Mike Wuerthele
Quietly, Apple has updated its USB-C sale page, and has extended the duration of the peripheral and cable sale by three months, with the sale now ending on Mar. 31.
The discounts range between 20 and 40 percent, and cover a number of first- and third-party products sold at Apple's online and retail stores. Previously scheduled to end in January, normal prices will resume on April 1.
"We recognize that many users, especially pros, rely on legacy connectors to get work done today and they face a transition," the company said in a statement about the initial price cut. "We want to help them move to the latest technology and peripherals, as well as accelerate the growth of this new ecosystem."
Apple on Tuesday began accepting orders for the $1299.95 LG's 27-inch UltraFine 5K Display which is included in the sale for $974. The first orders of the LG UltraFine 5K Display are scheduled to deliver on Dec. 27 or 28, with in-store availability on Dec. 29.
All of the new MacBook Pro models use either two or four combination USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports. A future iMac is said to be including the port as well, although if it will be exclusively USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 is not clear.
The computers continue to have 3.5-millimeter headphone jacks, even though Apple talked about the "courage" needed to remove the technology from the iPhone 7 at a Sept. 7 press event.
Andrew Orr
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5 Comments
I just picked up the USB to USB-C adapter from Best Buy for $9 - I had them price match Amazon's current price.
My non-touchbar Macbook Pro arrived last night and I'm excited to use it, but I need to get all of my iMac's content onto it via my Time Machine backup first. Beyond that I don't know what I'll need the adapter for--I can't remember the last time I plugged anything into my iMac.
If there extending this until the end of March, def going to have another Mac event prob early March with updated desktops Mac Pro/Mini/iMac with USB-C/Thunderbolt ports. Mac Pro needs to go back to tower like the cheese grader for Pro's that need up grading, and maybe shrink the cylinder design down for a new Mini. Interested to see where they can go design wise with a new iMac, would love one in Space Grey too.
I'm pleased that Apple have extended this improved pricing. I have bought all the adaptors that I expect to need but new owners now get that opportunity too.
The plain fact is that, today, the USB-C-only machines need at least some of these to work in the real world. I continue to believe that Apple should include at least a USB-A adaptor in the box so that the machine "just works" when it comes out of the box. Some buyers are are going to get caught out: "It's Apple's top end portable, how come I can't plug in my memory stick/external drive/monitor/projector/card reader/track ball".
It's going to be great in the USB-C future but change is hard and Apple should help ease the transition.
"We recognize that many users, especially pros, rely on legacy connectors to get work done today and they face a transition," "We want to help them move to the latest technology and peripherals, as well as accelerate the growth of this new ecosystem."
These thoughts appear to have been all much after the fact, and only after much complaining by the community of apple users.
Normally you would plan for the types of issues ahead of time during design, and that's typically why you include legacy ports on devices when introducing new ports.