I went and had lunch and browsed the Apple web pages after I got back. Much easier than trying to slog through those videos.

The watch: If you're an iPhone guy, then you might want the Apple watch. You'd be a fool to buy the $10k version, but some fools will buy it. You'd also be a fool to buy a gold Rolex, but it's priced similarly high, or higher if you want baguette diamonds around the face. We're not talking technology here. We're talking jewelry. Apple is now in the boutique jewelry business.

If you look at it sideways, Apple is following other watch brands like Seiko. You can get basic quartz movement watches at all sorts of different price points. Some with rubber straps. Some with bracelets. Some gold, some titanium. All of this makes perfect sense. What Apple *isn't* doing is racing down to the bottom, like many of the Android Wear devices, such as the entirely forgettable $100 LG G Watch. However, by only offering a square face, while many Android watches are now round, that's a remarkable miss. People like round watches.

Notably missing: what happens when the battery dies? If you spend $10k on a gold watch and two years later the battery is toast, you're going to expect Apple to fix it. "Oh sorry" isn't going to cut it. Conversely, when my $200 Moto 360 craps out, I'll pitch it and get the latest and bestest replacement and I won't miss the original, because Moore's Law will have marched onward and I'll have a better device.

Much more interesting to me is the new 12" MacBook. It's got exactly two ports: one headphone jack and one USB-C port (*). That's it. Nothing else. If you have some rare, antique device like, say, a camera with an SD memory card, you're out of luck. Apple offers these totally goofy adapters that have USB-C on one side, and then regular USB, HDMI, and another USB-C on the other side. For $79. That's bonkers. Apple is abandoning their brilliant MagSafe connector in return for squeezing the computer down to a single connector. What they need to do, now, is have series of "docking stations" that plug into that connector. If I was an executive at Belkin or equivalent, it would be all hands on deck to get a device like that done and out the door.

Missing in action: Apple didn't announce any new monitors. They're still offering the 27" Cinema display, which has USB 2 in it, among other antiquities. I suspect Apple's planning to get out of the monitor business altogether, otherwise they'd announce a monitor with a single USB-C cable to run the new laptop, and break everything out behind it with all the other ports.



(*) I guess "USB-C" is now the official way of saying "USB 3.1, type C".

The most interesting thing to me is the new pressure-sensitive trackpad with haptic feedback -- not sure how much software capability will be available for that on day one, but the idea of combining multi-touch with force sensitivity to add more gestures sounds like it could be really nice. Looking forward to reading more about that as more info comes out.

The next refresh of the MacBook Pro series will be interesting. MagSafe and multiple other ports still available?

USB-C, does that spec still have multiple power levels? Same C connector?

I have yet to go look for info on how big/compact the charger is for this new MacBook. Does the cable unplug from the charger?

How many chargers and unique cables must you take when you travel with iPhone, Apple Watch and the new MacBook?

Hmmm. The main adapter straddles the transition from 'standard' USB 3 A connector to USC-C.
Gonna be clumsy. Connecting an iPhone directly to the new machine will need an adapter to USB-C or a different Lightning cable.

http://store.apple.com/xc/product/MJ1K2

I am not an Apple fan, but I think I always understood where Apple was going, whether I liked it or not.

The 1-port MacBook is surprising me, negatively. Unless you have a battery that lasts you 2 full days of actual work, such a solution that is going to be cause some frustration. I have in mind countless occasions when I had (and still have) to work on my laptop while it is charging AND plug in ANY other device into it - even just charging the phone. Especially when travelling, that is paramount to me.

A 2-port version of the same MacBook would have made perfect sense to me. I would have not liked it, but still I'd understand the compromise.

This, I am not sure I get it.

The also updated today MacBook Air offers longer battery life (13 inch model) and multiple ports. Interesting that the Air series is now bigger/thicker than the non-Air new Retina MacBook.

Or take the multi headed USB-C adapter with you and use the new MacBook Retina.

Two full working days of battery life? Has any laptop ever been able to do that?

SD card type cameras. This might be another step in the push towards wireless data transfer from the camera to outside devices and services.

We have a Sony RX-10 which has some WiFi functionality.

Also travel with a battery powered portable WiFi hub that has SD slot and USB thumb drive port. Useful gadget.

I wonder why they just couldn't have put in just one more USB-C port? There was surely room for that, no? I am curious about how the new trackpad works in the real world.

Somewhat amusing that the new watch cannot be charged from the new MacBook without an adaptor.

That is my point: has any laptop ever had only 1 port?


I wonder that too. I may be missing some engineering constraint here. If not, I don't fully get such design choice. Curious.

We're remarkably rational geeks. And we keep the marketing folks far away.

Damn, I wish we could win a few more...

Has any laptop ever had more then 1 port that allows a power supply to be plugged into it?

That I believe is why there is only one port. It was simpler to put one port in the laptop and build a breakout box for those that need multiple ports simultaneously. The breakout box still only offers one place to plug the power supply in at, while offering video out and USB A.

The alternative would have been two USB C ports on the laptop, then ensuring a power supply is only ever plugged into one, not both. It's doable for sure, but not a path Apple would likely take. (Similar to how dockable laptops do technically have multiple power ports when docked, but the one on the laptop is physically blocked by the dock to ensure someone doesn't plug in two power supplies).

It will be interesting to see how this product evolves. Will USB C take off in general across the industry? Will we start seeing USB power supplies as a way to finally standardize the way we power our laptops, no matter who the vendor is?

... to which consideration I ask: why not?

I probably did not articulate this enough before: either I don't see some engineering constraint to do that, or I don't get the design choice. Were they afraid that people would plug in the power supply on the wrong USB-C port and wait forever for their Mac Book to be charged? I can see many ways to address that, visually, and minimize frustration. How big is this issue, compared to not being able to plug a pen drive, memory cards, or your phone to charge while your laptop is charging too? I now always travel without a dedicated phone charger because I use my laptop for that purpose, for example. I can change my habits,of course, but I'd rather not step back to two chargers in my bag (or add some sort of charging hub). This is particularly annoying when you already have to carry plug adapters for three different countries.

Additionally, the more I look at the beautiful Mac Book body, the more I think I'd have greatly liked the symmetry given by a second, identical, USB-C port on the right side.



My bet has been yes for a while. I almost give for granted laptops of any brand having one connector type only, but more than one.
I'd go as far as saying that we'll see laptops, maybe only best ones, that can be charged from any USB-C port, with some clever design solution to only allows charging from one at the time.

I hope I am not too optimistic.

... to add to that, latest USB charging features made me hope for laptops where I could plug my power cord to either sides, depending on my needs. That'd be so nice. Now, THAT would have been good reason for dropping the clever magnetic power connector.

That's the part the Apple didn't seem to want to solve yet. The extra challenge there is handing a situation where someone has plugged in two power adaptors to 2 different USB C ports. In all various power states of the laptop, including not enough power to boot the full system.

Yes, I'd imagine a solution where when power input is detected on one port, charging is disabled from all the others, in first come first serve way.

As I was saying, I do not know what challenges that present from an engineering perspective. I just assumed that would be taken into account in the latest USB standard design, but admittedly that is not obvious.

... now, if only apple added a USB port on the power adapter, as Microsoft does with the Surface adapter, that'd be great and in part address one of the issues I was mentioning.

Surface power brick with a USB charging port is such a simple and good design, it seems obvious once you see it. I wonder why it isn't just the way every good (branded?) laptop power brick is designed.

I bought one of these to do similar: https://www.twelvesouth.com/product/plugbug/
Was one of the space saver purchases for my motorcycle trip.

I recently sold my PlugBug as it only offered a single USB port and I frequently needed more.

I found not much space saving with the PlugBug compared to the stock Mac power block plus a separate dual output USB charger. More flexible for my purposes.

What is to become of our ubiquitous USB memory drives (thumb drives) as USB C ports become more common?

Will non-Apple brand computers insist on offering the 'old standard' USB A port for 'legacy' hardware and also include USB C ports on the same laptop? When will it become OK to drop the old USB A ports?

The whole point of USB3.1/type-C is that the USB slave can charge the master, while still also doing USB signalling. If you really can't plug a USB stick into a charging Macbook, then that's bad charger design (it should contain a hub), not just bad laptop design.

Whether you call it an aesthetic vision of clean unbroken lines or something else, Apple these days make a ton of money from not including in the box the things you need to make your shiny picture-frame do anything useful.

Peter

I think it's even worse than that. Isn't that port also used to connect the power supply to it? In other words: if your laptop is on the chord, forget about plugging *any* USB device in. That's just nuts!

Edit: Just read what Peter wrote here above. So it's true... ok, so you can argue it's bad charger design, but in any case, I would like at least one USB type A connector on my laptop as well, and also an SD card slot. (hell, I didn't even like the Ethernet connector disappearing!) I would never buy a laptop that doesn't have this, but maybe that's just me?

I was always hesitant when it came to Apple, but in the recent years, I've started leaning more towards them (granted: I started to be able to afford their products as well ). I'm now a very avid user of an iPhone and iPad, and was actually planning on buying an iMac and Macbook. But to be honest, these sort of things really turn me off. I can live with a bit less connectors, but not with hardly any connectors. I don't want to lug dozens of adapters around, simply because Apple doesn't want to implement connectors into their laptops anymore. That just won't cut it for me. I really hope Apple will start to see sense when it comes to these things. If not, I will never fully convert to their ecosystem.

I don't think the Rolex market would go for an Apple watch. I've been wrong before, though.

Everybody remember the original 2008 MacBook Air? It had one micro-DVI port, one USB port, one headphone port, and a charging connector. When they did the big refresh in, what, 2011, it got a second USB port and the micro-DVI became DisplayPort and eventually Thunderbolt. They also added an SD slot (but not on the 11" version). Apple's been down this road before. People want more ports.

Predictions:

- The 11" MacBook Air is going to go away. The new MacBook pretty much obsoletes it in every way. If you want maximum portability and you're willing to put up with limited ports, and a bag full of dongles, then you're good to go.

- The rest of the MacBook line will eventually be refreshed with USB-C. In the 13" MacBook Air form factor, they could probably fit three USB-C ports along with the headphone jack and hopefully still the SD slot. That's the machine I'll be waiting for. Presumably, it shouldn't be that hard to charge the device from any of those three ports.

- In a few months, there will be an avalanche of USB-C "docking stations", some color-coordinated to appeal to the new MacBook owners. I would expect some have their own power supplies while others just drain power from the host. When I'm traveling, I'd rather have one brick of a docking station in my bag with all the connectors than the current mess of dongles. (And, you know somebody will integrate a huge lithium-ion battery into a docking station as well.)

- By the end of the year, or into next year, we'll see monitors with USB-C and all sorts of other goodies inside (more ports, Ethernet, etc.). You run one solitary cable from your monitor to your laptop and you're good to go. They may even do something clever like put the GPU inside the monitor. Sadly, I think Apple is getting out of the Cinema display business, which is really too bad, since they had exactly the right idea.

So buy one of their laptops that does include the ports you want.

Back when the released the original Air people were mad that it didn't include a DVD drive. Now mass market machines don't ship with DVD drives (see also floppy drives in earlier times).

With the new MacBook they are aiming for where the mass market will be in 3-4 years, just as they did with the Air back in 2008. It is aimed at people who already don't need USB drives and external monitors on a regular basis (or indeed never need them). There are plenty of people out there who already want the lightest laptop they can have and don't need USB ports and external monitors (I'm not one of them).

At some point I'm sure they will phase out the Air and if you want a light laptop you'll have to accept the compromises of this one's replacement (though by then I'll bet they've added another USB C port and much faster CPUs). But that is likely 4+ years away, they'll run them in parallel until the majority of the market for small/light laptops has caught up with them.

I'm at the other end of the market, I want a beefy laptop with 32GB of RAM and lots of USB ports I'm hoping one day Intel/Apple will let me have a 15 inch Retina with 32GB of RAM. Until then I'll struggle on with my much upgraded 13 inch Pro.

So... yes, but, see, while I am sure a lot of people will buy the new MB, what I personally find curious this time is this.

At the days of this clever Lenovo commercial making fun of the MacBook Air, the point was that >yes<, the Air is thinner, but to achieve that you give up a lot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRWHOmWdqrY

So, if a thinner, lighter laptop was paramount to you, the Air would indeed bring a benefit. I understood what the Air point was and why it had been designed that way. (That simply did not appeal to me,but that is a different story).

Today, it seems to me that an additional USB-C port would only bring benefits, as far as I can tell. Even stylistically, IMO.

Hence my surprise at the new MB design.

Again, unless there's some technical constraints I am not aware of.

To rephrase this: What's the trade off here making them drop that one extra USB-C port today? If no technical trade off is there, then it's as if Apple decided to push a trend out of pure principle. Which is possible but I'd say unwise as that may cost Apple a bit on sales.

There is always a trade off, in this case adding a second port would clearly complicate the design beyond design for a single port. Exactly how big a trade off that is I can't know.

As we've said, they made a very similar decision with the original Air and other machines before that.

Think about the iPhones and iPads for a moment. People said they were mad to not include removal batteries, SD cards and USB host support. People said they "must" add them in future versions. They seem to be doing fairly well despite resisting the urge to add them.

There were people who wanted those features, but they gambled on the fact that the majority of people didn't need them and that over time less and less people would need them. I think they were right.

They may well have stuck to one port on principle, the principle of aiming for where their customers are heading, rather than where the majority of them at at the moment. They've done that plenty of times in the past.

I'm guessing the tradeoff is the thickness of the computer. They want to have this triangular shape that just barely fits the one USB-C port in the back and then tapers to a point in the front. I'm guessing that a second USB-C port in series with the first one would force them to make the back of the triangle thicker. Alternatively, placing a second USB-C port instead of the headphone jack would have worked, for the physical packaging, but then what, you need a dongle just to use a pair of headphones?

From that perspective, Apple's decisions makes some sense. What surprises me is just how lame their dongles are. $79 gets you a breakout box with another USB-C, a traditional USB, and your choice of VGA or HDMI. Really? Weak. I'd want something more like the various Thunderbolt docks that are now available (e.g., this Elgato).

Yes, I plan to. It's just that I fear that this new Macbook might set the trend for their entire lineup of laptops. I sure hope it doesn't. It's one thing to try and set the trend, but I believe there always should be a second option for people that don't want to follow it. With Apple it's usually a "take it or leave it" mentality, which I don't always like very much. Also, I think Dan might be right when he says Apple might add more ports as refreshes come along. Time will tell I guess.

Their dongles certainly are lame (would it have killed them to add a second USB port to the video out ones), but I'll bet the vast majority of people who buy the new MacBook will never buy one.

Thank you peter for hinting that the USB-C standard already has provisions on how to handle devices charging the parent computer. I still need to dig into the spec to read up more on it.

I wonder if one port may be more for thermal reasons. Watching the keynote last night, Apple really pushed hard on the fact that the logic board was the smallest Mac logic board ever, along with it lacking a fan. And that all the rest of the space in the laptop is battery. To the point they are manufacturing the cells a bit differently to fit every gap with a terraced design.

Adding a hub for a second port would have required more room on the logic board. And a few more components putting off heat. The breakout dongle thing puts the hub outside the laptop case. The adapter likely also contains active chips for converting the video signal to HDMI or VGA, also components that internally would have required space and would have produced some heat.

Interesting to note that it's also simply called "MacBook". No Air, no Retina suffixes. For now it's priced above the Air. But in 2008, the Air was priced above the basic "MacBook". Definitely looks like this is Apple's vision of the basic laptop most people will want in the coming years. They still retain a classic "MacBook Pro" without retina, and a full Pro line with Retina. I'm guessing we are about 2 years out from returning to the 2 model "consumer and pro" lineup that Jobs introduced when he returned to Apple.

Honest question: what do you guys think this all means for the Lightning connector? Is that going to go away? Might we see it on Apple's iOS devices in the future? You know me, I'd be thrilled to see a standard interface.

I'm actually a lot more pleased with the new MacBook than I thought I'd be. I think they're going in a good direction, and I like your observation, Tom, that they're marketing this as simply "MacBook." I like the simplification of the line, and hope it continues.

As for the watch, clearly it's not going to be for me. If you aren't an iPhone user, there's as little sense in getting and Apple Watch as there is in an iOS user getting an Android Wear watch. These are purely accessories, not their own product categories.

I know the Apple Watch has won some design awards, and I know this is as subjective as it gets, but I'm pretty underwhelmed by the design. It certainly doesn't wow me like their other products do. I prefer the look of a round watch, but recognize the UI issues it raises.

What I'll be curious to see with the watch is the battery life. Apple's products are known for their battery life, and I'm just not sure this one is going to live up to that tradition. I feel like it's going to be about as good as the other smartwatches out there (aside from the Pebble).