It is the size of a thumbnail, and most people won't even notice it if they aren't looking for it.
I want to know who was cheering for it to be removed.
And the few times I have needed it, it was so nice to have. Even if I only use it once in the lifetime of the product, it will be worth it.
I haven't had to change a tire in years, but I think it is prudent to carry around a spare tire.
Simply having access to a feature is itself a feature.
Get whatever you need and plug. My camera has CF card, my drone has microSD card. So let's add them to the mix too. Also I never need the MagSafe port or never used HDMI port in my life. On the contrary, someone might need HDMI or SD slot everyday. My point is that they can't make everyone happy, and paying (not just by price but also the looks/simplicity) for ports that will never be used isn't the best thing to do.
USB-C solved this exact problem and what they did on this version is a major step back IMO, including removing the Touch Bar which had great potential for improvement.
And what is the alternative? USBA <-> USBC <-> SDCard adapter <-> MicroSD to SD adapter
Is that convenience?
Even if they gave away usb sdcard adapters for free, it would still be trouble to go out and get one. Or carry one around with me everywhere. Just another thing to lose. Another thing dangling out of my computer putting stress on the ports.
If I'm completely honest, I think it is more emotional than practical. This craving for hyper-optimization.
And even Apple now seems to be admitting that it was not a great idea.
I can understand dongles for tablets, but this is supposed to be a laptop, a somewhat general purpose computer.
> Also I never need the MagSafe port or never used HDMI port in my life
I assure you you are in the minority on this. MagSafe by the way is amazing. It has saved my old Macbooks more times than I can count. I've already had to get my USBC power slot replaced from tripping on it.
Having access to the ports is itself a feature. Having the peace of mind of knowing that you can go to the office or classroom and be able to use the projector or a jumpdrive, without having to worry about bringing the right adapters is a huge plus for me and I think most people.
I'd completely agree with you if MagSafe was the only solution, but my USB-C cord has been kicked accidentally multiple times in the last few years. Every time, it just snapped out perfectly either from the brick or my MacBook. Nothing got harmed, so USB-C already solves the only problem MagSafe is solving, so why have it?
The Touch Bar had a great promise, but they couldn't improve it enough to make it better (uhm, haptic feedback and faster response). Don't know how much it really contributed to battery drain though.
I dread returning to the old way of controlling screen brightness and volume, though.
You only need to need it once. I know more than one person who broke their laptop by kicking the cord pre-magsafe.
It's a little like saying that you didn't get hurt when you had a car accident without a seat belt, therefore you have no need for seatbelts.
I’m wondering how much bigger the battery could be without all those extra ports—a top-spec M1 Max laptop would probably rival the current king, the 13" M1 MBP.
MagSafe looks like a great return at first, but having used the M1 MBA for a year I've learned that I almost never plug into power in random places anymore. It's a bit like the plug on the bottom of mouse doesn't matter when you do it so infrequently. My MBA ends up almost exclusively charged from the dock on my desk, so the big advantage of MagSafe isn't there anymore.
And for these other ports, we lost a usb-c port. Probably not that big of deal since I've been living with 2 for a year, but it is a tradeoff to consider.
This may be a, "everything is amazing and no one is happy" sort of situation. I think all my cameras connect wirelessly to my Mac and my iPhone anyways. I can copy/paste text/images/whatever across the two as well and that's just magic when it comes to casual content creation.