What ports should make a return to the 2021 Macbook Pro?

[537635]

That 'gaping' HDMI port doesn't need to replace a USB-C port. It can sit next to it.

Along with USB-A, ethernet, FireWire, Magsafe... and then you run our of place for other "laptop" stuff.

Is it so difficult to understand that laptops are a compromise, except if you want to carry a 3kg beast with you. And USB-C is an excellent compromise, where nothing is compromised really.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Along with USB-A, ethernet, FireWire, Magsafe... and then you run our of place for other "laptop" stuff.

Is it so difficult to understand that laptops are a compromise, except if you want to carry a 3kg beast with you. And USB-C is an excellent compromise, where nothing is compromised really.

I'm sitting here laughing because I never even mentioned USB-A, ethernet, FireWire or Magsafe.

If your perception of weight is that adding minimum one port to a laptop increases it weight to 3kg, then I suggest you visit a doctor.

 

[Tchakatak]

Serious question - can you even record 4K 4:4:4 video on an SD card? Same with RAW? I didn’t think the transfer rates were fast enough on SD cards. I thought that was only achievable on a CFast or SSD card? Also most new cameras come with USB cables to transfer files if needed.

Personally it seems like SD cards are somewhat niche if you factor in the entire MacBook Pro consumer base. Plenty of customers buying the MBP don’t have a use for an SD card slot, and using universal connectors that can handle high throughput and charging makes the most sense for every customer. Not everyone can use an SD slot, but everyone can use a USB port. Getting a USB card reader is not that expensive and they’re pretty small and portable too. I just throw one in my laptop bag.

Ethernet cable is too big of port to fit on a slim design chassis. So it’ll never happen. Especially since the new macs are likely going to have WiFi6 and Apple is all about wireless whenever possible. For the small % of people that actually need to plug in, they can just buy a dongle.

USB-A port may also be too big to fit in the chassis. It’s hard to know without seeing the new design, but usb-c allows for very slim designs.

HDMI is desperately needed, but that port is also too big as well. They could maybe compromise and do a mini-HDMI port which would work well. Of course people would complain they can’t just use their cables they have - but I just think the full size port may be too big for the slim chassis.

Really USB-C just makes the most sense. It’s super small, reversible, allows the highest throughput, can be used for charging, and can handle video, audio, and anything else you may need. Of course I’d personally love to see all the ports mentioned here, but realistically I don’t think Apple will do this if they want to achieve a slim, sleek chassis. I’d love to be wrong though.

You can with certain cards.
But I definitely see the "niche" here. I just would love it for my own use / sd card extension as a second drive option for certain.

 

[537635]

I'm sitting here laughing because I never even mentioned USB-A, ethernet, FireWire or Magsafe.

If your perception of weight is that adding minimum one port to a laptop increases it weight to 3kg, then I suggest you visit a doctor.

You didn't. But it seems everyone wants a different port for their "special use case". So in order to cater every "professional" here, Apple would need to add a myriad of ports to please everyone.

You have one port, which can be whatever you want it to be, you just need a tiny dongle for your special needs (which can permanently sit on the end of the cable). But no, people still moan nostalgically like a couple of 90y olds how they miss their HDMI or USB-A or some other legacy port.

Move on. Apple has. Like 5 years ago.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

You didn't. But it seems everyone wants a different port for their "special use case".

So you attempt to put words in my mouth by listing other I/O, then say I didn't? Makes an awful lot of sense.

But no, people still moan nostalgically like a couple of 90y olds how they miss their HDMI or USB-A or some other legacy port.

Move on. Apple has. Like 5 years ago.

Apple 'moved on', and look what happened. They lost marketshare and, even more importantly, the trust of their most loyal fans.

If HDMI, USB-A, Ethernet et al are legacy, why are they available on the Mac Pro? Mac mini? iMac? It's not simply because they're desktop machines, it's because of Apple's arrogance.

 

[darngooddesign]

MagSafe and SD but please give the latter UHS-2 speeds.

 

[Superhai]

A lot of folks here wants to speak on behalf of “everybody” here. For me however, while I have some USB equipment which came with A connector on the cable they have not a soldered cable (at least what is of pro quality), and I got some inexpensive USB-C to USB-B or mini/micro. So except for some memory sticks it solved all my USB-A problems. I still use SD cards for some Pi projects, so I would like to have one, but using a card reader is not really a big deal for me. I love MagSafe and it will excite me if they bring it back. For roaming video presentations HDMI don’t do much. Actually it is better to have some active video conversation or a small e-gpu, which sadly is unusable for now.

And surely there must be someone who wants SCART and RS232 on their Macs? ?

 

[senttoschool]

Along with USB-A, ethernet, FireWire, Magsafe... and then you run our of place for other "laptop" stuff.

Is it so difficult to understand that laptops are a compromise, except if you want to carry a 3kg beast with you. And USB-C is an excellent compromise, where nothing is compromised really.

No one is asking for FireWire or Ethernet. Look at the poll. Only 9% care about having an Ethernet port.

But USB-A and HDMI are still alive and much much much more popular than USB-C today.

 

[cupcakes2000]

If your perception of weight is that adding minimum one port to a laptop increases it weight to 3kg, then I suggest you visit a doctor.

And if your perception or weight is but having a 1” hdmi-usbc converter in your bag then I suggest the same.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

And if your perception or weight is but having a 1” hdmi-usbc converter in your bag then I suggest the same.

Again, trying to make baseless arguments. I never claimed that adding a HDMI to USB-C converter would make my bag heavy.

 

[cupcakes2000]

Apple 'moved on', and look what happened. They lost marketshare and, even more importantly, the trust of their most loyal fans.

Think you’re going to have to back up this wild claim with some verifiable facts there

 

[senttoschool]

And if your perception or weight is but having a 1” hdmi-usbc converter in your bag then I suggest the same.

You can lose or forget dongles and hubs. And not to mention that the vast majority of USB-C hubs sold can't do 4k@60hz, confusing everyone.

What's the point of a universal port if you always have to carry dongles/hubs?

 

[senttoschool]

Think you’re going to have to back up this wild claim with some verifiable facts there

Just do a simple google search. From 2009-2015, Mac market share was gaining and even accelerating. Then 2016 happened and it started becoming flat or declining ever since.

Now clearly Apple is trying to backtrack on their 2016 design mistakes. It started with putting the ESC key back, removing the butterfly keyboards, and now we're getting more ports and removing the touchbar.

We can't say for sure that losing the ports lost Apple market share. But now that rumors are suggesting that Apple will put more ports back, it's quite clear that Apple's internal research suggests that having USB-C only ports indeed lost them market share.

I think what Apple is trying to release is a 2015 Macbook Pro with Apple Silicon. This would be welcomed and would help Apple gain PC market share once again.

Make Macbook Pros "pro" again.

 

[cupcakes2000]

You can lose or forget dongles and hubs. And not to mention that the vast majority of USB-C hubs sold can't do 4k@60hz, confusing everyone.

What's the point of a universal port if you always have to carry dongles/hubs?

Usb hubs are either needed or not. That was the case with laptops prior to this, when they ‘had all the ports’. That’s not a relevant point.

Most of the time, for external drives or peripherals, you can simply change the wire. No dongle needed.

So really, you don’t need to carry or risk losing anything extra than say an HDMI converter and a Ethernet converter.

That trade off is worth it in my opinion

 

[cupcakes2000]

We can't say for sure that losing the ports lost Apple market share.

Yet that’s exactly what you did just imply.

 

[senttoschool]

Usb hubs are either needed or not. That was the case with laptops prior to this, when they ‘had all the ports’. That’s not a relevant point.

Most of the time, for external drives or peripherals, you can simply change the wire. No dongle needed.

So really, you don’t need to carry or risk losing anything extra than say an HDMI converter and a Ethernet converter.

That trade off is worth it in my opinion

I didn't need a hub for my 2015 Macbook Pro. I'm using a hub on my Macbook Air M1.

Regardless, even Apple doesn't think USB-A is going away. Just look at the latest iMac.

It comes with more USB-A ports than USB-C.

iMac - iMac Technical Specifications

See all the technical specifications for iMac with the M4 chip and 24-inch display.

www.apple.com

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Yet that’s exactly what you did just imply.

And now you're getting forum members mixed-up. It's obvious you're struggling to make cohesive arguments when you're debating with the wrong people.

 

[cupcakes2000]

And now you're getting forum members mixed-up. It's obvious you're struggling to make cohesive arguments when you're debating with the wrong people.

I directly quoted this statement from you.

Apple 'moved on', and look what happened. They lost marketshare and, even more importantly, the trust of their most loyal fans.

 

[Jack Neill]

I know it will never happen but I always wanted a lightning on my air so I could use the EarPods with my phone and Mac. I have Airpods now but still would have been cool.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

I directly quoted this statement from you.

Your reply:

Yet that’s exactly what you did just imply.

to senttoschool, post #90.

 

[cupcakes2000]

Your reply:

to senttoschool, post #90.

Yes. Because that’s what they implied in their answer too.

There is extremely flimsy evidence you’re both trying to give to back up the claim that Apple lost market share because they removed any ports.

 

[darngooddesign]

I didn't need a hub for my 2015 Macbook Pro. I'm using a hub on my Macbook Air M1.

You would new cables or dongles if you wanted Ethernet or video out but didn't have the proper cables.

Regardless, even Apple doesn't think USB-A is going away. Just look at the latest iMac.

It comes with more USB-A ports than USB-C.

Well sure, but the iMac has a hub built into it and it never leaves your desk so as far as ports are concerned there is no functional difference between the iMac and leaving a hub on your desk. I don't see a need for USB-A considering you can just change your drive cables or get USB-A > USB-C adapters, which are cheap and plentiful on Amazon, that you leave attached to your existing cables.

PS. IMO before someone claims I'm trying to speak for everyone.

 

[jeanlain]

Just look at the latest iMac.

It comes with more USB-A ports than USB-C.

The problem with USB-C is that it may correspond to a variety of things.
Apple may have put 6 USB-C ports on the back of the iMac, but not all them would have been thunderbolt ports, creating confusion. "Why doesn't my display work only on these ports ?". "Why can't I use 6 external displays"? You can't trust users to read and indertand he little sign next to each port.
Back in those days, there were many different port shapes, but at least you knew that when you connected a peripheral, it would work. That's where USB-C fails.

 

[darngooddesign]

Back in those days, there were many different port shapes, but at least you knew that when you connected a peripheral, it would work. That's where USB-C fails.

Except for the MiniDisplayPort and Thunderbolt having the same port shape you are correct which is why they had different symbols next to them. How does USB-C fail in regards to connecting things?

 

[jeanlain]

Except for the MiniDisplayPort and Thunderbolt having the same port shape you are correct which is why they had different symbols next to them. How does USB-C fail in regards to connecting things?

USB-C fails because a USB-C port is not always compatible with a device that can be physically connected to it. That's also the case for the Mini DisplayPort connector.