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Apple's New MacBook Pro Requires a $25 Dongle To Charge Your iOS Device (networkworld.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Network World: As Phil Schiller explained during today's event, Apple's new MacBook Pros feature four Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C ports, and conveniently, each of these can be used to charge the machine. Now, USB-C is incredibly versatile, and Apple will use the advanced port for power charging, HDMI and much more. However, with USB-C the only game in town, you might reasonably be wondering: How in the world do I connect my iPhone to my sleek new MacBook Pro? The frustrating answer is that you won't be able to do so out of the box. Instead, you'll have to buy a dongle. This is especially frustrating because many people use their notebooks for a) charging purposes when an outlet isn't necessarily handy and b) for transferring photos and other data. Now, you might reasonably state that you can just rely upon the cloud for items like data transfer, but there's no getting around the fact that Apple's efforts in the cloud still leave much to be desired. How much will it cost to connect your iPhone to your brand new MacBook Pro? Well, Apple sells a USB-C to Lightning cable on its website for $25. While this is undoubtedly frustrating, we can't say that it's entirely unexpected given Apple gave us a preview of its preference for USB-C when it released its 12-in. MacBook last year. Still, it's a funky design choice for a decidedly Pro-oriented device where the last thing a prospective consumer would want to do is spend some extra cash for a dongle after spending upwards of $2,399. Lastly, while we're on the topic of ports, it's worth noting that the new MacBook Pros also do away with the beloved MagSafe connector.

3 of 347 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Silly word by rworne · · Score: 5, Informative

    Non-techies often giggle when I use the word "dongle". Can't we find a better word before HR hauls me in for alleged harassment?

    Not as far fetched as you think....

    --
    I tried every decent and legal way I could think of to resolve the issue w/the business before I rented the chicken suit
  2. Re: Apple: it just works by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Sorry. I do that all the time. The Cloud should never be the only choice. Hell, it should almost never be the first choice.

  3. Re:That's absurd. All Macs & iPhones have blue by cdwiegand · · Score: 4, Informative

    Um, yes, they do have Bluetooth, as well as BLE. Works just fine with my BT headphones, which I can guarantee are older than BLE itself is.

    --
    . Define sqrt(x) as something really evil like (x / rand()), and bury it deep. Watch your coworkers go nuts.