They point to the many consumption of a port besides charge its battery : to charge and sync iOS and other gadget ; for tether a phone or tablet to use its cellular connexion ; to connect to monitors , printers , and scanner ; and more esoteric uses , like aim disk mode , in which a laptop computer can be mounted as a disk on another Mac .
In fact , that ’s how I use my laptop ! But here ’s the matter : when you use technology versus write about it , you ’re a pundit for yourself . Unless you make a especial endeavor , your use guinea pig seems like the prefer one — you see it every day , it makes mother wit to you , and everyone else appear to be an outlier .
Say I only ever dictate text edition and barely ever typecast . I still could n’t argue Apple should release a laptop with no keyboard .
As a tech writer , though , I endeavor to break through the barrier of my own pick , and verify I sympathize how everyone works . It ’s often difficult to know whether I ’ve found a pocket or people or a widespread trend , but I rely on where companies invest their money in Modern products , reported and approximate sales figure , and how third - party ecosystem grow or fail .
What shakes out with the new MacBook is the conflict between what I ’d call a nomadic desktop exploiter , who is an often loath mobile route warrior ; and the mobile - first or mobile - only user , for whom a figurer is like a bigger , different smartphone or tab , and their usage figure mirrors that .
Nomadic desktop roamer
Creating improvised shelter of desks and electronics wherever they stray , the mobile screen background substance abuser expects to have and need external devices to stock out her work . This includes an outside reminder ( or maybe two ) , at least one external drive , and one hopes a gigabit ethernet connection .
As one of this ruck , I sympathize . I ’ve always handle a laptop computer as an accessory to my main machine , which was a desktop computer , whether all - in - one , a Cube , or a tower . I refuse an melodic line for old age , and bought a 15 - in MacBook Pro a few twelvemonth back . But I sell it months later when I actualize it was just too hurking for my needs . A mid-2011 MacBook Air has been my stout companion since .
More latterly , set up in a co - working blank space , my nidus shifted so that my laptop became my main reckoner and Mac miniskirt my adjunct machine , used occasionally .
But I ’m still tether to the trappings of desktop life . At my co - running blank , I ’ve left a DisplayPort - fit out Asus monitor , a USB 100Mbps ethernet adapter , a charger , a keyboard , and a black eye . Also , the kitchen sink .
For we breed of nomads , a MacBook could be a concentrated sell unless and until clever docks are introduce . These are expected . A single dock , likely command external power , could handle DisplayPort output , and a USB 2/3 hub , as well as guide - through power . So far , USB - C internet adapters have n’t been discussed by Apple or others , but it should be possible , and that would be a must - have dock item as well .
Even with a dock , we ’re going to feel less capable with a undivided port or with USB - one C as our only pumped port . We do n’t want to carry stack of transcriber or a dockage — the worst thing we have to do is mob separate mini - DisplayPort - to - DVI and -VGA dongles if we ’re expecting to give presentation on the road .
I ’m likely an outlier in that category by own a MacBook Air over a MacBook Pro . While I run Adobe InDesign , Lightroom , and Photoshop regularly on my MBA , it ’s a stretch and often involves tedious delay that I would n’t take on with an MBP . Still , I prefer the tractability .
For my confreres , though , you ’re more likely regularly plug in outside hard drives , and if you ’re golden enough to already be working at Thunderbolt 2 speeds , even a wharfage does n’t help , as you ’d be criticise down to 5 Gbps with the raw MacBook at best .
Mobile laptopian
The dulcet office of the MacBook is aim square at the person who lives on a laptop and rarely , if ever , has need of its ports except for charging . They often find themselves infrequently able to plug in , and they ask battery life long enough to let them not worry about that .
When you look at sale figures of wired peripheral , where they are stocked , and what sort , it ’s clear that radiocommunication has won the day wherever it ’s possible — as with printer and networking — and that a comparatively small number of users combine laptops with the even habit of external storage and other devices that do good from the gamey of high - speed performance .
What those exploiter look for is the time between charge , not the capability when tethered . Apple describes the 2.03 - pound , 12 - inch MacBook as get nine hours of wireless WWW , the same as the 2.38 - Cypriot pound , 11 - inch MacBook Air , and both get an 60 minutes more when just playing video . Apple shrivel up the logical system board and pumping in more shelling in empty space surely had an effect . ( The 13 - inch MBA weighs 2.96 pounds and Apple figure 12 hours of quotidian manipulation . )
The iPad Air 2 weighs one-half as much ( 0.96 or 0.98 pounds ) but get 10 hours for any premix of surfing , streaming , and consider . It ’s clear Apple sees the range of 9 to 10 hours as idealistic to go without a charge .
But do these folks never pluganythingin to a laptop computer , except an iOS gadget to charge it ? David Brennan respond to a query about “ no port ” users , by noting that he uses a Mac mini for more intensive chore , but carries around a MacBook Air of my time of origin for everything else . “ I could live quite happily with no port , ” he writes , and a MacBook is on his inclination for when his current MBA battery is past its prime .
Chris Brennan , a workfellow from across the pond in the UK , noted that in his personal use he ’s gradually become almost entirely untethered already . Even when he ’s at oeuvre , “ My pressman is wireless , as are the keyboard and mouse in the bureau . ” Between ubiquitous Wi - Fi , wireless peripherals , swarm storage , and the long stamp battery life of a MBP , he can see last off one threefold - function port .
And James in the UK noted likewise that all the purposes to which he used to need a USB interface , such as a flash drive , he now trust on Dropbox and other cloud services . He writes , “ I ’d reckon that there ’s a middle dry land between people who ’ve wear the gold off their USB contacts and me , who remember they use the ports most months , but actually only use it once or twice a year , and would cope just fine if it was n’t there . ”
append to this film that USB - C will appropriate bidirectional charging : you ’ll be able to get third - company batteries cheaply with multiple porthole that can be both superpower author and hubs . This will make the rarely plugger even more able to live away from the gridiron .
Painting a rainbow
The new MacBook is polarize , because it reveals some of our fearfulness about the counsel Apple seems to be taking . I mean , by all that ’s holy , they claim our floppy cause ! Our optical drive ! Our FireWire ! What … will they take next ? !
Veteran Mac user sense this most of all , because events of the last 15 year have whipsawed us with changes every two or three . For the right user , the one - port MacBook is a fine compromise , even if there could have been two . For the improper user , Apple still has a whole line - up of other information processing system , many aimed at us nomads .
