Reply With QuoteI'm using one of these for now - it's spot on for a tenner, but I may get something else if needed...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Hello,
As we have some Mac users on here, so some assistance with a fairly basic question would be appreciated.
I have a late 2013 'retina Macbook Pro', which happens to have the following ports:
Clearly very useful!
The new models, however, simply have 2 x Thunderbolt 3 ports, as below:
What are you all using to connect your existing peripherals and devices?
There are 'hubs' or 'docks' available such as the one below, but they can cost another £300 on top (plus cables):
I'm beginning to think it's easier to stick with my 2013 model? It's near immaculate and only considering a change as the newer models can drive 4k and 5k monitors. Other than that, it's spot on.
Thoughts?
Last edited by cman; 20th November 2017 at 21:17.
I'm using one of these for now - it's spot on for a tenner, but I may get something else if needed...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I would steer clear of the current model MacBook Pros because of their well documented keyboard issues. I would instead get a refurbished 2015 model. This is a very interesting article on this subject:
https://marco.org/2017/11/14/best-laptop-ever
If you have to have one of the newer MacBooks you’ll be living life in Dongle Town.
The requirement for dongles is a complete embarrassment. I just refuse to “upgrade” because of it.
One of these cheap USB C -USB A adaptors from Maplin works for us: https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/belkin-us...-adaptor-a28ua
Originally Posted by Phil Lee
Now you tell me!
I changed out my old 6yr old Lenovo for the top of the range MacBook Pro in February. Not happy to read that the keyboard is suspect, as that was one of the great attributes of the Lenovo - great keyboard that was modular for replacement (as were most components). To be honest - most of the time, all I plug in to the MacBook - is a backup drive (USB-C) and a USBC-SD card reader. Not much else.
I do wish they had retained the Magnetic power connector, but soon there will be slim adaptors to cater for that (I think).
Al
Unfortunately there appears to be a design flaw with the new butterfly keyboard. It is very prone to keys failing due to dust. If a key fails, the whole top half of the laptop has to be replaced which is very expensive. There have been a lot of articles on this. Here are a few:Now you tell me!
I changed out my old 6yr old Lenovo for the top of the range MacBook Pro in February. Not happy to read that the keyboard is suspect, as that was one of the great attributes of the Lenovo - great keyboard that was modular for replacement (as were most components). To be honest - most of the time, all I plug in to the MacBook - is a backup drive (USB-C) and a USBC-SD card reader. Not much else.
I do wish they had retained the Magnetic power connector, but soon there will be slim adaptors to cater for that (I think).
Al
https://theoutline.com/post/2402/the...uining-my-life
https://512pixels.net/2017/10/theres-no-i-in-keyboard/
There's even a song:
https://9to5mac.com/2017/10/18/stuck...keyboard-song/
I expect that Apple will have to offer extended repair to these models in the future, much like they have done with graphics card and case cracking problems in the past.
I have been using a new MBP for a few months and I think the USB-C/thunderbolt 3 interface will just get better as it makes so much sense to,have one connector for everything, that said I am a 'power user' and use it every day for tethering cameras, video editing and some high end retouch work on large (5-15gb) files. I do make use of,the fast in/out and multiple 4K monitor capability.
I haven't bothered with a portable dock thing but use a couple of USB dongles (now being replaced with cables as they come available) and have a caldigit drive that acts as a dock, external HD storage and a power supply.
My new MacBook Pro lasted 11 months but at least now I have a nice new one FOC! Keyboard stopped working and there was a rattling noise whenever I did succeed in hitting a key. They also wanted to replace the screen, which I didn't think was broken. So they just gave me a new one.
Fortunately I have a very nice 2014 model that's been working perfectly and I should have stuck with...
"A man of little significance"
I have the same/similar machine, and am waiting for the 2018 release (most likely June). Not thrilled about the current batch.
I’ve been using a new model MBP since April as my HP died after serving for 5 years. This is my first MacBook and I got it after years and years of PC laptops just to see what all the fuss was about. Also, having iPhones and iPads at home I wanted to see how well everything worked together. I went for the 15” quad core i7 version with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. Blown away by the performance TBH. For some reason, the same spec on a PC doesn’t come close to it in terms of speed.
No issues with keyboard so far (touch wood). Touch bar was blank once but restart fixed it. I don’t use the TB for anything other than controlling volume and brightness anyway.
Connectivity-wise it has 4 thunderbolt ports and (still) a standard 3.5mm headphone port. I ordered a single USB-C to USB adapter from Apple with it. I never need to connect more than one device so 1 adapter is sufficient for me but multi adapters are also available. I use it for my printer, scanner, USB flash drives, SD and micro SD cards (via an SD card to USB adapter that I had from before). For the Apple devices I enabled WiFi sync by connecting via cable once so they no longer need a physical port. For sharing files between Apple devices I use Bluetooth so again no wired connection. Take backups etc. to my personal cloud NAS via home WiFi hub. In short, I don’t miss all the different ports that I used to have on my previous non-Apple laptops. Everyone’s usage is different though.
Last edited by FK77; 21st November 2017 at 01:06.
I had Macbook Air for a year and half. When I went to a meeting I had to unplug following:
1. power
2. mouse adapter
3. ethernet adapter
4. headphones
5. monitor adapter
I just bought Macbook pro with Touchbar and single adapter (3x USB, HDMI and ethernet) and when I go to a meeting I just unplug one adapter and headphones.
The only thing I am missing is Magsafe.
Interesting comments , thank you.
Had no idea about the widespread keyboard issues! You never associate poor build quality with the Macbook range...
Are they expected to offer more ports/connectivity options?
What? More than 4 USB-C/thunderbolt 3 ports? They could I suppose go to 5 or 6.
As for other slower old technology interfaces? No, why would they when USB-C/thunderbolt is so versatile, multi protocol and very fast.
It's the future.
Indeed, USB-C/thunderbolt 3 may be the future - I completely agree.
But for the vast majority of peripherals everyone has (today), they do not yet have that interface as standard.
This.
I am so with you on that one. I quite enjoy laughing loudly and pointing when my colleagues who must have the latest model get their bag of dongles out! What a piss take, not even being able to plug a USB stick in, LOL!
I also tease them about getting RSI in their fingers due to the new keyboard having very little travel. Not a nice typing experience at all.
Two of us in the IT team refuse to upgrade, the other two use Windows. Stick with the 2014 / 2015 model as these represent the best Apple ever made.
In a few years it'll be the otherway round.
Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk
Exactly. People will laugh at old laptops with loads of different cables for different things when you can have one that does everything.
Exactly... In a few years. The older USB standard won't die of that quickly.
The current model could be a good choice if you have a time machine I suppose, if you intend to travel to the future... 😃
This is why I'll stick to a thinkpad - pretty much unkillable and every port known to man.
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