A gold MacBook with just ONE USB port? Apple, you're DRUNK Steve Jobs would confide that LSD was a formative influence on his life, one that distinguished him from his less-adventurous peers in the tech industry. Jobs is gone, but I wonder if someone left some Pounds Shillings and Pence lying around the Cupertino campus? You may not have noticed, but the world's richest company* …
... cripplingly underpowered machine...
Please. It's called "Legacy free".
@Andrew,
I was going to write up a post mocking you, even though I agree with everything you've said.
But have you seriously considered that neither you, nor I, are the targeted demographic?
IMHO, I'd say this would be a machine that a school age kid would use. Just enough machine to be used for school and not as a gaming console...
I'm thinking you're mostly right on the demographic but there's a catch.... school kids usually don't have the cash for a gold-plated anything. However, marketing/sales/c-suite types... they don't need the bells and whistles. They do presentations and take some notes. This is ideal for them and it's very much 'bling' to set them apart from the masses.
And yet I have only once used the USB OTG on my phone... nice to know that it is there, but I have never had cause to use it, other than to check it worked (ahem, XBOX USB controller on a Megadrive emulator and VirtuaRacer).
My point is that for some people (usually not Reg readers) their laptops are for typing, spreadsheets and messing around on the internet- USB isn't required. Reg readers are likely to research and then buy the kit that suits them - so they are not likely to buy this new Macbook.
My laptop has six USB ports and I'm glad of them. However, what I'd really like is a single cable to a docking solution.
All those things are accessible via the network or wirelessly now. Cloud storage and networked printers abound, Bluetooth mice et al are the most requested peripheral we buy. It's only the fact that I've got crap broadband (at the moment) at home that keeps me carrying an external HDD around, but in two weeks time I won't need it, even to take whopping ISO images home.
@ James Dore
It's NOT OK to force your average IT user to buy wireless hubs for their flash drives, a wireless networked printer, bluetooth mice (Heck, I have one, but my laptop doesn't have an internal bluetooth modem so the setup still requires a USB slot for the bluetooth receiver) or an external wireless HDD.
The new MacBook is for IT enthusiasts who have an extra few hundred bucks to blow on accessories, above and beyond the purchase price.
Nope. The new MacBook is not for "IT enthusiasts".
It is for normal people, who *use* computers, not fiddle with them. The normal people are grateful if there are less wires and less ports, because they will have to deal with remembering which is what. They don't care about this and they will be grateful to Apple for removing that burden from them.
Plus, you don't need everything wireless if you prefer so -- a single powered USB hub will give you plenty of ports and charge this notebook. A powered hub with integrated other peripherals will give you even more ports.
Bluetooth keyboard/mouse my a..
They only reason to use these is because you had no other choice. The lag is frustrating. Interference with wireless (the only IO on this crippled design) may make it unbearable. I had to hack my Windows tablet where Toshiba geniuses also decided to skip dedicated charging port and use the only micro USB for that purpose (no 79$ adapters but somehow OTG cable splitter worked for me).
I'm thinking of refreshing my old Air and this is currently ticking the boxes. Originally I thought uh-oh zero / one connector isn't enough but then I've had a think and I can't remember when I last plugged something into my laptop other than when I'm on holiday and I wanted to take a better look at the pictures I've taken. So that's one adapter for use 2 or 3 times a year and the better screen will do a better job for previewing...
Once they're in the shops I'll take a better look.
OK I am no Apple fan, but...we are at the start of a new revolution.....
My Mouse Bluetooth, headphones Bluetooth, keyboard Bluetooth, PowerPoint presentation cast of a wireless display, printer WiFi, file transfer from my phone and camera are wifi.
OK a touch extreme, I grant you, but all possible and all giving good / ok results. Loss of speed and quality of course but no wires. So the one plug to the lappy is for power.
It is a little like the iMac when people could not get the head around not having a disk drive.
Too soon to make the leap at this point, but hey this is the future............to infinity and beyond!
The above has nothing to do with the new Mac Book, but is saying where the tech is going.
Let's mess with the up down votes and say I have a Surface :-)
You're close, but missed the point that the power won't actually be plugged in while you use it. My iPhone only has one port and that's pretty much always free except over night. This new MacBook has one port which will always be free because you'd also charge that over night (or at the office I guess). In real usage, just like the MBP the battery will last with plenty to spare after a day of working. Yes, it's 10 hours if you spent 10 hours actively browsing the Internet for 10 hours solid. Personally I take a lunch break and speak to colleagues occasionally and get 18-20 hours from my rMBP. I suspect most of the people worried by the power port currently have shitty Wintel laptops which need to always be tethered. At least they were cheap though, eh?
@gribbler yes I do. My job mostly involves writing documents for customers and connecting to systems over rdp or ssh, but that 18 hours also includes a few hours of video and web browsing. I'd imagine if I were compiling code all day it wouldn't last as long, and if I didn't use power saving functions as designed then it would die sooner. I don't have the brightness all the way up, but not all the way down either, and I don't have a bunch of host powered gadgets connected either. Not sure what you're doing to kill it in 5 hours but it must be pretty hefty like running a load of VMs to do that.
>Yeah, bog standard users don't use printers, mice or memory sticks...
They do, but:
WiFi printers are cheap and common in the home, and have been the norm in business and academia for some time.
The laptop doesn't need a mous, it has a trackpad. Bluetooth mice are available.
Your argument is what, exactly?
OK I am no Apple fan, but...we are at the start of a new revolution.....
My Mouse Bluetooth, headphones Bluetooth, keyboard Bluetooth, PowerPoint presentation cast of a wireless display, printer WiFi, file transfer from my phone and camera are wifi.
Repeat after me...electromagnetic interference. Your home is gradually becoming filled with more and more devices that will interfere with each other. That they need to use unlicensed spectrum guarantees this.
Would the electromagnetic interference situation be better if home users were using licensed spectrum? How would that work in the real world? We home users pay for this, how much? Would me, getting the frequency 2400 MHz prevent my neighbor from creating any interference of over -90 dB in the borders of the land I own? (rest of questions censored)
That's right, I had forgotten! Apple murdered the floppy- in cold blood! Bastards. Now they're sharpening their knives for thumb drives. Will no one stop them? Will we be forced into a wireless world of unwanted convenience?
Everything is becoming disembodied and flying into the clouds, like an Escher engraving.
Course they don't - can't feckin' afford 'em after shelling out for one of those!
This just proves Apple's Eco creds arz a load of bulkshit; I don't want a battery that uses marginally less power, Tim, I want a battery - and laptop - that's as recyclable as possible! I can't see there's anything in these new machines that ain't gonna soend its afterlife sitting in landfill (or wherever). Cupertino appears to believe that Eco cred is all about your carbon footprint, and fuck what toxic shit your actual products are constructed from.
And, yes, I'll fully own up to typing this on an iPad…
"and fuck what toxic shit your actual products are constructed from"
Such as, aluminum?
Now, do you have an idea of the environmental impact your cheapo wintel notebook's plastic has, as compared to the aluminum corpse of the MacBook? I bet, the MacBook will create less pollution.
Now, both contribute to the growing pile of electronic junk on Earth. But the MacBooks do it at a much slower pace, as they last much, much longer.
>Yeah, bog standard users don't use printers, mice or memory sticks...
Printers are increasingly networkified (with their own wifi AP as a last resort)
Apple has a BT mouse (perhaps they want to sell more of them)
Memory sticks.... ok, you got me on that one - but that is occasional usage. "Use the cloud" says the ghost of Jobs.
Having said all that, I still can't get over the lack of a dedicated nic on macbooks. Can they not design something which looks nice but hides DVI/VGA/DP/NIC/USB ports?
Except that, you then have to buy and store a docking station at each location.
Give me the sockets, if I don't need them, I won't use them. They aren't that expensive.
Rarely do I agree with Orlowski, but yes, Apple seem to have no idea why they are doing stuff.
For any situation where sockets are required there is one golden design rule. Look at the sockets. Are they ugly? Will they spoil the beautiful lines you've designed in? Will they speak the same language of design? Apart from plugging rank and nasty things in, is there any point to the sockets? Will you use the sockets in a coffee shop?
Ditch the sockets. If you want room for expansion, buy a tracksuit.
Never forget that the ideal Apple computer is powered by your adoring gaze and your friends' envy.
... completely.
If you want to do something new, how about a completely water and dustproof device with no sockets at all? Massive bonus if you can autoclave it. Ok that's a bit of a challenge, but surely there's a a moderately big vertical market out there for sterilizable, hygenic computing devices?
And in design terms, sockets are ugly: almost as ugly as dust on the inside of the screen and the bill when you get your device a tiny bit damp. So, put the sockets and all the other cobblers on the wireless charging device, and it you get a full-fat docking station and a hermetically sealed device.
>Never forget that the ideal Apple computer is powered by your adoring gaze and your friends' envy.
Eventually there will be no sockets.
Then the MacBook itself will start to become transparent. Soon, only the screen will continue to levitate in space - disembodied, wireless, cloudy, a serene slab of glass and metal floating effortlessly above the turbulent surface of valley life, displaying infinite views of brightly coloured smiling people enjoying their lives so very, very much.
Soon, even that will start to disappear.
Eventually there will be just the faintest ghost of a design idea.
No case. No screen. No keyboard. No denim. No turtleneck. Just a barely audible sigh that sounds like a cross between 'Jony...', Japanese rain on apple blossoms, and a really annoying 1950s telephone.
Perfection will have been attained.
The day after that, the Borg ships will land.
Then, when you realize you have too many "expansion" ports, it is time to look for a better design, because it is by then apparent you goofed.
Most of the "issues" in this particular example are resolved by just a simple powered USB Type-C Hub.
Because USB Type-C is not encumbered by Intel royalties and expensive chips as Thunderbolt is, one could imagine docking stations that incorporate many ports of all kinds and connect with your new MacBook for power and data will be everywhere.
The real test, that this design is good will be in how quickly the "me too" manufacturers will scramble to produce exactly the same computer, but running Windows.
Nah, they'll just need to buy an Apple wireless charger pad to put it on. It will go on sale a month later and will cost half as much as the laptop. Unless you buy the gold one which will be treble the cost of the laptop, will double as a hot plate due to the eddy currents in the gold foil and when you complain that it doesn't charge the laptop Apple will say you put it down wrong.
"The iPad only has the one port (and a 3.5mm audio) and that seems to be considered acceptable."
That's all it is no big deal and not worth two pages of whinging. It's a tablet with a keyboard that runs OSX. For people who would like to type on a proper keyboard and use a mouse but need no more than a laptop. For most general mobile stuff it won't need anything plugging in.
The article seems to be written by yet another one of those people who believes that their own personal requirements apply universally.
As for the watch, it's just Apple getting in on the game. Competitors are already doing them and selling loads of them. I find the smartwatch incredibly useful, I appreciate that some people don't get it but an open mind is not really that hard to keep.
I wouldn't want the apple version of a smartwatch though,when there are cheaper, better ones.
The iPad only has the one port (and a 3.5mm audio) and that seems to be considered acceptable.
The iPad is a fancy window through which the vast majority of users poke at things and don't tend to do much of productive value.
Laptops have keyboards and other such whizzbang things because they're used to actually do/make/produce things. This ability often requires such archaic nonsense as memory sticks.
I recall coming home from a skiing trip with the family and chums. Ex-teacher family-friend couldn't get her photos off her iPad onto her non-Apple machine for love nor money. E-mailing was possible but the UI made it inconvenient, she's 65 and has no bloody idea what "cloud accounts" are, and you can't plug anything into it. You also can't transfer the photos via direct wi-fi or bluetooth or several other methods because that's not letting Apple control your life, and you can't install a better file browser for exactly the same reason.
My old man, on the other hand, just plugged his non-Apple tablet into his non-Apple computer (of a totally different brand) and "oh, look, there it is." He gets drives, and plugs, and cables; those are easy. You plug a thing into a thing and they talk to each other. Got it.
Yes, lovely story. On my iPhone, I didn't even need to do that. I take photo, it's on a webpage in under a minute. iCloud.
The number of times I've had to unjam various plugs and disks and cards from various slots and holes... Cloud agnosia is as equally inhibiting and as prevalent as connector agnosia in my experience. How many times have you found you needed a USB type x to "some other connector" cable? It got better for a while, but now it's heading out to exponential combination land again.
Connectivity will, I fear, always be a problem, whether it is not having the right protocol in software or not having the right jack in hardware. I admit, Apple could do better with allowing stuff to get off the pad but it's part of their sandbox approach (actually would DRAM attack work on an iDevice? Hmmm...) not to allow some universal connecting app free reign of the compartmentalised file system.
"A 'lovely story' you apparently didn't read."
Please, tell me, which part of the story didn't I get?
You gave examples of two different people. A techno-agnostic with an Apple device that couldn't get photos of a skiing trip off the device, and someone who sounds slightly more technically minded with a non-Apple device who got photos off their device.
That tells me that it's not the device that made the difference, it was the people using them. If you'd given the non-Apple devices to the first person along with a bag of cables, would they have fared any better? If you'd given the Apple device to the second person, would they have succeeded?
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