Dongle hell dilemma!

[nadroj915]

With regret, it's probably time for me to upgrade my laptop. I've been using for 4 years now the early 2013 15-inch MBP retina model. There are video issues - serious ones. I've already had it into Apple once and they did a free GPU replacement (a year and half to two years ago) because it was a known issue at the time, but it's doing it again. Whenever video is intensive - streaming two at once from two different websites, or trying to view one of those 360 videos - it just shuts down on its own.



I've been told the same computer (2015 model) did not have these issues. I'm really hesitant to upgrade to one of the new touchbar models because I don't really like what Apple did with losing all the cool, convenient ports that make it so easy to plug in whatever I want whenever I want. The only way I would even consider upgrading to one of the new touchbar models would be to purchase a hub that connects right into the computer without any cables (such like the HyperDrive 3 model). I hate cables! At the same time, I also can find very little information online as to how some of these hubs perform, and I'm skeptical.



Should I just upgrade to to the same computer 2015 model? Price-wise it's not much different than upgrading to a brand new touchbar MBP pro. Or, as some people in my life have been saying - I need to be current and stay with the times, should I just go for it and upgrade to a touchbar model?



Any advice you can give is appreciated, especially where USB C hubs may be concerned.



Cheers!

 

[honestone]

I guess it depends on how you use your machine, and if a Retina display is mandatory. Myself, I purchased a 2013 13" MacBook Air, with a 252 gig SSD and 4 gig of Ram, back in October 2013. That machine served me well, but sometimes it was getting a little "constrained" due to having only 4 gig of memory. So starting back in July, I started looking at different Mac laptops. Like you, I did not like this "dongle" business, and a Retina display was not a priority for me. So, in December, Best Buy had a mid 2017 13" Macbook Air model, with a 252 gig SSD and 8 gig of Ram on sale for $999 ($200 off), and so I grabbed one. (I was able to subsequently sell the 2013 model for $450, which was actually a good sale). I am more than satisfied with my new MacBook Air, and it has 2 USB 3.0 ports, along with a Thunderbolt 2 port.

My processing is not that demanding, and a 13" screen is fine for me. And I still get to use my USB peripherals without a dongle! When we travel, I take one of my external drives with me, and I watch videos (TV shows and/or movies) on the machine, and that works well. Plus, I have my SuperDuper! backup on the external device (actually an SSD).

 

[nadroj915]

Thanks for the feedback. I regularly use my HDMI, SD, and USB 3.1 ports. I do a lot of photo editing, and music production - so the processing power is nice to have. The Retina display, well I'm just a sucker for incredibly sharp beautiful displays, and although probably don't "need" one necessarily - it's definitely a "want."

 

[honestone]

Understand. It looks like that MacBook Air would not satisfy your needs. It's really too bad Apple has basically decided to go the "dongle" route with their laptops. I'm not even sure how much longer the MacBook Air will be offered by Apple. At least, though, I got the latest model.

 

[nadroj915]

Thanks - I appreciate your feedback - sure a lot different from what I was getting over at the Apple Support Community forums.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/33026479?ac_cid=op123456#33026479

 

[honestone]

Yeah, I see what you mean. I actually had previously seen some posts on one of the forums here about a couple of hubs that could be used for all these "dongles", but for the life of me, I can't find it. But even with such a hub, I was still not pleased with such a device. Hence, that is another reason why I decided to go with another MacBook Air.

 

[honestone]

Actually, Best Buy has that Mid 2017 13" Mac Book Air, with a 252 gig SSD and 8 gig of Ram, on sale for $949! (I actually saw that price back in August/September, right around when school started). Definitely a good price.