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Apparently the two USB-C ports are different specs [1] - USB 3.0 10 Gbps with DisplayPort support - USB 2.0 480 Mbps Both support charging but only one su
by geerlingguy 7mo ago
Apparently the two USB-C ports are different specs [1]
- USB 3.0 10 Gbps with DisplayPort support
- USB 2.0 480 Mbps
Both support charging but only one supports higher speeds and DisplayPort (A18 Pro limitation, as Apple probably doesn't dedicate much silicon to USB I/O).
[1] https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/04/macbook-neo-features-two-different-usb-ports/ https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/04/macbook-neo-features-tw...
- kunai 7mo agoWell the costs had to be cut somewhere. At least they put a headphone jack in it, so they're doing better than Microsoft on that front (who inexplicably removed it from the SP line)
- f311a 7mo agoIt's a mobile CPU. They did not modify it. Mobile devices run with a single USB port.
- quentindanjou 7mo agoI don't think this is intentional to cut cost. I simply think that the chip was primarily made for devices with one port (iPhone, iPad) and this is a bit of an afterthought. I wouldn't be surprised to see a future product with 2x USB 3.0 10 Gbps with DisplayPort support on the next generation, A19 Pro or A20 Pro maybe, if the product has enough success.
- bombcar 7mo agoThis is going to be a primary complaint people have (even if it's not terribly important) - hopefully they have some circuitry that warns you if you're plugging something into the wrong port (e.g. a USB 3 device into USB 2 at slow speeds).
- happyopossum 7mo ago> This is going to be a primary complaint people have No. Most people never plug in anything to their USB ports where they'd notice a speed difference. Definitely not people picking up a $600 MacBook for school or casual web browsing. I'd bet 90% of folks never do anything other than charge through these ports...
- bombcar 7mo agoI don't think people will have many complaints about this thing, but I do think this will be one of the primary (even though it's basically a non-complaint). It will definitely be used to justify spending $300-1500 more for a better laptop.
- happyopossum 7mo agoWhat do you think Neo users are going to plug in where they’d actually notice the USB speed differences?
- bombcar 7mo agoMonitors, mainly (as if you plug it in the "wrong" one it doesn't work). Followed by the IT-nerd of the family always complaining to them. Again, I think it's a minor nit realistically, but people are going to harp on it.
- Qub3d 7mo agoFor monitors at least, if you plug in to the wrong port you will get a GUI prompt advising you to use the other one [1]: > while the ports aren’t labeled, if you plug an external display into the “wrong” port, you’ll get an on-screen notification suggesting you plug it into the other port. [1]: https://daringfireball.net/2026/03/599_not_a_piece_of_junk_macbook_neo https://daringfireball.net/2026/03/599_not_a_piece_of_junk_m...
- 7mo ago
- et-al 7mo agoHey, it took courage to remove that headphone jack. https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/07/courage/ https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/07/courage/
- raw_anon_1111 7mo agoThis is 2026. iPhones use standard USB C headphones, you can charge your phone at the same time while using your wired headphones using MagSafe and you can even by low end $59 Beats Flex headphones that have all of the Apple magic. I’m going to need HN geeks to get over analog headphones from the 60s
- RhysU 7mo agoLow-end wired earbuds come in packages with dozens of units. I buy cheap earbuds because my kids love breaking them. Not everyone optimizes for the same thing. Analog remains the bees knees in certain settings.
- raw_anon_1111 7mo agoJust a quick search on Amazon shows a two pack of USB C headphones for $10
- RhysU 7mo agoOr 100 analog ones for $36.
- raw_anon_1111 7mo agoSo you are worried about saving money and consider $5 for a pair of headphones and you bought an iPhone????
- RhysU 7mo agoNo. Going back to what I initially responded to: > I’m going to need HN geeks to get over analog headphones from the 60s I am saying that not all adoration of the analog headphone jack is baseless. And we shouldn't universally move on.
- hbn 7mo agoIf they want to get these things into schools it would be insane to expect the schools to also supply everyone with AirPods or some other kind of wireless headphones.
- qingcharles 7mo agoThis is the answer.
- wmf 7mo agoI've heard wired EarPods are great or a USB DAC is under $10. It's still easier to have the headphone jack though.
- elondaits 7mo agoAirPods have too much latency for playing music. You want wired audio for running GarageBand or Logic Pro with a MIDI controller. They could have gone with a USB-C to audio adapter, but then you wouldn't be able to plug the MIDI controller and charge the computer. ... Only a few people make music with a Mac, but it's been an important part of its history, and Apple cares about it.
- kunai 7mo ago> ... Only a few people make music with a Mac, but it's been an important part of its history, and Apple cares about it. This seems to be a recent phenomenon. A lot of electronic music production uses the Macintosh and Logic/Ableton workflow, to say nothing about how many of the best DSPs were Apple-exclusive until about a decade ago. I don't really think music production, at least in the EDM and hip-hop world, got popular on the PC until the rise of Fruity Loops and FL Studio, but that's available on the Mac now too.
- andriy_koval 7mo ago> Well the costs had to be cut somewhere. its investment into next generation of loyal apple users, they more likely be selling it at loss.
- Tepix 7mo agoNope, not Apple
- pm90 7mo agoIm surprised that they’re doing DP and not thunderbolt?
- locusofself 7mo agothis new macbook does not have Thunderbolt
- herpdyderp 7mo agoIIRC it's because the iPhone chip doesn't have thunderbolt
- QuiEgo 7mo agoThunderbolt would presumably make it much more expensive, the spec has a ton of USB features that go from “optional” to “required” to be able to go into TBT alt mode, like supporting active cables
- Cthulhu_ 7mo agoMakes sense, the iphone has only one port after all. Interesting that it supported a second one though, or maybe that's the Pro revision designed for this use case?
- nevi-me 7mo agoThe second port is likely necessary for USB hubs that rely on both ports. I had one for my M1 Air. I assume it'd still work with the 2 different speeds, but I'd be curious to try it. I'm going to get a Neo for my wife once it's available in my country.
- regularfry 7mo agoCharging in and DisplayPort out on the same socket would mean an additional dongle or hub or something, so there's at least that reason for having both.
- stephenr 7mo agoNot necessarily - you just need a display that has USB-C input and supports USB-PD.
- volemo 7mo agoCouldn't one charge from the display connected to?
- thewebguyd 7mo agoBoth ports support power delivery, so you can still be plugged in and use DisplayPort out.
- w10-1 7mo ago> - USB 3.0 10 Gbps with DisplayPort support I'd like to run the external display plus an external SSD at USB 3 speeds, so I'd be waiting for experience reports on whether the one port can handle both without constraining the filesystem transfer speeds.
- ghrl 7mo agoSince it's just USB and not Thunderbolt, wouldn't it use DisplayPort Alt mode for the display leaving data transfer untouched?
- wpwpwpw 7mo agoThe USB 2.0 should be the one on the back, so the charging cable does not interfere with me plugging and unplugging things from the good port.
- Foivos 7mo agoUnless you use a dock, where you plug your things in the dock. Then you would want the "good" one to be the one of the back so it looks more clean and also have easier access to the slow port in the rare case you want to plug something there instead of the fast dock. At least we should both be happy that it exists, no matter where it is placed! This is a big improvement over the macbook 12 with just one port. This was too low even when using a dock.