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Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

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Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#541

Post by yarcob »

bzzzt wrote: post #540
Kognito wrote: post #487

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given Apple have gone cellular with everything all the way down to the Watch, I’m always amazed they never included it in a Macbook.

They expect you to have an iPhone; using that for cellular data is literally one click away.

You could make the same argument for the iPad. But they do sell cellular iPads.

In my experience, personal hotspot on my Macbook takes about 30 seconds to connect, and it sometimes just fails to connect altogether. It disconnects when I close my Macbook, so next time I open it I need to connect again. Sometimes my phone doesn't show up in the Wifi menu and I need to manually start hotspot mode on my iPhone.

I'd much prefer a built-in cellular modem.

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#542

Post by chrisseaton »

cpcallen wrote: post #539
chrisseaton wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You're argument is the same thing that led to "we should get rid of headphone jacks because we have Bluetooth." I mean... yeah it's the same argument and I agree with both. When we got Bluetooth and decent ear pods... time to get rid of the headphone jack we don't want both, one is redundant. Simpler, cleaner, more uniform is better for these devices in my opinion.

Can't really connect my phone to venue sound systems by Bluetooth when teaching dance classes. And wouldn't want to have to be forced to choose between a 3.5mm adaptor and a charger... This is the main reason I'm still on Android, since the last iPhone I would even consider buying was the original SE.

Do you realise that for your (extremely specialised) use-case you can get a dongle that gives you both 3.5mm and power at the same time? They're about $10.

Everyone else who doesn't need this doesn't have to pay for it by excluding it.

> This is the main reason I'm still on Android

For a $10 dongle? That's the critical decision in your mind?

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#543

Post by chandra381 »

yarcob wrote: post #381

The nice thing about my 2015 Macbook Pro is that it's useful without any accessories. I can just throw it in a bag and walk out the door. It's got enough battery life that I usually don't need to bring a charger. It has all the ports that I ever need. I can hook it up to a projector with the built in HDMI port, I can put in the SD card from my camera, or I can quickly copy files from someones thumb drive. I don't nee…

Oh absolutely. As a product designer, I was worried that it may be rendered obsolete, but the industry standard for design tools have moved into cloud-based browser solutions, so it will still be useful forever

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#544

Post by llampx »

m463 wrote: post #529
lordnacho wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got a USB drive that is USB-A on one side and USB-C on the other.

I'm guessing you will have probably have cheaper/larger options for usb-a flash drives. This stuff is just like firewire. Maybe it will be different in 5 or 10 years.

I've been waiting for reasonably-priced and fast enough USB-C flash drives. Maybe 2021 is the year. I hope so.

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#545

Post by llampx »

toper-centage wrote: post #213
sildur wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most consumers miss being able to simply connect their laptop to their tv with an HDMI cable, but they know they have no voice in this modern day enlightened absolutism.

There's are plenty of USB-C to HDMI cables and TVs also come with USB-C I outs these days. We're in a weird transition phase, but going back to multiple different ports would be silly.

You can forget about TVs coming out without HDMI ports. There is currently no plan to have TVs with USB-C inputs only. So it is up to laptops to adapt, or more likely, that people need to carry adapters.

Also maybe gamer TVs or more expensive models have USB-C inputs, I certainly have never seen one. Even in the monitor space, USB-C is seen as a premium feature. Even 5 years after the first laptops with USB-C.

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#546

Post by llampx »

foobarian wrote: post #413
plussed_reader wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple stopped catering to that kind of professional when Jobs died.

Apple is taking away ports so their devices will be more likely to survive falling into water. That is the kind of "professional" Apple is catering to.

Is a Macbook Pro from 2020 more likely to survive falling into water than one from 2015?

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#547

Post by llampx »

stirner wrote: post #400
BluSyn wrote: post #14

My controversial hot take-- I have never needed an SD card, and have gone all-in on USB-C. I will be very disappointed if they add back in USB-A/HDMI/SD ports, or remove USB-C charging in favor of proprietary charge port. Sounds like unnecessary feature bloat. Please just do MagSage + USB-C, so I can maintain my one-cable-for-everything, making traveling lighter and simpler. Here's my counter argument to all those th…

I’m with you. Maybe it’s something specific to being a techie and having a ton of peripherals, but being able to connect power, display, keyboard, mouse, webcam, backup drive, Ethernet, etc. with a single cable when I sit down at my desk was absolutely worth the somewhat pricey TB3 dock, especially when switching between work and personal devices. I’m fine with them adding ports back as long as they still let you do…

Plenty of Windows laptops support TB3 docks, it is not something unique to Apple and definitely does not preclude having other ports on the machine for when you don't carry your TB3 dock.

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#548

Post by llampx »

ashtonkem wrote: post #330
ak217 wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Keeping it simple" is how we got here. People are unhappy because ports were removed. I want my microSD port back, and I don't think it will hurt you if you don't use it. Even if you pour coffee in it, it will just fuse itself off as long as there's a properly engineered rubber gasket in it. You do bring good points about usb-c/magsafe. I hope they can make magsafe work with the usb-c port.

People were unhappy about the loss of the physical headphone port too .... for a short while. Then most of us went over to Bluetooth and stopped complaining. Sometimes removing ports is dumb, sometimes it’s a smart reflection of what trends are clearly already happening.

I still buy Android phones with headphone jacks, and am happy to have them. From what I've seen there is no advantage size, weight or waterproofing-wise for foregoing it.

The side effect is that I can't buy the flagship models anymore since they usually don't have headphone jacks. Oh well. Also, yes I have bluetooth headphones. One of which also supports 3.5mm input. I use both. With my phone I primarily use the bluetooth, with my laptop and tablet I use the 3.5mm jack and if I am in a car without bluetooth or a friend's house, I can hook up the 3.5mm cable to my phone.

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#549

Post by skohan »

totalZero wrote: post #164
skohan wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope they don't bring back USB-A, but the SD card slot and hdmi have been sorely missed. If you do anything with photography, being able to just plug the card directly into your laptop makes a world of difference. Same thing with walking into any meeting and already knowing you'll be able to plug into a projector if needed, without having to run out and grab a dongle.

If you do anything with photography, you are carrying around a camera, batteries, and lenses anyway. Just buy a 12$ card reader and put it into your camera bag with all your other expensive stuff. It surprises me that people who buy high-dollar computers are so reluctant to buy an extra cable. TB3 natively supports DP at faster speeds than HDMI 2.0b can push. You can buy a TB3 to DP1.4 cable online for $15. Even the…

It's not about the cost, it's about UX. If I just did a full day of shooting photos, and I am in the hotel room looking at the photos, I don't want to dig through my bag and pull out the card reader, or to have a dongle hanging off of my laptop when I'm doing it. If I can just get the card out of the camera and throw it in the laptop it's so much nicer

Re: Apple's MacBook revival plan: Bring back old features

#550

Post by skohan »

jimmaswell wrote: post #331
skohan wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope they don't bring back USB-A, but the SD card slot and hdmi have been sorely missed. If you do anything with photography, being able to just plug the card directly into your laptop makes a world of difference. Same thing with walking into any meeting and already knowing you'll be able to plug into a projector if needed, without having to run out and grab a dongle.

Every single peripheral I own is USB-A. I've never seen USB-C-only as the default option on any peripheral in a store or Amazon. Not having USB-A on a laptop is just absurd to me.

I agree that it is the standard, but I wish it wasn't. USB-C is preferable in every way.

When the iMac came out, everyone thought it was crazy not to have a serial port on the outside, since that was the standard for mouse and keyboard. But pretty soon, everything was available for USB. In fact, you might not have all those USB-A peripherals if Apple hadn't cut the cord, so to speak.

So I don't mind the loss of USB-A as much because USB-C is a strict upgrade. But for the SD card reader and the HDMI those are sort of separate and common use cases.

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