eGPUs are supported on MacBook Pro notebooks released in 2016 and later1, iMac computers introduced in 2017 and later, and iMac Pro.
Some people say it's an upgrade, but I don't see why they couldn't upgrade and keep the other ports around, since people need those daily.
For sure I've used my 89-euro dongle a lot more than I've used the USB-C port (which is never), until I got sane again after 8 years of getting overcharged by Apple and switched to Microsoft hardware running Xfce Linux (which are both wonderful).
It was the only adapter I could buy at Juice in Florence, Italy (where I bought the laptop) that had HDMI at the time.
The laptop was EUR 1799 ($2,150), the dongle was EUR 89.
After 2-3 months the keyboard started failing. It was replaced by Apple--along with the battery which they found out was faulty, and it started failing again (missed keystrokes, registering twice) after a short while. They replace it _again_, then after 3 days the logic board dies, taking all data with it. Apple replaced it, I sold that piece of shit of a laptop for EUR 1,000, and the guy called me after 2-3 days that the logic board died again and Juice (no Apple Store in his area) would give him a new one.
That was my about 5th and last Apple laptop.
I read lots of reports of these things happening to lots of people, but not getting a lot of attention anywhere for some reason, despite the fact that those things cost $2000 and you should absolutely be able to type for more than 2-3 months without replacing the keyboard.
Yes. Your original point was something along the lines of you being overcharged by Apple because you now had to buy an expensive dongle. I showed that the expensive dongle you were talking about wasn’t actually as expensive as it seemed, which weakens your argument somewhat.
Regarding the keyboard on your laptop, I’ve heard plenty of anecdotes of the it just stop working on people, so I’ll concede that it probably has some sort of inherent issue there. You seem to be unlucky with an extreme case of this.
(All this under the assumption this happens in the first 6 months, when the law assumes a fault at the time of sale as a default and consumer rights are strongest)
Around 20% is normal. The USD has slipped further than I thought compared to the Euro, and prices are usually a bit higher here. There are various explanations:
* Higher staff wages
* Government-mandated warranty
* Willingness to pay more
The same product is €79 in Germany: https://www.apple.com/de/shop/product/MJ1K2ZM/A/usb%E2%80%91... (or ~87€ in Denmark!)
Of course, if VAT is 60% like you seem to think... That would be a lot! ;-)
Here it is. Right from the mother-ship.