Why did they do this to the tbMBP?

[goobot]

For #1, the removal of the magsafe means that a shorter cable is less likely to cause someone to knock into it and drop the MBP on the floor.

For #2, Apple wants to promote USB C. If there's an adapter in the box, then there's no reason for peripheral makers to switch to USB C since every mac user has an adapter by default.

By that logic why do they include the headphone jack adapter with iPhone? The actual reason is that Apple mostly only cares about iPhone sales and doesn't want to turn those customers off while they simply don't care about their other customers nearly as much. It's why the Mbp went so long with out an update while every other mac is still without an update. It's also why there are rumors of Apple doing stuff like killing airport.

 

[elsadso]

I did not only get the extension wire for additional cable length but also for not getting electric shocks whenever I touch my MBP.

 

[maflynn]

I have my theories, but what are your theories on why Apple didn't include (1) the extension AC power cable and (2) at least an USB-C <> USB adapter?

I have to think they completely underestimated the blowback on dongles and thought they could save themselves money.

I'm not saying it was pure greed, but rather misreading the temperament of their customers. The slashing of the price of the dongles by apple is evidence they felt the heat and responded in a small way.

 

[Ethosik]

It's not a big deal. I'm not convinced that Apple has gotten to the point where they feel they need to nickel and dime their customers ... yet. If they start charging for things like Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and/or charge extra to add a battery to your MacBook Pro order, etc. ... that would be nickel and diming to me.

Agreed. I do not use the power extension cable. I already have USB-C devices (flash drives and things like that). That covers everything I plug in to my computer. So......I wouldn't use the power cord extension cable or a USB-C to USB-A adapter.

 

[CaptRB]

Agreed. I do not use the power extension cable. I already have USB-C devices (flash drives and things like that). That covers everything I plug in to my computer. So......I wouldn't use the power cord extension cable or a USB-C to USB-A adapter.

Correct!

The concept that Apple did this or that to save a few pennies just proves that people have a poor concept of how products like this are engineered and sold.

USB adapter? Why stop there? Many used the SD slot more, so why not include that as well? What about cables?

Let's stop the insanity.

You got (if you're lucky enough to be using one at this moment) a improved screen, keyboard, trackpad, SSD, do-anything USB ports and more. You have a touchbar and a better built machine overall. Any idea of what it cost to design, build and package so many upgrades?

The new tMBP represents the MOST upgrades to any MBP ever. We've never seen such sweeping improvements all at once, so we're seeing a LOT of bellyaching from a minority.

This thread is crying about a few dollars worth of items you wanted Apple to toss into the package just for you?

That's some funny $h1t!!!


R.

 

[Newtons Apple]

I have my theories, but what are your theories on why Apple didn't include (1) the extension AC power cable and (2) at least an USB-C <> USB adapter?

The extension cable does make carrying the tbMBP around a bit more bulky, but it's not like the MBP line is a featherweight to begin with.

I think it's a large oversight to not even package a USB-C <> USB adapter if you're going to introduce a new port standard.

I can't imagine removing these two items from their non-competitively priced machines would really break their bank. Sure, they're out to make profit, but that's not the only dimension to consider.

Thin is in and nothing else matters to Apple.

 

[Hank Carter]

If you were Tim Cook would you rather give your customer a free cable that cost you maybe 50 cents or charge them $19 for the same cable?

(and you get to make the box slimmer!)

 

[raqball]

Anyone who thinks this was not a cost cutting measure on Apple part is living in lala land..

I don't really care either way to be honest as buying as dongle, adapter or power extension is no big deal to me but the fact remains if you look at it without blinders on, it's pretty clear to see...

 

[seeforyourself]

If you were Tim Cook would you rather give your customer a free cable that cost you maybe 50 cents or charge them $19 for the same cable?

(and you get to make the box slimmer!)

I understand what you are saying but this is the MacBook PRO we are speaking of, not the MacBook Air. The MacBook Pro doesn't have to be as thin as the air and have the same lack of ports... ACTUALLY the MacBook Air has USB 3.0 and the pro does not. Why make us pay more for adaptors and less battery life?

 

[raqball]

I understand what you are saying but this is the MacBook PRO we are speaking of, not the MacBook Air. The MacBook Pro doesn't have to be as thin as the air and have the same lack of ports... ACTUALLY the MacBook Air has USB 3.0 and the pro does not. Why make us pay more for adaptors and less battery life?

I like my 2016 nTB MacBook ProAir... It's a fine computer..

 

[SteveJUAE]

The concept that Apple did this or that to save a few pennies just proves that people have a poor concept of how products like this are engineered and sold.

I'm not sure you realise how many engineers in multitude of industries who's whole careers revolve around saving weight, materials and many other costs (including logistics as someone else noted) vs form, function and aesthetics.

This is even more so in mass produced products and especially so when aiming for thinner lighter. Many of the same concepts and thought processes are common across space, aeronautical, automotive and off-shore engineering etc and equally Apple

Make no mistake Apple will know the cost of every part of the manufacturing process to fractions of cents

We can only second guess why Apple choose to leave off or out certain items but cost would of played a significant part of the decision process.

It's not nickel and diming it's sound engineering, production and financial planning

However, how it is perceived to consumer products cannot be ignored. Apple may of underestimated consumer reaction which is evident in some postings.

There is no wrong or right IMO you either feel/perceive some sort of loss of value or function or not. Once the accumulation of these negative perceptions reach a critical personal level is when you vote with your wallet as I doubt any other form of feedback is effective with Apple.

 

[Hank Carter]

I understand what you are saying but this is the MacBook PRO we are speaking of, not the MacBook Air. The MacBook Pro doesn't have to be as thin as the air and have the same lack of ports... ACTUALLY the MacBook Air has USB 3.0 and the pro does not. Why make us pay more for adaptors and less battery life?

Exactly. but you have a chief designer who is obsessed with minimalism and willing to sacrifice function for form and a CEO who is all about cutting costs and maximizing profits, who also happens to think the Mac is a vestige from a bygone era.

 

[GCMD]

Guess what? I did all of that complaining about them not including an extension for the power cable and what do I find in a box of old cables and cords?

TWO extension cords for the Apple Power Brick! LOL...

Guess I won't need to spend the $20 for that either! LOL...

I truly can't complain. My 15" MBP is on its way and I don't anticipate needing to go out to purchase ANYTHING to get up and running.

 

[CaptRB]

If you were Tim Cook would you rather give your customer a free cable that cost you maybe 50 cents or charge them $19 for the same cable?

(and you get to make the box slimmer!)

WHICH adapter and cable? SD adapter or USB or HDMI? Some of us had these already. Others will go 3rd party. Some will buy the Apple stuff.

If I were Tim Cook I'd be laughing very hard at this silly thread.


R.

 

[hans1972]

I have my theories, but what are your theories on why Apple didn't include (1) the extension AC power cable and (2) at least an USB-C <> USB adapter?

I think it's a large oversight to not even package a USB-C <> USB adapter if you're going to introduce a new port standard.

I can't imagine removing these two items from their non-competitively priced machines would really break their bank. Sure, they're out to make profit, but that's not the only dimension to consider.

I have never seen an USB-cable or adapter been included in any of the Macs I have bought since 2010. Why should they start now? Apple only includes the minimum that is required.

 

[skids929]

I had an old one from my own machine. These cables are useful...I have mine rigged under a couch so it adds a location to charge my MBP at since I move it around a lot. Be nice if they just provided a longer USB C cable at the very least..But I agree this is cost cutting. Probably so they can pay for that stoopid Star Trek headquarters they are building.

 

[Ethosik]

Being professional means not buying crap, not making crap and reconizing crap. Buying adapters has nothing to do with it. Being professional means reconizing that having USB-C doesn't exclude a USB-A and SD-card reader in anyway, the dongle solution is crap.

When the 2013 rMBP were released, did you think they were for "professionals"? If so, what about ethernet? DVI? VGA? Three or four or more USB ports? CD/DVD drive? I have had to use adapters even on the 2013 system.
[doublepost=1483708788][/doublepost]

Correct!

The concept that Apple did this or that to save a few pennies just proves that people have a poor concept of how products like this are engineered and sold.

USB adapter? Why stop there? Many used the SD slot more, so why not include that as well? What about cables?

Let's stop the insanity.

You got (if you're lucky enough to be using one at this moment) a improved screen, keyboard, trackpad, SSD, do-anything USB ports and more. You have a touchbar and a better built machine overall. Any idea of what it cost to design, build and package so many upgrades?

The new tMBP represents the MOST upgrades to any MBP ever. We've never seen such sweeping improvements all at once, so we're seeing a LOT of bellyaching from a minority.

This thread is crying about a few dollars worth of items you wanted Apple to toss into the package just for you?

That's some funny $h1t!!!


R.

Not only that, but USB-C is not an Apple-only port. You can buy a cheap adapter from Amazon for USB-C instead of buying Apple's adapters!
[doublepost=1483709352][/doublepost]

Anyone who thinks this was not a cost cutting measure on Apple part is living in lala land..

I don't really care either way to be honest as buying as dongle, adapter or power extension is no big deal to me but the fact remains if you look at it without blinders on, it's pretty clear to see...

Cost cutting? Obviously. Smaller box and equipment, small shipping and such. The chance to be an evil company and a chance to nickel and dime customers? Doubtful. Not everybody NEEDS SD card. Not EVERYBODY needs the power cable extension. Not EVERYBODY needs USB-A. Let those people deal with it. $6 on Amazon, you can get THREE adapters for USB-C to USB-A. Not $50, just $6! For three! And Apple doesn't get the money from that sale. SHOCKING!!!!
[doublepost=1483709561][/doublepost]

I understand what you are saying but this is the MacBook PRO we are speaking of, not the MacBook Air. The MacBook Pro doesn't have to be as thin as the air and have the same lack of ports... ACTUALLY the MacBook Air has USB 3.0 and the pro does not. Why make us pay more for adaptors and less battery life?

And my 2013 had a severe lack of ports too. It is actually a worse system in that regard. No ethernet. No VGA, no DVI, no big-boy DisplayPort, only two USB ports. Can only charge computer on one port, on only one side. Useless SD card reader.

These ports are universal. There are no more dedicated ports. You can get a hub that will turn one port into dozens of variety ports. I will have the SAME AMOUNT OF adapters as my 2013 system needed. Yes, I NEEDED adapters on even my 2013 system....don't think this is a new issue.

 

[kasakka]

At this point, including a single USB-C to USB-A adapter would have been a good gesture and would have reduced the bad response they got. It is common enough and people would use it possibly to move files from their old MBP or something. They could have dropped it for their next model as by then docks and adapters would most likely be plentiful.

My biggest annoyance is how they made the charger worse. The little tabs that allowed you to wrap the cable around them were a fantastic feature that was cut out for no good reason. Not including the extension was also a cheap move.

They should at least allow you to order the required adapters and extension cables for minimal cost or even free if you wanted. That would solve the "not everyone uses it" issue. If $10-30 adapters are not nickle and diming I don't know what is.

 

[CaptRB]

At this point, including a single USB-C to USB-A adapter would have been a good gesture and would have reduced the bad response they got. It is common enough and people would use it possibly to move files from their old MBP or something. They could have dropped it for their next model as by then docks and adapters would most likely be plentiful.

My biggest annoyance is how they made the charger worse. The little tabs that allowed you to wrap the cable around them were a fantastic feature that was cut out for no good reason. Not including the extension was also a cheap move.

They should at least allow you to order the required adapters and extension cables for minimal cost or even free if you wanted. That would solve the "not everyone uses it" issue. If $10-30 adapters are not nickle and diming I don't know what is.

I hate to break it to you, but the "bad response" is pretty much nonexistent. MR and forums is not the world and the response from buyers is overwhelmingly positive.

Why do I need tabs on a power brick when there are USB-C cables? Gone are the days of being forced to buy expensive Apple power adapters when the end of the Magsafe goes bad. Gone is the annoying one-sided charge port that was always on the wrong side. One USB-C port can do more than ALL of the regular USB ports on my old machines.

Apple isn't forcing anyone to buy their adapters. Cheaper ones are everywhere.

But I like threads like this because they expose the Sour Grapes by a factor of ten.



R.

 

[raqball]

Thi$ i$ Tim Cook$ new Apple...

It'$ funny because the people $aying buy cheap adapter$ will be the 1$t to jump down $omeone$ throat if they buy a cheap one off Amazon that does not work. Their slam will then be that the u$er should have purcha$ed authentic cable$ direct from Apple...

Next up, Apple will charge extra for the box............ The 2017 MacBook ProAir will come in a ziplock baggie but you will be able purchase a box from Apple or get a 3rd party one cheaper off Amazon. LOL

Defender$ will $ay it'$ the be$t ziplock baggie ever made!

 

[thesaint024]

Tim Cook's apple is not about user experience but $$$$.

If you were Tim Cook would you rather give your customer a free cable that cost you maybe 50 cents or charge them $19 for the same cable?

Thi$ i$ Tim Cook$ new Apple...

It'$ funny because the people $aying buy cheap adapter$ will be the 1$t to jump down $omeone$ throat if they buy a cheap one off Amazon that does not work. Their slam, attack and put down of them will then be that the u$er should have purcha$ed authentic cable$ direct from Apple...

 

[Freyqq]

By that logic why do they include the headphone jack adapter with iPhone? The actual reason is that Apple mostly only cares about iPhone sales and doesn't want to turn those customers off while they simply don't care about their other customers nearly as much. It's why the Mbp went so long with out an update while every other mac is still without an update. It's also why there are rumors of Apple doing stuff like killing airport.

Because I don't think they want peripheral makers to go the lightning headphones route and instead push towards Bluetooth. They'll probably go wireless charging and drop that port too soon.

 

[kasakka]

Why do I need tabs on a power brick when there are USB-C cables? Gone are the days of being forced to buy expensive Apple power adapters when the end of the Magsafe goes bad. Gone is the annoying one-sided charge port that was always on the wrong side. One USB-C port can do more than ALL of the regular USB ports on my old machines.

Apple isn't forcing anyone to buy their adapters. Cheaper ones are everywhere.

Because the tabs make it easy to coil the cable around the charger? Most of the time it will stay connected. While I like that it is removable and replaceable, the tabs, like the removable plugs, were a genuinely good, simple feature that made the Apple chargers a better piece of equipment. Non-Apple chargers are often not to be trusted.

 

[dyn]

At this point, including a single USB-C to USB-A adapter would have been a good gesture and would have reduced the bad response they got.

It would have made zero difference because the people who are complaining about it have made it very clear that they are not going to buy the MBP because it only comes with Thunderbolt 3 ports. Unless people stop thinking that Apple is some kind of magical unicorn there will always be the kind of bad response there is now and have been in the past.

My biggest annoyance is how they made the charger worse. The little tabs that allowed you to wrap the cable around them were a fantastic feature that was cut out for no good reason. Not including the extension was also a cheap move.

They did no such thing, they greatly improved the charger. By not including the idiotic tabs and separating charger and cables they solved the issue of broken cables and chargers because people wrap the cables too tight when the adapter and cable are still too warm (warm cables shrink and thus the wrap will be even tighter).
Since USB-C is a universal standard and many devices come with one we are seeing an increase in power adapters. This is great because now you can actually walk up to anyone and ask if you can borrow their charger. Previously you had to go hunt for anyone carrying a charger with MagSafe 1 or 2. As a sysadmin I have seen too many broken cables and chargers as well as lend out too many Apple chargers. It is good to see they *finally* took away the root cause of broken chargers and cables.

The extension cable is debatable. At offices and schools/universities you have desks where the power connections are all on top of the table. Using the extension cable in those cases is just annoying because it is way too long. Quite a lot of people don't use the extension cable because of that (I actually asked some of those people as to why they didn't use the extension cable). In the office I'm not using the extension cable but I do when I'm somewhere else (no idea about cable lengths) or in the data centre (you can now plug into that outlet at the top of the cabinet). So there you go, YMMV.

They should at least allow you to order the required adapters and extension cables for minimal cost or even free if you wanted. That would solve the "not everyone uses it" issue.

Yes but it doesn't solve the bigger issue: migrating everything over to USB-C as soon as possible. I think Apple values this far more important than anything else. They changed the pricing of the USB-C accessories only because that was plan B since things didn't quite work out as planned. Nothing unusual since that happens quite often and with any company.

 

[SteveJUAE]

It would have made zero difference because the people who are complaining about it have made it very clear that they are not going to buy the MBP because it only comes with Thunderbolt 3 ports. Unless people stop thinking that Apple is some kind of magical unicorn there will always be the kind of bad response there is now and have been in the past.


They did no such thing, they greatly improved the charger. By not including the idiotic tabs and separating charger and cables they solved the issue of broken cables and chargers because people wrap the cables too tight when the adapter and cable are still too warm (warm cables shrink and thus the wrap will be even tighter).
Since USB-C is a universal standard and many devices come with one we are seeing an increase in power adapters. This is great because now you can actually walk up to anyone and ask if you can borrow their charger. Previously you had to go hunt for anyone carrying a charger with MagSafe 1 or 2. As a sysadmin I have seen too many broken cables and chargers as well as lend out too many Apple chargers. It is good to see they *finally* took away the root cause of broken chargers and cables.

The extension cable is debatable. At offices and schools/universities you have desks where the power connections are all on top of the table. Using the extension cable in those cases is just annoying because it is way too long. Quite a lot of people don't use the extension cable because of that (I actually asked some of those people as to why they didn't use the extension cable). In the office I'm not using the extension cable but I do when I'm somewhere else (no idea about cable lengths) or in the data centre (you can now plug into that outlet at the top of the cabinet). So there you go, YMMV.


Yes but it doesn't solve the bigger issue: migrating everything over to USB-C as soon as possible. I think Apple values this far more important than anything else. They changed the pricing of the USB-C accessories only because that was plan B since things didn't quite work out as planned. Nothing unusual since that happens quite often and with any company.

YMMV is exactly the point

What a get from your posting is Apple actually sold for many years a deficient power brick as the cable supplied was of low quality and could not cope with normal daily use due to lack of ductility amongst other things. One would question why it's taken so long to put right ?

What I find funny is for many years so many posters actually used the cable wings and magsafe as an example of Apple design thoughtfulness over other OEM's

I also note as your in Europe and have generally better support due to the pin and socket standards over the USA and others 2 pin arrangement. The extension cable is useful when there is poor support from the wall sockets especially with the folding 2 pin ones. If I recall correctly some years back you use to get 2 or 3 adapters in the box which was great for travellers and expats.

For us that already have multiple devices with USB-C chargers, dongles etc we have already found that everything is not equal as of today and swapping changers or dongles by OEM's is still problematic unless it's apples to apples