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USB ports too close

I don't know why there are so many people defending Apple's poor choice in placement of USB ports. If people have to buy a USB extender just to utilize both ports, then obviously there's something wrong with the design. There simply isn't enough space to fit most thumbdrives along with another USB device on the MBPs.

I'm just glad that both of the Macs I own don't have this problem because both USB ports are on both sides. I own an early 2008 MBP and a 2010 MBA
 
tmagman said:
just throw a 6" extender in your bag with your MBP like this- it works great when i'm using beefy flash drives. Sure I can complain all I want that they're not perfect, but hey, whatever. Its a USB port.
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That's pretty much what I do also.
 
one way

I would like to hear the folks defending this design to list a couple of things they don't like about any Apple products, ever. That would be illuminating.
 
noodlehead said:
I would like to hear the folks defending this design to list a couple of things they don't like about any Apple products, ever. That would be illuminating.
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Why would this be illuminating?

You are right when you say that Apple puts "prettiness over functionality." This is well known. Following through with this, having something stick out of the side of the laptop is not pretty. That's why Apple offers bluetooth external keyboards and mice. I would put more blame on the designers of USB devices that are thicker and wider than a USB standard connector.

Stuff I don't like:
The magic mouse: the old model with the super-small scrolling ball, as well as the new model. They might look great, but are really inconvenient to use. Luckily Logitech makes a Bluetooth wireless mouse that looks nice.
Non-removable battery: Not that I ever did this, but on other machines you have the option to buy and carry around an additional battery. On the other hand, most other machines don't give you 6-7 hours out of one battery.
The black chiclet keyboard: It looks quite ok, but I don't see how it is better than the nice silver keyboard in the pre-unibody models. Also that one never showed any signs of wear or greasy fingers, while the new one is more sensitive in that respect.
No spill resistant keyboard.
They changed "Save as..." to "Duplicate", just to be different!

That enough?
 
They are 2 close.

Yes they r 2 close, yes it's a nuisance, yes it's a design flaw, yes they do not correct that as usual and yes it's infuriating.

For me specially, I travel all the time, in many places can't use WiFi so I have 2 resort 2 USB stick, all 3G/4G sticks are large, when I use them can't use anything else on the other port. Using an extension bay is not very "mobile" which is the idea behind a notebook.

I love Apple, have many of their product, u name it, iMac, Iphones, MBPs, IPods, IPad (I and II).

Regarding the design and motherboard placement, I'm sure that there is an easy solution, but they have always been stubborn.
 
I agree

It is annoying but you just learn to deal with it. If it is really a problem then you can just use a usb hub.
 
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I'm not going to defend apple but a lot of laptops are. Hilt exactly the same way. Really the design flaw is with the USB sticks. A 3G modem doesn't need to be so wide or a memory stick for that matter.
 
Zacarias said:
Yes they r 2 close, yes it's a nuisance, yes it's a design flaw, yes they do not correct that as usual and yes it's infuriating.
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Actually, it's not a design flaw. The spacing allows a two connectors made to USB standards (15.7 x 7.5 mm for the overmold) to fit side by side. Apple designed the ports to allow two A connectors to fit side by side ; even hough I would have liked a little more room to allow a Type A plug and small flash drive to coexist without an extension, Apple's choice was not unreasonable since there is no way of knowing what people will plug in to the port.

I personally would like to have a USB port on either side of the Mac but they chose not to do that.
 
Get a USB hub, problem solved. I found one on ebay for like 5 bucks and it works good. Plus two ports is not enough for me and I'm sure most other people as well.
 
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I agree they're too close, but I'm confused what the OP is plugging in that won't fit... I use my MBP more often than not with a Logitech G9x, Illuminated external KB, and USB headphones plugged in. The headphones get unplugged when I want to plug in a flash drive.

External HD gets plugged in to the FireWire port with all the other peripherals connected.

How about getting some peripherals with normal sized USB plugs, or a USB hub! :p
 
This is a pretty pathetic design choice. It's bad enough that they decided to stuff ALL ports on one side of a LARGE 15" notebook, another to squish them all together on that side, and yet ANOTHER to put the USB ports right beside each other! It's baffling just how badly they triply screwed up here. E.g., they could've just put the USB ports on either side of the firewire or thunderbolt ports since people don't use those much/at all. This would allow two large sized USB devices to be plugged in at the same time.

Honestly, what were they thinking?

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jlc1978 said:
Actually, it's not a design flaw. The spacing allows a two connectors made to USB standards (15.7 x 7.5 mm for the overmold) to fit side by side. Apple designed the ports to allow two A connectors to fit side by side ; even hough I would have liked a little more room to allow a Type A plug and small flash drive to coexist without an extension, Apple's choice was not unreasonable since there is no way of knowing what people will plug in to the port.

I personally would like to have a USB port on either side of the Mac but they chose not to do that.
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Are you kidding? Do you have any evidence that they made this design choice for that reason? I doubt it. Also, ALL split-cables I've ever seen allow for ports that are some distance from each other, so they don't need to be right beside each other, let alone super close to each other.

Second, even if what you cite WERE the reason (though it's not) Apple made this design choice, there are very few people who are using split-cable USB devices, so instead of designing the laptop so that most people will need to buy an adapter because the ports are too close together, they should've designed it so that the few people using split-cable devices would need to buy an adapter to bring the ports closer together.
 
little johnny said:
Are you kidding? Do you have any evidence that they made this design choice for that reason? I doubt it. Also, ALL split-cables I've ever seen allow for ports that are some distance from each other, so they don't need to be right beside each other, let alone super close to each other.

Second, even if what you cite WERE the reason (though it's not) Apple made this design choice, there are very few people who are using split-cable USB devices, so instead of designing the laptop so that most people will need to buy an adapter because the ports are too close together, they should've designed it so that the few people using split-cable devices would need to buy an adapter to bring the ports closer together.
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I'm not sure why you brought up split cables since they are irrelevant to my point.
People claim that the MBP's USB spacing is somehow a design flaw because they can't plug some devices in side by side; Apple designed it to allow plugs that meet USB standards fit side by side, if manufacturers fail to make plugs to that standard does not mean that Apple's design is at fault.
I do not agree with their design decision, as I pointed out, but that doesn't mean it is flawed.
 
Politis said:
I did my research and users said in in 2008, in 2009 and 2010 and I just discovered it!
The 2 USB ports on MacBook Pro are TOO CLOSE. There are too many things I cannot plug in at the same time, for instance my memory stick and my external hard drive. :mad:

Does Mac ever learn or has it completely given up on its MBPs?

I know, some will say buy an extension. But why?
Click to expand...

You need an rMBP
 
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