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pulling my MacBook Pro out of my backpack to look, it looks like they aren't fans of iconography to say what a port is capable of either. Can't remember if my o

by jsgo 8y ago

pulling my MacBook Pro out of my backpack to look, it looks like they aren't fans of iconography to say what a port is capable of either. Can't remember if my old 2013 MBP had the icons or not, but my current one for sure doesn't.

wlesieutre 8y ago
All ports on Apple's laptops behave the same for charging - they'll continue to provide power while sleeping, but won't start providing power. If you want to use it as a battery in your backpack while it's closed you have to plug your phone in, wake the computer up, then put it back to sleep. At least that was the case last time I tested it. For the most part they don't need colors because all of the ports are the same. One recent exception was that the 2016/2017 MBPs had inconsistent Thunderbolt bandwidth because they didn't have enough PCIe lanes. IIRC left side had full 40Gbps ports but the right side had 20Gbps. The 2018 version has full speed on all four. EDIT - another potential point of confusion, they don't mark Thunderbolt ports vs USB-C ports. On any given device they're all the same, but they expect you to know that the 12"-mini-macbook is just USB-C while the Pro and Air are all Thunderbolt. So yeah, it'd be helpful to have some symbols on the laptops. They do label ports on their desktops. I assume this comes down to Ive not wanting labels on his beautiful chunk of aluminum where someone might accidentally see them while using it.
- sambroner 8y ago
  Wow, "only starts charging while awake" really explains some confusing mornings waking up to a dead laptop.
  - wlesieutre 8y ago
    To clarify, I'm talking about using the laptop as a power source to charge other devices (phones, tablets, etc) off your laptop's USB ports. If you plug them in while the laptop is asleep they won't start charging. If you plug them in while the laptop is awake they'll start to charge, and they'll keep going if the computer goes to sleep later. If you laptop isn't charging itself while plugged in to the wall you have other problems.

by jsgo 8y ago

wlesieutre 8y ago

All ports on Apple's laptops behave the same for charging - they'll continue to provide power while sleeping, but won't start providing power. If you want to use it as a battery in your backpack while it's closed you have to plug your phone in, wake the computer up, then put it back to sleep. At least that was the case last time I tested it. For the most part they don't need colors because all of the ports are the same. One recent exception was that the 2016/2017 MBPs had inconsistent Thunderbolt bandwidth because they didn't have enough PCIe lanes. IIRC left side had full 40Gbps ports but the right side had 20Gbps. The 2018 version has full speed on all four. EDIT - another potential point of confusion, they don't mark Thunderbolt ports vs USB-C ports. On any given device they're all the same, but they expect you to know that the 12"-mini-macbook is just USB-C while the Pro and Air are all Thunderbolt. So yeah, it'd be helpful to have some symbols on the laptops. They do label ports on their desktops. I assume this comes down to Ive not wanting labels on his beautiful chunk of aluminum where someone might accidentally see them while using it.

sambroner 8y ago
Wow, "only starts charging while awake" really explains some confusing mornings waking up to a dead laptop.
- wlesieutre 8y ago
  To clarify, I'm talking about using the laptop as a power source to charge other devices (phones, tablets, etc) off your laptop's USB ports. If you plug them in while the laptop is asleep they won't start charging. If you plug them in while the laptop is awake they'll start to charge, and they'll keep going if the computer goes to sleep later. If you laptop isn't charging itself while plugged in to the wall you have other problems.