Have you thought through your response?

Samsung was one of the first to decide to copy Apple. I don't mean handset design (you can argue that separately) but the whole way of doing a launch, trying to hype things up before release, after release, pre-ordering, releasing emails that are standard from one network to another, releasing 'first weekend' sales figures etc etc.

Some of those things stopped when Apple stopped doing it, as sales for new devices were never going to be as high as the 'early days' it meant we no longer get Apple saying how many phones were sold on the first weekend - and we never know how many phones any manufacturer had when it says it 'sold out in 50 seconds' as a Chinese company said recently (I don't remember the exact details).

Sony then tried, and now Google is doing it.

All trying to make more profit for themselves, so they're not really sharing the profits with anyone. There might be more marketing support, but the carriers and retailers aren't making loads more selling one of these over anything else.

I moaned about the Pixel pricing elsewhere as many know all to well. It's a great phone, but I don't believe it's worth the extra money Google is trying to pocket for itself. Production issues, camera (halo effect) issues and the like show it's not this amazing 'perfectly constructed' phone that Google wants us to believe. It's a very good HTC phone with a few components specified by Google and, erm, that's about it bar the software that would have been the same had it just been another Nexus phone for 2/3 the price.

We can't fault companies for wanting to make more money from consumers. Every business wants to do it, and Apple was really the only one that could. Why is anyone going to be shocked that if the opportunity arises, as it did for Samsung, that they wouldn't take advantage?

Now we've got Huawei selling the Mate 9 at a pretty high price, and the Porsche Design variant is over a grand. The latter is of course more for the halo effect, as it isn't likely to sell in any significant numbers - but what's to say that Samsung or Apple doesn't try and release a 'pro' phone next year that breaks the grand barrier?

We, the consumer, have to decide if we're willing to pay for what is to a certain extent a lot of hype and making us feel that we HAVE to be seen with one of these devices over something a LOT cheaper.

He doesn't understand that point and just gets argumentative, it's not worth trying too hard

Premium in what sense? The specs. are often beaten by little-known Chinese manufacturers. The ad campaigns are premium I'll give you that. The problem is that I can't use an advert to do any mobile computing.


If the price of an adapter is insignificant as you suggest, why doesn't apple stick one in the box for you? After all you are giving apple a hefty £700.

The same old bullshit is apple continually taking the Michael. But if it keeps superficial people from wandering the streets in despair I suppose it's a valuable public service.

I guess it would be because the point is completely false.

It's hardly bullshit.

It doesn't matter if it costs a small £10 or not. It's apple cashing in on dongles and taking the piss out of the customer. Look at the idiocy with the new macbooks for instance.

You cant even connect a bloody iphone to it without having to pony up for another dongle!

Want to use a USB drive? Dongle required.

Need a card reader? Another dongle.

Displayport? Dongle.

HDMI? Dongle.

Magsafe? Dongle!

The list goes on.

I have a Macbook pro 2015, and there is no way in hell i will be upgrading to one of the new ones because of this. Well that and the doubling in the price!

Doing away with the headphone jack was just as daft. It wasn't a step forward. It was purely a cash making exercise.

So then you explain how there is a significant component cost price difference between say an iPhone 7 and a Samsung Galaxy S7...

In which direction?

Name them.

All the high end phones are expensive.

How much do they cost to make?

Surely the biggest factor in their profits is volume of sales.

As they are pretty similar components (Samsung even supply components to Apple) does it matter?

Whichever way you like...

Its not that much of a cash making exercise if only a small proportion of users actually need those dongles.

Would you like to have a stab in the dark at a figure, expressed as a %, of Appe's total revenue derived from the sale of dongles?

I'm sure you can't even connect a bloody iPhone to the MBP, but who actually needs to?

The fact is that only a small proportion of users are going to need anything other than a USB dongle, and even then, it will likely only rarely be used.

Stop taking some worst case extreme, and trying to present it as some sort of norm. It isn't.

Who are you to say it isnt? You are wrong on almost every debate on here, yet you still prattle on as if you are some sort of expert on apple.

Who actually needs to connect an iphone to their computer? A whole host of people i would imagine! Can you give me a percentage of people who do and don't?

Who needs to connect a hard drive or pen drive? The vast majority i would guess since macbooks have horrendous storage options. Again a percentage of who does and doesn't please.

Who need to connect to an external monitor? Loads i would imagine again. Once again, a percentage of who does and doesn't since you seem to know for a fact people don't do this.

It weird how you always seem to think everything is a 'worst case extreme' and use that as some sort of debate tactic. Also, how could anyone take a stab at how many dongles have been sold since this has only just happened....

The very fact apple have been forced to reduce the price of pretty much every dongle because of this, shows you are wrong here again. I suspect however, you will still argue this over the next 10 pages as always.

Completely off topic but I auditioned the new MacBook Pro yesterday - again now devoid of ports. The new keyboard is truly awful. No wonder Pro users are complaining. I am quite a decent typist yet made loads of errors on this keyboard. Hitting the keys is like pressing your fingers on sponge.

Apple really need to have another look at the direction they are taking and quickly.

I didn't buy a MacBook to replace my Air because I didn't like the keyboard, but loads of people said it was fantastic and I'd get used to it.

The problem for Apple would be that there will be first time buyers who may be like me and not like it, therefore don't buy. And there are the loyal users who will order online and have to bloody well get used to it.

It's fine for as long as there are more loyal users repeat buying than new ones.

I accept your premise but my question would be, this is aimed at Pro users, which suggests the keyboard will get well used - it's in the title. Despite this Apple have produced this 'butterfly' keyboard which produces lot's of errors. I have read scathing reports from journalists, sports writers etc. who not only hate the keyboard but the complete lack of ports. These are people who need to attach peripherals and will end up with dongle mania.

People should remember these teardowns are only barely educated guesses really. I would say they bare little resemblance to the actual cost apple can, for example, source its components.

I would question the results of some of these figures such as factoring in the new jet black iphone as an additional manufacturing cost, only applying to a section of iphones. I would also cast some doubt over the difference in screen cost of the 720 lcd apple use compared to the oled uhd screen used by Samsung for example. These figures don't seem to fully reflect accurately the vast quality differences, size and manufacturing processes required for these two. Albeit oled is cheaper than previously.

It does make you wonder about the profit being made on phones such as the oneplus who won't get their components near apple prices!

Is there a reason you are so frequently rude, arrogant and hostile when people disagree with you?

I am not prattling on, I am just expressing an opinion the same as anyone else. I make no apologies for disagreeing with you - your nose seems to slip out of joint way to easily.

I don't doubt that some people might connect their phone to their computer sometimes, but given that everything updates / syncs wirelessly, and phones are most often charged via the mains, I don't think the view that most people rarely have any need to connect their phone to their computer is somehow controversial.

I don't doubt that some people might sometimes need to connect via USB, but I don't buy for a second that anywhere near the vast majority of MacBook owners need external drives because 256GB/512GB/1TB isn't enough.

I don't doubt that some might need to use an external monitor - you seem to have a habit of interpreting "some" as "none".

The point was that the sales of dongles is going to have a tiny impact on Apple's bottom line, so it makes little sense to take the view that their primary motivation for removing ports is to generate revenue.

The fact that Apple have reduced the price of dongles doesn't prove me wrong at all, unless the sales of dongles are going to go through the roof, and suddenly make up a significant proportion of Apple's revenue.

Remember the internet hysteria when the MacBook came out with just the USB-C port? How is that hysteria going now?

As I said the MacBook raised concerns, but many said it didn't matter as the ideal customer wouldn't likely need any type of port at all. I don't really use any of the ports on my Chromebook (ironic, given it has loads of ports and a SD card slot).

The MBP is a totally different story.

As a writer, I also need a decent and responsive keyboard.

Your response is incorrect on so many levels. Pro users e.g. photographers make heavy use of SD card slot. Journalists use either USB or external drives, lots of other users want to connect their phones. The list is endless. I cannot believe the lack of user friendly ports on the new MBP. I'm certainly not the only one either as social media has been most vocal on this subject since release.

The main reason Apple has dropped the price of their dongles is due to the storm of protest in the U.S. about all the cables they will now need. Schiller admitted they have been taken by surprise with the adverse reaction to the MBP

How can Apple be surprised? I respect Apple for introducing new tech, and USB-C *IS* the future - but you can't just ditch everything before it in one go. Or if you do, it will take extreme courage and you can hardly be surprised.

I doubt pros are too fussed about the cost of the dongles, rather the hassle of carrying them. The risk of a dongle getting damaged (the weak point always being the connector) and leaving you at a photo shoot with no connectivity to your computer - and having to send someone out to find one etc.

You've also got the risk of simply losing a dongle, or leaving it behind.

The obvious plan LONG term is that all the equipment you use will switch to USB-C. Of course that will happen. I've got 7 or 8 phones now with USB-C. I have a USB-C portable battery pack. A USB-C flash drive etc.

But I still have legacy equipment. And when I use my DSLR, the quickest way to transfer images is popping out the SD-Card. I can connect the camera direct, but then it's out of use while everything copies. If I have multiple SD cards, one is backing up while I'm taking new photos or video on the camera.

Oh, and another benefit of having legacy ports for a few more years is obvious - when you're out and suddenly need something in an emergency.. like a flash drive, USB hard drive or something. As I can imagine anyone working in design/video would have had to do so at some point. How many USB-C products can you impulse buy in your local Tesco etc?

Where's the snore emoji now on here?.....


You are. Yes and i have an opinion as well. But as always you seem to think i'm wrong and you are right!! Thats why you are boring to debate with.


Its funny that every single time i see someone on the train, plane, cafe etc, they nearly always have a device or phone plugged into a mac.


You dont buy it? Really? Those storage options have only NOW become available. The max was 512Gb until recently. So yes, people will indeed need them because they used external storage because of the poor storage options on the MBP from previous ones.


Right, so the point here is people will need dongles.


Do you have any source for this, or is this just your expert guess?


Actually, it does. Apple have been forced into reducing them because people have refused to pay the inflated prices for them when they should be on the machine already. IF they have to pay inflated prices, they will look at other laptops that do include them.

I have a 2015 MBP and will not be buying a new one. The inflated price for less than what you got before is a turn off for me.


Still an issue to anyone wanting to charge and use an external device. Also that's not a pro machine with a stupidly large price tag attached to it.

Maybe you're right.

Did you see this post on MacRumors following the announcement of the new MBP?

"Well, I’m sure I’ll be attacked for this, but I’m gonna say it anyway:

Tiny harddrive, barely enough RAM (and not upgradable to the “enough” level), no dedicated graphics, only dual-core processors. It certainly isn’t bad, but Apple just took the “pro” out of the 13-inch line. And come on - it’s freaking expensive. […]

The 13” is NOT a pro device in my opinion. It’s more like a beefed-up and slightly heavier MacBook Air. For that, it just costs way too much."

FFS - you just can't help yourself, can you?


So it's OK for you to disagree with me... but not OK for me to disagree with you? Um, OK. Arrogant much?


Fair enough.


I know some people will need external storage. I've never disputed that. I would doubt that the vast majority do though.


Some people will need dongles, yes. The point was about how much of a cash cow that was for Apple.


Given that Apple makes tens of billions of dollars every quarter from high priced hardware, I don't need to be that much of an expert to realise that the sales of $20 dongles to a minority of users, especially when cheaper third party alternatives are available, will be a drop in the ocean.


Given the new laptops have only been available a few days it seems a bit premature to say people's refusal to buy them has forced their hand.


If you have a 2015 MBP that you don't use for work seems like reason enough not to buy a new one in 2016.



Still an issue to anyone wanting to charge and use an external device. Also that's not a pro machine with a stupidly large price tag attached to it.[/quote]

I know it's not intended for the consumer but when you look at what Microsoft are doing with the likes of the Surface Studio and what Apple are producing it feels as though the two companies have switched positions.

The SS takes computing to a whole new level while all Apple can come up with is an LED touchbar. Apple really need some fresh people with new ideas.