"USB-C only" = "Think different"

[NT1440]

Using a rMB. USB-C is not the biggest issue though I did have to buy a sidebar adapter. The biggest two issues: First, the USB-C would not accommodate my iPhone or iPad. It would not accommodate any of my existing peripherals. You had to buy adapters.
Second, the wireless was less than great. So many times it just dropped my wireless HDD, wireless card reader, or wireless Hp Laserjet Pro. Many times the WiFi just never came back on after sleep. It is all the little stuff.
Forward thinking - yes. Optimal - no.

I think it's too early to tell if the wifi issues hardware related (doubt it).

As for adapters, meh. Buy a set of the appropriate ones and use them until the next major USB form factor overall comes along well after 2020. I personally don't see the big deal, but I understand the frustration.

 

[CaptRB]

Exactly. How can a 'pro' machine not have an SD slot? I really hope it's not another effort to save space.

The omission of the SD slot does not disqualify a laptop from being "professional." Without exception, and I've worked for years amongst top shooters, SD remains the format for backup and lower end products (some of which ARE employed for paid and therefor pro work).

The lack of SD is mildly annoying and that's about it. The strengths of my 13" and 15" touch bars FAR outweigh the rather minor weaknesses. And I'm coming off a 15" 2015 rMBP.


R.

 

[Count Blah]

Wish there were a downvote option.

Billions of periferals in use, billions more will still be purchased, all with usb-a format. It's not forward thinking, it's arrogance. It's not the days of 3.5 inch floppies you use once a year, it's not cd-DVD you used twice a year, it's every day, everywhere.

It's cutting off your nose, to spite your face, and Apple has been widely criticized for it, as they should be.

 

[iRabbit]

Oh boy. Okay, but you clearly said that you are a Professional shooter, which leads us to assume that you'd know people in the field.

For disclosure, I'm a large format shooter and currently handling Jewelry and still for catalogue. My work has also been used at boat and car shows, as well as websites. Working in NY and LA, I know a LOT of shooters. Sports, wedding, portrait, wildlife and Fashion. Many are at or near the top of their fields.

No one relies exclusively on SD because it's slower and we don't buy top tier gear to crippled it with slower media storage. While you make money with your gear, it's not what most professionals use. If you know the business, then you know this. And if you work among others in the industry, it's rather difficult to believe that you don't know anyone using CF anymore since it remains the highest spec storage for top tier cameras PERIOD.

So, I find your comments both suspect and blatantly inaccurate. What fields do the "pros" you know work in where they use slower recording media?

Saying that the D5 and D500 takes SD is sort of like saying a Porsche Turbo can run on low octane gas. SD is the slowest against CF and XQD, thus not a top professional choice.


R.

Yet cameras like the Canon 5D use SD cards, and no one questions that's a pro camera. I went to a Sony event last year when they announced some new gear, no one questions their capabilities (or they shouldn't) and those all use SD cards. Please don't act like there aren't many many MANY cameras out there using SD cards, including MANY that are capable of being used in the hands of pro shooters. If you think that the two cameras you mentioned are the only two capable of being pro cameras, you are behind in the times. I know they are amazing feats of gear, but they aren't the only cameras pros use.

I know pros who work with all type of cameras and I gave you the reasons I use the cameras I use. I got sick of killing shutters by running time-lapse on mechanical only DSLRs. I'm sure you know plenty of video shooters using GH cameras. I hope you don't only know Nikon and Canon guys.

I really don't want to get into a pissing match with you. My main client has me on weekly retainer and has for three years and it's a brand that is a household name. I have photos as part of a permanent collection in a major NYC museum. There are cameras and gear out there quite capable of shooting all kinds of work, and working pros use lots of gear other than the only two you can site that exclusively use CF.

And I wouldn't at all be surprised to see those CF cards phased out eventually. Maybe I'm wrong, but time will tell. In the meantime, it has nothing to do with my displeasure with having the SD card removed from the MacBook Pro... but I'm pretty sure I already conceded this argument since it's a done deal.

Serious dude, have a great day. I really don't want to do the whole "mine is bigger than yours thing". Fine, yours is bigger and you're the biggest baddest photographer on the planet.

 

[CaptRB]

Wish there were a downvote option.

Billions of periferals in use, billions more will still be purchased, all with usb-a format. It's not forward thinking, it arrogance. It's not the days of 3.5 inch floppies you use once a year, it's not cd-DVD you used twice a year, it's every day, everywhere.

It's cutting off your nose, to spite your face, and Apple has been widely criticized for it, as they should be.

Huh? All of my USB-a stuff works great. I bought twin pack of USB-A to C adapters for 12 bucks.

And I have a beautiful pair of Touch Bar Macbooks that are the best yet.

Cut off your nose to spite your face would be missing out on the best MBP yet because you want a modern computer to have dated legacy ports for older devices, which STILL work perfectly!


R

 

[SDColorado]

Widely critisized? Seems more like fringe critism from what I have seen, based on posts here. Dunno. I carry a little Verbatim usb-c card reader in my bag. Seems to do the trick just fine. Works better than the SD card slot did on my other MBP's to be honest. Those sometimes required to the cards to be reseated in order to read.

 

[csurfr]

Exactly. How can a 'pro' machine not have an SD slot? I really hope it's not another effort to save space.

Not every "pro" needs an SD card slot. Do you honestly expect Apple to make every configuration imaginable?

Why are we beating this dead horse again?

 

[johannnn]

I know several "pro users" that need wired internet as well as DVD drive. Should we also make the new MBP 1cm thicker now because of that? Just get a damn adapter.

 

[csurfr]

I know several "pro users" that need wired internet as well as DVD drive. Should we also make the new MBP 1cm thicker now because of that? Just get a damn adapter.

I'm not religious in the least, but Amen!

Apple did exactly what they felt they SHOULD DO to make the machine appeal to a broad audience. You want an SD slot? Get an adapter. You want a SuperDrive? They'll sell you one of those too. Ethernet? Yep, got you covered. HDMI? Whadda ya know!

USB-C / TB 3 is honestly a fantastic choice! I think it spent a total of... 30.00 MAX on a USB-C to Lightning cable, one USB-C to USB-A, and one USB-C to Micro B or whatever for my external hdd... and guess what... I've not used any of it. The joy of a wireless world.

 

[priitv8]

... I went to a Sony event last year when they announced some new gear, no one questions their capabilities (or they shouldn't) and those all use SD cards. ...

Times, they are changing.

Source: a9 review on imaging-resource.com

 

[CaptRB]

I'm not religious in the least, but Amen!

Apple did exactly what they felt they SHOULD DO to make the machine appeal to a broad audience. You want an SD slot? Get an adapter. You want a SuperDrive? They'll sell you one of those too. Ethernet? Yep, got you covered. HDMI? Whadda ya know!

USB-C / TB 3 is honestly a fantastic choice! I think it spent a total of... 30.00 MAX on a USB-C to Lightning cable, one USB-C to USB-A, and one USB-C to Micro B or whatever for my external hdd... and guess what... I've not used any of it. The joy of a wireless world.

And that's that. This is the fastest most flexible and most portable MBP with best screen/keyboard/speakers EVER.

I really feel sorry for the buyers who listened to all of the nonsense and bought 2015 machines. They really missed out.

On the other hand...YIPPEE...my 2015 was sold for a great price, so the silliness paid off nicely.


R

 

[whwang]

The CF vs SD debate is an interesting one. However, I do not find myself ready to jump into either side. I have professional cameras that take only CF (Canon 5D2) or only SD (Pentax 645z, Sony A7R) or both (Nikon D800). So unless Apple put both SD and CF slots on the MBP, I need an external device anyway.

I am totally for USB-C. I think it is much better than the legacy USB. However, there are only two USB-C ports on my 13" MBP. I don't feel it is enough. When one of the port is used for power, I only have one empty USB-C port. This means that I will need a dongle anyway, as long as I have more than one USB-C devices. At this moment, I have more than one USB-A devices, so no matter what, I need a USB-C to USB-A adapter/hub.

One problem I encounter very often is that the USB-C connection is not very reliable. I often need to reboot the MBP in order to recognize a new device, or even to recognize a device that had already connected to it but lost after a sleep. So far this has happened to my external USB-A drive and ethernet connection, either through a 3rd party USB-C to USB-A adapter/hub, or through Apple's own dongle. So I don't know whom to complain to. Has anyone encountered something similar?

 

[dk001]

I think it's too early to tell if the wifi issues hardware related (doubt it).

As for adapters, meh. Buy a set of the appropriate ones and use them until the next major USB form factor overall comes along well after 2020. I personally don't see the big deal, but I understand the frustration.

WiFi appears to be software related on the Apple side. Solid connectivity changes with OS updates
Adapters... Meh. Shouldn't have too especially between Apple items. Deliberately engineered extra expense. Or stupidity. JMPO.
Frustration? A bit. It would be or should be simple to make it just work. Sometimes I feel Apple engineers (hardware vs. software vs. other hardware) work in sealed silos.

 

[SDColorado]

One problem I encounter very often is that the USB-C connection is not very reliable. I often need to reboot the MBP in order to recognize a new device, or even to recognize a device that had already connected to it but lost after a sleep. So far this has happened to my external USB-A drive and ethernet connection, either through a 3rd party USB-C to USB-A adapter/hub, or through Apple's own dongle. So I don't know whom to complain to. Has anyone encountered something similar?

I can't say that I have experienced any issues like this at all. I have been using a Satechi multi port adapter with it. USB-A hard drives, thumb drives, projector via HDMI, have all been working as expected without glitches.

 

[Ethosik]

First, SD card slot. This will NEVER be replaced by a USB-C port.

What? Here you go: https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Typ...&qid=1493911380&sr=8-3&keywords=usb-c+sd+card

 

[dk001]

What? Here you go: https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Typ...&qid=1493911380&sr=8-3&keywords=usb-c+sd+card

One concern: Continued support. As the OS on my rMB has been upgraded, I have run into issue where both wifi, BT, and functionality of peripherals has changed. Contact with Apple Support indicated that there have been some issues with releases and these are being addressed. WiFi has been the biggest. I have had a couple of USB C card readers that stopped working post OS upgrade. BT has been fairly robust.

 

[dyn]

Wish there were a downvote option.

Wish people would grow up and respect others. The voting option is there to mark a post as helpful. Agreeing/disagreeing you do by posting. After all this is a forum, not a poll.

Billions of periferals in use, billions more will still be purchased, all with usb-a format.

Yep and billions of people not plugging any of those in whatever notebook they have. Take a good look around offices and campuses and you'll see that the only place where they actually use those peripherals is at their desk. For that we have docking stations and we've had those for decades.

It's cutting off your nose, to spite your face, and Apple has been widely criticized for it, as they should be.

By bashers only yes. As all the other numbers, figures and real life shows, nobody cares about the switch to USB-C. As stated earlier, they hardly use it on the road and when at their desk they use some kind of dock solution like they have always done. Others have bought adapters/new cables and got on with their lives. Seriously, there are far bigger issues than this.

In reality humans do as humans do which would be adapting to the new situation and move on.

I know pros who work with all type of cameras and I gave you the reasons I use the cameras I use. I got sick of killing shutters by running time-lapse on mechanical only DSLRs. I'm sure you know plenty of video shooters using GH cameras. I hope you don't only know Nikon and Canon guys.

You may know pros but you certainly do not know your stuff. The mirrorless cameras you spoke of all come with the exact same mechanical shutter as DSLRs and thus you have the same issue. Lucky for you some of those cameras now also give you the option to not use the mechanical shutter but use an electronic one instead. The biggest downside to that is rolling shutter due to the way the sensor is being read (line by line) and that greatly affects motion (the issue can be seen with faster shutter speeds, it's not an issue of long shutter speeds at all).

Not every "pro" needs an SD card slot. Do you honestly expect Apple to make every configuration imaginable?

Well actually they kinda did with the 2016 model by going all in with TB3. The only difference is that the choice is now entirely up to the user instead of the manufacturer. Some people are not comfortable making their own choices, they want to have everything laid out for them.

 

[kasakka]

I have the latest MBP and at this point for my work setup I have most of the ports used and gained nothing over my previous MBP. Had to present from my computer at another place and because I forgot my USB adapter I could not have done it unless another person hadn't borrowed my theirs. For my office desktop setup 3 USB-C ports are in use for display, charging and the USB adapter. Previous setup had 2 because I could connect my peripherals to the display itself.

I would have preferred a gradual move to USB-C with at least one legacy USB port.

 

[BarracksSi]

For my office desktop setup 3 USB-C ports are in use for display, charging and the USB adapter. Previous setup had 2 because I could connect my peripherals to the display itself.

You can get a dongle (ugh, what a stupid word) from Apple that'll do a display, USB-C charging, and a USB-A socket and use just one port in the laptop.

Ka-ching -- docking station that'll even work for a 12" MacBook.

 

[dyn]

Think solutions instead of problems. Makes life an awful lot easier.
Or you could go the sadomasochistic way and make everything as difficult as possible by only seeing problems. Your choice.

 

[v0lume4]

The way the power brick used to wind up for storage, with the little pop-out wings and the thin flexible cord, made for a neater experience than the current USB-C brick and cable.

Are you. Telling me. That the new MBP's. Don't have the wings on the power adapter that let you wind the cord up on the adapter?

 

[/V\acpower]

About once every semester I get in front of a class ready to give a lecture, to find that the VGA plug is broken (usually a bended pin).

VGA is the best example of why you have to force change, because legacy support of old ports, even if it's just "keeping the old one next to the new one" mean that we will be stuck in "transition" forever.

VGA has been supposed to be dead for SO long. We adopted it in so many offices and school as the default standard for projectors, just because it's cheap and so many PC laptops still have it. No matter the fact that VGA was designed in a time where you unplugged/plugged your PC monitor once every 2 years and so it break ALL the time.

We have had better alternatives to VGA for such a long time.

I totally 100% agree with the OP, we have to force change unless it just won't happen.

We want a future of "USB C do it all port on every device", then we need to force it.

Going all USB C mean a couple of year of transition. Going USB C with USB A port on the side mean we will still be using dongles in 2027.

 

[bdotcee]

Bah. Fat lot of good the SD card slot did for reading my CF cards.

My thoughts... thanks!

 

[JMacHack]

About once every semester I get in front of a class ready to give a lecture, to find that the VGA plug is broken (usually a bended pin).

VGA is the best example of why you have to force change, because legacy support of old ports, even if it's just "keeping the old one next to the new one" mean that we will be stuck in "transition" forever.

VGA has been supposed to be dead for SO long. We adopted it in so many offices and school as the default standard for projectors, just because it's cheap and so many PC laptops still have it. No matter the fact that VGA was designed in a time where you unplugged/plugged your PC monitor once every 2 years and so it break ALL the time.

We have had better alternatives to VGA for such a long time.

I totally 100% agree with the OP, we have to force change unless it just won't happen.

We want a future of "USB C do it all port on every device", then we need to force it.

Going all USB C mean a couple of year of transition. Going USB C with USB A port on the side mean we will still be using dongles in 2027.

Truth be told I've had the same experience with HDMI, bent pins and all. I want it gone for a USB-C or Thunderbolt option in the future.

 

[dk001]

Think solutions instead of problems. Makes life an awful lot easier.
Or you could go the sadomasochistic way and make everything as difficult as possible by only seeing problems. Your choice.

Wow. Solutions for problems presented by engineers that did not think things through for typical current users. aka - buy a dongle or two or three and hope all your stuff still works. That is your take? Complicate vs. Simplify.

It just works. A former Apple saying.