command_f

Apple has lost it's way regarding usability - criticism is warranted.

Ive may or may not be a good industrial designer but he clearly doesn't know much about the main concepts of usability - the "look, feel & flow" of a hardware/software product.  We get the "look": but the "feel & flow"? - any sense of how it actually feels to use the product effectively day by day is missing from the designs.  As zoetmb notes, Apple doesn't appear to use the devices they produce any more.  We certainly don't see any pix of MBPs with cascades of dongles cluttering the user's desk.

It's not just my view - here are comments from a couple of the world's top UI/UX/Interaction designers who worked with Apple to create it's original world-class usability experience.
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3053406/how-apple-is-giving-design-a-bad-name

Great link, thank you.

I've been waiting a long time for a new MBP (full disclosure: I now have one on order) but I was dismayed by the new model, particularly its connectivity. I have reflected on it and I see the USB-C and nothing but USB-C as a valid view of the future; when all devices have matured then it will be great to have four universal ports. That makes the omission of other interface types in the core computer a credible design decision.

But the problem is related to your comments on day by day use: the new MBP is almost useless today. Without a handful of dongles, it can't live in today's world where memory sticks, external drives and devices wanting power to charge want USB-A, projectors want VGA, monitors want Displayport, SD Cards want .. well USB-A for a card reader, and so on. And perhaps a Lightning port for headphones too  ;-)

In two or three years, this design is going to look really smart but, in the meantime, the old interfaces are essential. So the dongles are essential (literally). So the dongles should have been in the box, particularly as they are throw-away items when the USB-C future arrives. There is precedent for this with the iPhone 7 and headphones (and with the very first MacBook Air that introduced new interface standards, there were two dongles in the box).

This isn't so much an issue of cost as principle, of Apple's comprehension of its customers' needs and the fact that it is selling an incomplete product. That's disappointing or deceptive, according to your world-view. So I welcome the price cut (the MBP was expensive enough!) but I remain disappointed that Apple got into this position.

kirkgray said:

command_f said:

Can anyone remember a previous new device launch in November or December?

MacBook Pros:

Apple refreshed the entire MacBook Pro line on October 24, 2006 to include Intel Core 2 Duo processors.

...
New MacBooks were introduced November 8, 2006 and November 1, 2007.
<Big snip>

Brilliant research, thank you! I think you've shown that there are two or three weeks yet in which something could happen. If we assumed notice of an announcement next week (Oct 18th, say) and the event a week later (Oct 25th) then a repeat of those early November dates is entirely possible.

You've cheered me up   

ireland said:

USBc also would be surprising not to see. And without Lighting how do we get headphone port consistency.

I read this as "headphone port controversy"! That's much more important, how are we supposed to dismiss this probably imaginary machine's disgraceful spec without some controversy?

What no Serial Port! Where am I supposed to plug in my modem?

ireland said:

Guys, what if the existence of this survey is in itself a way for Apple to leak they are getting rid of the port to get people accustomed to the idea before launch?

It's either that or no new MBP this year. Even if it's just a decision on whether to supply an adaptor, that takes design time and then production lead-time on packaging etc (we know how Apple obsesses over presentation, they won't just throw it in the box loose and not mention it anywhere).

I'm in the queue for a new MBP too so I hope it arrives this year. However, it's a notebook which means lots of people (me included) pick it up and take it places - places where the AV kit is lowest common denominator. I regularly use my current MBP in a conference room where the projector needs a VGA dongle and the audio is 3.5mm jack: that's common because everyone's notebook/laptop can use it. I do also use the 3.5mm jack at home sometimes, for 'phones or speakers and occasionally as an optical port - Apple's wireless isn't always reliable (even with 10.11.6) or appropriate.

A MBP should be a pro workhorse so it needs lots of connectivity (quantity and type). Making it smaller and lighter is only clever if you don't export the size and weight into a stack of (easily lost, easily damaged, extra cost) dongles.

Looks good here too. Seems a better quality release than some we've seen recently and there are some nice ergonomic tweaks too.

I never did understand why you had to scroll to the bottom of an E-mail to load its images, only to go back to the top to read it. Now the button's at the top - how logical!