you're extolling the benefits of USB-C not the lack of USB-A. The presence of a USB-A would not affect your listed benefits in the least.
Apple is design driven.
I also hate the new keyboard but couldn’t care less about using dongles if I get a thinner laptop.
When the discrete graphics chip is being used, plus a retina display, and or several dongles plugged in for ethernet, usb-a or whatever, battery life on my 2017 MBP while doing development work is maybe 3-4 hours.
It was quite a shock to go to that from the 8-9 hours I used to get from my older MacBook air. Whereas previously I would leave certain apps (notably image editing apps or VMs) open while developing, I now find myself opening them, doing a task and then closing them so as not to activate the discrete graphics chip and drain the battery.
I now find myself opening them, doing a task and
then closing them so as not to activate the discrete
graphics chip and drain the battery.
Is there no way to do that? It's been a while since I used a MBP with discrete graphics. There used to be a menubar app for that, but I always felt it should have been an option baked into MacOS itself.
There is an app for that (https://gfx.io/), but it doesn't switch automatically when battery is in use so you have to enable it manually (and you have to close any apps that are using the discrete chip first).
Mostly though I just use that app to know when the discrete chip is enabled, and then quit whatever program enabled it when I've finished with it.
I remember about old single slot pcmcia cards which had a push mechanism that would show a RJ-11 so you could connect a modem.
Check the "XJACK connector" for pictures. It was technically possible. It still is.
Horrible to deal with.
In college I inherited a Dell Inspiron 1100 from my Dad. Total pile of junk.
I upgraded the CPU, Ram, and disk drive. It was still terrible.
At this point, what are the benefits of a thinner laptop? Lighter I can understand, but what does a thinner laptop enable you to do?
What does a thinner laptop enable you to do? What a question. Might as well ask why compact cars are more popular in the city than pickup trucks.
But, I wrote "at this point".
Does 3mm, at about the same weight, really make much difference?
I suppose incremental improvements(?) in "thinness" accumulate, and in 2028 we'll all be complaining that the new MacBook Pro at 2.8mm thick is easily bent and has no ports.
Way too often people on here see something and think "that doesn't help my use case, therefore it's a stupid decision" and never stop to think "hey maybe someone has a use case I don't have, and maybe this helps them". To you, 3mm doesn't sound like a lot. To me, a few hundred Mhz or another few GB of RAM doesn't sound like a lot. But you don't see me screaming in the comments thread "how dare Apple put a faster processor in their Macbooks instead of shaving off another few MM of thickness!" because that's just ridiculous. Someone out there is happy that the machine is faster, even if that person isn't me. I have the ability to put myself in someone else's shoes and be happy on their behalf.
Some people's laptops sit on a desk all day and that's fine. Mine doesn't, and every MM shaved off is another pair of socks I can pack into my luggage.
How would you feel if your laptop suddenly doubled in thickness but didn’t gain any weight? Most people would be unhappy about that.
Weren’t we having this discussion when they dropped the floppy drive? Should they keep USB-A forever? When is it ok that they drop USB-A? The original move to USB-A was met with resistance to people then that were angry that suddenly their ADP or other older devices wouldn’t connect — but then device markers saw the advantages of USB and quickly moved to embrace it. They are starting to see the advantages of Thunderbolt 3 and eventually, USB-A will go the way of the serial port — but not without the requisite hang-wringing and “get off my lawn” first. In 3 years, nothing but dollar-store junk will still use USB-A.
Good. Then I'll give up my laptop with USB-A and buy one with USB-C only. In the now, where I live, many things still use USB-A. This is the main reason I didn't even consider a new MacBook Pro for replacing my 2015 one.