The IT Nerd

Apple last week came out with a bunch of new MacBook Pros. One of the big changes that was made is that Apple has moved to the use of USB-C, or as Apple calls it “Thunderbolt-3”. Now, here’s the good news. Thunderbolt-3 / USB-C has speeds up to 40 Gbps. Because of that, this is one connector that does it all. Data, video, even charging the MacBook Pro, it works with everything. Plus it allowed Apple to make the MacBook Pro a lot thinner and lighter by going to Thunderbolt-3 / USB-C as well which is something that you’ll appreicate the next time that you travel.

But that’s where the good news ends.

The bad news is that NOTHING that you own will work with the new MacBook Pro. And I truly mean nothing. If you have a USB printer? It won’t work and you’ll need an adapter. Need to plug into a monitor? Sorry, you’ll need an adapter for that. How about Ethernet? You’ll need an adapter for that too. In fact, you’ll need a bunch of adapters just to make this MacBook Pro usable and it will cost you. I’ve taken the liberty of listing the adapters that Apple offers, what you will need it for, and what it will cost you in Canadian Dollars: 

• Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter: This will allow you to plug in your existing Thunderbolt 2 devices such as external hard drives. – $59

• USB-C to USB Adapter: Want to plug in a USB printer or a USB drive? You’ll need this. – $25

• USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter: This allows you to plug in a USB device, a monitor via HDMI, and a USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 device at the same time. – $89

• USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter: This is the VGA version of the previous adapter – $89

• USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter: This gives you gigabit Ethernet. – $40

• USB-C to Lightning Cable: If you want to plug in your iPhone or iPad, you’ll need one of these. – $35

• USB-C Charge Cable and 61W USB-C Power Adapter. If you need an extra power adapter, you’ll need both of these. – $89 for the power adater and $25 for cable. 

Now I will give Apple a free pass on the charge cable and power adapter….. Actually, I won’t give them a free pass on that because they killed off the MagSafe adapter which I am certian saved many a MacBook Pro because of the fact that it easly detaches from the notebook if the adapter is put under enough stress. Now by going to USB-C / Thunderbolt 3, I suspect that a fair number of MacBook Pros will have their lifespans cut short by someone who trips over the power cable.

But I digress.

If you’re like me, you’re going to need the Gigabit Ethernet adapter, The USB-C Digital AV Multiport adapter, The USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter to cover the minimum that you would need to use this to do presentations, connect via Ethernet when required, and to use the devices that you have already, here’s what it will you cost you:

$218 Canadian.

Now I know that Apple has a history of force feeding change down the throats of their users. But this really has the smell of nickle and diming their users to death. Never mind the fact that you now have to find room in your laptop bag to carry these adapters. Now I’m not naieve as USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 will eventually become the standard for connecting devices to computers. But over the next couple of years, that’s going to frustrate the hell out of a lot of users in a hurry. It will also slow purchases of these new MacBooks Pros as I really have no incentive to swap my current MacBook Pro for these new models because of this. Maybe if they included a single USB-3 port, or a HDMI port, or perhaps both, I’d feel differently. But as it stands, I’ll hang on to my present MacBook Pro.

Perhaps Apple should have thought this out a bit more as this is really appearing to be a potential #fail.

This entry was posted on October 30, 2016 at 6:42 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Apple. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.