good option for the MBP, and no adapter (from Apple) currently exists for the MBP (at any price) that properly supports that systems IO in this configuration.

::Edited for clarity::

 

[0388631]

I was always under the impression Apple's ports were two on the same bus?

 

[Pentium]

- New MacBook Pro Has Better Keyboard Than 12-Inch MacBook, But It's Expensive and Lacking Ports
- New MacBook Pros Max Out at 16GB RAM Due to Battery Life Concerns
- Apple Says It's Out of the Standalone Display Business
- New MacBook Pros Don't Include Backlit Apple Logo or Power Extension Cable
- Thunderbolt 3 Ports on Right Side of 13-Inch MacBook Pro Have Reduced PCI Express Bandwidth

When will the bad news stop?

you forgot "Apple Continues to Sell Base Model 2015 MacBook Pros at Same Price Points"

 

[manu chao]

The non touchbar MacBook Pro has 11% bigger battery, no touchbar or t1 chip to drive, a 15w vs 25w CPU, lower power gpu.

If this MacBook Pro has 12-13 hour battery I'm buying it.

Lower performance chips (CPU & GPU) will stay longer in saturated mode to perform a given computing task. For example, encoding a movie might use the same amount of battery power on 15-W CPU as on a 25-W CPU. But idle or low load use should consume less battery. Still overall, the touch-bar-less MBP should have at least a 10% longer battery life given the larger battery.

 

[Lancetx]

Heh, the whining is almost comical at this point. Of course I'll be called a McPologist!

You're so right. This site literally should be called MacWhiners now.

 

[imageWIS]

Really? No one here? In this thread where they are talking about this specific issue, crying in rage whether they understand the details or not?

There are certainly pluses and minuses--for me included. But so many of things people are saying have surpassed parody level. Which is a shame, because Apple could use the feedback--but it just sounds insane half the time.

NO, it sounds insane to you, but those that actually need a PRO machine, these are serious issues. And other things are basically deal breakers, like the lack of MagSafe, which they could have EASILY kept!
[doublepost=1477705758][/doublepost]

You get what you pay for.

Or overpay for in this case.

 

[manu chao]

I was always under the impression Apple's ports were two on the same bus?

Yes, but the maximum speed per bus (aka PCIe lanes) can differ (four TB3 means two separate busses if the two-ports-per-bus rule stands).

 

[doelcm82]

-

Honestly this won't affect me, as I've never had to use more than two USB ports on my laptop at the same time anyway. But I can see this negatively impacting power users.

Power users would probably not be getting the 13-inch MBP. So Apple's true exposure is pretty small.

 

[imageWIS]

Next we're going to find out there's no sd card slot so you won't be able to top up the overpriced storage in an streamlined way.

There is no SD Card slot...
[doublepost=1477705956][/doublepost]

When was the last time Apple supported legacy connections any longer than they absolutely had to? The new Thunderbolt ports are exactly what everyone has been asking for for 20 years. And we expect Apple, who has dumped SCSI, Serial, Floppy disks, CD drives, 3.5mm audio, etc. all way before their time, to hold back here? Really?

But they didn't dump 3.5mm did they? No, they only dumped it on the iPhone with some BS excuse while actually keeping it on the new MBP. Hypocritical a**wipes.

 

[0388631]

Yes, but the maximum speed per bus (aka PCIe lanes) can differ (four TB3 means two separate busses if the two-ports-per-bus rule stands).

Correct. So if it's two to a bus, 20 gigabits for each port? I wonder how many devices you can run off of 20 gigabits. Though don't speeds halve if you use longer cables?

 

[sinoka56]

Jobs wouldn't probably even allow the removal of magsafe connector

 

[manu chao]

NO, it sounds insane to you, but those that actually need a PRO machine, these are serious issues. And other things are basically deal breakers, like the lack of MagSafe, which they could have EASILY kept!

The previous 13" MBP had two TB 2 ports (aka 20 GB/s and that 20 GB/s might have been shared between the two ports). The new one has two TB3 ports with 40 GB/s (again, maybe shared) and two with maybe 20 GB/s. That is a massive increase, from potentially 20 GB/s total to 60 GB/s total. But I guess having only 60 GB/s (instead of 80 GB/s) total is really a serious issue that is a deal-breaker for a lot of uses.

I guess, you would have preferred that the new MBPs would have come with two charging cables (and ports). One with Magsafe and one with USB-C.

 

[ayokkay]

A.K.A "kick in the nutz, Inc." from now on...

 

[TMRJIJ]

Jobs wouldn't probably even allow the removal of magsafe connector

Unrelated post is unrelated.

 

[pika2000]

OK, this one is stupid. This is not the detail attentive Apple I knew. I remembered when Apple put USB3 on the MacBook Air, and how Phil claiming they made both ports on the left and right as full USB3 so user don't have to worry which port to use.

I guess this is the "iPhone 6" or "iPad 3" version of the MacBook Pro? Gotta wait a bit longer I guess.

 

[Kobayagi]

you forgot "Apple Continues to Sell Base Model 2015 MacBook Pros at Same Price Points"

Gotya!

 

[imageWIS]

"Use a USB 3.1 (USB-C to USB-C) cable to connect a USB-C device."

So you go to a store and buy usb-c
then you can't use it.
Until you pay the apple tax and clutter your desk with another damn cable to go from usb-c to usb-c ...

Maybe i am smarter buying the current iMac and avoid this whole fake usb-c nonsense .. and laptops that end up as spiders and buying 17 adapters

I'm very happy with my Late 2015 5K iMac. I dropped 32GB of RAM on it and have the Radeon R9 M395X... has all of the connections I need and should last me for quite a while. I mention that it's connected to 7 external drives and occasional drives my 4K 55" TV with no issues whatsoever.

Who knows when or what the next iMac will be like but I would say that if you're in the market, might as well take the plunge and get one.

 

[62tele]

Really? No one here? In this thread where they are talking about this specific issue, crying in rage whether they understand the details or not?

There are certainly pluses and minuses--for me included. But so many of things people are saying have surpassed parody level. Which is a shame, because Apple could use the feedback--but it just sounds insane half the time.

Here's my feedback. The new pricing model sucks goat ass!

 

[scoobydoo99]

"You're plugging it in wrong."

It's sad to see the decline of Apple accelerate even as their leadership seems blind and/or apathetic about what is happening. Long gone are the days when Apple designed machines to help people work the way they want to work while also being beautiful devices that truly delighted. Now we have to adapt to the limitations of the machine. There was a day when Apple put in features that made life easier - an SD card slot for quick upload of digital pictures, an HDMI port so we can quickly connect at home or in the office, a proper keyboard that has just the right amount of feedback to create a wonderful user experience, etc. Now, they are focused on removing ports, compromising the keyboard, etc. for the sake of getting thinner and lighter. There is no interest in what we actually want to do with our machines. Too bad. I'll hang on as long as possible for OS X, but ultimately, Apple will have nothing left of any interest to me.

And the price point is the shocking icing on the cake. If there was any doubt that today's Apple is out of thouch, the new MacBook Pro prices have removed that doubt. Unbelievable.

 

[Jaro65]

No one here is a troll for expressing discontent for this new laptop. I've had every iBook and Macbook since 2005, and this is the first one I won't be upgrading to based on the rapacious pricing, and miniscule update (slower processor in the base model, and less battery life).

Nothing about this device is "pro."

...The price is.

 

[manu chao]

Correct. So if it's two to a bus, 20 gigabits for each port? I wonder how many devices you can run off of 20 gigabits.

It's only 20 GB/s per port, if you saturate both ports. Otherwise it is up to 40 GB/s per port (the left ones at least on the 13" MBP) and the remaining bandwith to the other port. If the devices connected to both ports don't require the full bandwidth simultaneously, you'll even be able to use 40 GB/s on one port one minute and 40 GB/s on the other port another minute.

Apart from 5K displays, I don't think there is a single device that can even make use of more than 20 GB/s.

Though don't speeds halve if you use longer cables?

Yes, unless you use optical cables. Then there is also mode that has TB 1 (or TB 2?) speeds using a much cheaper passive cable (aka a standard USB-C cable).