The Great Dongle Sale of 2016

Yesterday Apple cut the prices on most of its USB-C dongles. I suspect this is partly a result of the complaints that the new MacBook Pros are USB-C only and that most buyers are required to buy a pile of new dongles to go along with their new Macs. I think it’s a good idea. My only gripe is that the reduced pricing ends on December 31. This transition to USB-C will take a lot more than a few months. Apple hasn’t even released iMacs and Mac Pros with the new ports. These dongles are a necessary cost of moving into the future and Apple should keep these prices low to make it easier on buyers of their multi-thousand dollar computers.

Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C

There’s a bit of confusion out there about ports on the new MacBook Pro. They are all USB-C, a smaller version of USB-C that lets you plug in with either side of the plug “up” and no problems. It’s both smaller and better than the USB-A, the rectangular plug that came with the original iMac and is now pretty much everywhere. I had the USB-C port on my MacBook and I liked it. Better yet, the usual assortment of dongles and cords are now available.

The wrinkle is that with the new MacBook Pros the port isn’t just USB-C, it’s also Thunderbolt 3. Thunderbolt 3 is a wicked-fast new Intel protocol that allows you to push an enormous number of 1’s and 0’s through a cable. Thunderbolt 3 is the reason that the new MacBook Pros can drive two external 5K monitors. Whenever Apple next updates the iMac, you can fully expect it will also be loaded with Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports.

The trouble is that not all USB-C adapters and cables are Thunderbolt 3 compliant. If you’re getting ready to board the USB-C Thunderbolt 3 train, I recommend this article by Glenn Fleishman at TidBits where he explains everything in full and makes some product recommendations.

Sponsor – MailButler, Your Personal Assistant for Apple Mail




This week MacSparky is sponsored by MailButler. MailButler is like an “awesome” button for Apple Mail. It adds a pile of useful features to Mail including a snooze button for email, tracking so you can see if the recipient actually opened your email, and the ability to schedule your emails so they are sent at a precise time. I particularly love that last feature when dealing with one of “those” guys that emails me back 30 seconds after I send an email. I write my reply and then tell MailButler to send it … in 5 hours.

Most recently MailButler has added task support. This lets users turn their emails in Apple Mail into items on a task list including due dates and reminders. Using MailButler’s task support, you can add due dates, reminders, and notes. All of this is accomplished from MailButler in the Apple Mail application so you don’t have to go into your task app to capture new items. The tasks feature works with Apple Reminders, Asana, Todoist , and Wunderlist. 

Make MailButler your personal assistant for Apple Mail.

MPU 347 – The New MacBooks

Katie and I recorded one of our rare news-related shows today with MPU 347 concerning the Apple “Hello Again” event and our thoughts about the new MacBooks. Katie ordered one and I’m sitting this one out while I bask in my iPad Pro bliss. There’s a lot of good discussion in this show including an extended debate over which MacBook you should buy given the existing lines. We went ahead and released this one early so there won’t be a show on Sunday night.

Sponsors include:

  • 1Password Have you ever forgotten a password? Now you don’t have to worry about that anymore. 
  • The Omni Group They’re passionate about productivity for Mac, iPhone and iPad. 
  • Fracture Bring your photos to life.

The Touch Bar and the MIcrosoft Surface Studio

It is interesting to compare and contrast Microsoft and Apple with their announcements this week. Specifically, I’d argue that the Apple Touch Bar and the Microsoft Surface Studio are both appropriate manifestations of the companies’ differing touch computing philosophies.

When Apple started with the iPhone, the idea from the beginning was that there would be a seperate operating system for touch computing. Earlier attempts at touch computing (like Microsoft’s earlier tablet attempts) relied upon a stylus and small touch targets. Instead of building the computer operating system for touch, they just replaced the mouse with a pencil. This approach didn’t recognize that users were in a new paradigm and was tedious and slow. Not surprisingly, it fizzled. Part of the reason for the iPhone revolution was the simple idea that a touch operating system should be touch friendly. As Apple grew the line to the iPad, they followed the same philosophy. The iPad and iPhone still remain very finger-friendly. The Mac however, has always been very finger-unfriendly.

A few years ago when Microsoft decided to get serious about touch computing, they didn’t take the separate operating systems approach Apple did but instead tried to incorporate both touch and traditional mouse-and-keyboard computing all into Windows. With Windows 8, it was a mess. With Windows 10, it got better. This week with Microsoft announcing the Surface Studio computer, which is essentially an iMac that tilts to a 20 degree drafting table touch computer, it seems their aim is getting even more accurate.

Now Apple is also talking about bringing elements of touch computing to their macOS operating system. True to form, however, they aren’t looking to push fingers onto screens but instead adding a second screen to your keyboard. It’s the way they make macOS more touch friendly without actually adding any of the touchy parts to macOS. It makes perfect sense for Apple’s approach.

It is fascinating to me that these hardware announcements are both a natural extension of the underlying touch-computing vision. Only Microsoft would make a tilting desktop computer that you write on. Only Apple would put a touch bar on a keyboard. I don’t think anyone is sure where this is all going but these differing approaches and evolutions are changing the ways we all use computers.

Update:

After finishing and posting this article I laid down in bed to catch up with a busy day of Apple news. Of course one of the first articles I read was this one by my friend, and podcasting partner, Jason Snell, where he makes nearly identical points, just more articulately.