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Comment by econnors | Hacker News Reader

Before this generation of Apple products, I found their product shortcomings so minor that I wouldn't consider switching. I think I'll always favor apple products but I'm definitely loving them less than I always have.

- If you buy a new macbook and a new iPhone, you can't physically connect them

- If you buy standard aux headphones, you have to keep track of the tiny dongle

- You can't charge your iPhone while using wired headphones

- No more Macsafe chargers which have saved me so many times

- A touchbar that I'm sure I could get used to, but haven't seen a compelling use case yet

Unlike some others, I'm not pushed to the point of leaving Apple. I just don't want to buy the new gen and hope that they can refocus on creating great experiences that doesnt involve friction like the above changes do.

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Agreed on all of this, but magsafe for sure. I was disappointed that they removed that feature. It saved me many times, through things that weren't even my fault like someone at the coffee shop tripping over the cord or my dog running past and snagging it. I shudder to think of my macbook likely flying to the ground in those situations.

It amazes me that they so eagerly ditched magsafe. As a long time and generally quite happy PC owner/user, magsafe was one of the few Apple features that I looked at with envy.

I know magsafe is probably a lot better than this, but my type c charger also comes right off when I trip over the cable.

Granted it's because the port got wrecked, but it works (kinda).

I don't see how having your cord in a spot someone can trip over it at a coffee shop isn't your fault ;)

In a crowded space, there may not be such a spot.

Accidents are always possible, Magsafe was a great innovation, and now Apple are going to abandon it while presumably sitting on the patent? Not that that's stopped Microsoft copying it for the Surface.

My wife's laptop is on its 3rd Magsafe adapter in 7 years. As much as I liked the features it provided Apple couldn't make a charger that could actually handle some abuse and not have the cord fall apart after a year. I mean you just have to read all the reviews at Apple.com to see this a common issue. At least with USB C other companies can make super high quality versions of the cable that will last awhile.

About Magsafe - you should definitely consider - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/436147229/snapnator-you...

There are a few USB C magsafe chargers on the market, they work with non-Apple hardware as well.

Not that I disagree with your larger point.

I can't speak for all of them, but on the second-most recent episode of The Talk Show Gruber and his guest Joanna Stern agreed that the most popular aftermarket USB-C MagSafe replacement did not cut it. Be careful before you buy one of these.

I don't think there are any that provide enough power for the pro

It's interesting to contrast with the ms Surface pro 4:

- Headphone jack

- Magnetic charger

- Touchscreen

- Pen/digitizer screen

The only problems with the sp4 is it should've had double the battery, and Ms needs to work more on high dpi support - specifically the file explorer needs a high-dpi, touch-first skin.

> - If you buy a new macbook and a new iPhone, you can't physically connect them

Yes, you can. Get a USB C to Lightning cable or just a simple USB A to USB C adapter. Here's 2 for 7 bucks:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EL4PVFE/ref=oh_aui_de...

> - If you buy standard aux headphones, you have to keep track of the tiny dongle

Or buy lots of tiny dongles and keep them attached to your headphones? Honestly I just use the lightning set included with the phone.

> - You can't charge your iPhone while using wired headphones

Yes, you can.

https://smile.amazon.com/Lightning-Adapter-Charger-Earphones...

> - No more Macsafe chargers which have saved me so many times

Not quite true:

https://smile.amazon.com/USB-C-Magnetic-Adapter-MacBook-Alum...

> - A touchbar that I'm sure I could get used to, but haven't seen a compelling use case yet

Ok, you get one. I don't see a point to it either.

So yeah, you'll need to buy some accessories and yeah, Apple should have included all of that stuff at no cost ... buy hey, they're probably making big $$$ on the dongles they sell directly.

I noticed the amperage on that adapter looked wrong, and in fact one of the only two reviews points this out: "DANGER: Cannot handle wattage of Macbook Pro power charging" "The specs for this say it handles 2.1 amps at 5 volts. That equals 10.5 Watts. The Apple 2016 Macbook Pro has either a 61 Watt or 87 Watt charger." ""At best this cable will reduce your charging speed by a factor of 6-8 times. That's why it cannot even charge the computer while you're actually using it."

If you have the 12" MacBook (as I do), this one supposedly works (it is from a legit company and claims to handle 60W, which is sadly for this thread just short of the 13" MacBook Pro), but it is extremely large and looks really annoying :/. (Check out pictures of the actual connector in the reviews, or on the product page of some other website than Amazon.)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CQTK6GU/

Yeah, I noticed that after I posted it. Griffin is also a reputable company, I'd definitely grab the one you posted over the one I found.

I think the parent meant he couldn't do all that stuff sans dongle/adapter.

I don't ever remember a Mac where you had to buy a pile of cables to just to use it with common non-legacy stuff (wired mouse, usb keys, phone charger etc.) you already have. I'm guessing that only a small percentage of people already had any USB-C devices at the time they bought a new MBP.

original iMac with USB only...

I forgot that one! For some reason I thought it might still have had a SCSI port because of all those Syquests and Zip disks that people still had.

I love my 2013 macbook air, but when it comes time to upgrade if I can't even do something as simple as plug in my headphones without a dongle there's no way I'm considering a macbook.

When you come to upgrade you might be looking at a model which hasn't been released at this time, but the 2016 MacBook Pro does have a headphone socket.

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