Apple had great idea... World just wasn't prepared for wireless... 🤔

Why they removed the MagSafe I'll never understand. 😟

You can't force the world to fit you, that's apples own arrogance, they didn't have a great idea they were arrogant

Courage...

I hate apple for what they did. But tbh someone had to start. Wireless is indeed the future.

@tahnik don't force the future when it's not ready. Microsoft have shown this several times. Apple always brought the future when it was the right time.

I'm going to play the devils advocate here, yes that's a lot of cables but there's only 2 plugged directly into the MacBook. When I bring my laptop in to work I have to plug in: power, hdmi, mini display, and a USB hub. If I could have all of that plugged into 1 adapter and then have that adapter be the only thing I have to plug into my laptop it would be a huge improvement. Also yeah MagSafe was cool, but how cool will it be when you can use the same USB C cable to charge any device? It's about time we had a universal charging port for phones, tablets, and laptops

@port22 I believe that you are referring to a docking station? ;) Single port, no cables, quick release... Plus some additional ports if you need them.

Charging everything through USB sounds like a good idea, at least till you think about the details. My Dell uses a medium sized charger rated at ~19.5V/4.5A. That is within USB 3.1 spec (20V/5A) but just barely. Something that requires more juice won't make it. Even if we make everything usable within that limit, we would still need chargers with different ratings. Why? Simply because higher output requires bigger charger (physical size). And I doubt that anyone would like to carry laptop sized charger for his mobile...

@tnnn Except with USB C you don't need a docking station, just a hub. I guess it really depends on how you define a docking station, in my mind most docking stations require external power.

Your charger is rated for that but that doesn't mean your laptop pulls or needs all 100w to charge. Most laptop batteries don't even need more than 60w. Sure there will be outliers but it will be few.

@mpotratz Yeah Henge line is pretty cool

@port22 You can use USB hub as a docking station. By using USB C charger, you can even attach power source to it. Contrary to a vendor specific docks it should work with most devices. However, it is not without drawbacks. Everything is connected to a single USB port (that might be an issue for some devices). Most hubs have limited outputs (the ones visible in the picture have only 3 ports) and a simple configuration might need more, as in case of apple laptops (power, ethernet, external screen and keyboard+mouse). With more complex setups it will simply be a mess with multiple hubs.

My laptop uses 90W charger, mobile 12" version needs a 65W and powerful mobile workstation needs 120W. While I haven't measured power draw of those devices, I'd say that you won't be able to run that largest unit with 65W one. So in order to be an universal charger, that USB C thing would have to be able to power all those devices. But then it would be too large for most use cases.

@tnnn I used to use one of these (attached) to dock my Surface Pro and it just never really met my expectations, idk if docking stations have gotten better but that's my experience.

Your right USB C would be able to handle all of those except for the 120w but even then it would still charge the mobile workstation, just not as fast as its full potential.

Just another anecdotal point but the next specification of USB type C 3.X will have the same port but be capable of up to 180w (not finalized) so there is room to grow

@port22 I'm using using Dell E-Port docks. They are connected through a special docking port located underneath the laptop. Since those stations cover all my needs, I don't need any additional cables or hubs (read as: no wires in view).

If I understand correctly, your dock was connected through USB cable? Why didn't it work for you?

Ok, I do agree that we are close to being able to support charging of most devices through USB (at least from standards points of view). The problem here is the physical size and build quality. You can use a cheap, tiny mobile charger (5V/1A) but it won't charge a laptop, despite using common interface. Ok, you may use large, laptop grade charger (19V/4A) to charge a mobile but why would you carry such a large brick if you don't carry a laptop too? And if you carry a laptop, you can already use it to charge your mobile. Not to mention all those build quality and charge negotiation issues (just look at microUSB to USB C converter problems).

Haha. You have a dongle connected to a dongle... Fabulous!

@jonnyserra They're making a huge, posotive difference in making this world USB-C. Honestly one of the sides I appreciate of Apple

Dongle Life