Apple's New MacBook Pro Isn't iPhone-Friendly

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
This is the kind of stuff that pisses me off about Apple. Gouging your customers for $25 just so they can charge their iPhones is lame, especially after they just dropped a ton of cash on the MacBook Pro and an iPhone 7. Weak.

However, with USB-C the only game in town, you might reasonably be wondering: How in the world do I connect my iPhone to my sleek new MacBook Pro? The frustrating answer is that you won't be able to do so out of the box. Instead, you'll have to buy a dongle. This is especially frustrating because many people use their notebooks for a) charging purposes when an outlet isn't necessarily handy and b) for transferring photos and other data.
 
At least they didn't advertise this as "feature", as they did with the iphone headphone jack courage nonsense, but rather left it slide in silence. But yes it is nonsense of course. Not that it matters as people are still gonna cash in of course.

Had to laugh at this response in the comment section though:

Raphael Jacquot
you can sync data from phone to mac with wifi directly
charging the phone can be done with the provided charger, or with those usb wall sockers that are popping out
as for the headphone jack socket, well, now you can actually use proper headphones, instead of those 10$ ones apple gives with the phone, I don't see a problem here !
 
Apple has entirely cut the cord on the iPhone. They did it years ago. What's the issue?
 
So serious question, when do we stop calling these "MacBooks" and start calling them "DongleBooks" or the "iDongle Laptop"?
 
All Apple gets is gushing head lines, and weird reviews.. Yet I read how the Android Pixel was getting a 'pass' on criticism on the reviews.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Another dongle?

Cv3fFfsVUAAMaX6.jpg
 
Uvaman2 said:
All Apple gets is gushing head lines, and weird reviews.. Yet I read how the Android Pixel was getting a 'pass' on criticism on the reviews.
Click to expand...
It's a form of confirmation bias. They all buy Apple gear so they have to write these weird gushing reviews to reaffirm their self-image as smart shoppers. Just like when you were a kid and you wasted your money on an Atari Jaguar while all your friends were playing PlayStation and N64. You had to keep telling them how awesome your shitty Jaguar was so you wouldn't feel like you wasted your money like an idiot. In this case they've devoted themselves to the brand.
 
SO just to clarify what is going on here. The new MacBook will have 4x USB-C connectors. They will also be electrically compatible with Thunderbolt. Which means these 4 ports can do ANYTHING. Its 40Gb/s of bandwidth on each connector (not system total).

USB-C allows for high power and USB compatibility, and Thunderbolt allows for any bus protocol to be used. So literally......anything.

But, the 1 thing it can't do is connect to a USB Type A connector. This is not an Apple thing, this is a USB Consortium standard. You know the same group you all bitched about Apple not using enough of.

There are 24 pins I believe in USB-C. 4 pins in a standard Type-A and 8 I believe in a Type-A USB 3.

So this doesn't have anything to do with an iPhone. No device that uses Type A will work. It has to do with a transition that is taking place from a connector that has been standard for 20 years. So yes, it's more practical for Apple to box a Type A to Lightning with the iPhone because that is what most people have access to (especially in Europe). But you CAN buy a USB-C to Lighting cable from Apple (or other companies).

I'm glad you guys didn't have to go through the whole getting rid of Joystick connectors on soundcards thing.......


18824-18336-thunderbolt-top-l.jpg


MKQ42.jpg
 
westrock2000 said:
SO just to clarify what is going on here. The new MacBook will have 4x USB-C connectors. They will also be electrically compatible with Thunderbolt. Which means these 4 ports can do ANYTHING. Its 40Gb/s of bandwidth on each connector (not system total).

USB-C allows for high power and USB compatibility, and Thunderbolt allows for any bus protocol to be used. So literally......anything.

But, the 1 thing it can't do is connect to a USB Type A connector. This is not an Apple thing, this is a USB Consortium standard. You know the same group you all bitched about Apple not using enough of.

There are 24 pins I believe in USB-C. 4 pins in a standard Type-A and 8 I believe in a Type-A USB 3.

So this doesn't have anything to do with an iPhone. No device that uses Type A will work. It has to do with a transition that is taking place from a connector that has been standard for 20 years. So yes, it's more practical for Apple to box a Type A to Lightning with the iPhone because that is what most people have access to (especially in Europe). But you CAN buy a USB-C to Lighting cable from Apple (or other companies).

I'm glad you guys didn't have to go through the whole getting rid of Joystick connectors on soundcards thing.......


18824-18336-thunderbolt-top-l.jpg


MKQ42.jpg
Click to expand...

We all like USB-C, the issue I think most people are raising is that a popular Apple product line that almost all Macbook owners will also own--ipads and iphones--recently also changed their connectors, but to something other than USB-C. Presumably if those were also USB-C, all of this would make more sense and we could just say "well Apple is pushing forward with the new USB standard across the whole product stack" which you could argue is perfectly acceptable, and is what other manufacturers are also doing. But that's not what they did, hence people's frustration.
 
MDboyz said:
Well their fans are rich anyway. $25 is nothing.
Click to expand...

I hear this a lot. But, I have a hard time believing that when every time I go to the grocery store, I see some fat lady with 5 kids swiping her EBT card while jabbering away on her iphone in the checkout While it is a premium brand, like Samsung, it is hardly an exclusive brand when it comes to who has one.
 
The lightning port came out before the USB-C port. The reversible capability was highly praised. If that's the other connector you are talking about. Lightning was first sold 4 years ago (2012). It also offered 4 more pins then USB did. USB-C wasn't even finalized until 2014. So that's 2 years that Apple had the reversible connector before others did. 3 years if you look at products actually in the market place.
 
The problem is that Apple makes BOTH products, this isn't two different companies making two different products with incompatible connectors. Apple announced them within a month or so of each other, it's not like Apple didn't know it was going this route, and it's not a case of a new MacBook Pro not connecting to a old iPhone 3 - 4.

So you mean to tell me that there was no way to make sure both recently announced products ($2,500 for the MacBook Pro and the iPhone 7 is $600 - $1000) could be connected together right out of the box without hitting consumers up for an additional $25?
 
If Apple would have rolled out the iPhone 7 with a USB-C cable in the box "when everyone still has the old shit" you all would be bitching about that to.
 
Steve said:
The problem is that Apple makes BOTH products, this isn't two different companies making two different products with incompatible connectors. Apple announced them within a month or so of each other, it's not like Apple didn't know it was going this route, and it's not a case of a new MacBook Pro not connecting to a old iPhone 3 - 4.

So you mean to tell me that there was no way to make sure both recently announced products ($2,500 for the MacBook Pro and the iPhone 7 is $600 - $1000) could be connected together right out of the box without hitting consumers up for an additional $25?
Click to expand...
Apple doesn't care if you want to hook it up to the laptop or not. They have a very precise vision for their products and shit like this happens then who cares.

For me I wouldn't care, the only reason I hook my phone up to a main device is to back it up. I will have zero reason to hook it up to a laptop.
 
Sorry, but I'll stick with my Dell Latitude series laptops that still use the same docking station going on 7 years now so that when I want to get up and go I close the lid and press a button, voila, instant disconnect and no needing to unplug a damned thing just to go mobile.

I'm still laughing from the event, to be honest: the moment Schiller (I mean really, has anyone ever considered the sheer irony of that guy's name considering?) got on stage to intro the new MacBooks and he started off with "It has a whole new design... made of aluminum... it is metal on all sides... it is incredibly extreme."

I mean I know the guy can shill - get it? Schiller? - but that's going too damned far. :D
 
pxc said:
It's all about expensive adapters and accessories.
Click to expand...

I see this on some of the extra thins Dells and I hate this trend.
They keep eliminating ports, and require an expensive dongle to do something as simple as connect a TV over VGA or HDMI.
I prefer having the ports built in so I don't have to keep replacing all the lost dongles.
 
Well I guess we're gonna be seeing new additions to that dongle graphic shown about pretty soon.

I really have an issue with them using that "Pro" moniker and yet they seem to keep doing things that professionals are really not very happy with - the removal of the SD card slot on "Pro" class laptops that they market as photographic tools is damned near unforgivable to many people out there who are already thinking about moving to some other hardware base. Apple is just making it easier for 'em to do it each time they pull something that professionals have come to count on.
 
XvMMvX said:
If Apple would have rolled out the iPhone 7 with a USB-C cable in the box "when everyone still has the old shit" you all would be bitching about that to.
Click to expand...
Maybe, and we'll never know. But we do know that if Apple had used crappy old shitty nonproprietary Micro-USB like Samsung, LG, HTC, Huawei, ZTE, Motorola, Blackberry, and others had done, and then switched to USB C like Samsung, LG, HTC, Huawei, ZTE, Motorola, Blackberry, and Apple on their laptops had done, nobody would be complaining about compatibility issues.

My first thought when I saw that stupid Lightning port was "Apple strikes again." My first thought when Apple released a device with only a USB-C port was "Man, Apple fucked up even at being Apple."

Make a decision and stick to it, no matter how stupid it may be (Firewire, Lightning, 24 pin, probably countless other things)
 
ZeqOBpf6 said:
Maybe, and we'll never know. But we do know that if Apple had used crappy old shitty nonproprietary Micro-USB like Samsung, LG, HTC, Huawei, ZTE, Motorola, Blackberry, and others had done, and then switched to USB C like Samsung, LG, HTC, Huawei, ZTE, Motorola, Blackberry, and Apple on their laptops had done, nobody would be complaining about compatibility issues.

My first thought when I saw that stupid Lightning port was "Apple strikes again." My first thought when Apple released a device with only a USB-C port was "Man, Apple fucked up even at being Apple."

Make a decision and stick to it, no matter how stupid it may be (Firewire, Lightning, 24 pin, probably countless other things)
Click to expand...

We are only trying to help you be a better person. We know releasing the iPhone 7 with a USB-C to Lightning cable would have been horrible. How many USB-C devices do you have? How many USB-C chargers do you have? How many USB-C ports on your computer at work? Remember only the mega rich and mega stupid buy Apple products, there are a lot of mega stupid that still have "legacy" USB Type-A ports. The smart people on this forum can buy the cool products from Samsung because they are progressive (did I mention cool already?).

As I pointed out above, Lightning offered reversible connector and additional pins 3-4 years before USB-C even had a noticeable presence in the marketplace. The reversible connector alone was very welcomed by the customer base. The additional pins were not used until using the Lightning port as an analogue output.....which we now see being used in USB-C as well by Motorola.

Firewire, 30 pin, lightning, etc all had specific uses and protocols. Connectors weren't built to be truly universal in the past. Thunderbolt (an Intel product) and USB-C are the first cable designs to move to a truly universal approach.

It is hard for many people to admit that Apple does set the future for many designs in the mobile product world.
 
westrock2000 said:
Exactly, there is no "non suffering" option here.
Click to expand...

How about mailing a dongle for free to new MacBook Pro customers who also just bought an iPhone 7? You know - thanks for spending $4000+ on apple products this month, sorry we can't make your new iPhone 7 "just work" with this fancy MacBook - but here's a cable that gets the job done - thanks for being an apple fan.

They certainly don't have to do that - but that's the best $30 targeted marketing I'd ever see. Hits the target audience, makes then feel soecial, and goes a LONG way to securing future business.
 
Kongar said:
How about mailing a dongle for free to new MacBook Pro customers who also just bought an iPhone 7? You know - thanks for spending $4000+ on apple products this month, sorry we can't make your new iPhone 7 "just work" with this fancy MacBook - but here's a cable that gets the job done - thanks for being an apple fan.

They certainly don't have to do that - but that's the best $30 targeted marketing I'd ever see. Hits the target audience, makes then feel soecial, and goes a LONG way to securing future business.
Click to expand...

Because it can't use ANY Type-A device. And if you are going to include an adaptor to use TYPE-A device then why not just put a Type-A port on there to begin with? They are trying to lead a change from Type-A to Type-C. There will be blood.

Apple and other companies sell USB-C to Lightning cables, if you want one, you can buy one. But your iPhone's ability to work does not hinge on the dongle or native cable.
 
Who the hell still needs to plug their iPhone into a computer of any kind? Seriously. Everything is done via wifi.

o_O
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top