In places other than the US, the majority of commuters are supporting the weight of their laptops on their backs (on public transit/walking/cycling), rather than having it sitting beside them (in a car.)
I seriously saw someone claiming that the addition of a really fast $2700 SSD makes it Pro, not the missing connectivity.
> which is cool because I have an HDMI port right there on the side of my [2014, may-it-last-forever] macbook pro
I would point out that modern non-Apple PCs don't tend to have HDMI ports, either. They either have mini-HDMI ports, or OTG ports. The dongle requirement is nearly-universal for connecting modern devices to projectors, to the point that you may as well just buy a set of dongles for each projector, rather than for each laptop.
> It's next to the SD card slot where I can put in the SD cards from my rather nice digital camera
Is there a reason you can't plug the camera into the computer (using a USB cable) to transfer the photos instead? That's what I see the photographers at my own office doing.
(I asked one just now, and they said: if you're trying to transfer photos outdoors, moving an SD card also has the chance of pushing dust into the SD card slot on the camera. They say they've had SD card slots wear out/break before. And for cameras that take micro-SD, when moving the card they're always a little paranoid they might drop the thing on the floor and lose it. All in all, cables are just easier if it's your own camera and your own computer. SD cards are just for passing off to other people.)
SD cards - I've never had an SLR or a high end mirrorless camera (but i haven't bought either for maybe 18 months) that's been able to transfer through itself at anything like the speed of a fast SD card in the slot. Makes a big difference when you want to dump 64GB of pics. As for dust, my favourite camera has been to Syria, the desert southwest of the USA several times, morocco, antarctica on a sailing ship (so being sprayed a lot), and not to mention my local beach. Aswell as just being the camera i throw into my shoulder bag when going out. Unless the photographers in your own office are war photographers or dirt-bike specialists, I've probably given my kit a harder life than they have. I've never had an issue with pushing dust into the SD slot of my camera or laptop. I did however dent the ISO knob on my camera when trying to tether it to my laptop when sailing across drake's passage, and a wave tipped the boat and I instinctively grabbed the macbook and let the camera hit the deck. I learnt my lesson. Fair point on micro SD though, but I have never used them for photography. I would probably be concerned too about fumbling, especially if wearing gloves.
The new Sony full frame cameras all have USB-C charging and very fast transfer speeds.
(They're much more likely to optimise them for being carried in artisan faux-vintage messenger bags by people riding share-scooters between home and the FAANG shuttlebus...)