After charger, Apple removes USB-C cable from the box(www.gizmochina.com)

Nah, it’s totally fine, and it’s ubiquitous. Ideally, I get both, so if I’m connecting to a TV or something, I can use HDMI, and if I’m connecting to a monitor, I can use DP.

permalink

report

parent

[ - ]

GamingChairModel@lemmy.world

1 point

3 months ago

Are people connecting their laptops to TVs frequently enough that this should be built into every single unit shipped? I can’t imagine the percentage of users who actually use their HDMI ports is very high.

permalink

report

parent

[ - ]

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works

4 points

3 months ago

Yes? Someone in my group connects to our work TV pretty much every day for our morning meeting, and I connect to a monitor at home and at work multiple times every day. Yeah, I guess you could ensure that every TV supports streaming and have a USB-C hub at every desk, but that sounds odd compared to just adding an HDMI port or something.

permalink

report

parent

[ - ]

GamingChairModel@lemmy.world

0 points

3 months ago

You use HDMI for all those use cases? Seems like Thunderbolt is a much better dock for workstations, and DisplayPort is generally better for computer monitors and the resolution/refresh rates useful for that kind of work. The broad support of cables and HDMI displays is for HDMI 2.0, which caps at 4k60. By the time HDMI 2.1 hit the market, Thunderbolt and DisplayPort Alt mode had been out for a few years, so it would’ve made more sense to just upgrade to Thunderbolt rather than getting an all new HDMI lineup.

permalink

report

parent

[ - ]

sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works

3 points

3 months ago

Yep!

Thunderbolt only works for workstations if the monitor supports it, and none of my monitors at home do. My gaming PC doesn’t have USB-C out on the GPU, so even if my monitors supported it, I couldn’t use it. I do use DisplayPort for my gaming PC, but the monitor for my home office doesn’t have it.

I do have Thunderbolt at work, but it’s super finicky (sometimes have to unplug/replug a few times for it to register) and I’d honestly rather just use HDMI because it pretty much always works for me.

DisplayPort is only better than HDMI if your monitor sends more data than HDMI can support, and HDMI can support all resolutions and refresh rates that I use (basically, the only thing it doesn’t support are high res ultra-wide screens, or high res high refresh screens). I don’t need high refresh for my work computer (I just use 1080p/60; I’m just dealing w/ text), so I’m well within that range. At work, I use a high res ultra-wide, which is nice I guess, and I use Thunderbolt there. My coworkers, however, use HDMI w/ a dongle just fine on similar screens (the ones that don’t support Thunderbolt).

just upgrade to Thunderbolt

Yeah, I’m not going to throw out perfectly good hardware just to unify cables somewhat.

Adding an HDMI port really isn’t a big deal. Apple did that with the M-series chips after having USB-C only on the previous gen, so HDMI isn’t obsolete in any way. I only ever use 2 USB-C at a time anyway, and I’d honestly rather have a USB-A and HDMI on the other side than more USB-C ports. Variety > quantity IMO.

permalink

report

parent

[ - ]

GamingChairModel@lemmy.world

1 point

3 months ago

Yeah, I’m not going to throw out perfectly good hardware just to unify cables somewhat.

I was referring to the replacement of HDMI 2.0 stuff with 2.1 stuff - not seeing an advantage to choosing HDMI 2.1 over Thunderbolt. And then there’s the support hell of intermingled HDMI 2.0 and 2.1 stuff, including cables and ports and dongles and adapters.

Either way, I’m still stuck on the idea of direct HDMI use as being so ubiquitous that it warrants being built into a non-gaming laptop that already has Thunderbolt and DP (and USB-PD) support through the preexisting USB-C ports.

Thunderbolt only works for workstations if the monitor supports it

Even if driving multiple monitors over HDMI or DVI or DP or VGA or whatever, the dock that actually connects directly to the laptop is best served with Thunderbolt over USB-C, since we’d expect the monitors and docking station (and power cords and an external keyboard/mouse and maybe even ethernet) to all remain stationary. That particular link in the chain is better served as a single Thunderbolt connection, rather than hooking up multiple cables representing display signal data, other signal data, and power. And this tech is older than HDMI 2.1!

So I’m not seeing that type of HDMI use as a significant percentage of users, enough to justify including on literally every 14" or 16" Macbook Pro with their integrated GPUs. At least not in workplaces.

report

[ - ]

1 point

3 months ago

Definitely.

People who never connect their laptop to a second screen are in the minority.

I never encountered one that has never done so, including Mac users.

permalink

report

parent

[ - ]

GamingChairModel@lemmy.world

1 point

3 months ago

To a second screen, sure. But I’m saying that DisplayPort and Thunderbolt are so much better, are generally supported by more computer monitors (but probably fewer TVs). I’d be surprised that there are a lot of people using HDMI in particular.

permalink

report

parent

Show more comments

Technology

!technology@lemmy.world

Create post

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

Follow the lemmy.world rules.
Only tech related content.
Be excellent to each another!
Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
Politics threads may be removed.
No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

Community stats

14K
Monthly active users
6.8K
Posts
155K
Comments

Our Rules

Approved Bots

Community stats

Community moderators