Why are you so hardcore about an eGPU? What real use do you have for one over the GPU already built into the MBP?
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Thunderbolt 3/USB-C Adapters, Cables, and Hubs for New MacBook Pro
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Why are you so hardcore about an eGPU? What real use do you have for one over the GPU already built into the MBP?
My desktop in December, once the 5K LG display is available, will have zero dongles in use. The MBP is connected with a single cable to the display, which will have a single power cable connected to it. That is it. This is better than ever before.
Well how about USB C on phones, or tablets, and AMD platforms? They may include USB C but not necessarily TB3.
One thing we can agree on. The newly iPhone 7 should carry USB C instead to eliminate all the remorse. There is nothing Lightning can do which USB C cannot. Apple wasn't courageous enough though.
Sarcasm? Can't tell.... There is no USB-C to Lightning cable that comes with the MacBook Pro...
My concern isn't that MR is writing about it. My concern is that we need so many damn dongles just to get a reasonably functional computer. That's seriously f***ed up.
When Jobs ditched old technology, he got rid of technology people don't use much any more. When Tim does it, he ditches technology people rely on for everyday living, and adds technology that still does not exist.
I don't mind dongles. They've been a way of life for me for years. My only complaint is that they are always so short. Not even long enough to move the second connection to the back. Why not put a real cable on them like the the old DVI-D adapter so you can get most of the bulk out of the way?
A good dock is the way to go. I have loved the OWC TB2 Dock on a couple of my Macs. I can't wait until there is such a device for the new Mac's. I wonder if the inevitable dock for the MBP might make the TB3 connector on my XPS useful as well. Dell has yet to make one work.
A good dock is the way to go. I have loved the OWC TB2 Dock on a couple of my Macs. I can't wait until there is such a device for the new Mac's. I wonder if the inevitable dock for the MBP might make the TB3 connector on my XPS useful as well. Dell has yet to make one work.
Apple has never waited to make a transition because they are one of the few companies willing to force things. This is nothing new - it's been this way for more than 20 years with Apple. They can rightly see that if they were to do what you suggest, nobody would ever move to usb-c. This has been proven on the PC side of things repeatedly - from Microsoft hanging on to Windows XP for more than a decade, to laptops that kept things like serial, parallel, and VGA ports for a decade longer than anyone but a tiny minority actually used them.
And mini-HDMI? Really? I'm in IT and I have never seen one of those in use in the wild. USB-C converts to HDMI natively if you're going to need a new cable anyways.
Anything HDMI just needs a new cable. Hardly a deal breaker! Cable types change every few years and have for a long time. USB-C is the first one where there is a chance it might last for the next decade.
Not even remotely true. In 1998 when the iMac was released without a floppy drive there were essentially zero other options for moving data between computers for most people. Hardly anyone had even seen a usb port before. He'd done the same with all sorts of legacy ports before that, and did it again with the removal of the DVD drives later.
^ Yeah fair enough. It's true. To be honest I can probably survive with USB-C. I'd flat out prefer to buy new cables rather than dongles, ie USB C to USB A or Micro B. Such as this one: http://www.belkin.com/au/p/P-F2CU031/
Be interested to see what kind've official accessories Apple release in light of the new MBP.
Be interested to see what kind've official accessories Apple release in light of the new MBP.
You asked about a charger. There are USB-C to Lightning cables and they work with the MacBook Pro's charger.
Well this is what I am expecting to see in the new iMacPro next year...
Because technology moved on and the standard setters selected a new port to fix the shortcomings of the old port (including size and lack of reversibility). In the long run this leads to less fragmentation since mobile devices are using it, too. In the short run, just as USB-A in the late 1990s/early 2000 there is a transition period where it is inconvenient.
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Because the port is still there. The same reason VGA hung around for so long. Projectors and monitors kept including VGA ports because PCs had them. PCs kept the ports because projectors and monitors supported them.
The Lightning cables are tabs with exposed pins, and the phone receptacle is simple. On USB C, the design is the other way around: the pins on cables are protected, but the receptacle is complex and perhaps a bit more prone to breaking.
I've broken the Micro-USB receptacle on one of my tablets when I tripped on the charging cable. I've tripped on the Apple charging cables plenty of times, and never broke the iPads.
Just a thought on why they might prefer Lightning over USB C.
That said, I just ordered three USB C to Lightning cables with the new MBP. One for my desk, one for my laptop bag, and one just in case.
...but you have that "cool" thinness in that laptop which you can't use if you forget or lose your "dongle bag."
Yeah. Technologies like Flash, which was barely used anymore. Or DVD drives. Or serial ports.
My post was mostly tongue in cheek. I don't blame Apple for this. I hope this move pushes manufacturers to get behind one port for most needs. I can suck it up for now and get a hub to cover all of my needs if I end up buying one, but it will suck on the go having to carry it around.
While you are not wrong:
1-Moving data in 1998 was not very common, people had 1 PC and they just used that. No laptops, consoles, tvs..etc that you need to swap data with.
2-In the year 1998 videogames were being released in the sizes of 50-100-200 MBs, I am going to guess, so was the software. What software will be installed using 20-50 1.44MB floppy disks?
3-DVD drives were ditched mid-2012 that is after Steve's death, am I right? Also cd burning was pretty much niche by then.
4-The iMac was smashing success that saved the company from bankruptcy. Lets see how the new macbooks affect Apple.
Apple sells computers for a 40% markup, with major R&D expenses;
Apple also sells dongles for (I guess) about 90% markup and hardly any R&D expenses.
Is their new strategy really that surprising?
Apple also sells dongles for (I guess) about 90% markup and hardly any R&D expenses.
Is their new strategy really that surprising?
I was in college in 1998. Everything lived on floppy disks. Most people had a desktop at home and had to use university desktops at school so a floppy was the only way to move files between the two places. It was also the only option most people had to backup their data.
The question is whether Apple's all USB-C design will really increase the rate of USB-C adoption or whether Apple is just too far ahead of a curve that everyone else is already on. No one can prove or disprove Apple's influence or lack thereof on the industry's adoption rate. I personally think Apple has gone too far ahead too soon. The transition is under way, but manufacturers are going to follow the largest demographic of computers--those running Windows.
I see potential. Workstations with upgradeable GPUs. Engineering is a demographic that Apple could target, but has not. The new MBPros include the graphics horsepower of a $100 desktop GPU and have been rightly panned for the weakness of the GPU given their price point. I also think Razor's popularity shows there is potential for tapping the gaming market, which loves to have mobility and the GPU prowess in order to game. Ultraportables with eGPUs would provide the mobility and offer all day or better battery longevity in the ultraportable form factor and the power desired by professionals and gamers for accomplishing graphics intensive tasks when docked. An eGPU also provides the option to choose the GPU that best suits the user's needs. Lastly, eGPUs provide the possibility of designing the form factor primarily around the CPU without worrying about the dGPU. This would allow for a cleaner distinction in Apple's lines: larger workstations for engineers who are the future of our country (Xeons [for CAD]), larger but thinner professional/prosumer notebooks (i7 quad-cores), smaller consumer notebooks (i5 quad- and dual-cores), and ultra books (m-series/Y-cores). Apple would really only need three or at most four form factors: (1) workstations (17" and 15"), (2a) professional/prosumer (15") and (2b) consumer (13"), (3) ultra books (13"/12"). I would love Apple to shift to 12" - 14" - 16", but that might take too much courage.
The only problem with this vision is that Apple hates allowing users to upgrade anything, but that is a decision based on fear (how do we entice consumers to purchase our new products?) and greed (premium prices on BTO upgrades and planned/forced obsolescence).
Perhaps most significantly, notebooks with dGPUs are more prone to failure than notebooks with iGPUs. This would help solve that problem.
Way too many ports to be a true Tim Cook Apple product. Need to make it sleek and cut it down to 4 ports, with 2 of them at half speed.