15 ms·

Dongle dilemma provokes Apple price cut

67 points by timoth 10y ago

danielweber 10y ago
It seems like there should be a design principle that the latest iPhone should always plug straight into the latest Macbook.
- sliken 10y ago
  And that a single set of earphones would work with both, especially since apple's so heavily into selling you music.
  - CalChris 10y ago
    de minimis. I'd add that a MacBook Pro should be configurable for pros. This is really an expensive MacBook Air.
    - sosborn 10y ago
      Define "pros." I ask because the number of pros who can't use this machine seems incredibly narrow.
      - emp_zealoth 10y ago
        EDIT: I know that using a mac for what I'm describing is a goddamn joke, but you people are triggering me way to hard. World doesn't end on people writing text or working with 2D logos you know How about anyone in engineering? I mean real engineering not cobbling flavour of the month js together that you could do on a friggin i3 provided you get an ssd and you wouldn't know any difference. Try 3D CAD software with 3,5k parts, any rendering, anything that needs more than 16GB, how about an SD card slot? I've got a 10 inch e-reader with SD slot that I use to read/browse tons of things? People who need a proper mouse? How about an USB stick? Do I make literally everyone buy a shitty new Macbook so don't have to sit there for 15 minutes waiting for Wifi? I mean, it was early 2000's where I had to worry about fucking dongles and what-nots
        sosborn 10y ago
        ok, mechanical engineers. What percentage of the market is that?
- dlandis 10y ago
  It's crazy to me that a company with so many designers in positions of leadership could miss something so obvious. I mean I know they were aware of the problem, but why wasn't there anyone with enough perspective and influence that could step back and call out how stupid it was?
- abvdasker 10y ago
  Ever since the iPod Steve Jobs's vision for products always put an emphasis on seamless integration between different offerings. Carrying around a set of adapters for these same-gen Apple products seems pretty contradictory to his original vision.
  - tim333 10y ago
    If they'd just made the new pros with 3 usb C ports and one usb B then most of the connectivity headaches would have gone away. Also the 12" macbook could have had one usb C and one B. That's what I would have gone with.
    - basch 10y ago
      that wouldnt force peripheral companies to adapt, and youd own ten gadgets competing for one port.
    - stephenr 10y ago
      And then in 2 years time we have 1 less high speed usb-c port, when everything is using usb-c. Seriously, you're spending 2.5K on a laptop but $20 on an adapter for a device using a usb-a port is too much? This is just the typical Apple release bullshittery. No matter what they do, people want to complain for the sake of complaining.
      - tim333 10y ago
        Yeah but the vast majority of peripherals use usb-b. I solved the problem with the 12" Macbook by not buying it and sticking with my Air. My friend traded his Air in for the Macbook and hates that aspect of it - he has to get the adapter out all the time and tends to lose the things.
        stephenr 10y ago
        Um, what? USB-B is a device-end port. It's the square port on your printer/scanner/etc type device. You probably mean USB-A, which is the rectangular one used by e.g. flash drives. Assuming that's what you meant: I don't care. People always harp on about how Apple does "planned obsolescence" to force hardware upgrades. Here they are, fully committing to cutting edge, amazingly versatile, backwards compatible, INDUSTRY STANDARD ports, meaning the MBP you buy in 2016 not only can use (via a relatively cheap new cable/adapter or a multi-device hub) any USB device released in the last 15 years, but also has a good chance of being future compatible with devices released for a good number of years, both low AND high speed. What is the response? Waaaaa I want to plug my old shit into my $2.5K laptop but $9 is going to break the bank. I have a 2011 MBP. It has 3x USB2, Firewire 800, Gig Ethernet and ONE freaking thunderbolt v1. Its still very usable, with one fucking exception. USB2 is slow as shit. Firewire drives have no adoption outside of Mac users, so they're not available everywhere, and when they are the price is ridiculous. If my MBP had 4 TB1 ports instead of all the legacy ports, yes I would have had to buy a couple of USB2 adapters back in the day, but I would be able to have multiple USB3 adapters now. The situation now is honestly the best scenario. Apple is embracing an industry standard and honestly the ones who aren't following it are the el-cheapo PC makers who are still shipping PS/2 and VGA ports.
- ryaneager 10y ago
  But they sell a lighting to USB-C cable so it does...
  - scott_karana 10y ago
    It's optional and non obvious. I think it's completely plausible that someone would go to Apple.com, order a new phone and laptop, and then be surprised when they arrived...
- closeparen 10y ago
  I expect there's a long-term design principle that neither device should need to plug at all.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
WheelsAtLarge 10y ago
Looks to me like Apple is thinking long term and is willing to tolerate short term criticism over it's decision to remove ports. They've set their future on wireless and USB type C. Apple is the one company that's willing to sacrifice now in order to gain in the future. The port decision aren't being done in a vacuum. They have a reason. And give their size, they have the muscle to lead all the industry to what they think is the future. I don't know their endgame but given the fact that more and more work is being done in the cloud. Macs will start looking more like Chromebooks as time passes. Ports are less and less important once you have all your data in the cloud and can access it at will. What else can you expect from a company who's idol famously said, "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish?" They are certainly looking foolish now but their hunger is leading them to future profit and a long life. I wouldn't bet against them.
- Ph0X 10y ago
  See, I would agree with you, and I definitely agree with their decision on the new MBP to put four Thunderbolt 3, but I don't understand why they didn't use a USB-C connector on the iPhone 7, which just came out. They removed the headphone jack and called it "courage", but real courage would've been to switch to USB-C. That is the future of connectors, and if you believe in it, why wouldn't you preach it across all your devices.
  - megablast 10y ago
    You do know why, if you think about it for a bit. Look at the backlash Apple got for removing the 30 pin port on the iPhone. There are so many docks and devices out there which supports the lightning port, way more users than macbook users.
    - baconner 10y ago
      Sure, but if they were following that logic there'd still be a headphone jack, no?
      - comex 10y ago
ben174 10y ago
It's not often that Apple admits defeat like this. It's a good move, IMO. And an easy business decision. Cut the very high profit margins on all these dongles, and remain relevant.
- rosser 10y ago
  This isn't "admitting defeat". This is sacrificing profit to help "transition" people to where Apple wants them to go. An admission of "defeat" would be shipping an iPhone that has a headphone jack again. This is why I don't expect that ever to happen.
  - ben174 10y ago
    They're not doing this as a favor. If they intended to do it they would have done it pre-launch. They've had a huge amount of bad press over this, and did this as a response to it. They clearly realize that not doing so puts their business at further risk.
    - rosser 10y ago
      That's still not an admission of "defeat". It's admitting they were maybe a bit callous with how they handled it, but they're still "full-steam ahead" on USB-C — until the next magical, panacea connector standard shows up.
      - redler 10y ago
        There's a near future in which USB C will be as ubiquitous as A. It's the first standardized, reversible, durable, and versatile adapter -- and it's not Apple's invention. Apple is willing to annoy the margins to ensure that by the time that near future arrives, they've got a substantial installed base of tens of millions already established. They have the luxury of employing a strategy.
dalbasal 10y ago
I love this little article by Douglas Adams. This reminds me of it. http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/980707-03-a.html http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/980707-03-a.html
- mattkevan 10y ago
  RIP Douglas Adams. I know he's been gone a long time, but once in a while I read some genius piece by him like that article and feel sad all over again.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
nostromo 10y ago
Apple is at risk of losing their pros. Mac Pro is a failure. The old-fashioned "cheese grater" Mac Pros are holding their price nicely on eBay because many people don't want anything to do with the "trash can" Mac Pro. And the new Mac Pro hasn't even been updated in 3 years. And if you do buy a Mac Pro, you'll have to buy an ugly third-party monitor since Apple no longer provides any displays. The latest MacBook Pro is a great looking ultra-portable, but is not a pro computer by most measures. It's a MacBook Air. I feel like Apple can't walk and chew gum at the same time. They're focusing so much on the iPhone and Apple Watch, their actual computer company is atrophying.
- Aqua_Geek 10y ago
  > They're focusing so much on the […] Apple Watch From the hardware side, maybe. The developer experience for it is a miserable one.
- nihonde 10y ago
  Lots of people are throwing "pro" around as if there is an understanding about what it means. A video producer has a completely different set of requirements from a web developer. If we're talking about iOS devs, then they're probably working on an iMac or they'll buy one of these MBPs. As for graphics pros or game devs, they're probably just not all that compelling for Apple as a revenue opportunity in the laptop form factor.
- arturoz 10y ago
  I was waiting for the new macbook pros to drop my 11" air and I ended getting a 2009 Mac pro from Ebay. Few easy upgrades and now I have really fast workstation for coding with 32gb of ram, ssd, desktop graphic card for around $500, couldn't be happier!
RHSeeger 10y ago
> Earlier Macbook models already did away with ethernet ports and the CD/DVD drive - a move which seemed absurd at the time, but I’d argue Apple was ultimately exonerated. When was the last time you put a CD into your computer? My PC, I put a DVD in almost every week, and has an ethernet cable running to it. If my mac had an ethernet port, there would be one plugged into it. I find it very annoying that it doesn't. Rather than exonerated, they are just things I need to put up with to get my work done (because everyone at work uses a mac).
- el_benhameen 10y ago
  Not trolling: what do you use DVDs for on a weekly basis? I haven't had a DVD-playing device in a few years, and it's been a problem exactly once, when I needed to get some photos from an archival DVD. Never use them at work.
  - wtbob 10y ago
    I can't answer for RHSeeger, but I like to watch movies on DVD, because the streaming options (particularly Netflix) are so horrible.
    - zanny 10y ago
      I ripped my DVD collection years ago, internal storage is so cheap it makes no sense to keep around spinning discs and drives to read them.
  - nol13 10y ago
    Redbox is still cheaper and better selection than pay-per-view or any streaming service, even if artificially inconvenient. (so i can then rip the dvd from my drive > usb stick > roku 3)
- to3m 10y ago
  Do you think this is very common? I haven't used discs regularly in my PC since about 2005. In 2011-13, I used DVDRs to make regular repo backups for the company I ran at the time. In 2006-9 I had a car with a CD player but no tape deck (so no tape adapter), so occasionally I would burn an audio CD. Aside from that, nothing. My 18 month old MBP doesn't have a DVD drive, and I have to say it's never once been a problem. My desktop PC does have a DVD drive, but I can't remember ever using it after I installed Windows 7 in 2012. It might not even be connected any more... I can't remember... Anecdotally, from talking to friends and colleagues, I don't seem to be very unusual in this respect. Ethernet is potentially an issue, since even today wi-fi can still be hit or miss, while cables remain as reliable and high-bandwidth as ever. So when I bought my MBP last March, I bought a USB3 ethernet dongle for it, and that's done the trick. Though to be honest I haven't ended up using it as much as I'd expected I would... Apple's track record on this stuff is fairly good, I'd say. When they get rid of something, there's a better-than-merely-non-zero chance they're right. And while I'd never suggest holding fire just on that basis - after all, they're betting on wireless headphones, which is obviously crazy talk - as a purely practical matter, waiting and seeing will at least save you from a bombardment of neckbeard fanboy spittle ;)
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
matt_wulfeck 10y ago
I feel the consolidation of ports is a huge step in the right direction. Now I can plug a single cord and get Ethernet, power, and display, and not jenky Ethernet speeds also, but fast 10G connections. And PCI options open up the possibility of having an external graphics card, something that's not possible without the move to Thunderbolt 3 via USB type-C.
osrec 10y ago
Apple did a great job of making tech simple and accessible to an audience composed primarily of novices. They did this by making their designs Pareto efficient, and essentially decided what was best for the average user (you could say they dumbed things down). Now, however, I feel the majority demographic is more informed, more comfortable with complexity, and more confident in making their own decisions. They don't want Apple's restrictive decisions holding them back. Apple's oppression of their users' technical freedom may well be their downfall (a slightly obscure example: my Grandma, who was initially only able to use an iPhone, now prefers her similar sized Samsung, because it's easier to configure, holds more of her music and simply lets her do more for free. Also, it doesn't keep asking for her damn password every ten minutes!).
- mancerayder 10y ago
  This is an excellent and understated point you've made. It may be the trajectory towards 'simple and accessible' via simplicity has crossed a line that's moved due to people's increased knowledge of computers. It's moved and its stepping on people's toes. The vendor lock-in strategy via their ecosystem trappings just amplifies the perception.
  - osrec 10y ago
    Absolutely, could not agree more.
SwellJoe 10y ago
"Its iPhone is still king, but sales have been in decline." By what metric is iPhone still king? Android phones account for 80+% of the market.
- JonFish85 10y ago
  Probably the most important one: profit. I believe Apple takes most of, if not all of, the profit in mobile phones.
- altyus 10y ago
  Profit.. http://www.investors.com/news/technology/click/apple-iphone-grabs-104-of-smartphone-industry-profit-in-q3/ http://www.investors.com/news/technology/click/apple-iphone-...
  - nodamage 10y ago
    That's amazing. Apple captures 104% of the profits in the smartphone market, Samsung is next in line with... 0.9%. Everyone else is selling phones at a loss in order to gain more market share.
- sigmaml 10y ago
  To those citing Apple's profit: it is certainly an important metric. Nonetheless, there is also another angle to consider: how much a technology enables, by being affordable and accessible. I live in India. In large parts of this country, smartphone uptake would simply not have happened but for Android's ecosystem.
chris_wot 10y ago
So Apple's famed simplicity of design has caused them to complicate the lives of their users? Not good.
notadoc 10y ago
The dongles are a temporary inconvenience, and yes it is an inconvenience undoubtedly. The real dilemma is caused by releasing an underpowered new MacBook Air as a "Pro" workstation, which costs a significant premium yet is unfit for many actual professional environments. This leaves many users questioning an already deep investment into the ecosystem, because waiting for a notable upgrade thus far was not rewarded, and waiting another several years at the glacial pace of an Apple release cycles is now feeling like a significant gamble where the next versions could likely be even less professionally geared than these models are.
youngtaff 10y ago
See what they really should do is have a trade in program so we can all take our redundant thunderbolt 2 dongles in when we upgrade
ptaipale 10y ago
Just in case you didn't see this Youtube video (El Risitas meme) yet, making fun of Apple's decision: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XSC_UG5_kU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XSC_UG5_kU I think the subtitling is very well executed.

67 points by timoth 10y ago

It seems like there should be a design principle that the latest iPhone should always plug straight into the latest Macbook.

sliken 10y ago
And that a single set of earphones would work with both, especially since apple's so heavily into selling you music.
- CalChris 10y ago
  de minimis. I'd add that a MacBook Pro should be configurable for pros. This is really an expensive MacBook Air.
  - sosborn 10y ago
    Define "pros." I ask because the number of pros who can't use this machine seems incredibly narrow.
    - emp_zealoth 10y ago
      EDIT: I know that using a mac for what I'm describing is a goddamn joke, but you people are triggering me way to hard. World doesn't end on people writing text or working with 2D logos you know How about anyone in engineering? I mean real engineering not cobbling flavour of the month js together that you could do on a friggin i3 provided you get an ssd and you wouldn't know any difference. Try 3D CAD software with 3,5k parts, any rendering, anything that needs more than 16GB, how about an SD card slot? I've got a 10 inch e-reader with SD slot that I use to read/browse tons of things? People who need a proper mouse? How about an USB stick? Do I make literally everyone buy a shitty new Macbook so don't have to sit there for 15 minutes waiting for Wifi? I mean, it was early 2000's where I had to worry about fucking dongles and what-nots
      - sosborn 10y ago
        ok, mechanical engineers. What percentage of the market is that?
dlandis 10y ago
It's crazy to me that a company with so many designers in positions of leadership could miss something so obvious. I mean I know they were aware of the problem, but why wasn't there anyone with enough perspective and influence that could step back and call out how stupid it was?
abvdasker 10y ago
Ever since the iPod Steve Jobs's vision for products always put an emphasis on seamless integration between different offerings. Carrying around a set of adapters for these same-gen Apple products seems pretty contradictory to his original vision.
- tim333 10y ago
  If they'd just made the new pros with 3 usb C ports and one usb B then most of the connectivity headaches would have gone away. Also the 12" macbook could have had one usb C and one B. That's what I would have gone with.
  - basch 10y ago
    that wouldnt force peripheral companies to adapt, and youd own ten gadgets competing for one port.
  - stephenr 10y ago
    And then in 2 years time we have 1 less high speed usb-c port, when everything is using usb-c. Seriously, you're spending 2.5K on a laptop but $20 on an adapter for a device using a usb-a port is too much? This is just the typical Apple release bullshittery. No matter what they do, people want to complain for the sake of complaining.
    - tim333 10y ago
      Yeah but the vast majority of peripherals use usb-b. I solved the problem with the 12" Macbook by not buying it and sticking with my Air. My friend traded his Air in for the Macbook and hates that aspect of it - he has to get the adapter out all the time and tends to lose the things.
      - stephenr 10y ago
        Um, what? USB-B is a device-end port. It's the square port on your printer/scanner/etc type device. You probably mean USB-A, which is the rectangular one used by e.g. flash drives. Assuming that's what you meant: I don't care. People always harp on about how Apple does "planned obsolescence" to force hardware upgrades. Here they are, fully committing to cutting edge, amazingly versatile, backwards compatible, INDUSTRY STANDARD ports, meaning the MBP you buy in 2016 not only can use (via a relatively cheap new cable/adapter or a multi-device hub) any USB device released in the last 15 years, but also has a good chance of being future compatible with devices released for a good number of years, both low AND high speed. What is the response? Waaaaa I want to plug my old shit into my $2.5K laptop but $9 is going to break the bank. I have a 2011 MBP. It has 3x USB2, Firewire 800, Gig Ethernet and ONE freaking thunderbolt v1. Its still very usable, with one fucking exception. USB2 is slow as shit. Firewire drives have no adoption outside of Mac users, so they're not available everywhere, and when they are the price is ridiculous. If my MBP had 4 TB1 ports instead of all the legacy ports, yes I would have had to buy a couple of USB2 adapters back in the day, but I would be able to have multiple USB3 adapters now. The situation now is honestly the best scenario. Apple is embracing an industry standard and honestly the ones who aren't following it are the el-cheapo PC makers who are still shipping PS/2 and VGA ports.
ryaneager 10y ago
But they sell a lighting to USB-C cable so it does...
- scott_karana 10y ago
  It's optional and non obvious. I think it's completely plausible that someone would go to Apple.com, order a new phone and laptop, and then be surprised when they arrived...
closeparen 10y ago
I expect there's a long-term design principle that neither device should need to plug at all.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

WheelsAtLarge 10y ago

Looks to me like Apple is thinking long term and is willing to tolerate short term criticism over it's decision to remove ports. They've set their future on wireless and USB type C. Apple is the one company that's willing to sacrifice now in order to gain in the future. The port decision aren't being done in a vacuum. They have a reason. And give their size, they have the muscle to lead all the industry to what they think is the future. I don't know their endgame but given the fact that more and more work is being done in the cloud. Macs will start looking more like Chromebooks as time passes. Ports are less and less important once you have all your data in the cloud and can access it at will. What else can you expect from a company who's idol famously said, "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish?" They are certainly looking foolish now but their hunger is leading them to future profit and a long life. I wouldn't bet against them.

Ph0X 10y ago
See, I would agree with you, and I definitely agree with their decision on the new MBP to put four Thunderbolt 3, but I don't understand why they didn't use a USB-C connector on the iPhone 7, which just came out. They removed the headphone jack and called it "courage", but real courage would've been to switch to USB-C. That is the future of connectors, and if you believe in it, why wouldn't you preach it across all your devices.
- megablast 10y ago
  You do know why, if you think about it for a bit. Look at the backlash Apple got for removing the 30 pin port on the iPhone. There are so many docks and devices out there which supports the lightning port, way more users than macbook users.
  - baconner 10y ago
    Sure, but if they were following that logic there'd still be a headphone jack, no?
    - comex 10y ago

ben174 10y ago

It's not often that Apple admits defeat like this. It's a good move, IMO. And an easy business decision. Cut the very high profit margins on all these dongles, and remain relevant.

rosser 10y ago
This isn't "admitting defeat". This is sacrificing profit to help "transition" people to where Apple wants them to go. An admission of "defeat" would be shipping an iPhone that has a headphone jack again. This is why I don't expect that ever to happen.
- ben174 10y ago
  They're not doing this as a favor. If they intended to do it they would have done it pre-launch. They've had a huge amount of bad press over this, and did this as a response to it. They clearly realize that not doing so puts their business at further risk.
  - rosser 10y ago
    That's still not an admission of "defeat". It's admitting they were maybe a bit callous with how they handled it, but they're still "full-steam ahead" on USB-C — until the next magical, panacea connector standard shows up.
    - redler 10y ago
      There's a near future in which USB C will be as ubiquitous as A. It's the first standardized, reversible, durable, and versatile adapter -- and it's not Apple's invention. Apple is willing to annoy the margins to ensure that by the time that near future arrives, they've got a substantial installed base of tens of millions already established. They have the luxury of employing a strategy.

dalbasal 10y ago

I love this little article by Douglas Adams. This reminds me of it. http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/980707-03-a.html http://www.douglasadams.com/dna/980707-03-a.html

mattkevan 10y ago
RIP Douglas Adams. I know he's been gone a long time, but once in a while I read some genius piece by him like that article and feel sad all over again.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

nostromo 10y ago

Apple is at risk of losing their pros. Mac Pro is a failure. The old-fashioned "cheese grater" Mac Pros are holding their price nicely on eBay because many people don't want anything to do with the "trash can" Mac Pro. And the new Mac Pro hasn't even been updated in 3 years. And if you do buy a Mac Pro, you'll have to buy an ugly third-party monitor since Apple no longer provides any displays. The latest MacBook Pro is a great looking ultra-portable, but is not a pro computer by most measures. It's a MacBook Air. I feel like Apple can't walk and chew gum at the same time. They're focusing so much on the iPhone and Apple Watch, their actual computer company is atrophying.

Aqua_Geek 10y ago
> They're focusing so much on the […] Apple Watch From the hardware side, maybe. The developer experience for it is a miserable one.
nihonde 10y ago
Lots of people are throwing "pro" around as if there is an understanding about what it means. A video producer has a completely different set of requirements from a web developer. If we're talking about iOS devs, then they're probably working on an iMac or they'll buy one of these MBPs. As for graphics pros or game devs, they're probably just not all that compelling for Apple as a revenue opportunity in the laptop form factor.
arturoz 10y ago
I was waiting for the new macbook pros to drop my 11" air and I ended getting a 2009 Mac pro from Ebay. Few easy upgrades and now I have really fast workstation for coding with 32gb of ram, ssd, desktop graphic card for around $500, couldn't be happier!

RHSeeger 10y ago

> Earlier Macbook models already did away with ethernet ports and the CD/DVD drive - a move which seemed absurd at the time, but I’d argue Apple was ultimately exonerated. When was the last time you put a CD into your computer? My PC, I put a DVD in almost every week, and has an ethernet cable running to it. If my mac had an ethernet port, there would be one plugged into it. I find it very annoying that it doesn't. Rather than exonerated, they are just things I need to put up with to get my work done (because everyone at work uses a mac).

el_benhameen 10y ago
Not trolling: what do you use DVDs for on a weekly basis? I haven't had a DVD-playing device in a few years, and it's been a problem exactly once, when I needed to get some photos from an archival DVD. Never use them at work.
- wtbob 10y ago
  I can't answer for RHSeeger, but I like to watch movies on DVD, because the streaming options (particularly Netflix) are so horrible.
  - zanny 10y ago
    I ripped my DVD collection years ago, internal storage is so cheap it makes no sense to keep around spinning discs and drives to read them.
- nol13 10y ago
  Redbox is still cheaper and better selection than pay-per-view or any streaming service, even if artificially inconvenient. (so i can then rip the dvd from my drive > usb stick > roku 3)
to3m 10y ago
Do you think this is very common? I haven't used discs regularly in my PC since about 2005. In 2011-13, I used DVDRs to make regular repo backups for the company I ran at the time. In 2006-9 I had a car with a CD player but no tape deck (so no tape adapter), so occasionally I would burn an audio CD. Aside from that, nothing. My 18 month old MBP doesn't have a DVD drive, and I have to say it's never once been a problem. My desktop PC does have a DVD drive, but I can't remember ever using it after I installed Windows 7 in 2012. It might not even be connected any more... I can't remember... Anecdotally, from talking to friends and colleagues, I don't seem to be very unusual in this respect. Ethernet is potentially an issue, since even today wi-fi can still be hit or miss, while cables remain as reliable and high-bandwidth as ever. So when I bought my MBP last March, I bought a USB3 ethernet dongle for it, and that's done the trick. Though to be honest I haven't ended up using it as much as I'd expected I would... Apple's track record on this stuff is fairly good, I'd say. When they get rid of something, there's a better-than-merely-non-zero chance they're right. And while I'd never suggest holding fire just on that basis - after all, they're betting on wireless headphones, which is obviously crazy talk - as a purely practical matter, waiting and seeing will at least save you from a bombardment of neckbeard fanboy spittle ;)

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

matt_wulfeck 10y ago

I feel the consolidation of ports is a huge step in the right direction. Now I can plug a single cord and get Ethernet, power, and display, and not jenky Ethernet speeds also, but fast 10G connections. And PCI options open up the possibility of having an external graphics card, something that's not possible without the move to Thunderbolt 3 via USB type-C.

osrec 10y ago

Apple did a great job of making tech simple and accessible to an audience composed primarily of novices. They did this by making their designs Pareto efficient, and essentially decided what was best for the average user (you could say they dumbed things down). Now, however, I feel the majority demographic is more informed, more comfortable with complexity, and more confident in making their own decisions. They don't want Apple's restrictive decisions holding them back. Apple's oppression of their users' technical freedom may well be their downfall (a slightly obscure example: my Grandma, who was initially only able to use an iPhone, now prefers her similar sized Samsung, because it's easier to configure, holds more of her music and simply lets her do more for free. Also, it doesn't keep asking for her damn password every ten minutes!).

mancerayder 10y ago
This is an excellent and understated point you've made. It may be the trajectory towards 'simple and accessible' via simplicity has crossed a line that's moved due to people's increased knowledge of computers. It's moved and its stepping on people's toes. The vendor lock-in strategy via their ecosystem trappings just amplifies the perception.
- osrec 10y ago
  Absolutely, could not agree more.

SwellJoe 10y ago

"Its iPhone is still king, but sales have been in decline." By what metric is iPhone still king? Android phones account for 80+% of the market.

JonFish85 10y ago
Probably the most important one: profit. I believe Apple takes most of, if not all of, the profit in mobile phones.
altyus 10y ago
Profit.. http://www.investors.com/news/technology/click/apple-iphone-grabs-104-of-smartphone-industry-profit-in-q3/ http://www.investors.com/news/technology/click/apple-iphone-...
- nodamage 10y ago
  That's amazing. Apple captures 104% of the profits in the smartphone market, Samsung is next in line with... 0.9%. Everyone else is selling phones at a loss in order to gain more market share.
sigmaml 10y ago
To those citing Apple's profit: it is certainly an important metric. Nonetheless, there is also another angle to consider: how much a technology enables, by being affordable and accessible. I live in India. In large parts of this country, smartphone uptake would simply not have happened but for Android's ecosystem.

chris_wot 10y ago

So Apple's famed simplicity of design has caused them to complicate the lives of their users? Not good.

notadoc 10y ago

The dongles are a temporary inconvenience, and yes it is an inconvenience undoubtedly. The real dilemma is caused by releasing an underpowered new MacBook Air as a "Pro" workstation, which costs a significant premium yet is unfit for many actual professional environments. This leaves many users questioning an already deep investment into the ecosystem, because waiting for a notable upgrade thus far was not rewarded, and waiting another several years at the glacial pace of an Apple release cycles is now feeling like a significant gamble where the next versions could likely be even less professionally geared than these models are.

youngtaff 10y ago

See what they really should do is have a trade in program so we can all take our redundant thunderbolt 2 dongles in when we upgrade

ptaipale 10y ago

Just in case you didn't see this Youtube video (El Risitas meme) yet, making fun of Apple's decision: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XSC_UG5_kU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XSC_UG5_kU I think the subtitling is very well executed.