You have got to be kidding. It's like saying USB-A offered no advantage towards COM ports.
Speed. Power. Reversibility. Connector size. Daisy chaining.
I have a Macbook Pro connected to an external display with a single cable. No, zero advantages...
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What ports should make a return to the 2021 Macbook Pro?
- Thread starter senttoschool
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Speed. Power. Reversibility. Connector size. Daisy chaining.
I have a Macbook Pro connected to an external display with a single cable. No, zero advantages...
Really, sometimes I think Apple is not aggressive enough with this.
If they had your mindset, we would still be using floppy drives.
I'm not kidding you. You're not reading things correctly.
I wrote "the vast majority of accessories".
Is USB-C better than USB-A overall? Of course it is.
But the problem is the cost. In 2021, new USB-A accessories continue to far outnumber USB-C accessories. Platforms continue to come with significantly more USB-A ports than USB-C ports because it's perfectly adequate and cheaper.
Right, because laptops and gaming consoles have a huge use-case overlap.
Doesn't matter. Macbooks constitute a very small percentage of overall devices. As long as USB-A continues to be more popular than USB-C, then most accessories will come with USB-A.
It does matter, laptops have design constraints. Specialised ports are space-inefficient and have no place in a laptop, whereas USB-A serves some of the same purposes as USB-C but does it worse and is, again, less space-efficient.
It does not matter however how many USB-A accessories there are, if someone has that many USB-A accessories in possession they might as well spend 20 bucks and buy a usb hub, otherwise there are enough wireless or USB-C based options to go for. Complaining that a laptop does not have an outdated port and does not support some accessory is the tail wagging the dog.
It does not matter however how many USB-A accessories there are, if someone has that many USB-A accessories in possession they might as well spend 20 bucks and buy a usb hub, otherwise there are enough wireless or USB-C based options to go for. Complaining that a laptop does not have an outdated port and does not support some accessory is the tail wagging the dog.
Yea, I get your argument.... in a perfect world.
I live in the real world. Ports on laptop is significantly better than carrying dongles and hubs, replacing perfectly adequate older accessories, buying additional cables, paying more for USB-C devices. I'd rather Apple make their Macbook Pros 1-2% bigger and add more ports back.
It seems like the polls agree with me.
This forum is full of dinosaurs that can’t see further than what’s right in front of them.
But it’s of little importance in the reality of things because Apple are not going to be adding any legacy single use ports to their MacBooks. This rumour is just to far off the wall.
A few people have suggested they might ‘at least’ add a mini hdmi. What on earth would be the benefit of that if you need an adapter or special cable to convert it to a regular sized one? That’s exactly the same the usbc situation.
But it’s of little importance in the reality of things because Apple are not going to be adding any legacy single use ports to their MacBooks. This rumour is just to far off the wall.
A few people have suggested they might ‘at least’ add a mini hdmi. What on earth would be the benefit of that if you need an adapter or special cable to convert it to a regular sized one? That’s exactly the same the usbc situation.
??macrumours is a terrible segment to poll. Half the people here don’t even own the things we talk about. They just hate everything and want to tell everyone about it.
I'd argue that people on Macrumors are, on average, more forward-thinking than the vast majority of Macbook Pro users.
For example, I think Macrumors members are more likely to spend extra money on USB-C devices, more likely to have fancy USB-C hubs, know more about USB-C functionality than your average Macbook Pro users.
I'd argue that not having ports is even more frustrating for the average Macbook Pro user than the average Macrumor member.
Considering a notebook is a portable device, it still blows my mind how long it took Apple to adopt HDMI, only to rid of it so quickly.
When you're delivering presentations on a regular basis, using dongles for these sorts of things isn't fun. Over the last 5 years minimum I haven't encountered a projector/screen that has required anything but HDMI. Earlier you might have encountered VGA from the late adopters, but that's all but gone by the wayside now.
An SD car slot should be there, too. Phil Schiller wasn't fooling anyone with his "SD card isn't a professional port" statement. CF might be the choice for uber professionals, but SD cards are still mainstream and exist on the vast majority of capture devices.
USB-A I'm a little indifferent towards. It's handy for hooking up to printers and storage devices, but I would only need one.
When you're delivering presentations on a regular basis, using dongles for these sorts of things isn't fun. Over the last 5 years minimum I haven't encountered a projector/screen that has required anything but HDMI. Earlier you might have encountered VGA from the late adopters, but that's all but gone by the wayside now.
An SD car slot should be there, too. Phil Schiller wasn't fooling anyone with his "SD card isn't a professional port" statement. CF might be the choice for uber professionals, but SD cards are still mainstream and exist on the vast majority of capture devices.
USB-A I'm a little indifferent towards. It's handy for hooking up to printers and storage devices, but I would only need one.
I lecture a lot, all around the world (or I did before 2020, but plan to in the future).
You need dongles. Your own. If you think you just wave with your HDMI port and everything will work, you don't do presentations on a regular basis, sorry.
This was one of the best combos. HDMI didn't help, simply too much dongles.
In the end I had to connect directly to the projector.
With that said, USB-C still gives me the most versatility.
I have a hdmi adapter which is a piece of wire 1 inch long. It’s no effort to keep in the bag the laptops is in. The laptop then has an hdmi port.
The average consumer/professional user of these machines out in the real world just buys the correct wire or dongle and gets on with life.
The average macrumours poster spends hours per day on here b*tching that they don’t get their own way.
USB C is a fantastic port. Let me get that out of the way up front.
USB A:
I'm absolutely sure that there is a majority of mac users that would like to have USB A on their mac laptop. Many work places still use old devices and when dealing with customers who use USB A, it would be so much easier to have a USB A port on a MBP. I know in my work place that USB A ain't going anywhere soon. So if I can be dongle free by having a USB A port, that'd be awesome.
HDMI:
mmm... I've used the HDMI port on my 2013 MBP a few times, but I know of many people who use it a lot.
SD:
It would also be highly convenient, but I personally could live without it.
Magsafe: A welcome return. As long as we can still charge via USB C then it's a win win. Choices are great.
Ethernet: I guess some people still use this, but I'd imagine at this point it's nowhere near the majority. I can't see this getting added back in.
In saying all this, I'm not sure Apple should. While it would be useful, it will also slow down adoption of new tech.
USB A:
I'm absolutely sure that there is a majority of mac users that would like to have USB A on their mac laptop. Many work places still use old devices and when dealing with customers who use USB A, it would be so much easier to have a USB A port on a MBP. I know in my work place that USB A ain't going anywhere soon. So if I can be dongle free by having a USB A port, that'd be awesome.
HDMI:
mmm... I've used the HDMI port on my 2013 MBP a few times, but I know of many people who use it a lot.
SD:
It would also be highly convenient, but I personally could live without it.
Magsafe: A welcome return. As long as we can still charge via USB C then it's a win win. Choices are great.
Ethernet: I guess some people still use this, but I'd imagine at this point it's nowhere near the majority. I can't see this getting added back in.
In saying all this, I'm not sure Apple should. While it would be useful, it will also slow down adoption of new tech.
Im happy with the USB-C + headphone setup. Hope to see ports in both sides though. I also hope to see an official MagSafe USB-C cable or adapter (many unoficial cables and adapters can be found from Amazon, but an official option would be nice). That gives more ports for mixed usage. Stupid to reserve one port just for recharging if you need it every 20 hours of usage.
USB-A is like the optical drive, a yesterdays tech imo. In a few years there will be no major new stuff with USB-A. You can get a 1cm adapter for those old cables.This should come with every premium new hardware while the transition period anyway. The only thing Im missing is a firewire 800 adapter. All my stuff from my old computer is in firewire 800. There is no simple adapter for firewire 800 to usb-c.
USB-A is like the optical drive, a yesterdays tech imo. In a few years there will be no major new stuff with USB-A. You can get a 1cm adapter for those old cables.This should come with every premium new hardware while the transition period anyway. The only thing Im missing is a firewire 800 adapter. All my stuff from my old computer is in firewire 800. There is no simple adapter for firewire 800 to usb-c.
Last edited:
Or the design team at Apple could get over themselves and reinstate the HDMI port?
I use HDMI for the screen/projector I present on, and my Logitech remote connects to the MBP via Bluetooth; but everyone has their own needs.
Question, what is better if technical limitations only support one?
1) USB-C on both sides and you can charge from any port (like in the MBP 16)
2) Magsafe, but charge must be done with it's port (like in the old Magsafe)
Obviously, both would be better, but if you could only get one. I personally would want to see the USB-C connections both sides first. A MagSafe solution might force to use a single side.
1) USB-C on both sides and you can charge from any port (like in the MBP 16)
2) Magsafe, but charge must be done with it's port (like in the old Magsafe)
Obviously, both would be better, but if you could only get one. I personally would want to see the USB-C connections both sides first. A MagSafe solution might force to use a single side.
Where I usually charge my laptop, I charge from the right port. So exclusive charging port on the left... wouldn't like that.
MagSafe for laptop charging so doesn't make any sense... I'm sure this is just some bad interpretation of rumors.
Well no. I don’t want anything except usbc ports, for example. I don’t want a gaping hdmi port taking up space when I can just use a multipurpose usbc port for it.
It’s much more likely you that will have to get over yourself rather than anyone at Apple when it comes to this. But we will see I guess.
I don't think the new MacBooks will have a USB-A port, but it's not impossible IMO.
Apple tried to reiterate with they did with the 1997 iMac replacing the old printer/modem ports with USB, but this clearly hasn't worked as well this time. Most peripherals still use USB-A.
USB-C is superior, but pragmatically, USB-A dominates and Apple is not going to change that. So I voted USB-A.
I also voted MagSafe because is has benefits that USB-C port can't bring.
Apple tried to reiterate with they did with the 1997 iMac replacing the old printer/modem ports with USB, but this clearly hasn't worked as well this time. Most peripherals still use USB-A.
USB-C is superior, but pragmatically, USB-A dominates and Apple is not going to change that. So I voted USB-A.
I also voted MagSafe because is has benefits that USB-C port can't bring.
I vote 2). I really don't care about having just one charging port, but I do care about my Mac flying across the room.
Oh... and your opinion reflects the entirety of the target demographic?
That 'gaping' HDMI port doesn't need to replace a USB-C port. It can sit next to it.
Considering how long it took Apple to implement HDMI in the first place, only to remove it one generation later, I think the issue is at Apple Park.