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For all the times Apple seems to be willing to "stick to its guns" and ignore consumer complaining, this seems like a weird time to give in. They basically mad

For all the times Apple seems to be willing to "stick to its guns" and ignore consumer complaining, this seems like a weird time to give in. They basically made a line-in-the-sand on USB-C adoption, and it pretty much worked. I'd argue that an HDMI and SD card readers are less useful, and certainly far less versatile than additional USB-C ports. For all the dongle jokes of a few years ago, I don't really see a reason to go back to less versatile ports in laptops.

sintaxi 5y ago
Every monitor and TV manufactured within the last decade without exception has an HDMI input and monitors that support thunderbolt are nearly double the cost. Even if money is no object that HDMI port will prove to be useful.
- cactus2093 5y ago
  It's weird to sell the machine with a super high resolution 120hz mini LED screen though and then optimize the ports for the cheap $400 monitor market. You're right though the HDMI port might come in handy in random situations, better to include it than not. The SD port is the one I really don't get. And I still maintain that the continued lack of USB-A ports is a much bigger dongle problem than the lack of HDMI port was.
  - bliteben 5y ago
    USB-a dongle's make money and I'm sure the removal of magsafe cost them on applecare
  - sintaxi 5y ago
    The HDMI is for plugging into displays that are available to you when you are out of your office. Since they all have HDMI inputs this is a very sensible port.
  - newbie2020 5y ago
    My company had to dongle up EVERY meeting room once developers switched to MacBook pros with USB-C. But we still have non Mac users who use HDMI. To this day, every meeting has the potential to be sixty seconds late while we navigate through dongle hell…
  - addicted 5y ago
    Because the cheap HDMI monitors might be the only ones available to you as your company calls people into the office but now with the added beauty of hoteling. /snark
  - toyg 5y ago
    SD is absolutely massive in Asia, on a level that I think cannot be gauged properly from the West. I reckon these ports have been added with an eye to the Asian market rather than California.
    - tbabb 5y ago
      > SD is absolutely massive in Asia Why is that?
      - bombcar 5y ago
        I assume it took off instead of USB storage for reasons lost to time.
        alanbernstein 5y ago
        It's not some great mystery, micro SD cards are tiny, USB storage isn't.
      - eyko 5y ago
        Cheap android phones with decent cameras and expandable storage (microSD). Edit: I'm obviously oversimplifying, but most of the world doesn't have always-on data connections (e.g. rural areas) and manufacturers outside of silicon valley do optimise for people that may want to download media so the can view/listen when they're not connected. Nothing beats a cheap phone replaceable battery and storage.
    - cactus2093 5y ago
      That's interesting. Are you talking about microSD in smartphones, or standard SD? MicroSD support would have actually made more sense to me than standard SD. But from what it looks like micro cards will still require a dongle of sorts.
      - bpicolo 5y ago
        You can get an SD case for a micro SD card for less than 5 bucks. Can't adapt the other way inside a slot.
  - gnufied 5y ago
    Depending on HDMI spec supported, an HDMI port can power pretty high specced display. I am not sure where this cheap monitor thing is coming from.
  - Bud 5y ago
    They didn't optimize the ports for the cheap monitor market, at all. These machines support Apple's extremely expensive display and all the various 4K and 5K displays out there, admirably. And they ALSO have the single most needed and bitched about port if it's absent, by far, for nearly all business users, which is HDMI. Far and away the best thing they could have added. I personally will not use it often, but when I do, it will be invaluable, and for the users I support, it will be a tremendous increase in convenience and ease-of-use. If you need a lot of USB-A ports, get a CalDigit dock and be done with it. If you need just 1, there are extraordinarily tiny adapters. It's time to get over USB-A.
    - girvo 5y ago
      Which reminds me: I want more USB-C ports; Caldigits latest Thunderbolt 4 dock finally added the ability (as I believe the chipsets available maxed out at 2 ports previously). One of those, plus a 14" MacBook Pro with the M1X Max and I think I'll be set for computers + connectivity for a very long while.
  - btgeekboy 5y ago
    If I had one of these machines, I would not be using that port at my desk. However, I would be using it in every conference room I use, multiple times daily. It’s the difference between plugging in the cable vs. finding the right dongle that’s security-cabled to the presenter cable, and connecting it in the middle.
  - dharma1 5y ago
    SD cards are essential for anyone who does video or photography seriously - and that’s a big part of the market this laptop sells to. I’m glad it’s back
    - can16358p 5y ago
      Nope. I do them seriously. My Mavic 2 Pro has a microSD slot, my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV has a CF slot (it also does have a SD slot too, which is slower and I've never used it). SD card reader is a nice addition for a handful of pros, sure, but definitely not essential for everyone who does photo/video seriously.
      - dharma1 5y ago
        yeah and my blackmagic cameras have SD/CF/SSD - but SD is super common, most cameras have it. New UHS-II SD cards are pretty fast - https://www.cameramemoryspeed.com/sd-memory-card-faq/fastest-memory-card/ https://www.cameramemoryspeed.com/sd-memory-card-faq/fastest... MicroSD->SD is easy with a dummy adapter
Gigachad 5y ago
I imagine the air and base model pro will still retain USB-C only.
- wffurr 5y ago
  I really hope they bring MagSafe at least back to the air in next years rumored redesign and refreshed chip.
danudey 5y ago
Anecdote, but... I rarely, but sometimes, need to read SD cards, for e.g. embedded systems, RPi, Nintendo Switch, etc. Not enough to go out and buy a brand new USB-C dongle which I would then lose somewhere in my house, but enough that it's annoying to not be able to use my primary laptop with it. Don't get me wrong, I would still buy a MacBook with no SD card slot, but I would occasionally run into cases where I wish I had that dongle that I lost somewhere.
- zeitg3ist 5y ago
  Well these are all microSD cards, so you would still need an adapter :)
rimliu 5y ago
Take one of the "pro" markets—photographers. They sure have to deal with SD cards, and they often shoot tethered, which almost always means HDMI connection.
- sbuk 5y ago
  Tethering isn't done over HDMI. Invariably it's propietary, Micro USB-B or Micro-USB 3.1 to the camera and a plain old USB-A to the machine. Wireless tether is a thing to.
JohnBooty 5y ago
The SD card slot is a weird duck. There's a single use case for which can't easily be replaced by a USB-C dongle: using it as makeshift additional "internal" storage. SD cards work pretty well for that, for most read-heavy use cases. On older Macbooks, with undersized internal storage, I'd keep an SD card in the slot. I'd keep downloaded media there, installers, even infrequently used applications. Assuming one's using a high quality SD card, performance was "plenty good enough." I wouldn't keep anything crucial on an SD card, but everything on my local storage is backed up to the cloud anyway, so not really an issue.

sintaxi 5y ago

Every monitor and TV manufactured within the last decade without exception has an HDMI input and monitors that support thunderbolt are nearly double the cost. Even if money is no object that HDMI port will prove to be useful.

cactus2093 5y ago
It's weird to sell the machine with a super high resolution 120hz mini LED screen though and then optimize the ports for the cheap $400 monitor market. You're right though the HDMI port might come in handy in random situations, better to include it than not. The SD port is the one I really don't get. And I still maintain that the continued lack of USB-A ports is a much bigger dongle problem than the lack of HDMI port was.
- bliteben 5y ago
  USB-a dongle's make money and I'm sure the removal of magsafe cost them on applecare
- sintaxi 5y ago
  The HDMI is for plugging into displays that are available to you when you are out of your office. Since they all have HDMI inputs this is a very sensible port.
- newbie2020 5y ago
  My company had to dongle up EVERY meeting room once developers switched to MacBook pros with USB-C. But we still have non Mac users who use HDMI. To this day, every meeting has the potential to be sixty seconds late while we navigate through dongle hell…
- addicted 5y ago
  Because the cheap HDMI monitors might be the only ones available to you as your company calls people into the office but now with the added beauty of hoteling. /snark
- toyg 5y ago
  SD is absolutely massive in Asia, on a level that I think cannot be gauged properly from the West. I reckon these ports have been added with an eye to the Asian market rather than California.
  - tbabb 5y ago
    > SD is absolutely massive in Asia Why is that?
    - bombcar 5y ago
      I assume it took off instead of USB storage for reasons lost to time.
      - alanbernstein 5y ago
        It's not some great mystery, micro SD cards are tiny, USB storage isn't.
    - eyko 5y ago
      Cheap android phones with decent cameras and expandable storage (microSD). Edit: I'm obviously oversimplifying, but most of the world doesn't have always-on data connections (e.g. rural areas) and manufacturers outside of silicon valley do optimise for people that may want to download media so the can view/listen when they're not connected. Nothing beats a cheap phone replaceable battery and storage.
  - cactus2093 5y ago
    That's interesting. Are you talking about microSD in smartphones, or standard SD? MicroSD support would have actually made more sense to me than standard SD. But from what it looks like micro cards will still require a dongle of sorts.
    - bpicolo 5y ago
      You can get an SD case for a micro SD card for less than 5 bucks. Can't adapt the other way inside a slot.
- gnufied 5y ago
  Depending on HDMI spec supported, an HDMI port can power pretty high specced display. I am not sure where this cheap monitor thing is coming from.
- Bud 5y ago
  They didn't optimize the ports for the cheap monitor market, at all. These machines support Apple's extremely expensive display and all the various 4K and 5K displays out there, admirably. And they ALSO have the single most needed and bitched about port if it's absent, by far, for nearly all business users, which is HDMI. Far and away the best thing they could have added. I personally will not use it often, but when I do, it will be invaluable, and for the users I support, it will be a tremendous increase in convenience and ease-of-use. If you need a lot of USB-A ports, get a CalDigit dock and be done with it. If you need just 1, there are extraordinarily tiny adapters. It's time to get over USB-A.
  - girvo 5y ago
    Which reminds me: I want more USB-C ports; Caldigits latest Thunderbolt 4 dock finally added the ability (as I believe the chipsets available maxed out at 2 ports previously). One of those, plus a 14" MacBook Pro with the M1X Max and I think I'll be set for computers + connectivity for a very long while.
- btgeekboy 5y ago
  If I had one of these machines, I would not be using that port at my desk. However, I would be using it in every conference room I use, multiple times daily. It’s the difference between plugging in the cable vs. finding the right dongle that’s security-cabled to the presenter cable, and connecting it in the middle.
- dharma1 5y ago
  SD cards are essential for anyone who does video or photography seriously - and that’s a big part of the market this laptop sells to. I’m glad it’s back
  - can16358p 5y ago
    Nope. I do them seriously. My Mavic 2 Pro has a microSD slot, my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV has a CF slot (it also does have a SD slot too, which is slower and I've never used it). SD card reader is a nice addition for a handful of pros, sure, but definitely not essential for everyone who does photo/video seriously.
    - dharma1 5y ago
      yeah and my blackmagic cameras have SD/CF/SSD - but SD is super common, most cameras have it. New UHS-II SD cards are pretty fast - https://www.cameramemoryspeed.com/sd-memory-card-faq/fastest-memory-card/ https://www.cameramemoryspeed.com/sd-memory-card-faq/fastest... MicroSD->SD is easy with a dummy adapter

Gigachad 5y ago

I imagine the air and base model pro will still retain USB-C only.

wffurr 5y ago
I really hope they bring MagSafe at least back to the air in next years rumored redesign and refreshed chip.

danudey 5y ago

Anecdote, but... I rarely, but sometimes, need to read SD cards, for e.g. embedded systems, RPi, Nintendo Switch, etc. Not enough to go out and buy a brand new USB-C dongle which I would then lose somewhere in my house, but enough that it's annoying to not be able to use my primary laptop with it. Don't get me wrong, I would still buy a MacBook with no SD card slot, but I would occasionally run into cases where I wish I had that dongle that I lost somewhere.

zeitg3ist 5y ago
Well these are all microSD cards, so you would still need an adapter :)

rimliu 5y ago

Take one of the "pro" markets—photographers. They sure have to deal with SD cards, and they often shoot tethered, which almost always means HDMI connection.

sbuk 5y ago
Tethering isn't done over HDMI. Invariably it's propietary, Micro USB-B or Micro-USB 3.1 to the camera and a plain old USB-A to the machine. Wireless tether is a thing to.

JohnBooty 5y ago

The SD card slot is a weird duck. There's a single use case for which can't easily be replaced by a USB-C dongle: using it as makeshift additional "internal" storage. SD cards work pretty well for that, for most read-heavy use cases. On older Macbooks, with undersized internal storage, I'd keep an SD card in the slot. I'd keep downloaded media there, installers, even infrequently used applications. Assuming one's using a high quality SD card, performance was "plenty good enough." I wouldn't keep anything crucial on an SD card, but everything on my local storage is backed up to the cloud anyway, so not really an issue.