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I dont know why this is controversial. I'm way more happy with 4x USB-C, than 5 unique ports, that will likely never be used on a regular basis, even when they were relevant
4 USBC would be cool. Most of these devices only have 2 or 3, minus 1 required for power delivery. If you have peripherals a hub is almost required.
Content note: shilling
Just had a look at the prices, I can get 128 GB of RAM for the price that Apple charge for 16 GB of RAM.
I'm tempted to get 128 GB of RAM just because, I definitely don't need it.
It's nuts. Framework marks up their RAM, and it's still way cheaper through them than through Apple, and you can buy aftermarket RAM too.
My next personal laptop will probably be Framework, especially since nearly everything else is going soldered RAM.
I do have 4, but except for extremely rare circumstances I only ever use one. A single USBC cable handles an external display, power, plus extra accessories like a keyboard via a built-in hub in the monitor. If you wanted to that monitor also supports daisy chaining another monitor without having to plug it into the laptop.
Obviously it's quite a subjective thing, but if you happen to use tools from after USBC was a thing and your laptop routine is pretty established, I think you can get a ton of simplicity and function out of those ports.
That's great for a docking station setup. But if all you need is docking stations at home and the office, just get a mini PC/ mac mini.
Laptops are supposed to be useful without a docking station, and if all you have is USB-C you can't even read most thumb drives.
Well I also use my laptop in isolation away from those docked environments, so it is useful.
To be honest I'm not sure I've plugged in a USB drive in the last year, likely much longer. But I do keep a tiny A to C adapter in my bag, so if need be I can easily plug a traditional A connector in. If I were to buy a usb drive today I'd get a USB C or hybrid one.
Having to carry dongles and hubs to connect to devices severely impacts the convenience of a laptop.
I agree, but I really don't do that. What I do remember 10 years back is carrying around a bunch of different cables for each of the ports I had, which is practically the same issue.
I only carried cables if I was carrying the device that required the cable. If I needed to plug into something where I was going, whatever device I was using had a USB-A cable already.
With .ost modern laptops, you have to carry a hub so you can use that cable.
I think it's a pretty subjective experience honestly. I get by just fine carrying a single USB C cable. The USB A adapter comes out extremely rarely for me. Wherever I go, everything uses USB C.
How about this:
- 4x USB-C (can't see why I'd need 4 though, 3 is plenty)
- 2x USB-A
- HDMI
- RJ-45
- headphone jack
- microsd
That should still fit just fine on the chassis if they didn't do the stupid curve thing, and it certainly wouldn't make it thicker.
Especially the HDMI and jack are just silly to drop.
I honestly wish every company would just stop using USB A. So many companies still including it are preventing device manufacturers from going all in on C.
Going forward, this is the way. However, there is a massive amount of usba legacy hardware like mouse/keyboard dangles, headsets, hubs, chargers, and other less universally available products. Just think about how long PS2 and VGA ports existed on montherboards.
What's wrong with having the option?
The more its held onto on devices, the more things will just keep using it. If we had ditched USB A on new devices (desktop motherboards included) companies would start actually releasing USB C peripherals and other devices. Think mouse dongles, keyboards, speakers, etc.
I honestly don't really see that as a problem. If customers really want USB-C, they'll buy USB-C peripherals and USB-A will drop off naturally. But if USB-A peripherals are more attractive (i.e. cheaper), then I see no problem with both continuing to exist. Let the people decide, don't force USB-C down their throats...
If customers really want USB-C, they’ll buy USB-C peripherals and USB-A will drop off naturally.
How? If there are basically no USB-C peripherals, how are people going to buy them to show their support? One side needs to start first so the other will get on board, otherwise people will just stick to USB-A because there is no other real option. Apple is trying, and they are usually the trendsetters in the tech space, but it doesn't seem like the rest of the market is jumping on board like the usually do.
The people can't decide if there isn't anything to decide on.
There are USB-C peripherals though. I just did a quick check for "USB-C <thing>" (tried mouse, keyboard, and drive) and found plenty of options. The USB-A devices are frequently cheaper, probably because USB-A compliance is a lot easier than USB-C compliance, which translates to cheaper products.
If the market doesn't jump to support USB-C, it's probably because it's either too expensive or customers don't care. If neither is the case, the companies that make USB-C devices would make a killing and everyone else would rush to catch up.
I personally slightly prefer USB-C, but I don't need everything to be USB-C. USB-A still works fine, and they work especially well w/ my older devices. What benefits do I get by switching to USB-C? Having everything the same is nice, but how much is that actually worth when it comes to extra costs?
I guess that is where our opinions differ. I find USB A doesn't work fine, and is a pain in the ass that I only use because I have to.
If you actually look at those results when searching USB C <thing> you will see that they are nearly all either cheap no name products or come with a dongle (the thing I want to avoid). But back to the customers will change naturally thing, that wont happen until they have the choice. I could see your argument making sense if all manufacturers decided to make every product in both styles for 5 years to see what everone wants to use, but that isn't going to happen. People will choose devices for what they have, and what they have is nearly 0 USB C ports on everything.
IF 50% of mainstream brand peripherals and IF motherboard manufacturers actually had more than a single USB C port (if any) surrounded by half a dozen USB A ports, people might actually have a choice. Right now its buy USB A or go to dongle hell, which I very much dislike.
And I honestly don't think USB-A is that bad, especially on a laptop where I can look at the cable and put the solid part on the bottom. It's really annoying on desktops with vertical ports on the back that I can't see while plugging in a cable.
USB-C costs more and is totally overkill for most peripherals where speed really isn't a concern. I really don't care if my keyboard is USB-A or USB-C, I plug it in once and I'm done (on my laptop, it's to a USB-C hub). Likewise for a mouse. I do care for external SSDs, so mine is USB-C. I don't care for charging my headphones or other small wearables, I just leave the charging cable in the hub/desktop. I do care about my monitor, and that's either USB-C (work) or DisplayPort (home desktop).
Both ports are fine. USB-A is a lot cheaper, so I'd rather pay less than force everything to be USB-C for reasons.
I would prefer 10x USB C than that shit, lol
There is still a headphone jack, it's on the other side.
Yup, I have a 2019 Macbook Pro, so I'm well aware. But it doesn't have any of the other stuff I mentioned. The new Macbook Pros has most of it, but still no RJ-45.
They already come with what you ask, minus usb-a and honestly fuck usb-a
2024 16" macbook pro: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/121554
- Charging and Expansion
- SDXC card slot
- HDMI port
- 3.5 mm headphone jack
- MagSafe 3 port
- Three Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports with support for:
- Charging
- DisplayPort
- Thunderbolt 5 (up to 120Gb/s)
- Thunderbolt 4 (up to 40Gb/s)
- USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s)
- I like USB-A
- RJ45 is important to me
- the only USB-C I use are my hub, work monitor, and power adapter
USB-A and RJ45 have far more value to me than a third USB-C. I've only ever used 2x USB-C at the same time, whereas my USB-C hub is crammed with non-USB-C ports.
RJ45 and HMDI in particular are way thicker than usb-c
RJ45 connectors are commonly a folding down connector. HDMI can be replaced with a micro HDMI and is often replaced with additional USBC to utilize display port alt mode.
True, yet they would totally fit, and do fit on the newer Macbook Pros. And many professional class laptops have RJ45 w/o making it any thicker (port flips down, so it doesn't need to be full-height always).
You like a little baggy of dongles and adapters?
I've got an external screen that connects with a USB-C-to-C cable to that thunderbolt port.
Finding a cable supporting that is harder though, it needs both Power Delivery(PD) as DisplayPort(DP), and most cables don't support the bandwidth for DP.
All you need is a travel dongle with hdmi displayport some USB-A and ethernet (If you really need that, tho) for me laptop screen on the go is good enough, have no usb-A devices (and those who have are upgraded to C using permanent usb legacy adapter mounted on the cable) and on the go, wifi/hotspot is good enough.
At home, ethernet and USB A are connected through the usb C 4k monitor.