Single USB port is quiet computing revolution in Apple's 12-inch MacBook
There's going to be a lot of ink spilled this week about the Apple Watch. Others are focusing on Tim Cook's exclusive deal with HBO. And still others are concentrating on the new, 12-inch MacBook.
I'd like to zoom in on a tiny feature of that last machine: The new USB port. There's only one on Apple's latest MacBook, and that's giving some road warriors a real headache. But look past the MacBook for a moment and it's easy to see how, with USB Type C, Apple may be leading an imminent revolution in computing.
Why is USB-C so important? Versatility. It enables the transfer of power, data and even a video signal - all at the fastest rates. In the MacBook, that's allowed Apple to collapse all of the ports you'd ordinarily see on the side of a computer into one.
USB-C is like a superpowered version of the USB we all know and love. It's reversible, meaning there's no right-side-up to the plugs. It can deliver more power, faster - so you can connect large external devices like monitors and hard drives with it. And the energy can flow both ways, so that you can charge a phone from your laptop (as before) or you can tell your phone to charge your laptop.
Apple is so confident in USB-C's capabilities that it's provided only one USB-C port on the 12-inch MacBook. That's potentially problematic for people who need to charge their laptop and also connect a monitor at the same time, and suggests there'll be a robust industry for aftermarket adapters and splitters.
It also signals that a tremendous shift is underway. Imagine if, on its more powerful MacBook Pros, Apple swapped many of the current ports for five or six USB-C ports. You'd be able to do a whole lot more with each of them.
USB-C ports are small enough to fit on many mobile devices. Nokia has already included it on one of its tablets. Soon we might be able to ditch all the different variations of USB plugs we see on smartphones today. It could mean the end of bulky AC adapters that you have to plug into the wall.
Apple is uniquely positioned to force this industry change because its hardware is everywhere, and its laptop segment is insanely strong. This isn't just a game-changer for computing; it highlights the way Apple is flexing its market power. Soon, device manufacturers everywhere will be rushing to support USB-C.
Despite the company's booming laptop sales, all this suggests Apple's proprietary connector, Thunderbolt, may be in trouble. Apple pitched Thunderbolt as a high-powered, high-bandwidth alternative to USB just a few years ago, intending for it to become an industrywide standard. But so far it hasn't gained much traction beyond the peripherals sold in the Apple Store.
USB-C is likely to spread more widely where Thunderbolt failed. For one thing, it's backed up by the USB Implementers Forum, the standard-setting body that's been responsible for approving all the previous types of USB to date. The fact that USB-C has already shown up in non-Apple devices suggests there's much more of a future for USB-C to come.
Apple didn't design USB-C. But by introducing it to the public in the MacBook, Tim Cook just ushered in a new era of computing.