The ‘dongle life’ could soon be over
Feb 23, 2021
11:54 AM EST
Is Apple listening to the criticism surrounding its most recent MacBook Pro redesign? It seems like that could be the case.
Following up Ming-Chi Kuo’s report from January that Apple is working on a redesigned M1-powered MacBook Pro, according to 9to5Mac, the often-reliable analyst now says that Apple’s 2021 MacBook Pro will feature an HDMI port and an SD card slot.
The current 13-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro only includes Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports and a headphone jack. Bringing back the standard HDMI port and the SD card slot would mean that the shockingly large ecosystem of dongles available for the current version of the Pro would no longer be necessary.
Effectively, the ‘dongle life’ will be over if this report turns out to be accurate.
With this in mind, it’s unclear what ports the MacBook Pro will actually feature. For example, it’s unlikely that Apple will include four USB-C ports, an SD card slot and an HDMI port. Instead, this new version of the Pro will likely include two USB-C Thunderbolt ports on one side of the laptop and an HDMI and SD card slot on the other.
There are also rumours circulating that Apple plans to bring back MagSafe with this new version of the MacBook Pro. Though Apple recently revived MagSafe with the iPhone 12 series, the technology hasn’t been featured in the MacBook Pro since 2015. The laptop will also reportedly feature a higher-end M1 CPU, and at least some models will offer a discrete GPU.
Apple’s new MacBook Pro line is expected to launch this fall.
Source: 9to5MacÂ