Would you buy a 2017 iMac with only USB-C (Thunderbolt 3) ports?

[CWallace]

The USB-a style port remains "the standard" for USB and will continue to be for years to come.

At which point it will all move to USB-C style ports.

So eventually you're going to have to use dongles, new cables or purchase new equipment with a USB-C endpoint.

 

[Malus120]

Fishrrman's credo:
Reality is what it is. It is not what we believe it to be.

The post above proclaims:
"USB-C is the future"

Just like...
- firewire was "the future"
- thunderbolt was "the future"

The USB-a style port remains "the standard" for USB and will continue to be for years to come.

An iMac with no USB-a ports at all would be more of an inconvenience than a step forward. EVERYTHING would need an adapter:
- USB keyboards (not all of us want to use Apple's keyboard)
- USB mice and wireless mouse adapters
- USB printers
- virtually ALL existing USB flash drives and card readers
- any other peripheral one wishes to connect via USB (CD/DVD players)

Does Apple really have the arrogance to leave all this stuff in search of an adapter or dongle?

A more sensible compromise might be 3 USB-C/thunderbolt 3 ports, and 3 USB-A 3.1 gen 2 ports running at 10gbps.

And just who do you think it was that jumpstarted the whole USB-A style port as a standard thing? Oh that's right Apple, with the first iMacs and the Blue and White G3s back in 1999... Lets see did they bother to leave in legacy ports people considered standard back then...... Nope. Did it suck for the first year or so? Yep (I had to buy a SCSI card). But you know what's amazing? 18(!) years after their introduction, every port on those machines is still in use today in some form.

Funny that you mention firewire as it ALSO made its debut on those same (power)Macs. I don't think Apple EVER thought Firewire would become the default port for things like mice and keyboards, they just expected that things like storage which needed relatively high bandwidth would switch over (which they probably would have had firewire actually managed to maintain the kind of 40:1 speed advantage it had vs USB 1)

Oh, and thunderbolt? It's future is looking bright with decent uptake in the PC space and a standardized connector in.... drumroll....USB-C. Part of what makes "USB-C" so great is the versatility it offers. It's not just USB, its basically whatever you want or need it to be.

So, given that not just Apple, but the whole industry is moving towards USB-C, yes I think it's safe to say that its one of those moments, and Apple won't be making the wrong choice if they go all USB-C.

Ah, yes.

at least, until USB-D (or USB-I/O-whatever) comes down the pike.
Nothing about technology stays the same (except for change). If it did, then you couldn't even use the term "technology"
It's a continually moving target, always toward the next Big Thing™

Technology may always be moving to the "next big thing," but to be honest, connectivity standards (especially the connectors themselves) evolve relatively slowly. Consider that we've had the same standard connector for USB on computers for almost 20 years now. When connectivity standards DO move, its a big deal, as it can make a machine released a very short time ago feel dated FAST. Connectivity is the one area of technology where once things start moving, its best to just get onboard.

No, I don't do dongles. Apple need to get over this obsessive, compulsive desire to terminate defacto industry standards. If they had one iota of common sense they'd do half and half but they're too stubborn and arrogant.

If you don't do dongles I really can't believe you do Apple. Dongles are and always have been an (unfortunate) part of the experience, especially if you use Mac laptops in a professional setting (there's nothing quite like Apple and changing up display cables...)

 

[padams35]

My 2011 is starting to show its age but is still good enough that I'm hoping to get another two years of primary use out of it. Apple would have to hit a home run with the 2017s to prompt an early upgrade on my part and pure USB-C/TB3 is just enough of a blemish that I would wait another year or two. Ideally the 2017 desktops would have mixed ports similar to what we saw during the Firewire->Thunderbolt transition period.