Other Why somehow more people starts to hate ports?

[BeatCrazy]

Corded headphone are far from dead.

I have $2K in corded headphones and ancillary equipment sitting right here on next desk. Corded headphones in 2022 are the equivalent of Compact Discs. Unless you're a deranged audiophile (I'll put myself into this category), or you can only afford $10 gas station headphones instead of $20 Bluetooth variants, then they're as dead as can be.

Apple removed the DVD/CD drive from MacBooks/iMacs just like they took away the 3.5mm jack from iPhones. There's still a great reason to use corded headphones, but just don't expect their continued support on a mass-produced product from Apple, who no longer even sells a pair of corded headphones.

 

[Aoligei]

I have $2K in corded headphones and ancillary equipment sitting right here on next desk. Corded headphones in 2022 are the equivalent of Compact Discs. Unless you're a deranged audiophile (I'll put myself into this category), or you can only afford $10 gas station headphones instead of $20 Bluetooth variants, then they're as dead as can be.

Apple removed the DVD/CD drive from MacBooks/iMacs just like they took away the 3.5mm jack from iPhones. There's still a great reason to use corded headphones, but just don't expect their continued support on a mass-produced product from Apple, who no longer even sells a pair of corded headphones.

Here you go. And Apple still put 3.5mm headphone jack on their computers.

 

[jaytv111]

View attachment 2027123

Here you go. And Apple still put 3.5mm headphone jack on their computers.

They did get rid of all wired Beats. No longer at the Apple online store nor on Beats's website. They have Earpods with Lightning and Earpods with 3.5 mm. Strangely they don't have Earpods with USB-C so if you have an iPad with USB-C you're left out of any Apple wired headphones without using an adapter.

 

[Aoligei]

They did get rid of all wired Beats. No longer at the Apple online store nor on Beats's website. They have Earpods with Lightning and Earpods with 3.5 mm. Strangely they don't have Earpods with USB-C so if you have an iPad with USB-C you're left out of any Apple wired headphones without using an adapter.

If you look at the over the ear beats headphones, you can still see the 3.5mm jack.

The only thing that can’t get headphone jack are those small ones.

 

[jaytv111]

If you look at the over the ear beats headphones, you can still see the 3.5mm jack.

The only thing that can’t get headphone jack are those small ones.

View attachment 2027298

I meant wired only, not a wireless headset that offers wired input as well. Airpods Max lets you use a Lightning adapter for 3.5mm input too, although it's an optional cable.

 

[marty1980]

Maybe a designer sees ports as a hassle because the design has to work around the specific placement of ports and physical buttons.

Maybe Apple wants as close to 100% waterproof they can get and ports are often a point of concern in this regard.

Maybe some rich ******s know that removing ports locks people in and avoids such regulations as those being forced on Apple in the EU for USB-C.

Maybe they know that constantly switching things up satisfies the different audiences in different cycles and keeps devotees returning for something new.

Maybe I’m just rambling a bunch of unsubstantiated, speculative thoughts and none of them are even close to the reality of the situation.

 

[cynics]

I think we should include Apple in that.

Apple chose ADC when VGA was the 'standard' Where is ADC?

Apple chose Firewire…but where was/is the use of Firewire on PCs? It's there, true, but it's hardly used as a standard in the PC community.

Same with Lightning. And we could argue the same with the old 30-pin connectors. Only Apple uses these ports so there's no 'standard' amongst manufacturers.

If USB hadn't become as popular as it did, maybe Apple would have been using a different port. Old, classic iPods are FW for example. Apple couldn't stop USB, but it seems to like dragging it's heels on USB-C.

What about Thunderbolt? Do PC manufacturers use that? How do you have 'standards' if only one part of the industry uses those ports?

Well this isn't very compelling...

ADC should be compared to DVI. The standard VGA popular at the time was objectively worse, literally comparing VGA's analog to ADC's digital video....

The first G3 macs that shipped with Firewire also included USB. So you could use the 400 Mbps firewire or you could use the 12 Mbps USB. Options! While it expanded some of the iPods functionality its intended purpose was for professionals generally in the video editing space. The hundreds of FireWire PCI cards (PC only btw) still available today should illustrate how it was extensively used by PC users at the time.

Firewire, 30pin and Lightning cables were required for features not supported by USB until much more recently with USB-C. Things such video/audio out, car dock mode, and Apple charging protocol (Apple 12watt USB 9watt) plus it was conveniently reversible. There was a 5-6 year gap between Apple releasing the iPhone 5 with Lightning connector and competitors smartphone using USB-C.....

Apple couldn't stop USB? Oh boy....this may surprise you....

Intel invented USB and it flopped until Apple picked it up with a colorful design for the translucent iMac where it gained traction market wide....

More recently Apple was one of the largest contributors to the USB-C design and specifications. Then they single handedly made the port popular across the entire market. Strategy was simple, revive a dead product SKU "MacBook" (not Air or Pro just MacBook) and not only make it the first computer to use USB-C on the market but only give it USB-C. This way anyone that bought it couldn't avoid it like half the use used ports on most laptops. In short order aftermarket got on board with accessories, cables and adapters. Finally PC manufacturers started to include it. Apple using a dead SKU allowed them the freedom to fail as it wouldn't effect their more popular MacBook Air and MacBook Pro product lines.

Tech blogger John Gruber was told by an insider that "Apple invented USB-C". Now I find that a little far fetched but its implementation is perfect for a Mac while sharing a lot of similarities to Lightning plus Apple had a lot of engineers on it. Regardless to say Apple couldn't stop USB doesn't make sense since they were instrumental to it....

Oddly there was a Nokia tablet with USB-C that beat Apples laptop to market with a rushed design that failed. And while USB-C has more potential than Lightning however not much an iPhone would benefit from. And without a compelling reason I find it unlikely Apple will use USB-C on an iPhone....admittedly a compelling reason could be government regulations.

What about Thunderbolt? Apple set the bar for that with the USB-C/Thunderbolt in the 2015 MacBook. Therefore all PC manufacturers use Thunderbolt 3/4 in their mid to high tier laptops and workstations today. Dell Precision, Dell XPS, HP Enterprise, Razor laptops, Lenovo ThinkPads, Microsoft Surface, etc etc all use Thunderbolt. Only low tier laptops designed for a basic experience at a low price don't have a thunderbolt option...

 

[Channan]

HDMI and USB-C/Thunderbolt, that's it. That's all ports there should be. I wouldn't want a clusterf*** of ports, just to make every single person on the planet happy. (besides, it wouldn't even be possible)

I know you posted this last year and someone revived an old thread, but if you want your ports streamlined, HDMI needs to go as well.

 

[jaytv111]

I know you posted this last year and someone revived an old thread, but if you want your ports streamlined, HDMI needs to go as well.

HDMI will probably live on in home theater, seems to really fit well there and you wouldn’t really see Thunderbolt or USB C on home theater equipment.

Even old fashioned DisplayPort is needed for professional graphics solutions, Thunderbolt doesn’t seem to work for desktop graphics cards, at least not easily.

 

[Channan]

HDMI will probably live on in home theater, seems to really fit well there and you wouldn’t really see Thunderbolt or USB C on home theater equipment.

Even old fashioned DisplayPort is needed for professional graphics solutions, Thunderbolt doesn’t seem to work for desktop graphics cards, at least not easily.

That’s a niche market, though. USB-C can handle video out for the majority of users.

If you argue for HDMI for specific use cases like that, then you can’t really argue against other ports like SD.

 

[compwiz1202]

I can count on one hand the number of times I've plugged something into the lightning port of my iPhone since wireless charging was introduced to iPhones.

We do in the car. Especially Carplay. Won't buy portless until there is at least a reliable dongle for wired Carplay. I don't even know if there is one yet. I remember the whole chatter about them last year but everyone said they weren't that reliable.

 

[jaytv111]

That’s a niche market, though. USB-C can handle video out for the majority of users.

If you argue for HDMI for specific use cases like that, then you can’t really argue against other ports like SD.

I mean there is a use for SD card, in cameras and drones. The only alternative to SD that makes sense is CFExpress, which is another card standard.

But in computers it's just a convenience feature, ie if it's built in, then there's no need for an external reader.

HDMI definitely will stick around, it just doesn't have to be built into computers, either, as a convenience yes, but adapters are enough in many cases.

 

[andyw715]

We do in the car. Especially Carplay. Won't buy portless until there is at least a reliable dongle for wired Carplay. I don't even know if there is one yet. I remember the whole chatter about them last year but everyone said they weren't that reliable.

I've had good luck with a wireless CarPlay dongle (in a Genesis) but like you said, YMMV.

 

[compwiz1202]

I've had good luck with a wireless CarPlay dongle (in a Genesis) but like you said, YMMV.

Yes, this year from what I've read, there are better choices in dongles. With the 13, everyone would say the few choices were so unreliable.

 

[LV426]

Recently reading through many tech news of Apple bringing back more ports or removing ports on various devices, and under the comment section there are always a legion of people valiantly take on the duty to defend Apple’s every single decision to remove ports, and demonstrates their ultimate hate on Apple bringing back more ports (in particular “legacy” ones: HDMI, SD Card slot).

This makes me wonder: what’s wrong with ports? Aside from being a clear “hole” for the water to sip in, what’s the downside? So the ports becomes so ubiquitous for 50 years somehow they must go? Does ports somehow become a hindrance to wireless charging? Or ports somehow create a weird OCD problem for some people? Why so much hate?

Maybe people on this forum might be able to shed a bit of light on why so many people starts to hate ports, and a bit of reason why.

I hate the port on my iPhone, because it yields an intermittent connection when using wired CarPlay. It's most likely the car's fault, though, as it happened with two generations of iPhone.

My next car comes with Wireless CarPlay and an inbuilt charging pad. Looking forward to that. Unfortunately I don't know when I'll get it because it's been recalled prior to delivery (because the wheels fall off)

 

[compwiz1202]

I hate the port on my iPhone, because it yields an intermittent connection when using wired CarPlay. It's most likely the car's fault, though, as it happened with two generations of iPhone.

My next car comes with Wireless CarPlay and an inbuilt charging pad. Looking forward to that. Unfortunately I don't know when I'll get it because it's been recalled prior to delivery (because the wheels fall off)

Sounds like Nascar with those new one nut wheels.