4 ms·

I also find this strange. My switch (Ethernet) is 10 years old. My DAC (SPDIF) is 7 years old. My monitor (DisplayPort) is 5 years old. My hard drives (USB Type

I also find this strange. My switch (Ethernet) is 10 years old. My DAC (SPDIF) is 7 years old. My monitor (DisplayPort) is 5 years old. My hard drives (USB Type-A) are 3-5 years old. My thumb drives (USB Type-A) are 2-3 years old. My phone (USB Type-A) is 2 years old. None of them are USB-C and I don't plan on replacing any of them soon. With the possible exception of external hard drives, USB-C doesn't offer any benefits over my existing interfaces.

wodenokoto 10y ago
It offers the huge benefit that with the right accessory you can connect all those things, including power, at once with just one cable. Almost everything you list are things that would be stationary on your desk, so either you are buying the wrong machine if you don't plan on removing it from the desk, or you'll benefit from having all connected to a dock that can connect via 1 cable to your machine.
itchyouch 10y ago
One of the benefits of getting more expensive tech peripherals, especially in the Mac world is that there is a ton of resale value. If one upgrades their mac with every new release, it usually ends up being a 200-500 hit per year depending on market conditions. The more expensive peripherals usually will fetch a decent amount on ebay as well. So for the average cost of around ~$30/mo, one can basically have the latest mac with the latest peripherals all the time. Or one could upgrade every 5 years as well...
- Neliquat 10y ago
  Riding the edge, does seem to work with some products. But it is also a game of prediction. My Model M was a great investment, but my modems went obsolete in months. Now my DSL modem is 8 years old, and still using the model m. Professional style tools seem to fair the best.
phil21 10y ago
How many of those do you use while traveling? The only port I find myself missing so far is HDMI. Having to carry a USB-C to HDMI adapter (actually multiple since compatibility is an unmitigated disaster) is quite annoying. I rarely use thumbdrives, but carrying a USB-C<->female A adapter isn't a big deal since it's so rare and I can just toss it in my bag. For a primarily desk-sitting laptop you're getting a docking station of some sort (monitor or actual) so you get all the above ports with it. I also don't upgrade components there very often either. I do admit this was annoying so far - as the release of the laptop far preceded any decent docks. Single-cable docking though is pretty neat, and a definite upgrade if minor. Really it ended up being a USB-C to HDMI, female A, and ethernet that I need to toss in the bag. The latter two I expect to use a few times a year at most.
- otheotheothe 10y ago
  I don't get that, why wont you just use an adapter that has everything in one instead of 3 seperate ones? I use a Hooto Shuttle with USB, HDMI, Card reader and power in, thats all i need, ok it has no ethernet as i never use them but there are ones with ethernet inbuilt too. I dont get all this so much dongle talk when you just need one good adapter.
  - slau 10y ago
    Point of note: a lot of USB-C multi-port dongles that provide Ethernet don't support 1GbE. Quite a few of them cap out around 120Mbit/s. I've asked our office admin to purchase the Juice Systems flat dongle with Ethernet, as that one handles gigabit, for anyone who gets the new Macbook. Also, as far as I know, none of the all-in-one dongles, not even the normal adapter that Apple sells supports 4k/60Hz. Only 30. Disclaimer: not affiliated, just a good product.
    - geerlingguy 10y ago
      Yeah, I'm waiting on an Arc Hub, because it supposedly supports HDMI 2.0 and an extra USB-C port which could support 4K/60Hz. Since I only have 2 ports on my non-Touch Bar model, I really wish someone just made a USB-C hub. All of the existing hubs have USB-A ports and one USB-C only for power pass through, but they can't handle the bandwidth required for certain things like 60Hz 4K. At least I have a gigabit USB 3.1 adapter that gets me ~930 Mbps on my local network.
nicpottier 10y ago
You don't need to replace them, just get different cables, type-c is still USB and also happens to be thunderport so you get DisplayPort as well. No need for a dongle for your DisplayPort monitor, just get a DP->USB-C cable, done, I'm running a 4k monitor at 60hz this way. Same for your hard drive, it is probably micro-usb on the other side, just get a micro-USB to USB-C. etc.. etc.. You don't need new stuff, just new cables, which is annoying but not anywhere near as bad. Protocol is the same, just a different shape.
- djmobley 10y ago
  So I should spend a load of money buying new cables, which do exactly the same as my existing ones, but also look the same as each other, so I can no longer tell them apart? It's nice to know the protocols my devices use aren't redundant, but you won't find me rushing out to adopt USB Type-C cables.
  - AlphaSite 10y ago
    It's more a case of now you don't need to replace thousands of dollars of equipment, but tens of dollars of cables.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
- sfifs 10y ago
  Or buy something running Linux that is not Apple and don't bother with the mess?
  - rayiner 10y ago
    Like what? The XPS 15 seems to be the leading alternative: https://blog.vrplumber.com/b/2016/12/14/review-dell-xps-15-9550-linux-developers-laptop https://blog.vrplumber.com/b/2016/12/14/review-dell-xps-15-9.... In the high DPI configuration in Linux it apparently gets just a few hours of battery life. And bad Q&A, such as coil whine is a recurring problem (including in the new XPS 15s). Why bother with that mess to avoid buying $50 of cables?
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
mandarg 10y ago
I still use a keyboard with a PS/2 connector (Hangs head in shame). It's an old (at least 10 years) Kensiko ergonomic one I rescued from a giveaway pile and have never been able to find a good enough replacement for. Pretty sure they don't make USB Type C adapters for PS/2.
- CydeWeys 10y ago
  Just use two dongles at the same time. PS/2 to USB A, then USB A-to-C cable.

wodenokoto 10y ago

It offers the huge benefit that with the right accessory you can connect all those things, including power, at once with just one cable. Almost everything you list are things that would be stationary on your desk, so either you are buying the wrong machine if you don't plan on removing it from the desk, or you'll benefit from having all connected to a dock that can connect via 1 cable to your machine.

itchyouch 10y ago

One of the benefits of getting more expensive tech peripherals, especially in the Mac world is that there is a ton of resale value. If one upgrades their mac with every new release, it usually ends up being a 200-500 hit per year depending on market conditions. The more expensive peripherals usually will fetch a decent amount on ebay as well. So for the average cost of around ~$30/mo, one can basically have the latest mac with the latest peripherals all the time. Or one could upgrade every 5 years as well...

Neliquat 10y ago
Riding the edge, does seem to work with some products. But it is also a game of prediction. My Model M was a great investment, but my modems went obsolete in months. Now my DSL modem is 8 years old, and still using the model m. Professional style tools seem to fair the best.

phil21 10y ago

How many of those do you use while traveling? The only port I find myself missing so far is HDMI. Having to carry a USB-C to HDMI adapter (actually multiple since compatibility is an unmitigated disaster) is quite annoying. I rarely use thumbdrives, but carrying a USB-C<->female A adapter isn't a big deal since it's so rare and I can just toss it in my bag. For a primarily desk-sitting laptop you're getting a docking station of some sort (monitor or actual) so you get all the above ports with it. I also don't upgrade components there very often either. I do admit this was annoying so far - as the release of the laptop far preceded any decent docks. Single-cable docking though is pretty neat, and a definite upgrade if minor. Really it ended up being a USB-C to HDMI, female A, and ethernet that I need to toss in the bag. The latter two I expect to use a few times a year at most.

otheotheothe 10y ago
I don't get that, why wont you just use an adapter that has everything in one instead of 3 seperate ones? I use a Hooto Shuttle with USB, HDMI, Card reader and power in, thats all i need, ok it has no ethernet as i never use them but there are ones with ethernet inbuilt too. I dont get all this so much dongle talk when you just need one good adapter.
- slau 10y ago
  Point of note: a lot of USB-C multi-port dongles that provide Ethernet don't support 1GbE. Quite a few of them cap out around 120Mbit/s. I've asked our office admin to purchase the Juice Systems flat dongle with Ethernet, as that one handles gigabit, for anyone who gets the new Macbook. Also, as far as I know, none of the all-in-one dongles, not even the normal adapter that Apple sells supports 4k/60Hz. Only 30. Disclaimer: not affiliated, just a good product.
  - geerlingguy 10y ago
    Yeah, I'm waiting on an Arc Hub, because it supposedly supports HDMI 2.0 and an extra USB-C port which could support 4K/60Hz. Since I only have 2 ports on my non-Touch Bar model, I really wish someone just made a USB-C hub. All of the existing hubs have USB-A ports and one USB-C only for power pass through, but they can't handle the bandwidth required for certain things like 60Hz 4K. At least I have a gigabit USB 3.1 adapter that gets me ~930 Mbps on my local network.

nicpottier 10y ago

You don't need to replace them, just get different cables, type-c is still USB and also happens to be thunderport so you get DisplayPort as well. No need for a dongle for your DisplayPort monitor, just get a DP->USB-C cable, done, I'm running a 4k monitor at 60hz this way. Same for your hard drive, it is probably micro-usb on the other side, just get a micro-USB to USB-C. etc.. etc.. You don't need new stuff, just new cables, which is annoying but not anywhere near as bad. Protocol is the same, just a different shape.

djmobley 10y ago
So I should spend a load of money buying new cables, which do exactly the same as my existing ones, but also look the same as each other, so I can no longer tell them apart? It's nice to know the protocols my devices use aren't redundant, but you won't find me rushing out to adopt USB Type-C cables.
- AlphaSite 10y ago
  It's more a case of now you don't need to replace thousands of dollars of equipment, but tens of dollars of cables.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
sfifs 10y ago
Or buy something running Linux that is not Apple and don't bother with the mess?
- rayiner 10y ago
  Like what? The XPS 15 seems to be the leading alternative: https://blog.vrplumber.com/b/2016/12/14/review-dell-xps-15-9550-linux-developers-laptop https://blog.vrplumber.com/b/2016/12/14/review-dell-xps-15-9.... In the high DPI configuration in Linux it apparently gets just a few hours of battery life. And bad Q&A, such as coil whine is a recurring problem (including in the new XPS 15s). Why bother with that mess to avoid buying $50 of cables?

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

mandarg 10y ago

I still use a keyboard with a PS/2 connector (Hangs head in shame). It's an old (at least 10 years) Kensiko ergonomic one I rescued from a giveaway pile and have never been able to find a good enough replacement for. Pretty sure they don't make USB Type C adapters for PS/2.

CydeWeys 10y ago
Just use two dongles at the same time. PS/2 to USB A, then USB A-to-C cable.