or an USB-C to Lightning cable. Those exist. And so do any USB-C to any other USB-Plug cables.
Considering that Apple revises their hardware builds about every four years, it makes sense to move to strictly USB-C now as two years from now, I'm quite sure no more peripheral will come out that has anything but USB-C.
So within the next 2-3 years you'll have collected heaps of USB-C cables that will connect your devices directly to your MacBook Pro. No dongles what so ever.
USB-C is so much better than anything other USB that came before to the point where it can (and will) easily replace not only all other existing USB plugs out there, including on the device end (where there's a mess between USB-B, USB Mini and USB Micro right now) but also has the potential to replace the various ways how we currently connect screens (DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI, or even VGA).
Going purely USB-C means that they could optimise as much as possible for this new connector without thinking of wasting space for a useless connector three years down the road, especially as you can convert USB-C to any other USB, but if they added an USB-A port, that would not be useful for anything but USB-A plugs.
If I bought a new MBP today, I’d need:
* a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter at £49
* a USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter (giving HDMI and a USB port) at £69
* a USB-C to USB Adapter at £19
That’s £137 just to connect the things I have currently connected to my 2015 MBP (external monitor, Thunderbolt HD, my phone and a USB->FTDI programmer).
This would make a lot more sense if Apple had switched the iPhone to USB-C as well. That way, you really could just use one cable for everything. Instead, you need three separate charger for your iPhone, Macbook Pro, and Apple Watch. Oh, and the iPhone comes with lightning-USB-A cables, which means you can't even connect a brand-new iPhone to a Macbook Pro out-of-the-box without getting a dongle.
High-end Android phones like the Nexus 5x, 6P, and Pixel already use USB-C, as do some non-flagship Android phones. It's brilliant - it means I only need to carry one charger for both my phone and my computer, and that charger also can be dismantled if I want to connect my phone to my computer.
yes. it would have. And this is the actual problem there. Lightning is just another way of controlling their walled-garden around iOS and I really hate it for that reason.
But that's beside the point of the port choice of the new Macs: The phones always have a lightning port, so the cable connecting to them will always have a lighting plug on one end.
What they could have done is ship the iPhone with an USB-C to Lightning cable instead of a USB-A to Lightning cable, but then people would have been even more pissed as USB-C isn't that wide-spread yet and in-fact until yesterday was only supported by one single machine made by Apple.
USB-C isn't "widespread" yet in laptops, but it's hardly brand new. USB-C has been supported for a while by other laptops. In fact, Apple isn't even the first to release a laptop with Thunderbolt 3.
I know because Dell's XPS 13 has been shipping with Thunderbolt 3/USB-C for over a year now, and it's not the only one.
They designed Lightning because it best solved their needs.
Why the specious and unprovable claim it's to lock people out? Can you read their minds?
(Sure, down-vote away, HN groupthink always wins...)
If lightning was purely about the technical advantages it provides, they would have made it an open standard or at least documented it.
There were some technical reasons for not going with MicroUSB of course, but don't tell me that their MFI licensing model isn't a huge reason for a proprietary connector.
Really, have a look at this [1] half-year-old list of 10 non-Apple laptops that have USB-C ports... Of course pretty much all of these have USB-A ports too, because their manufacturers don't have a blind following and actually have to compete with each other.
I didn't want to say that USB-C was only supported by Apple.
What I meant was that of all the devices that Apple makes, until yesterday only one supported USB-C, so shipping the new iPhone not just without Headphone Jack but also with a cable that can only be used with the minority of all their computers would really have been a strange move (plus, there's no small USB-C power brick yet, so they would have had to produce one of those too - or give you their 29W one for free which would probably have been a bit too expensive)
And if USB-C is so great and the future of all tech, why isn't Apple moving to it on their mobile devices? In my mind the problem isn't the specific technology used on any of these devices. The problem is that the devices aren't using the same technology between them.
https://madeby.google.com/phone/
Within 24 months, most Android phones will ship with USB-C.
That's over a billion devices a year.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/1/11836816/iphone-vs-android-...
Chromebook are starting to ship with USB-C.
http://venturebeat.com/2016/10/03/hp-chromebook-13-review-th...
USB-C is the future. I'm really not sure why PC vendors having put a couple of all of their desktops and laptops. Many will probably offer both A and C, for at least a few years.
If you have buy a new computer with 0 USB-C ports, you're going to regret it in a few years.
In my opinion, that's courage that actually matters. USB-C is a huge step forward which everyone will benefit from once we all move. Removing the audio jack? meh.
because the proprietary Lightning plug allows them to control who is connecting to their phones and it allows them to charge for the privilege of doing so.
What's happening on the other end of that USB-Cable that's the question. My guess: In the package of the next (or the one after) they will ship an USB-C to Lightning cable.
I've been using external devices for these with my macbook for years.
Edit: In fact, I think this applies to almost any low-cost, low-margin pluggable. Laptop coolers/fans are another. Either USB-C is going to kill the market for these or you're wrong.
I'm not saying the old USB A peripherals will stop to exist. I'm saying that two years from now every conceivable peripheral will be available with a USB-C plug or at least a USB-C to whatever they need cable.
No thanks.
I agree with you that in the future USB-C is better and makes more sense. However, I don't think that the logical conclusion is that we should get rid of USB-A prematurely. I liken this the the decision to remove the CD from computer when CD were still used daily. I agreed that CDs wouldn't be used in the future, but, that doesn't do much for me if I still use CD daily. In hindsight it just caused an unnecessary annoyance while the CDs were naturally phased out.
How is that different in any way?
GP: you have to carry a cable (type A - lightning) and a dongle (type A - type C) rage rage eleventyone
If you have a brain: you carry a cable (type C - lightning)
http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MK0X2AM/A/usb-c-to-lightni...
a.k.a the "lightning to thunderbolt" cable.
Er… yes?
> I now need either two cables, one to hook my phone up to my laptop and one to hook it up to my computer
Except you carry one cable with you and the other one stays hooked to an eventual desktop computer, rather than having to carry around a cable and a dongle.
- USB-C to Thunderbolt 2: $49
- SanDisk SD Card USB-C Reader: $49.95
- USB-C AV Multiport Adaptor (HDMI): $69
Spend another $168 and you access to add the same ports you have now!
Gotta love apple. ^^
I cherish the memory of paying 60 Euros for my Apple HDMI adapter, another 40 for the VGA one, 80 Euros for a freaking charger,...
It seems that USB-C will be more successful than Thunderbolt 1/2 have been, but Apple really isn't helping it with the way they're doing the switch (some devices USB-C only, some devices USB-A only, Lightning headphones...).
I don't think you can connect via BT and then use that connection from Xcode for deployment and debugging. That still requires a cable.
At one time, back in the Xcode 4.x days I believe, they did support development over WiFi. It didn't seem to be very well tested at the time and got pulled out soon after. They seem to have given up on the idea for some reason but it would be nice to go that route again.
extern int AMDeviceSetWirelessBuddyFlags(struct am_device *device, uint8_t flags);
AMDeviceSetWirelessBuddyFlags(device, 1|2);I've never found Bluetooth to work without having to fiddle for ten or fifteen minutes to get the cussed things to pair up.
Why would you bother with a dongle when you can get a Type C — Lightning cable for the same price?