5 ms·

So, you can't charge this supposed new laptop while you are at a desk with it attached to an external monitor? What will Apple do, make you buy a special Apple

So, you can't charge this supposed new laptop while you are at a desk with it attached to an external monitor? What will Apple do, make you buy a special Apple monitor that allows you to connect more peripherals?

WhitneyLand 12y ago
Probably a new USB hub would do the trick.
staticshock 12y ago
That sounds like an unnecessarily expensive way to go--I imagine that a specialized connector is more likely. The article makes a good point about this category of concerns: > But just because it will be inconvenient for some users doesn’t mean that Apple won’t do it. In fact, you can almost hear the stage patter when the feature is unveiled: Most connectivity is wireless these days, we’ve made a great $49 accessory that adds all the ports you’d want, and the included power adapter—the most innovative power adapter ever—features a breakaway magnetic coupler and is itself a USB and Thunderbolt hub. I’m making the details up, but you’ve got to think there would be more to the story than, “Yeah, your power plug is also your USB plug, get used to it.”
k-mcgrady 12y ago
Or you could buy a laptop that works with an external monitor.
stephenhuey 12y ago
If the battery lasts for 18 hours, just charge it while you sleep!
smackfu 12y ago
One option would be to make the power adapter fancier. Instead of just being a box with a wall cable on one end and a MagSafe cable on the other end, what if it had USB and Thunderbolt ports? You would have the same amount of gear to carry around, but the actual laptop could be thinner.
cptskippy 12y ago
What's stopping the monitor from charging the laptop? The spec affords such things. How cool would it be if every monitor in the future used the exact same type of connector and also doubled as a power supply for anything connected to it? Same thing goes for ethernet.
to3m 12y ago
I'd bet that a substantial proportion of Macbook users never plug their computer into a monitor.
Kurtz79 12y ago
There are things like USB passthrough connectors (for devices that only need to be powered up by the USB power lines, but do not use the signal lines): http://bit.ly/1KsyPoS http://bit.ly/1KsyPoS The power connector cable could be a variation on the concept.

WhitneyLand 12y ago

Probably a new USB hub would do the trick.

staticshock 12y ago

That sounds like an unnecessarily expensive way to go--I imagine that a specialized connector is more likely. The article makes a good point about this category of concerns: > But just because it will be inconvenient for some users doesn’t mean that Apple won’t do it. In fact, you can almost hear the stage patter when the feature is unveiled: Most connectivity is wireless these days, we’ve made a great $49 accessory that adds all the ports you’d want, and the included power adapter—the most innovative power adapter ever—features a breakaway magnetic coupler and is itself a USB and Thunderbolt hub. I’m making the details up, but you’ve got to think there would be more to the story than, “Yeah, your power plug is also your USB plug, get used to it.”

k-mcgrady 12y ago

Or you could buy a laptop that works with an external monitor.

stephenhuey 12y ago

If the battery lasts for 18 hours, just charge it while you sleep!

smackfu 12y ago

One option would be to make the power adapter fancier. Instead of just being a box with a wall cable on one end and a MagSafe cable on the other end, what if it had USB and Thunderbolt ports? You would have the same amount of gear to carry around, but the actual laptop could be thinner.

cptskippy 12y ago

What's stopping the monitor from charging the laptop? The spec affords such things. How cool would it be if every monitor in the future used the exact same type of connector and also doubled as a power supply for anything connected to it? Same thing goes for ethernet.

to3m 12y ago

I'd bet that a substantial proportion of Macbook users never plug their computer into a monitor.

Kurtz79 12y ago

There are things like USB passthrough connectors (for devices that only need to be powered up by the USB power lines, but do not use the signal lines): http://bit.ly/1KsyPoS http://bit.ly/1KsyPoS The power connector cable could be a variation on the concept.