I’ve been one of the loudest critics of Apple’s current Thunderbolt-only laptops, but they’ve quietly admitted their mistakes and brought back HDMI, SDXC, and MagSafe in the new Macbook Pros. I’m going to give them another chance.
I use Windows computers not because I love Windows, but because I hate the way macOS locks everything down, and I despise Thunderbolt ports. Even my Windows desktop has a Thunderbolt port that only works a fraction of the time. My Dell laptops have Thunderbolt as well, and they also only work with some dongles, with some accessories, some of the time.
The biggest issue I’ve had is with Thunderbolt display adapters. Most of the time, they don’t work at all, but sometimes, they won’t transmit 4K. Other times, they won’t display 60 Hz. Read the reviews of any Thunderbolt dongle on Amazon, even the highest-rated ones, and you’ll see just how unreliable this system is.
Don’t misunderstand me, I hate the variety of cables that I have to use on a daily basis. I wish there was one cable that worked for everything, but this isn’t currently a reality. Fstoppers owns around 20 televisions, projectors, and monitors, and not a single one has a Thunderbolt port on it.
I wish Apple had given us at least one USB-A jack on the new MacBooks, but I’ve given up on that ever happening, and most USB C-to-A dongles have been fairly reliable for me in the past.
Apple is making it sound like their new laptops can outperform the most powerful Windows laptops currently on the market, and Thunderbolt proponents make it sound like with a simple dock, I can get all the ports I need and much more. For this reason, I’m going to give Apple computers one more shot. I’ve purchased a new 14-inch MacBook Pro, and I’m going to unplug my desktop PC and try to use the laptop with all of my regular peripherals (dual monitors, speakers, microphones, card readers, keyboard and mouse, etc.)
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This video was sponsored by the new Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8.