I'd say 50% is a best case scenario. If you can't see and you are not holding the plug quite right it can take many attempts. If the first attempt doesn't work you assume the plug is upside down and so you try the other way. If that doesn't work you know that in one of the two cases you got the direction right but the 'aim' was off. To correct that you may have to try two more times, and even then you may not get it right. I speak from experience and a plug which is slightly rounded to prevent it catching, and which can be inserted either way gets a big fat thumbs up from me.
Just got to add ... My wife can get just about any Apple supported peripheral cable plug into the ethernet port, either way up 100% of the time. Sad but true.
I've never had a USB port "go bad" from being "overused" and I can't recall that ever being an issue with anyone else's system in which I've had to assist.
This is true for Apple products. But in my darker days as a PC clone builder, I've had cheaply-made jacks fail when I tried to force a plug into what initially felt like the correct orientation, but turned out to be wrong... instant unusable port.
I've found that all decent usb cables indicate which way is up using the usb symbol on the top side. Devices with usb also have that side up when the connector is horizontal.
The USB ports on all of our Mac minis are vertical.
You make a good point and at the end of the day it's all about trade-offs. But I don't think I'm alone in saying that I'd rather Apple forego the 3.5mm audio jack and have 2 Type-C ports instead. That extra Type-C port would come in more handy vs a 3.5mm audio jack. Bluetooth headphones are dime a dozen these days.
And not only that, but there have been USB audio adapters for years now. Apple could certainly make a small USB-C -> 3.5mm audio adapter.
Of course, there is the issue that John Siracusa brought up on Accidental Tech Podcast -- the 3.5mm audio jack is a quick way to stop sound from coming out of the speakers. USB adapters also work, but they have a bit of lag in how fast the system will switch over to them. And depending on your settings, the machine might not even automatically switch over.
Flip the plug over and try again, it still doesn't fit.
Flip it back over and realize you had it right the first time.
That's the real world scenario most people are discussing. But thanks anyway for being pedantic... SMH
Look at plug - Observe presence or absence of USB symbol indicating top of plug - insert plug accordingly, getting it right first time. That has been my real world scenario. Most USB plugs have an orientation indicator that can be felt, so even looking is often optional.
Apple will not replace the Lightning port with USB-C. Given that Apple is constantly going smaller/thinner, why would they switch to a port that's larger? Furthermore, Lightning is still much more versatile than USB-C as it can be dynamically configured based on the type of device that connects to it.
The only small (but significant) detail left out of the conversation is that USB can't reach it's full theoretical transfer rate due to signaling and overhead. Real world transfer rates for USB-2 average 40% of maximum, and it's even worse for USB-3.x. In contrast, Thunderbolt, if I remember correctly, can realize up to 90% of its maximum.
In numerical terms, the best you'll ever get from: USB-2 is ~200Mbps USB-3 is ~1.8Gbps USB-3.1 is ~3Gbps
Compared to Thunderbolt at real world speeds approaching 18Gbps (and soon to be near 40Gbps) USB is a pittance.
Flip the plug over and try again, it still doesn't fit.
Flip it back over and realize you had it right the first time.
That's the real world scenario most people are discussing. But thanks anyway for being pedantic... SMH
Look at plug - Observe presence or absence of USB symbol indicating top of plug - insert plug accordingly, getting it right first time. That has been my real world scenario. Most USB plugs have an orientation indicator that can be felt, so even looking is often optional.
Scroll up six posts, the USB ports on our Mac minis are all in the back of the unit. SMH
%u201CFundamentally Lightning is based on USB 2.0, and doesn't offer much of a difference beyond a compact, reversible head%u201D
Not true. The most technically impressive achievement of the Lightning cable is its ability to reassign the "wires" to different functions. A specialized lightning connector could, instead of USB, provide an analog video outlet, or theoretically anything that it carries enough wires to provide signals for.
What%u2019s debatable is how useful that actually is. I believe that USB 3.1%u2019s DisplayPort ability, in conjunction with industry-wide momentum, will render that advantage moot.
1) I would have liked if Apple included a second USB-C port, specifically on the other side, but it's silly to say what a company should do.
2) I've never had a USB port "go bad" from being "overused" and I can't recall that ever being an issue with anyone else's system in which I've had to assist.
Agree on all counts. Though I wouldn't really care if two USB ports were on the same side, fine with me.
That said, for me personally, I would never buy a portable computer with only a single port. My laptop is my main computer and typical use is maybe 10-12 hours/day. Even though I change physical locations often, I have multiple power cables and run plugged in more often than not. With my fairly demanding usage, I tend to get maybe 2/3 of spec'd battery life, and since laptop batteries degrade over time I'm pretty picky about making them last.
Also, I need to use external devices fairly often, occasionally for long periods of time. Not having the easy ability to plug devices in and out without losing power and/or mucking around with external hubs/dongles/whatever ain't gonna work for me.
So fine, I'm not a typical user, and a 12" screen isn't going to cut it for me in any case, so I'm not their target audience. No biggie?
I'm not so sure. People use USB ports all the time. It's standard, and expected! For iPods, thumb drives, external hard disks for backup... Heck, I see more people still using external mice than makes sense to me.
All in all, I think this was a mistake. Clearly this machine was not designed with me in mind, but I do think they should have included a 2nd USB port.
Clearly you don't use external USB devices much, or you have some kind of 6th sense. There have been jokes about how this works in reality for years. Cartoons even.
No sixth sense - just common sense.
For horizontally-mounted USB ports, the de facto standard is for them to be mounted so that the electrical contacts face downward. This way, there is less chance of something conductive shorting out the connector should it fall inside. The "tops" of most USB devices face up when plugged in. Most USB cables (including Apple's) have the USB logo on "top". For example, when plugging an Apple USB to Lightning cable into a MacBook Pro, the USB logo on the cable faces up.
For vertically-mounted USB ports, the most common orientation is for the contacts to face to the right when the connector is viewed straight on. Therefore, the contacts on the USB device/cable will always face the opposite direction.
Don't believe the above? Look at the USB ports on the computer you're using right now. I'll bet you the vast majority are installed as described. Plugging in a USB device is far from rocket science - all it takes is basic observation and memory.
Have a MB, MBA, MBP, or MP? Plug in the USB device so that the top of the device faces up. Plug in the USB cable so that the USB logo faces up.
Have an iM or MM? Plug in the USB device or cable so that the top of the device or cable logo faces toward the right side of the computer.
USB 3.1 Rev 1, which is the old 5 mbps USB 3.0 rebranded.
USB 3.2 Rev 2, which is the new 10 mbps standard that we think of when we hear "USB 3.1".
Kind of like how HD was originally 1080p, but cable and satellite providers complained about the bandwidth required and the industry redefined HD as 720p and created "Full HD" to describe 1080p.
Or how 4G was originally the name for LTE before telecoms started marketing 3G HSPA as "4G" and to prevent confusion, created "4G LTE" to describe 4G based on LTE.
It's about time for USB-C ports!!! I hear that the plug end is larger then the Lighting Plug, and so wouldn't be able to fit in the thin iPhone. True or not, if it's a issue or not?!?!?! I think a move to it would end all the fandroid bitching about Lighting and how much it is, and not using the Industry standard.
What I'm not sure about is in Europe. Don't they have a Law about using the Micro USB port. That's the standard because they won't watch people trowing away a bunch of cables. If they went to USB-C from the USB Micro, they would be throwing away a bunch of cables that no longer work with phones!!!! Besides changing a law can be a pain at times. If they used USB-C, wouldn't they on Android then have to supply a Adapter like Apple does??? Kind of wondering about this. Having a LAW was dumb as Technology changes pretty fast in the tech world.
I do think Apples newest Macbook should of have a port on each end. This would allow Changing and hooking up a HDTV to it at the same time. Or Ethernet or a external HDD or whatever else. Not being forced to buy yet another device to carry around with you.
I've found that all decent usb cables indicate which way is up using the usb symbol on the top side. Devices with usb also have that side up when the connector is horizontal.
Yeah, honestly I hardly ever get it wrong on my own laptop for exactly that reason. But when using any of several other machines, mostly those with vertical connectors around the back, it really feels like far less than 50/50 on the first try. And I have one adapter that's horizontal, but upside down, which causes problems remembering as well. Ugh.
As for fumbling over which side to plug in, what most don't know is that when you look at the receptacle, always make sure that the receptacle shows the USB logo facing toward you. Most hardware manufacturers follow that rule.
It won't cost much to replace. The part is modular, not attached to the logic board; you can tell Apple was considering replacements.
And the MacBook (and Chromebook Pixel) do not use true USB 3.1. The USB forum, intellectually bankrupt people that they are, have rebranded USB 3.0 as USB 3.1 5Gbps, which is what Apple is calling Gen 1. Gen 2 will be true USB 3.1
Once your equipment(laptop,phone,etc) is required to repair due to malfunction of USB-C than irespective of whether the USB connector is soldered on logic/mother board or separate; you end up paying good. it costs more to repair/replace usb connector than few $ cost of extra connector(hardware is cheap) so you can use this extra connector when needed. Moreover, you loose equipment usage during the time under repair. So, no need to defend one connector is better than two.
Clearly this machine was not designed with me in mind, but I do think they should have included a 2nd USB port.
Personally I think they should have included a Thunderbolt port. Apple makes a slew of Thunderbolt adapters to all kinds of other ports. As far as I can tell there is no USB 3-C dongles that will pass through power and also adapt to some other port at the same time, at least I couldn't find one. Thunderbolt is a pretty small port so they could have easily put it on either side if they had wanted to.
Ultimately I see adding another USB 3 C as slightly problematic unless only the first one can be used for power because some idiot will try to charge faster by plugging in two chargers and ruin something. Then it just becomes confusing as someone will think they are charging when actually they are plugged into the wrong port. All that could have been remedied with a Thunderbolt port.
True but for those of us who know what to look for it is easy to get it right...that is, unless the ports are on the back of the computer and you can't see them. Then even 50% of the time is annoying.
I have no trouble plugging Apple USB-A cables into MacBook Pro USB ports, because the USB logo always faces "up". But once you start plugging generic black USB-A cables into sideways USB ports on the back of various PCs, not to mention USB hubs which are mounted "flipped" for some no goddamned reason other than laziness of the engineers, the success rate of plugging in USB-A cables correctly on the first try drops to 50%, or less. Along with user happiness. As far as user experience goes, USB-A is a stupid-ass design.
Comments
Just got to add ... My wife can get just about any Apple supported peripheral cable plug into the ethernet port, either way up 100% of the time. Sad but true.
Now that is taking posting to whole new level !
I've never had a USB port "go bad" from being "overused" and I can't recall that ever being an issue with anyone else's system in which I've had to assist.
This is true for Apple products. But in my darker days as a PC clone builder, I've had cheaply-made jacks fail when I tried to force a plug into what initially felt like the correct orientation, but turned out to be wrong... instant unusable port.
I've found that all decent usb cables indicate which way is up using the usb symbol on the top side. Devices with usb also have that side up when the connector is horizontal.
The USB ports on all of our Mac minis are vertical.
You make a good point and at the end of the day it's all about trade-offs. But I don't think I'm alone in saying that I'd rather Apple forego the 3.5mm audio jack and have 2 Type-C ports instead. That extra Type-C port would come in more handy vs a 3.5mm audio jack. Bluetooth headphones are dime a dozen these days.
And not only that, but there have been USB audio adapters for years now. Apple could certainly make a small USB-C -> 3.5mm audio adapter.
Of course, there is the issue that John Siracusa brought up on Accidental Tech Podcast -- the 3.5mm audio jack is a quick way to stop sound from coming out of the speakers. USB adapters also work, but they have a bit of lag in how fast the system will switch over to them. And depending on your settings, the machine might not even automatically switch over.
You never heard of the 50/50 90/10 rule? If you have a 50% chance you'll get it wrong 90% of the time.
Plug in a USB A connector, it doesn't fit.
Flip the plug over and try again, it still doesn't fit.
Flip it back over and realize you had it right the first time.
That's the real world scenario most people are discussing. But thanks anyway for being pedantic... SMH
Look at plug - Observe presence or absence of USB symbol indicating top of plug - insert plug accordingly, getting it right first time. That has been my real world scenario. Most USB plugs have an orientation indicator that can be felt, so even looking is often optional.
Apple will not replace the Lightning port with USB-C. Given that Apple is constantly going smaller/thinner, why would they switch to a port that's larger? Furthermore, Lightning is still much more versatile than USB-C as it can be dynamically configured based on the type of device that connects to it.
In numerical terms, the best you'll ever get from:
USB-2 is ~200Mbps
USB-3 is ~1.8Gbps
USB-3.1 is ~3Gbps
Compared to Thunderbolt at real world speeds approaching 18Gbps (and soon to be near 40Gbps) USB is a pittance.
Plug in a USB A connector, it doesn't fit.
Flip the plug over and try again, it still doesn't fit.
Flip it back over and realize you had it right the first time.
That's the real world scenario most people are discussing. But thanks anyway for being pedantic... SMH
Look at plug - Observe presence or absence of USB symbol indicating top of plug - insert plug accordingly, getting it right first time. That has been my real world scenario. Most USB plugs have an orientation indicator that can be felt, so even looking is often optional.
Scroll up six posts, the USB ports on our Mac minis are all in the back of the unit. SMH
Not true. The most technically impressive achievement of the Lightning cable is its ability to reassign the "wires" to different functions. A specialized lightning connector could, instead of USB, provide an analog video outlet, or theoretically anything that it carries enough wires to provide signals for.
What%u2019s debatable is how useful that actually is. I believe that USB 3.1%u2019s DisplayPort ability, in conjunction with industry-wide momentum, will render that advantage moot.
Agree on all counts. Though I wouldn't really care if two USB ports were on the same side, fine with me.
That said, for me personally, I would never buy a portable computer with only a single port. My laptop is my main computer and typical use is maybe 10-12 hours/day. Even though I change physical locations often, I have multiple power cables and run plugged in more often than not. With my fairly demanding usage, I tend to get maybe 2/3 of spec'd battery life, and since laptop batteries degrade over time I'm pretty picky about making them last.
Also, I need to use external devices fairly often, occasionally for long periods of time. Not having the easy ability to plug devices in and out without losing power and/or mucking around with external hubs/dongles/whatever ain't gonna work for me.
So fine, I'm not a typical user, and a 12" screen isn't going to cut it for me in any case, so I'm not their target audience. No biggie?
I'm not so sure. People use USB ports all the time. It's standard, and expected! For iPods, thumb drives, external hard disks for backup... Heck, I see more people still using external mice than makes sense to me.
All in all, I think this was a mistake. Clearly this machine was not designed with me in mind, but I do think they should have included a 2nd USB port.
Clearly you don't use external USB devices much, or you have some kind of 6th sense. There have been jokes about how this works in reality for years. Cartoons even.
No sixth sense - just common sense.
For horizontally-mounted USB ports, the de facto standard is for them to be mounted so that the electrical contacts face downward. This way, there is less chance of something conductive shorting out the connector should it fall inside. The "tops" of most USB devices face up when plugged in. Most USB cables (including Apple's) have the USB logo on "top". For example, when plugging an Apple USB to Lightning cable into a MacBook Pro, the USB logo on the cable faces up.
For vertically-mounted USB ports, the most common orientation is for the contacts to face to the right when the connector is viewed straight on. Therefore, the contacts on the USB device/cable will always face the opposite direction.
Don't believe the above? Look at the USB ports on the computer you're using right now. I'll bet you the vast majority are installed as described. Plugging in a USB device is far from rocket science - all it takes is basic observation and memory.
Have a MB, MBA, MBP, or MP? Plug in the USB device so that the top of the device faces up. Plug in the USB cable so that the USB logo faces up.
Have an iM or MM? Plug in the USB device or cable so that the top of the device or cable logo faces toward the right side of the computer.
Simple.
Kind of like how HD was originally 1080p, but cable and satellite providers complained about the bandwidth required and the industry redefined HD as 720p and created "Full HD" to describe 1080p.
Or how 4G was originally the name for LTE before telecoms started marketing 3G HSPA as "4G" and to prevent confusion, created "4G LTE" to describe 4G based on LTE.
It's about time for USB-C ports!!! I hear that the plug end is larger then the Lighting Plug, and so wouldn't be able to fit in the thin iPhone. True or not, if it's a issue or not?!?!?! I think a move to it would end all the fandroid bitching about Lighting and how much it is, and not using the Industry standard.
What I'm not sure about is in Europe. Don't they have a Law about using the Micro USB port. That's the standard because they won't watch people trowing away a bunch of cables. If they went to USB-C from the USB Micro, they would be throwing away a bunch of cables that no longer work with phones!!!! Besides changing a law can be a pain at times. If they used USB-C, wouldn't they on Android then have to supply a Adapter like Apple does??? Kind of wondering about this. Having a LAW was dumb as Technology changes pretty fast in the tech world.
I do think Apples newest Macbook should of have a port on each end. This would allow Changing and hooking up a HDTV to it at the same time. Or Ethernet or a external HDD or whatever else. Not being forced to buy yet another device to carry around with you.
Yeah, honestly I hardly ever get it wrong on my own laptop for exactly that reason. But when using any of several other machines, mostly those with vertical connectors around the back, it really feels like far less than 50/50 on the first try. And I have one adapter that's horizontal, but upside down, which causes problems remembering as well. Ugh.
Hey look, useful information! Are you trying to ruin the signal-to-noise ratio here, or what?
As for fumbling over which side to plug in, what most don't know is that when you look at the receptacle, always make sure that the receptacle shows the USB logo facing toward you. Most hardware manufacturers follow that rule.
It won't cost much to replace. The part is modular, not attached to the logic board; you can tell Apple was considering replacements.
And the MacBook (and Chromebook Pixel) do not use true USB 3.1. The USB forum, intellectually bankrupt people that they are, have rebranded USB 3.0 as USB 3.1 5Gbps, which is what Apple is calling Gen 1. Gen 2 will be true USB 3.1
Once your equipment(laptop,phone,etc) is required to repair due to malfunction of USB-C than irespective of whether the USB connector is soldered on logic/mother board or separate; you end up paying good. it costs more to repair/replace usb connector than few $ cost of extra connector(hardware is cheap) so you can use this extra connector when needed. Moreover, you loose equipment usage during the time under repair. So, no need to defend one connector is better than two.
Clearly this machine was not designed with me in mind, but I do think they should have included a 2nd USB port.
Personally I think they should have included a Thunderbolt port. Apple makes a slew of Thunderbolt adapters to all kinds of other ports. As far as I can tell there is no USB 3-C dongles that will pass through power and also adapt to some other port at the same time, at least I couldn't find one. Thunderbolt is a pretty small port so they could have easily put it on either side if they had wanted to.
Ultimately I see adding another USB 3 C as slightly problematic unless only the first one can be used for power because some idiot will try to charge faster by plugging in two chargers and ruin something. Then it just becomes confusing as someone will think they are charging when actually they are plugged into the wrong port. All that could have been remedied with a Thunderbolt port.
I have no trouble plugging Apple USB-A cables into MacBook Pro USB ports, because the USB logo always faces "up". But once you start plugging generic black USB-A cables into sideways USB ports on the back of various PCs, not to mention USB hubs which are mounted "flipped" for some no goddamned reason other than laziness of the engineers, the success rate of plugging in USB-A cables correctly on the first try drops to 50%, or less. Along with user happiness. As far as user experience goes, USB-A is a stupid-ass design.