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Hey Apple, this is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the clean USB-C ports arrangement on new MacBooks! Charging Mode 1) By plugging the charger int

by adav 6y ago

Hey Apple, this is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the clean USB-C ports arrangement on new MacBooks! Charging Mode 1) By plugging the charger into the rearmost port, full 100% fast charge please. Charging Mode 2) By plugging the charger into the other, nearer port, I’m indicating that we’ll be here for a while... please trickle my battery up to 50-75% to prolong the battery’s lifespan. Indicate which mode I have instigated with a difference in “on charge” noises and show an explanatory notification in the MacOS UI. Perfect opportunity to explain what’s going on and espouse your green design credentials.

aaomidi 6y ago
This is a terrible idea. Even if you're going to do this it's far better to be a toggle on software rather than tying it to the port you're using.
- adav 6y ago
  But you can see what state the laptop’s in from across the room.
  - skrtskrt 6y ago
    I can't even glance at a MacBook on my desk and tell if I plugged into the closer or further USB-C port
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - Someone1234 6y ago
    I cannot say I've ever needed to know the charge-rate mode from across the room. I can say though that I've wanted to be able to plug a device in on both the left and right depending on location and usage. I really wouldn't want to lose that functionality for this, particularly when a simple software toggle is more flexible long term anyway. 9 times out of 10 I am going to use the same charge mode at the same physical location (e.g. at home, slow, at work fast). That would be the real killer feature, geo-fenced software toggle that knows where I am and what mode I previously used here.
    - adav 6y ago
      It’s a good point. Maybe I just really miss the little green or orange light on the MagSafe chargers. Then it was just a case of picking up the laptop and going, now I have to open it, give it a second to refresh its status, just to check. I’ve left the house a couple times with a dead laptop since getting the newer machine. Sorry for conflating two issues because I still wouldn’t know if the battery is full or not just from the different port.
  - kube-system 6y ago
    I don't think the ability to signal users from across the room is a use-case that Apple is designing for, or one they would ever consider. And even if it was, this metric is likely not high priority. Design continuity is often more important for usability than the number of features, and Apple especially priorities this.
snowwrestler 6y ago
I didn't think the USB-C / Thunderbolt port situation could get any more complicated and confusing [1], but congratulations, this would certainly do it. [1] https://www.macworld.com/article/3535896/how-to-tell-whether-a-usb-c-cable-can-carry-high-wattage-power-and-thunderbolt-3-data.html https://www.macworld.com/article/3535896/how-to-tell-whether...
- adav 6y ago
  We aim to please! :)
lilyball 6y ago
This is a great way to confuse 99% of customers. It also violates the idea that all 4 ports are identical, and also poses a problem if the user has stuff in the other ports because now they need to swap multiple cables every time they want to change charge behavior.
- adav 6y ago
  Agreed it could be confusing without some sort of prompt. Or maybe it could be opt-in from the settings just like the iOS “Optimised Battery Charging” toggle. Wrt all the ports being identical, it’s a bit of an edge case but there are already plenty of MacBook USB-C oddities. Instructions for monitors strictly plugged in on either side springs to mind as an example: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210754 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210754

by adav 6y ago

aaomidi 6y ago

This is a terrible idea. Even if you're going to do this it's far better to be a toggle on software rather than tying it to the port you're using.

adav 6y ago
But you can see what state the laptop’s in from across the room.
- skrtskrt 6y ago
  I can't even glance at a MacBook on my desk and tell if I plugged into the closer or further USB-C port
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- Someone1234 6y ago
  I cannot say I've ever needed to know the charge-rate mode from across the room. I can say though that I've wanted to be able to plug a device in on both the left and right depending on location and usage. I really wouldn't want to lose that functionality for this, particularly when a simple software toggle is more flexible long term anyway. 9 times out of 10 I am going to use the same charge mode at the same physical location (e.g. at home, slow, at work fast). That would be the real killer feature, geo-fenced software toggle that knows where I am and what mode I previously used here.
  - adav 6y ago
    It’s a good point. Maybe I just really miss the little green or orange light on the MagSafe chargers. Then it was just a case of picking up the laptop and going, now I have to open it, give it a second to refresh its status, just to check. I’ve left the house a couple times with a dead laptop since getting the newer machine. Sorry for conflating two issues because I still wouldn’t know if the battery is full or not just from the different port.
- kube-system 6y ago
  I don't think the ability to signal users from across the room is a use-case that Apple is designing for, or one they would ever consider. And even if it was, this metric is likely not high priority. Design continuity is often more important for usability than the number of features, and Apple especially priorities this.

snowwrestler 6y ago

I didn't think the USB-C / Thunderbolt port situation could get any more complicated and confusing [1], but congratulations, this would certainly do it. [1] https://www.macworld.com/article/3535896/how-to-tell-whether-a-usb-c-cable-can-carry-high-wattage-power-and-thunderbolt-3-data.html https://www.macworld.com/article/3535896/how-to-tell-whether...

adav 6y ago
We aim to please! :)

lilyball 6y ago

This is a great way to confuse 99% of customers. It also violates the idea that all 4 ports are identical, and also poses a problem if the user has stuff in the other ports because now they need to swap multiple cables every time they want to change charge behavior.

adav 6y ago
Agreed it could be confusing without some sort of prompt. Or maybe it could be opt-in from the settings just like the iOS “Optimised Battery Charging” toggle. Wrt all the ports being identical, it’s a bit of an edge case but there are already plenty of MacBook USB-C oddities. Instructions for monitors strictly plugged in on either side springs to mind as an example: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210754 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210754