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It's interesting to note that the fancy LG 5k monitor announced alongside the new MBP also charges the MBP. One cable connection and you have a monitor, a dock

It's interesting to note that the fancy LG 5k monitor announced alongside the new MBP also charges the MBP. One cable connection and you have a monitor, a docking station with ports, and power. All while leaving three extra ports free. IMO, that's the real potential of this style of multi-use connector.

monkmartinez 10y ago
In addition to spending $2400 on a basic 15" MBP, we can buy the fancy monitor that has actual USB connections for $1300 more! Don't forget a few $$$$ in dongles for the times when you aren't connected to the 5K beauty. +/- $4000 dollars for a "touch of genius"... Makes me vomit a little in my mouth. I am the "tech guy" for my circle of friends. Apple has lost all recommendations from me.
- jsjohnst 10y ago
  Wait a year and it'll be half the price. Problem solved. :)
- threeseed 10y ago
  The MacBook Pro has USB connections. 4 of them. Maybe your friends need a new tech guy.
- saidajigumi 10y ago
  Yes, because we should all still be using SCSI on our laptops. With cables thicker than your thumb that had to be handled with utmost care or else they'd fail. And single-purpose connectors, where even the compact form was bigger than a lot of device chargers these days. USB-A is certainly ubiquitous, which is a good thing. But it was never going to last forever. USB-C vastly improves on the physical design (reversible, symmetric, easier insertion, etc.) and I expect will carry us forward for even longer than USB-A has. Thus Apple and everyone else are moving towards adopting USB-C, which means there will be ever more widespread and cheap docking and peripheral options. Yes, these transitions are painful but at least there are dongles this time, which hasn't always been the case. Such transitions are also a part of living during the historically amazing times of an accelerated tech curve. Enjoy that while it lasts!
  - monkmartinez 10y ago
    > Such transitions are also a part of living during the historically amazing times of an accelerated tech curve. The MBP is not bleeding edge on that curve, it is (kind of, sort of) near the top-ish. They made a lot of changes for the Future! without adding, you know, actual cutting edge components (from ram to the cpu/gpu chip(s)). The whole thing breaks down further when you compound this new (old) hardware with the problems macOS will inevitably have. As each release, in my experience, has had significant issues for months with sometimes show stopping bugs. Can't wait to be served an ad on that shitty little screen...
- jonknee 10y ago
  Humorously, the $1300 monitor only has USB-C ports so you'll still need dongles to attach all your USB-A devices.
- paulcole 10y ago
  Why would you ever recommend a high end 15" laptop to average people in the first place. I'd agree with the other commenter that recommends a new tech guy for your friends.
  - monkmartinez 10y ago
    Why? I don't know... maybe it has to do with not wanting to buy a shit laptop at bestbuy/costco and calling it a day. Anyone can do that, and a lot of my friends ask a very specific question: "Dude, I want a good laptop that will last a few years without breaking like the POS stuff I usually buy for $500 at Costco... what do you recommend?" I would say, head to our local Apple store. I am no longer going to say that.
    - tw04 10y ago
      Are they throwing their laptops down a flight of stairs on a regular basis? What exactly is breaking? My Dad is still rocking a 4 year old "POS $500 Costco laptop" and it runs as well as it did the day I bought it. I added an SSD and upgraded the memory to 8GB and it's more than fast enough for everything the normal person would do outside of kids that are trying to game (in which case you shouldn't be buying a laptop anyway).
- kartickv 10y ago
  Good point, and that's why, six months back, I chose to buy an iMac 5k instead of a laptop. I saved a couple of thousand dollars, got four USB ports instead of two, and a gorgeous 27-inch 5k monitor that I couldn't buy separately [1]. In my case, mobility wasn't a requirement, so a desktop was fine. If mobility is a requirement for you, maybe you could buy an iPad Pro or a cheaper laptop than you otherwise would buy, like the single-port Macbook. [1] It wasn't available in India, and even if it was, it wasn't compatible with most Macbooks. The single model it was compatible with, it required two cables to be plugged in. And the monitor would have been out-of-date quickly, since it didn't support Thunderbolt 3.
- pault 10y ago
  $1,300 is a pretty standard price for 5k in my experience.
bluedino 10y ago
That happened 5 years ago with the Cinema display
- scranglis 10y ago
  Thunderbolt Cinema Displays required two cables to the machine -- data and power. So, not quite, right?

monkmartinez 10y ago

In addition to spending $2400 on a basic 15" MBP, we can buy the fancy monitor that has actual USB connections for $1300 more! Don't forget a few $$$$ in dongles for the times when you aren't connected to the 5K beauty. +/- $4000 dollars for a "touch of genius"... Makes me vomit a little in my mouth. I am the "tech guy" for my circle of friends. Apple has lost all recommendations from me.

jsjohnst 10y ago
Wait a year and it'll be half the price. Problem solved. :)
threeseed 10y ago
The MacBook Pro has USB connections. 4 of them. Maybe your friends need a new tech guy.
saidajigumi 10y ago
Yes, because we should all still be using SCSI on our laptops. With cables thicker than your thumb that had to be handled with utmost care or else they'd fail. And single-purpose connectors, where even the compact form was bigger than a lot of device chargers these days. USB-A is certainly ubiquitous, which is a good thing. But it was never going to last forever. USB-C vastly improves on the physical design (reversible, symmetric, easier insertion, etc.) and I expect will carry us forward for even longer than USB-A has. Thus Apple and everyone else are moving towards adopting USB-C, which means there will be ever more widespread and cheap docking and peripheral options. Yes, these transitions are painful but at least there are dongles this time, which hasn't always been the case. Such transitions are also a part of living during the historically amazing times of an accelerated tech curve. Enjoy that while it lasts!
- monkmartinez 10y ago
  > Such transitions are also a part of living during the historically amazing times of an accelerated tech curve. The MBP is not bleeding edge on that curve, it is (kind of, sort of) near the top-ish. They made a lot of changes for the Future! without adding, you know, actual cutting edge components (from ram to the cpu/gpu chip(s)). The whole thing breaks down further when you compound this new (old) hardware with the problems macOS will inevitably have. As each release, in my experience, has had significant issues for months with sometimes show stopping bugs. Can't wait to be served an ad on that shitty little screen...
jonknee 10y ago
Humorously, the $1300 monitor only has USB-C ports so you'll still need dongles to attach all your USB-A devices.
paulcole 10y ago
Why would you ever recommend a high end 15" laptop to average people in the first place. I'd agree with the other commenter that recommends a new tech guy for your friends.
- monkmartinez 10y ago
  Why? I don't know... maybe it has to do with not wanting to buy a shit laptop at bestbuy/costco and calling it a day. Anyone can do that, and a lot of my friends ask a very specific question: "Dude, I want a good laptop that will last a few years without breaking like the POS stuff I usually buy for $500 at Costco... what do you recommend?" I would say, head to our local Apple store. I am no longer going to say that.
  - tw04 10y ago
    Are they throwing their laptops down a flight of stairs on a regular basis? What exactly is breaking? My Dad is still rocking a 4 year old "POS $500 Costco laptop" and it runs as well as it did the day I bought it. I added an SSD and upgraded the memory to 8GB and it's more than fast enough for everything the normal person would do outside of kids that are trying to game (in which case you shouldn't be buying a laptop anyway).
kartickv 10y ago
Good point, and that's why, six months back, I chose to buy an iMac 5k instead of a laptop. I saved a couple of thousand dollars, got four USB ports instead of two, and a gorgeous 27-inch 5k monitor that I couldn't buy separately [1]. In my case, mobility wasn't a requirement, so a desktop was fine. If mobility is a requirement for you, maybe you could buy an iPad Pro or a cheaper laptop than you otherwise would buy, like the single-port Macbook. [1] It wasn't available in India, and even if it was, it wasn't compatible with most Macbooks. The single model it was compatible with, it required two cables to be plugged in. And the monitor would have been out-of-date quickly, since it didn't support Thunderbolt 3.
pault 10y ago
$1,300 is a pretty standard price for 5k in my experience.

bluedino 10y ago

That happened 5 years ago with the Cinema display

scranglis 10y ago
Thunderbolt Cinema Displays required two cables to the machine -- data and power. So, not quite, right?