Happy to see they added Magsafe but ALSO still support charging via the USB3 ports.
Apple pushed the whole industry to standardize on one connector for everything. If anyone really needed those other ports, a small $30 portable hub would add them all back.
Magsafe 3 is just another connector that will add more e-waste and proprietary cables to the mix. It's nice that they kept the USB-C charging, but now non-2021+ Macbook users can't reuse the charging cables.
I didn't really find Magsafe that useful anyway, as I'm pretty much always hooked up to a monitor via USB-C (which charges as well).
I guess it's nice for those that miss it, but we were starting to finally get to a world with a one-size-fits-all cable. Remember back in the day when old-style cell phones/laptops all had proprietary chargers?
But it seems the momentum for USB-C is there, so hopefully consolidation continues. Anyway, the EU and maybe others seem to be moving towards legislation to consolidate I/O types anyway.
I'm guessing the HDMI is partially due to bandwidth limitations of USB-C, though I forget the specifics.
The SD-Card slot I can understand; for Magsafe I feels the same as you that I didn't really care for it, but HDMI... they might as well could have put a VGA port on there haha
So, SD for pro photo/video (and they are very right about full-size SDs here), HDMI for pro office, USB3 for everything else, seems legit.
I’m the complete opposite. I have to buy USB-C cables solely for MacBook Pro since nothing else I have uses it. I have plenty of HDMI and DP cables but literally only use USB-C on my laptop because I was forced to. Reverting back is a welcome change. USB-C only works as the only standard if you’re only buying relatively new tech products otherwise its the XKCD meme about an 11th standard.
My tv doesn’t have usbc, my monitors don’t have usbc, my headphones and microphone still use a jack, my phone is no usbc, etc…
It does create more friction in the short term though.
I don't see any reason we shouldn't move towards a single standard for all I/O, whether it's USB-C or otherwise. Maybe there are technical limitations to supporting so many things in one spec, I'm not that deep into the weeds.
Otherwise it's just incredibly wasteful to have all these different connectors, and it's anti-consumer. I mean I used to have a bag with 100 different cord types I'd have to rummage through every once in awhile to find what I needed. That shouldn't have to be a thing.
Fortunately we're down to like 4-5 standards now...
Its like insurance, you dont need to for most part but then when luck is not on your side that is when you need it the most.
Because people actually want one cable for everything.
USB-C only guarantee 60W charging. Instead of telling user to use USB-C PD 2.1 Cable with Thunderbolt 4 support and this logo with x. Apple now tells its user if you want it to work at maximum speed and charging please use Magsafe.
The problem is that the "industry" gave us one port for everything while giving us a confusing mess of mixed capability cables that use that port.
The original PD 1.0 spec went up to 100W (20V/5A). Newest PD spec (3.1) can do up to 240W. And I think apple's magsafe cable terminates in a male usb type C, so it still uses PD internally at least.
I was trying to help a lawyer out and trying to explain why the $5.00 USB-C cable he'd bought from Amazon wasn't delivering 4K video to his expensive monitor AND powering his laptop too.
Me: OK: so its a USB-C cable, but its not a high data rate USB-C cable.
Him: But, its a USB-C Cable.
Me: but, no, not all USB-C cables are high speed cables. And some of them can't do high speed and power delivery
Him: but... its a USB-C cable: it plugs into the port.
Me: Um... just because it plugs in, doesn't mean its going to work. You can have USB-C cables that are actually slower than the old USB ports.
Him: but.... shouldn't it just work?
And so on. For... 15? more minutes? maybe 30? I finally got him to buy a "proper" belkin USB-C cable . Which was bought from a company that should be anonymous, but lets just say that a "refurbished" cable was shipped, which, surprise, surprise ,didn't work, for ANYTHING. This basically sums up everything that is wrong with Tech thinking vs User Thinking.
It's too useful not to add back. Every laptop should have something like this; it prevents accidents and damage.
And if I'm going to use a hub, I might as well get HDMI, Ethernet, charging, etc. out of it.
The addition of HDMI has eliminated at least 90% of the cases where I've needed to take a dongle somewhere with me.
Yes, this is why Apple is including magnetic guided wireless charging in its new iPhones. Lacking that, I had to carefully choose my charging pad to avoid these kinds of problems.
Fishing around for the lightning chord and then trying to line it up with the charging port on the phone is annoying, especially at 5AM in the morning when I'm half awake. Not sure this would be a win for everyone, but it is for me.
Which is honestly a much better solution than adding SD and HDMI back to the Macbook. I know it's a controversial opinion around these parts, but I never understood the dongle-gate fiasco. A $30 portable hub will add those parts back to anyone that needs them. I sure as hell don't.
But to be honest I don't need it suuuper often. Just for my USB-A microphone and the occasional projector somewhere. I live in the USB-C future Apple is turning away from haha