History of the MBP Repeats Itself...

[ssong]

I would say the criticism is less fuelled by the actual removal of ports but more the price. Most people lurking in the MBP forum were somewhat prepared for the removal of USB-A ports and SD card slots etc. Sure some had hopes that the leaked casing images were false but most people did have an idea that it's a real possibility and were ready to deal with it even if it meant buying adapters.

Only on the day, Apple made the collective lives more difficult (through the required purchase of a dongle, which Apple also seemingly admitted to by lowering dongle prices) and then raised the price by ridiculous amounts in some parts of the world while selling the older model at a similar or higher price point than before. e.g the base 15" rMBP mid-2015 rose around £400 overnight for no reason. So yeah....

If Apple retired the 2015 models, replaced them with the new 2016 models, and increased the price by £200 I would be happy to forego ports and embrace the USB-C world. But seriously, an entry level 15" beings at £2400, the entry level before used to be £1599... thats like what... £800 diff?

 

[Jmausmuc]

Yep, this was mentioned a number of times by a number of posters already, but most MBP critics apparently have a memory span of a fly. It's exactly the same situation as in 2008 and then 2012. Apple is simply following its established design vision for laptops, which they did without any changes for at least a decade now or more.

For Americans you are probably right, for GB and EU the prices have gotten way out of hand and can't be attributed to the exchange rates and brexit only, because other companies have prices that are way more even.

 

[leman]

For Americans you are probably right, for GB and EU the prices have gotten way out of hand and can't be attributed to the exchange rates and brexit only, because other companies have prices that are way more even.

Is it so? Let's look at the base 13":

USA: $1499
Germany: 1699 € - 282 € taxes = 1417 € ~ $1534
UK: £1449 - £242 taxes = £1207 ~ $1512

Basically the same price, ± few dollars. UK is actually much better off than Germany

 

[Jmausmuc]

Is it so? Let's look at the base 13":

USA: $1499
Germany: 1699 € - 282 € taxes = 1417 € ~ $1534
UK: £1449 - £242 taxes = £1207 ~ $1512

Basically the same price, ± few dollars. UK is actually much better off than Germany

Touch bar is 1999 in Euros which is 1680 before taxes. That's. 1810 dollars.

 

[leman]

Touch bar is 1999 in Euros which is 1680 before taxes. That's. 1810 dollars.

Yes? And in the USA its $1,799.00 before taxes. Again, same price (± rate fluctuations and rounding)

 

[mickeydean]

It's funny because the people were clamoring for Apple to include a FireWire 400 adapter when they removed that in the 2008 MBP.

The prevalence of USB devices is far greater than firewire at any point in time. USB is in the name...Universal... It would be a convenience not to have USB 2.0/3.0 port for the next few years. USB C only laptops would be fine in a year or two as USB C becomes ubiquitous, right now the older USB port is ubiquitous.
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Why? Why would buying a thing entitle you to free accessories? BMWs are expensive but they don't give you the accessories for free just because you chose to buy an expensive car.

A lot of people, in order to utilise the Mac in their required task, will require a USB port or HDMI or SD card. Everyone can drive their BMW from point A to B without any accessories that BMW offer.

That's the main issue with these new macs if you have just enough for the macbook and can't afford anything on top, the macbook may not be able to access the USB distributed to medical students on a rotation, connect to the printer at a hospital without wireless printers, and etc. Photographers will need to buy the SD card dongle. Scientists presenting at another institute will need to use the HDMI dongle.

For the end-user the retail cost of a dongle for limited use is too high, for Apple to have included them the cost would have been so negligible.

Not everyone who buys macbooks are able to pay the extra for dongles at the same time. Apple without any significant difference to their bottom-line, they could have included these accessories. The headphone jack removal was accompanied by a lightning to stereo jack dongle, included. The USB/HDMI/SD card dongles should have been included with the macbook pro as well, especially when their profit margins are equally healthy with the macbooks.
[doublepost=1479198720][/doublepost]

And my 4K television should have came with an antenna.

How many people move into a house or apartment without an antenna?

How many people have USB-C dongles lying around prior to the purchase of a new Macbook Pro?

And going from 4-5 unique ports to 1 type of port requires an adjustment. I've never previously used my SD slot on my late 2013 machine but had to use it once last month. I've used the HDMI port a dozen times, not enough to buy a dongle if I didn't have the HDMI port.

When will USB C be ubiquitous? When it is then the 2016 macbooks are perfect.

I don't find it egregious, I just find it silly on Apples part. All my devices are pre-2016 Apple devices but my next devices might not be given the rising prices. They could have included these dongles for their first generation USB-C only macbooks. Subsequent generations would have to.

 

[jclardy]

And my 4K television should have came with an antenna.

Then why does the iPhone 7 come with a headphone dongle? They could have alleviated much whining by losing 10 cents of profit per $2k machine. Even worse is that they get rid of magsafe while also not including the power cord extension.

I'm all for the new ports on the new MBP, but the fact that Apple's flagship products can't connect to each other out of the box is a bit sad.

 

[EndlessBuffoonery]

A lot of people, in order to utilise the Mac in their required task, will require a USB port or HDMI or SD card. Everyone can drive their BMW from point A to B without any accessories that BMW offer.

That's the main issue with these new macs if you have just enough for the macbook and can't afford anything on top, the macbook may not be able to access the USB distributed to medical students on a rotation, connect to the printer at a hospital without wireless printers, and etc. Photographers will need to buy the SD card dongle. Scientists presenting at another institute will need to use the HDMI dongle.

For the end-user the retail cost of a dongle for limited use is too high, for Apple to have included them the cost would have been so negligible.

Not everyone who buys macbooks are able to pay the extra for dongles at the same time. Apple without any significant difference to their bottom-line, they could have included these accessories. The headphone jack removal was accompanied by a lightning to stereo jack dongle, included. The USB/HDMI/SD card dongles should have been included with the macbook pro as well, especially when their profit margins are equally healthy with the macbooks.

Oh, well actually you can easily buy the correct cables you need. It's very easy to do.

 

[Ataricade]

The new MBPs are amazing. Trust me you wouldn't kick it out of bed. It makes last years look and feel antiquated.