6th Mar 2017 Swiss Army Knife

I agree with Rob Griffiths when he says: “limited ports limit my interest in new Mac laptops.”

Apple’s pursuit of an insanely stupid “as thin as a knife edge at all costs” design goal has led to a new generation of machines that make them much less portable than they were before…despite being thinner and lighter.

Here’t the thing, Apple: Beyond a certain point, thinness is irrelevant. And honesty, you’ve more than reached that point with every laptop you make. You reached that point, in fact, a few years ago.

There are many things I love about my 2013 13″ rMBP, including the variety of ports it includes:

The Thunderbolt 3 and USB Type-C ports on modern MacBooks are extremely versatile, but I believe the best tool is the one you have with you. Carrying a bag full of dongles makes having the right tool less reliable.

The value of a PowerBook could once be measured against the value of good Swiss Army knife; how much can your accomplish with a single tool. The only thing stopping Apple from making the modern MacBook as trustworthy as a Swiss Army knife is their pursuit of thinness. There is no reason why our MacBooks can’t have the versatility of Thunderbolt 3 and USB Type-C, while coming prepared with a selection of the standard ports we still use today.