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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.
Especially when you chain 37 adapters and hubs together to gain back the functionality you had just 3 years ago...
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
They really should have made the switch to USB-C on their iPhone 7 and iPad. It seems to be virtually the same size. And what else uses lightning besides those few device lines?
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?
Table-ized A.I.
It looks a lot like the past
This signature is false.
https://griffintechnology.com/...
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
How can Apple possibly justify wasting valuable internal space on the 3.5mm headphone jack? If they removed that archaic interface they could likely shave off another 0.15mm, present another glossy graphic where that 0.15mm saving looks like a 30% reduction in thickness, and sell their customers yet another dongle.
It converts between Lightning and USB-C but accomplishes it by converting the Lightning port to an internal Firewire port, which then converts to an internal USB port, which converts to an HDMI port, and finally goes out as USB-C.
Something like this would have never happened under Jobs. He was meticulous that stuff worked together, easily, out of the box. Apple's lost its way with each product manager driving each product.
...if you think about the ear phone situation. The new macs still have a 3.5mm jack for ear phones and no special wireless chip. Hence there are no ear phones which will work with both your mac an your iPhone.
People used to claim that Apple was a hardware company but given the current state of their hardware this is hard to believe. I think they are turning into a dongle company where they plan to make their money selling dongles to let you connect all their hardware together.
what a weird thing to lie about.
You must keep calling it that until they no longer exist or are no longer needed. They are horrible, and the name for them should be just as horrible or embarrassing as possible.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
They are currently busy removing that archaic interface known as the keyboard one row at a time. Given them a chance to finish that before they start removing all the remaining ports.
I wonder if it's really luck.
Friend of mine noticed a odd pattern at his business - the only MBPs that had regular issues with the magsafe cables were sitting on desks that got direct sunlight, plenty others were still on their original adapters after 3 years.
Makes me suspect that whatever polymer Apple is using for the insulation on those cables is not exactly UV stable...
Well, except for getting rid of the magsafe, which is one of the best features it used to have.
Psssst, here's a clue - laptops are supposed to provide portability, and not require you to carry around a bunch of extra cables and docks.
Get a dock if you want to use lots of (legacy) ports on a compact laptop!
Uh... if I wanted a 'compact laptop' I'd buy a macbook air.
I wanted a pro laptop; I want a gigabit ethernet port. That is not a "legacy" port. I want regular USB. I want HDMI. These are not legacy ports either. These are what the other devices you will encounter on the road have. From the TV in the hotel to the flash drive a coworker will hand you. I don't want to have reach into a bag of dongles to find an adapter for every goddamned thing.
I'm fine with it being a bit heavier, and a bit thicker if it gives me more ports and more battery. Again, I wanted a pro laptop ... if I wanted a compact laptop that focused on minimalism... I'd have bought a macbook air.
I want more RAM, I want more SSD. This laptop might be a fine device... but its just a fancy macbook air. I'm in the market for a pro laptop.
Anyone that's somehow finding it possible to be hurting for an additional $25 after buying a $2,000+ computer can just get on ali or amazon or ebay and pick up two cables for $6 shipped or something like that.
Its not the money for the cables, its having to buy them at all. Its that I spent $2000+ for a computer with all the functionality I wanted built in. I wasn't trying to save money; I was trying to buy a pro laptop. Charge me another $200 and build-in the fucking ports. Not having to carry around a bag of shit is worth it to me.
Get a dock! Problem solved, and solved well.
A dock is something you leave on your desk. I need the ports to follow me around so I can use them where I go.
So your solution is Buy a laptop for $2000+ Then buy another slightly smaller laptop sized dongle to fix all the shortcomings of the first laptop.
FFS that is not a problem solved well. You know what a problem solved well would be... build the fucking dock INTO the goddamned laptop, and call that a "pro" laptop.
If it were and adapter and you'd still need a cable it might be called a dongle, but what Apple sells is a straight up cable. No Dongle in sight.
...to "Throbbing Pleasure Shaft."
There! Problem solved!
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
And charging that phone?
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
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.
I thought Apple people liked cleanliness and absolute order; I mean, look at an Apple store. Having to remember to carry around a bunch of dongles everywhere seems to be the opposite of that.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
And who here is going to stand up for how much they want to use iTunes?
Man there are rhetorical questions and then there are rhetorical questions.
Wow, charging over wireless? I hadn't heard of that feature.
It requires a dongle -- that you plug into the wall.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Get a dock if you want to use lots of (legacy) ports on a compact laptop!
Get a desktop if you want to connect a computer to something.
Get a mainframe if you need the processing power.
Portability? No one buys a laptop for portability! /retarded translation.
...the Apple Fan-Zombies will praise them for being "innovative" and "amazing"!
Evil Apple, evil Microsoft, Trump vs. Clinton.....The fucking Asteroid can't hit the Earth soon enough...
Now that Apple isn't going to be making models with the MagSafe connector, here's to hoping that they'll start licensing it to other PC manufacturers. It's a good design, it would be a waste to let it collect dust in an IP warchest.
Maybe instead of connecting via magic, it's using the connection power of courage?!
Wow, so I guess the Sennheiser bluetooth headphones that I am using with my iPhone 7+ right now isn't actually happening, because you say so.
Or, you're completely wrong. Perhaps lying for some purpose I can't undertstand.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
You said:
Hence there are no ear phones which will work with both your mac an your iPhone.
Bluetooth "ear phones" still exist. And they work with both MacBook Pro and iPhone 7.
You are wrong.
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
I would cut some slack here. The better statement would have been. IPhone comes lightning head phones only, MacBook Pro does not come with a Lightning Port, only USB-C. But, they include a 3.5MM Jack. If I bought both devices new, I would need to get some sort of external Headset and Cable to use them "together". 1. Cannot use the Headphones that come with the IPhone with the new MacBook Pro. 2. I have to have a different charger for each device. That is accurate. Bluetooth and everything else is Outside of Apple's design. Their wireless ear buds will not use the special chip and I cannot remember right now if they will connect to Bluetooth. The Top level one is correct in spirit, but bad in wording.