ITGUYINSD

foregoneconclusion said:

Remember when AppleInsider used to constantly complain about Apple's laptops not getting the Intel chip refreshes as fast as Windows laptops? Now a chip refresh is bad.

Did you even read the article?  The point is, very minimal improvements with a massive price increase.  PRICE INCREASE, not "chip refresh".

Ouch.  $700 for a base model Apple tablet w/keyboard.  

JP234 said:

roundaboutnow said:

JP234 said:

ITGUYINSD said:

JP234 said:

So give up a Thunderbolt port on your Mac to get more thunderbolt ports? You had two, now you have three. And some USB ports, Ethernet, and an SD port.

I got a dock with HDMI,  Ethernet, SD, micro-SD, (2) USB 3.0 for $16.19 on Amazon.

Is this one really worth $300? Not to me. Maybe you.

Depends on what Mac you connect it to.  Worst case, the MBP 13 M1 has 2 TB ports.  One used for this dock, leaves me with 1 on the MBP and 3 on the dock.  4 Total by my count.  And it's not just "some USB" ports, they are 10Gbps each.  So yes -- if you just need some generic ports to plug in a mouse or a thumb drive, a $20 dock is fine

For those who need more TB4 ports and high-speed USB 3.2 ports plus Ethernet, this is good.  Expensive, but good.  There isn't much else out there like this.

Like M68000 said -- no HDMI is a big bummer.

Your math is just one port off: you have to connect one of those 3 on the dock to one of the TB ports on your Mac. That's a total of 3.

Thunderbolt is expensive tech, no matter who's producing it, and it's really only useful to a handful of professionals in the I/O intensive applications. 10Gb/s USB-C will do just fine for the other 99.99%. So will two USB-C ports, for that matter.

FTA: On the front of the dock is a Thunderbolt 4 host port, which connects to your Mac and can provide 96 watts of power delivery. 

So there are four TB ports — one in front, three in back. 

Also, an HDMI port would be nice, but a TB to HDMI cable about the same price as an HDMI-HDMI cable. 

So you have one port that connects to the Mac. That leaves three that can be used for I/O. But without the hub, you have (minimum) 2 that you can use for I/O. Net gain: 1 port.

Two ports minimum on MacBook already.  Using one for connect to dock.  That leaves 1 free port on the MBP (minimum, 14 and 16" have more ports to start with).  Dock has dedicated port for connect to MBP plus 3 ports for I/O.  1 on the MBP + 3 on the hub = 4 ports total to use for I/O.

JP234 said:

So give up a Thunderbolt port on your Mac to get more thunderbolt ports? You had two, now you have three. And some USB ports, Ethernet, and an SD port.

I got a dock with HDMI,  Ethernet, SD, micro-SD, (2) USB 3.0 for $16.19 on Amazon.

Is this one really worth $300? Not to me. Maybe you.

Depends on what Mac you connect it to.  Worst case, the MBP 13 M1 has 2 TB ports.  One used for this dock, leaves me with 1 on the MBP and 3 on the dock.  4 Total by my count.  And it's not just "some USB" ports, they are 10Gbps each.  So yes -- if you just need some generic ports to plug in a mouse or a thumb drive, a $20 dock is fine

For those who need more TB4 ports and high-speed USB 3.2 ports plus Ethernet, this is good.  Expensive, but good.  There isn't much else out there like this.

Like M68000 said -- no HDMI is a big bummer.

entropys said:

Buying the few series you want on bluray will be a much better deal than a monthly subscription that doesn’t get used much.

Apple TV+ is $5 per month.  How many times do you watch the same series over and over?  For $5 you can watch all the series listed.

You know what doesn't get used much?  My Blu-Ray player.  Not once in the last couple years (at least).