[1] http://store.apple.com/us/product/MJ1K2AM/A/usb-c-digital-av...

[2] http://store.apple.com/us/product/MJ1L2AM/A/usb-c-vga-multip...

Nickel and $80'ering me on a $1400 computer is ridiculous. I'll stick with my thinkpad.

With this new macbook, one cannot charge and use a mouse at the same time without an $80 addon.

Is Apple's logic "that's what you get for having friends or working with people who do not buy the latest apple devices"?

This is exactly like the removal of the DVD drive in MacBook Airs. "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO USE MY DVDs?!?!?" The answer is: don't. Download things over the network instead.

Same logic applies here.

Seen such messages right when I NEEDED those files. Also - remember epic KDE failure? When they had corrupted repository and it was perfectly mirrored to 1500+ other repos? And they had to search offline PC with a uncorrupted snapshot?

In general "all cloud" tech is at most 50% ready for use by everyone.

For a disruptive product to be successful it should not be behind its time (where others are already there) it should not be too far ahead of its time (The technology might not be ready, the people might not be ready to understand the product, etc), It has to be just ahead of its time. I am sorry but I maintain that Apple has overshot with this product. This is not like removing DVD support or even removing flash support, because a lot of the world is still wired. Except for those who are fortunate to live in their own Apple bubble, many of the people who buy this will have to frequently face the frustration of owning such a device with practically no reward (apart from shaving of a few inches and grams off their laptop).

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB112LL/B/apple-mouse

That mouse has literally been around forever, and no it's not what users are generally using now.

For gaming, you can get less input lag with wireless mice with dedicated dongles if you're intent on going wireless.

Can't you just use bluetooth? I prefer a bluetooth mouse anyway. Wires get in the way.

Though I guess it's not that surprising. Back in the day, my Gen4 iPod came with a power brick, a USB cable and a Firewire cable. Now you get a single USB cable.

Go ahead and stick with your thinkpad.

To me, this is a great tradeoff: I get a lighter and thinner laptop for 100% of my computing, the downside being an adapter when I return the the dark ages of VGA connectors.

In fact, for my MacBook Pro, I will have fewer connections. Instead of power and Thunderbolt, I will just get one of the connectors that bridges power, external monitor and USB peripherals and plug in a single thing when I "dock" my laptop.

I will take that any day over the awkward Dell and Thinkpad docking stations I see my coworkers use.

I completely agree with this assessment. Even here on HN the majority of users are not giving presentations or even screen sharing. When it does matter, there is often a third party device they have to present from anway.

I'll take the adapter not being in the box, as for most users they won't be using it enough to warrant the extra cost.

Personally, I think VGA is an abomination and people should react a bit stronger to be invited to a venue and having to deal with standards from 1987.

Oh, forgot about iPads, 2 different ones for that, and android phones at least 2 MHL connectors and whatever google does in their phones. We haven't even got onto mini and micro HDMI.

At least 10 different connectors on recent devices then? Don't you just love standards?

If you're going to harp on hospitality, please remember it cuts both ways.

College students? It's always a big hassle finding a dongle whenever a MacBook user has to give a presentation in class.

Instead of buying mini DVI to VGA or Lightening to HDMI adapter, just buy this?

Wireless is usually OK in my living room but I would not count on wireless video working reliably in a conference room with 500 people on their laptop/phone. Shudder.

Moreover the YubiKey also acts as a PGP smartcard, giving you a private key (for e.g. SSH) that an attacker can't extract even if they obtain root on your laptop.

As much as I would like a "Retina MBA", the lack of a separate USB port is a dealbreaker for me too.

This is similar to standard SSH agent forwarding attacks. A sysadmin connects to a malicious server via SSH. If the sysadmin turns on agent forwarding, then "malicious root" can remotely ask the sysadmin's agent (running on the sysadmin's laptop) to authenticate to any other machine that accepts the sysadmin's public key. The malicious root can log in to any other server the sysadmin has access to, as long as the sysadmin still stays connected.

For the 2FA OTP portion: No. The button needs to be physically touched.

For the PGP (ssh) portion: Yes. (but again, the attacker can not obtain a copy of the private key, that's the critical difference to your scenario)

That's why (at least for critical servers) you should combine the two. That way an attacker can at most piggyback your connections. He can not initiate his own because he can not touch the button.

It's a slick device.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7357/11147888116_9be011e0b1_n...

Its temporary. In five years everything will have these ports and adapters will not be necessary. In the same way today you can get a DP to VGA adapter instead of having a bulky analog video output, even if it costs $15.

I have a nice integrated laptop but I have all these parts around in my bag that I sometimes lose or forget connected to a projector somewhere. What may have seem like a simpler solution really wasn't in the end.

Otherwise, completely agree - the current situation is messed up. Yet I'm glad Apple is leading the way, just like with SSDs.

Full disclosure: I don't own any Apple products or stock.

VGA's popular because it's the only option that actually works for everyone, and it's not for a lack of newer alternatives - in fact, the plethora of newer alternatives is the problem here.

But the vast majority of people never have to make presentations or hook up to legacy projectors and monitors. So bulking up the machine itself to accommodate that does not really make sense.

Having a ton of adapters seems to be required for that niche

I don't want to shell out another $900 monitor to replace my existing $900 monitor that adds no new features on top of what I had previously.

Can we stop with this meme? There's no tax. There's a price for a product. Buy it or don't. I have followed the laptop market quite closely for very many years and I'm consistently disappointed in my attempts to find non-Apple laptops that are of comparable quality and specs at similar price points. And let's stop pretending that "specs" are simply "cpu/ram/harddrive", as those are a small subset of the factors that matter to consumers.

I am all for portability but there comes a point where you start trimming essential functions. I'm not saying every laptop needs to have a SCSI port, but ONE connector?! I thought Apple was bad before with two USB slots and mini-DP. My Thinkpad Yoga, which I bought specifically for portability, manages to have 2 USB connectors, HDMI, built-in SD card reader, and other useful peripherals onboard, and yes, I do actually use these.

I think MacBooks are cool but I always find myself unable to use them for serious work. If I was a casual computer user that just needed to update Facebook once in a while, they'd probably be fine, but every time I've tried something more serious than that with one, I've ended up on a non-Apple product because why torture myself over fashion?

Hey, I have one of these... it's called an iPod shuffle.

Which curiously uses the headphone jack as an USB port[1].

Perhaps there's hope for someone to hack up at least an USB2.0 port on the MacBook using this method?

[1] http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2006/11/usb-ip...

Granted, most of what I do with my MBP is modern full-stack stuff, which I gather doesn't qualify as "serious" even if it does make me a good living. But I don't see how the type and number of ports on my laptop would make much difference if I were, say, writing Linux kernel modules for hardware nobody uses, or building a window manager in Haskell, or whatever the current definition of "serious" is among those who put so much weight on the term. I need to plug in a real keyboard; all else is commentary. (And who does embedded away from home, anyway? There's too much you need besides the computer, unless you're targeting an emulator, in which case what need have you of physical ports?)

But, hey, it's always easier to feel superior than it is to see the other guy's point of view.

At the moment, the two USB ports I have on my MBP are pretty much bare minimum but every now and then I find myself juggling peripherals.

You might consider the same cheat I use for charging, which is to keep a small but reasonably capacious USB battery [1] in my bag, and top it up via USB whenever I happen to have a port free. Since it's specified to fully charge an iPad twice, it can charge my phone several times before running flat, and a fully powered USB port can charge the battery itself in a matter of a few hours -- an overnight charge is ample. (And, hey, the only thing I ever plug in my phone for anyway is power, so it's not like I'm losing anything by not plugging into a port on my laptop.)

Another trick worth considering is, instead of using a USB headset, instead to use one which connects via the headphone jack proper. Mine is a Sennheiser HD558 with an aftermarket cable incorporating an Apple-style mic/remote module, but you don't have to get that elaborate, especially since the HD558 isn't designed to travel and does not do so well; for simple VoIP purposes, anything halfway decent will do, and serve the purpose of freeing up a USB port for things that a headphone jack can't do.

[1] http://www.nothingbutsavings.com/Product/270265-APB27US-Targ...

Do we care more about having the sexiest laptop in the airport or getting more productive time in? That's the dilemma one goes through when choosing PC v. Mac.

The sine qua non of a computer's usefulness to me is its ability to support Emacs. While my experience has been that, all else equal, any portable machine is inferior for this purpose to any desktop, I have yet to find a better portable Emacs machine than the 15" rMBP. When I do find one, I'll use it instead.

If your "all Apple users are fashion-obsessed lightweights" proposition is susceptible to the white raven's disproof, this should amply suffice. (When was the last time you ran across an Emacs user who was either "fashion-obsessed" or "lightweight"?) But I suspect you'll prefer to explain away a white raven, than to reconsider your apparent confusion of reality with an "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ad.

That's just me. A few of those things could be transferred to wireless peripherals, but not all of them, and wireless peripherals usually suck pretty bad. I have a Bluetooth headset that I try to use in the field occasionally and it's a nightmare switching between A2DP and telephony modes. I could switch to a wireless mouse, but then that's batteries and many of these take up a USB port anyway with a proprietary dongle. I don't usually carry a full keyboard around with me so I just gotta use what they have in the office, which again, even if it's wireless, often occupies a USB port.

To me, this is serious. I don't think I'm doing anything super special; I'm definitely not writing custom firmware for esoteric embedded devices from Starbucks or anything like that. Just your everyday developer and sysadmin.

Now, if I put a lot of effort into it and decided I was going to live on a MBP and therefore needed to keep my usage restrained to one or two USB ports max, I may be able to come up with an arrangement that works, but it's by no means the default; I most recently tried to live off a MBP for 5 months in the first half of 2013, and it didn't work out (the lack of ports was a constant annoyance, but not the impetus behind the change). I swapped it for a Thinkpad and was much happier. I find this happens to me every time I try to live off an MBP. The most successful run I had was 2006-2008 where an MBP was my sole laptop and I did a lot of remote work, but it was not really pleasant and I had a desktop that I used to supplement.

To be clear, I have bought 3 Apple laptops over the years of my own free will and used a few more that were owned by employers. It's not that I hate them (in fact I continue to be astonished by Retina displays, which I was sure was just going to be hype before I saw it in person, and wish PC makers would catch up), but I just don't think they're good workhorse machines for people who do real work. I think they're mostly a fashion thing that people force themselves to live with. I'd love to have one around the house as a casual computing machine, but it's hard to justify dropping $2k for the setup, when again, there is real work that would be better served by the same investment going to actually useful equipment or to labor.

I just don't really see a reason to force myself to heed Apple's insistence that while I think I may want more than two ports, I really don't. Even the way I use Apple hardware usually pisses off Mac devotees -- back in 2006 I made some permanent enemies out of a few acquaintances that were stunned I would be voluntarily using Fedora on a MacBook Pro. They kept repeating that they'd totally understand if it was a PC, but if I had to use Linux on a Mac, I was most likely just a retard who couldn't grasp the beauty gifted to earth by Humanity's Eminent Genius Steve Jobs. They continued this hostility every other time I saw them. Pretty bizarre.

Congratulations, you've identified the target market for the new MacBook.

As far as I can tell, the market for Apple's laptops are normal hipsters, hipster devs that can't stop talking about how you can build a blog in only two hours with Ruby on Rails, video and photo editors clinging to the meme from the 80s that editing software is somehow superior on a Mac, and college students that don't want the embarrassment of using an "old person's computer".

or: $70-odd additional margin for Apple that people will be happy to pay once they notice they need it regularly. Clever.

I hope IFixIt guys takes those things apart, I bet they have their own little OS and processor just like we've seen in previous Apple "adapters."

What we also want is a hub into which we can plug our monitors and additional storage. For desktop use, this should have a longer cord, of course. (There are such hubs for USB 3, which can already be bought for ~$79 t0 ~$250 depending on what you want out of video compatibility.

The new 29W brick currently costs £40 and the 2m USB-C cable £25. Typically it's not the brick that fails, it's the poor strain relief on the laptop cable. Being able to replace just the cable with (probably) an aftermarket product is a massive step up.

I understand there is a market for these paper thin, disposable machines but Apple has lost the sensible buyer who wants a solid upgradable dev machine.

    ===<cord>==E |magsafe| =E laptop

Video (sorry for linking to a Lenovo advertisement): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTZ7u5YNXV0&t=60

Great build, keyboard that perhaps beats the macbook

No spinning rust hard disk, no fan.

I bet it could take a lick or two. Can't speak for the plastic or the glass screen though.

Fortunately, the thing was closed, landed on the lid, bounced off the hardwood floor, did a flip, and was no worse for the wear. If it had been onto concrete or tile, or the lid had been open, it probably would have turned out worse.

My 2012 MBP retina has this infernal magsafe2 connector that disconnects every time I try to use it on my lap, but at least it'll disconnect if you trip on the cord. Or if you try to use one of the 5 magsafe1->magsafe2 adapters I've bought that consistently fail after a few months.

Casual Facebook users are not a target audience for anything, because almost everybody is a casual facebook user, including people who do 3D animation or need to compile huge codebases.

But I don't see that being realistic, yet, because (a) the new MacBook has less battery life than the 13" Air, (b) OS X is messier than iOS (system daemons love to run at 100% CPU once in a while), (c) as you said, almost everyone is a casual Facebook user and runs terrible crap like Flash. (iOS is at an advantage here again)

But yeah, it is a great device for people who only open their laptops occasionally and can recharge at night.

1. 12" is a weird size for me. I'd prefer 15" Pro edition.

2. One connector isn't enough, even with the adapter, I'd need more.

Oh, wait. That benefits Apple, too...

I think usage pattern probably matters far more than the strict cycle count. Specifically, "all-day" usage appears to correlate strongly with battery capacity falling off more sharply as cycle count increases — admittedly, based on user-reported behavior that I could find on the web with as much time as I can spare this afternoon to faff about on the matter.

I think I'd have to say it's worth it for full standards-compliance, though.

I even have one installed in my motorcycle trunk for on-the-road charging. No worries about it damaging the machine.

I bet consumer behavior has changed, and that laptops with 10+hr battery life probably get charged more like phones: overnight and in a safe location.

Granted, a lot of that is learned behavior because I know I can yank the Magsafe out without incurring a $500 repair.

If USB-C becomes the go-to port for charging, I can't imagine something like this not being far behind.

Related: Can you still open the lid with one finger without lifting the bottom case up with it?

But 1 port is sad, because now you have to choose between a lot of things (charging, using hdmi, whatever)

No, USB Type-C allows multiple concurrent uses, such as: charging and using HDMI at the same time. See http://www.anandtech.com/show/8518/hands-on-with-usb-type-c-... : "This opens up the possibility for a dock scenario where a single cable to the monitor can charge a laptop and also mirror the laptop's display onto the external monitor, and the external monitor would also be able to serve as a USB hub for a keyboard, mouse, headsets, flash drives, and other USB peripherals."

Edit: @rakoo: I agree that in scenarios where you do not have a hub, it is annoying to have only 1 port. Even if the power brick integrates a USB hub it would be weird to have to plug a USB drive in the brick... I guess this opens a market opportunity: sell a tiny USB hub with 3 ports (type-C power in, type-C power out, type-A generic port) that is meant to be left almost permanently attached to the laptop or to the end of the power cord.

It may come with a 1-port USB plus power adapter in place of the standard power cable though?

My laptop is connected to the power via magsafe and the monitors with HDMI and USB. Keyboard/mouse/webcam/microphone are connected to the monitors.

With the new USB-C plug I guess I'll be able to buy the hypothetical Antec "Super USB Charging Media Hub", which all my devices connect to. My laptop then only needs to plug into one thing.

I would really like PC manufacturers to standardize on this; it would make using laptops as nice as using non-Apple telephones/tablets/ereaders is now.

The decision to not include a single USB port is of course mind-boggling, especially given Apple's market. How are you supposed to share large files? No USB drives, no memory cards etc on the go.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation, when I reach home I plug in power, network, external display and USB devices, but these things don't move with me, they're fixed desk accessories. I've got a separate set of them at work.

Needless to say, I'm not very happy about no USB just as I wasn't happy about syncing.

They eventually released an update that re-enabled it, and it still works in Yosemite.

edit: vocabulary

If you need expansibility and are running a large external monitor, that sounds pretty 'professional' to me.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MJ1K2AM/A/usb-c-digital-av...

and

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MJ1L2AM/A/usb-c-vga-multip...

Unfortunately both only have 1080p HD. Let's hope there will be a (mini-)DVI version with a higher resolution soon.

So we have the "USB-C Charge Cable" $29 (http://store.apple.com/us/product/MJWT2AM/A/usb-c-charge-cab...) -- I wonder if that is proprietary or if any cable would work. Then there's the "USB-C Power Adapter" $49 (http://store.apple.com/us/product/MJ262LL/A/apple-29w-usb-c-...).

Too bad they can't fit 29W into the smaller cube form factor which charges my phone. That would be incredible powering a laptop off of that.

Someone needs to create a much sleeker implementaion of a in-line 1-port hub. So basically something that looks like USB-C on both ends, but 4" from one side of the cable there's a quarter-sized circle of hard plastic that has the USB-C cable going through it, with another USB-C port available on the side.

I hope we will see USB-C to HDMI and USB-C to DisplayPort "cables" which are not big fat massive dongles but really function more like just a cable.

No hub.

It wasn't addressed because Apple offers no solution (yet?).

They're way too expensive ($80), but give Type C is a standard port I expect Amazon Essentials or Monoprice will fix that pretty soon.

They own Lightning themselves so they can do whatever they want there.

Another perspective I've seen recently about this is that this new Macbook will probably make people change their habit towards something traditionally only for smartphones: you'll see people keep their computer untethered for the larger part of the day, and only plug it for energy during the night. So, basically, mobile first instead of plugged first. You then have a port constantly available for whatever you want to plug on the go.

When I'm on the road the minimalism of a Mac is nice, but at my desk, hooked up to everything I really need for heavy work, my desktop is a cluster-f of cables and adapters and wires.

Too bad USB-C didn't also do microphone in.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&e...

I guess what I am saying is, I wouldn't want to be queued outside the Apple store for one of these. The supporting accessories aren't there yet (yes, even with Apple's two hubs/adapters).

However when they do the refresh on this line, one or two years from now, the supporting hubs, wires, and so on will be available and it will be a very fun experience.

Do all monitors/printers/hard drives/etc provide pass through so you can charge? Or do you have to unplug your laptop from the power to get to your hard drive if you lose your dongle?

Not to mention the fact that every single mac apple peripheral you've ever owned is now worthless.

If they threw USB-C on as the charger alongside a USB and Thunderbolt I'd be stoked that mac is embracing new technology. If they put two or three USB-C ports and nothing else I'd be impressed with their commitment. With just one port, I'm left wondering what the hell they're thinking people use their laptops for.

[1] http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2TY1K447...

Also, I haven't plugged in a printer in years. Many printers have Wifi built in, and if not, you can always attach it to an Airport base station.

External storage? Use Apple's Time Capsule or any other NAS to back up your data wirelessly.

I've even seen companies use Apple TVs connected to a projector for wireless presentations.

Sure, a USB thumb drive is invaluable when you need to copy some files to your uncles 10 year old laptop with broken wifi; but you can get pretty far without wires if you want.

This was back pre-USB 3, and the power limit of USB has only increased since then (USB 3, USB-C, etc). This means the wires get hotter, the hub gets hotter, and any short/surge will have an even more dramatic effect (e.g. fire?).

Honestly USB hubs should be up to the same spec as a surge-protector/multi-tap, but they aren't, even though they carry enough electricity to kill someone.

At airports for example I'm carrying only my MacBook and usually put in there charger and the my phone, now I have to also carry an adapter to do that.

I think we'll see a lot of small USB hubs with a USB-C connector to your laptop and all your USB/audio/Displayport/ethernet out, so that getting back to your desk is one cable to plug in and not a half-dozen.

I use a MacPro driving 3 27' displays and also have a few portables as well. It's just a matter of synching info. I can't imagine having to deal with hooking up a portable.

Plugging my 2013 Air into my desk when I come home isn't a big hassle - I plug in the speaker cable, the power cable, the video cable, and the USB hub. It takes me ten seconds[1] to do unless one of the cables falls; they're normally sitting right where I put the Mac. It sits on a lower shelf and runs closed; there's a Bluetooth keyboard and a Wacom tablet on my desk. (I'm an artist.)

It'd be nice to have the single connector I guess. Once I got an adapter[2] and plugged everything into that I'd save all of, I dunno, five seconds?

I'm also not driving three displays. I have never liked multiple displays. They don't work well with a Wacom tablet, and I go crazy from constantly seeing slight color differences; when I'm at a cafe, I use the laptop screen; when I'm at home, I use the external monitor.

Now you have one person's explanation of why she schleps around a single laptop that she also uses for her desktop.

1: Literally; I just timed it. 6.6s to leisurely unplug it, 10.3s to casually reconnect it.

2: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MJ1K2AM/A/usb-c-digital-av...

Synchronizing is hard. That's the problem.

I want to close my laptop after a day at the office and be able to continue working on the train or an airplane, immediately, if I need to.

This isn't easy to do without having a single machine.

I'd seriously consider an iMac if Apple would solve b.

To be fair, Apple had a lot of people on the USB-C standards... 'committee', second only to Intel.

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/6/7505187/apple-macbook-2015-...

(Look at who attended what meetings, and where it was proposed, how far it was along when it was proposed, and then when apple started showing up. It looks like they saw the writing on the wall, and joined in to make sure they weren't going to get left behind)

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2015/03/14/apple-usbc

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MJ1L2AM/A/usb-c-vga-multip...

I wish the power adapter itself would also have the passthrough.

If you work in any environment other than a sterile coffee shop, this will be a huge problem for you. I spend almost all of my time working in a hackerspace, and fiddling with my power connector on my less than 1 year old laptop is a constant annoyance.

I think some of it in my bag is from a black sand beach. That stuff kills headphones as well as wonkifying magsafe sockets.

It's a bit of a dubious rhetorical move to cast anybody who works in an environment that doesn't contain a lot of ferrous dust as some sort of freakish outlier. You might be ever so slightly guilty of overgeneralizing your experience...

Does anyone know if there was any emphasis put on making USB-C less flimsy and delicate?

https://intel.lanyonevents.com/sf14/connect/fileDownload/ses...

Example: I have a USB-C Printer/Hard drive/or otherwise, and plug in my MacBook Air, will it charge my MacBook or will I need an intermediate like a specialty hub to charge?

This seems egregious if every device needs to provide power for the potential of charging device in question...

[1] http://www.usb.org/press/USB_Type-C_Specification_Announceme...

[2] http://www.usb.org/press/presskit/USB-IF_IDF_Shenzhen_2014_P...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#USB_Power_Delivery

My biggest gripe about the USB-C, and a big fuck up on the part of the standards committee, IMO

For me I prefer a laptop because its workable on the lap and small surfaces. I have seriously considered a Surface Pro but using a kick stand doesn't work on a bus/train/lounge which are common usages for me when on the move. And given tablets are about the same size as an ultrabook I may as well get the additional usage benefit.

If I did want the mobile tablet form I would prefer a larger size phone that docks and become my desktop when at home/work.

[1] http://www.anandtech.com/show/8558/displayport-alternate-mod...

[2] http://www.anandtech.com/show/8539/usb-power-delivery-v20-an...

Displayport is a protocol that can run over a thunderbolt port, but the thunderbolt spec includes much more than that.

I don' believe we'll be seeing the 40Gbps PCI extension that is today's thunderbolt over USB 3.1.

And the USB 3.1 "SuperSpeed+" PHY is a 10Gbps thing that is very comparable to Thunderbolt electrically and would be expected to evolve similarly.

You're right that USB lacks the PCI framework (which many of us view as a feature). But DP/Thunderbolt similarly lacks a cabling standard with the sophistication of USB: no charging, not reversible connectors, no OTG-style switching of host/guest mode.

Apple had a choice of supporting both connectors, or giving up "PCI madness" or "nice cables" to get just one. They picked USB.

Supporting something like Thunderbolt is nice, but not exactly the same. It's not about "brand identity," it's about "does this equipment I have work with this machine?"

So, can the Type-C connector support Thunderbolt? Yes. Does the Type-C connector currently support Thunderbolt? No. Will someone add Thunderbolt over Type-C? Maybe.

I've only heard of PCIe over Type-C (via the spec docs) and DP over Type-C (from the VESA guys).

And thank goodness they did.

The "U" in USB may finally become reality. It's overdue.

Also, there are dedicated wires for USB 2.0 as well that are separate from the SS lanes.

Does USB-C work the same way?

So, you could talk to a single DP device, but that DP device could be a DP MST splitter. This could allow it to act as a DP hub for you to daisy chain a second monitor.

EDIT: there are physical limitations how electric current is transferred. USB contacts do not have good shape and will probably deteriorate more quickly.

That said, I am kind of looking forward to my (about) 4 year old MacBook Air eventually dying and then I will buy the new model that was announced today :-) MacBooks are beautiful.

But I've never had electrical contacts on a charger wear out in the first place, so even if it goes faster it might never matter.

http://www.geek.com/apple/apple-will-be-forced-to-use-micro-...

I mean, I used a wired mouse, and I'm guessing you do as well, but it seems like wired mouse users are not taken seriously anymore.

Reasonable people can disagree wrt whether a wireless mouse is acceptable for their use case, of course. Just like reasonable people could disagree when Apple stopped shipping devices with floppy drives and (later) optical drives.

This trend in laptop design towards providing fewer ports for what seems to be little more than aesthetics seems a bit backwards.

...except for the main advantage, which is the wireless setup's entire reason for existence?

Fair enough if you think wireless is advantageous in this case but I personally don't. Or if it is, it doesn't outweigh the disadvantage of having a mouse that can run out of juice.

Wireless mice aren't convenient to keep plugged in with many laptops in many carrying cases/bags/etc, and having to plug it in increases the set up time before useful interaction. So, for laptops typically used on-the-go, I see them as a negative.

And, mice can be useful fairly distant from a CPU; they usually aren't useful far from the keyboard (which can also be wireless) and, depending on the display size, may need to be close to the display.

I mean, its not like we live in the era when most computer use involves switching disks or other similar activities that require physical interaction with the CPU case, so there's no particular requirement that the CPU needs to be that close to the keyboard/mouse for the setup to be useful.

I guess you're right about the setup time, but that seems like an extremely minor irritation to me, compared to the moderate irritation of swapping out or recharging dead batteries. Ultimately, I suppose it's a personal preference: Do you prefer a tiny annoyance every day, or greater annoyance (still negligible, in the grand scheme) every few months.