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Buying An Apple Product This Year? You Are Going To Need A Lot Of Dongles

Despite all the innovations, Apple hasn't been able to solve its cable problem.
Apple

When Apple was launching the new MacBook Pro yesterday, many people were tweeting "RIP MagSafe". That would be the name of the charger used in legacy MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops. Last year, Apple introduced us to USB C charging with 'the new MacBook' and, now, USB C has taken over the whole range of Mac devices. (The iPhone still works on the lightning port.)

The USB C or, as Apple calls it, Thunderbolt ports, are the only ports in the new MacBook Pro. That's right. You can't plug a pen drive or a portable hard disk into it without buying a dongle. Need to hook up your VGA monitor? Buy a dongle. Want to see something on your TV with HDMI? Buy a cable.

Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple,
Beck Diefenbach / Reuters
Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple,

There are four USB C ports in the new MacBook Pro, but you can't use any of them unless there is a device which uses a USB C to C cable. Can you think of any such product? How about phones made by Apple's rival, Google. There are many Android devices which can be charged through a USB C cable. If you are an Android user, you're in luck.

You would think that if you're an iPhone user, Apple would surely take care of port connection to Mac devices. But the answer is no. You too have to buy a USC C to USC A female cable or USB C to USB C cable with an adapter which supports USB C. (Easy to understand, eh?) And, I am sure there is no chance of cables getting tangled with so many dongles. Never happened, right Apple?

A customer looks at the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter for his new iPhone 7 Plus
Kiichiro Sato/Associated Press
A customer looks at the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter for his new iPhone 7 Plus

The silver lining is that the MacBook Pro does have a headphone jack. Hallelujah! You can at least use your iPhone headphones with the MacBook Pro. But what if you own an iPhone7? It has a lightning headphone jack. In that case, you need to buy a headphone for your MacBook Pro with a 3.5 mm jack from the pre-'courage' days.

But then how to use those headphones with iPhone 7, you ask? There is a dongle for that, supplied by Apple. And there will arise situations when you would need to charge your phone while listening to music. Solution? You're right. A dongle.

In short, if you are buying any Apple product this year, get ready to be enchanted. And, entangled.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.