Today is the last day in March, which means it's the last day to grab discounted USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 accessories for your MacBook Pro 2016.
Since November, Apple has cut the price of their USB-C adapters by up to half, third party USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 peripherals they sold by 25%, and SanDisk's USB-C SD card reader by 40% — all in an effort to ease the pain of pro customers with legacy peripherals upset by Apple's rapid move to USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 exclusivity on the 2016 MacBook Pro. But your time is running out: Today, March 31, is the last day to pick up discounted accessories.
- USB-C to USB Adapter from $19 to $9
- Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter from $49 to $29
- USB-C to Lightning Cable (1m) from $25to $19
- USB-C to Lightning Cable (2m) from $35 to $29
- USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter from $69 to $49
- USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter from $69 to $49
- SanDisk Extreme
- Belkin USB-C to Ethernet
- Lacie 5TB
- SanDisk 64GB USB-C Flash Drive
- Lacie 1TB Porshe
- G-Technology 1TB USB Drive
- LaCie 2TB Porseh Design
- Belkin USB-C to VGA Adapter
- Belkin USB-A to USB-C Adapter
- Belkin 2.0 USB-C to USB-B Printer Cable
- LG UltraFine 4K Display
- LG UltraFine 5K Display
Not included are Apple's USB-C power adaptors or the USB-C Charge Cable (2m), but a variety of third-party accessories are also discounted at Apple Online and at Apple Stores.
Either way, it's obvious Apple firmly believes this is the future of the Mac laptop, and the price drops are a olive branch and bridge to those still bound to present-day accessories.
If you're an aspiring MacBook Pro owner — or existing and opportunistic MacBook owner for the USB-C drops! — jump on them ASAP.
Reader comments
Today's the last day to get discounted USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 accessories
Nice gesture on Apple behalf to refund orders placed before the price drop (many companies wouldn't probably care). It's particularly appreciated since the new MacBooks (both the MacBook and the recently revealed MacBook Pro) have no other means for connections. Still, even though it surely is appreciated, such an abrupt "push" forward was maybe too much; it would have been better, probably, if at least a general USB-C to USB 3 adapter was included with the purchase
Im happy that Apple reduced the prices of their Adapters. I think this is fair. :)
glad to see Apple also looking after everyone including those that have already ordered..
Just one more reason why Apple is the best here.... I don't think any other company would do this.. Instead you'd get the rather snarky response "Well u should of waited."
So you just bought an iPhone 7/7 Plus and you now need a dongle to connect to the new MBP? This makes sense to some of you?
I'm with you Rene. I admire your's and Alex's composure with all the gnashing of teeth over at mbw. The MBP is still the best mac ever released, and this is a smart way to ease the transition. I was thinking they could make something like that M$ box you liked, only have it customizable. Put a price range on it for up to 5 or 8 ports for an Apple-branded hub.
About time too, I just hope the prices remain at this level rather than the original RRP which was bordering on profiteering. They should also be applauded for refunding those who purchased at the original price.
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Reading the comments made me believed lots of order cancellation for TB MPB due to the UBS C adoption by Apple, hence forcing the price reduction for adapters.
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The Dangling Furball guy is saying that Apple's probably doing this to counter the notion that moving everything to USB-C is a money grab and they're wanting make money off adapters. Yeah right!! As if the current pricing of MBPs alone wasn't enough of a money grab. Additionally, if they can afford to include a $9 adapter with a $650 phone, then they sure as heck can afford to include a $19 adapter with a $1200+ laptop.
Its's a nice gesture, but why only to the end of the year? If they'd priced the things more competitively, they wouldn't be playing games with the price of peripherals. I'll still be getting one, but I had to think this time. It wasn't the cost of peripherals that almost put me off, but the price of the MacBook Pro. It's even more sensitive for me, over here in the UK, since my fellow citizens threw us all under a bus earlier this year, and left us with an extra 20% to pay. I hope they have something in their locker for next year, because 2016 has fell a bit flat, what with the Air Pods rumoured to be shipping in January. It's felt like an incredibly controversial years for Apple. I'm not saying they're wrong, because we've been here before, but Microsoft are asking big questions in design and innovation, which is normally Apple's role.
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I guess courage means cutting costs on cords, dongles, and adapters after a major backlash for stripping a "pro" product of all of its ports
Posted from my Nexus 6P
I believe the bigger problem was not including the adapter with the Mac like they did with the iPhone. They haven't stripped it of all its ports, it's just using USB-C which is the next generation of port (on a next generation MacBook Pro) which is easily capable of replacing the ports they've "stripped"
Yet their iPhones and iPads still use proprietary Lightning to USB but the new MacBooks have no regular USB ports and only type C.... forcing iPhone users (their bread and butter) to buy a new cable or an adapter. Real courage there.
Posted from my Nexus 6P
I'm not supporting Apple's choice to use Lightning with the iPhone, it should be using USB-C, and the MacBook should only have USB-C ports, which it does. The MacBook is done correctly, the iPhone isn't
Apple deleted the floppy at a time when it was already too small for most uses. They deleted the optical drive at a time when few people still bought software on physical media, and streaming video was quickly sidelining DVDs and Blu-rays as videophile niche products. Even FireWire was declining in favor of USB 3.0 by the time Apple deleted the FireWire port.
But even Apple's own iOS products still use USB Type A. The vast majority of professional accessories use USB Type A or Thunderbolt 1/2, and don't actually NEED the extra bandwidth of the new ports. Virtually every professional camera sold today uses SD Cards to store pictures.
That's the difference. Previously, Apple deleted technologies that were well past their peak, and no longer widely used by serious pros. With the new MacBook "Pro" models, they've deleted technologies that are still in their prime, in favor of not-yet-widely-available technologies (USB 3.1 Gen 2, Thunderbolt 3).
Plus, let's face it: Those ports were deleted as part of Jony Ive's mechanorexia fetish, to make a super-thin, super-light machine... that you now have to put into a big bulky travel bag to hold all of the adapters, special cables, docks, and external devices you need to replicate the functionality you need as a pro. That thin-fetish has become blatantly counterproductive, and no one in Apple management seems to get that.
You're looking at the past in a distorted way. The floppy drive was removed when people were still widely using it. The optical drive was removed when people were still widely using it. Both these things were removed when there were better alternatives.
I don't see how this is any different. USB-A/other ports have been removed whilst people are still widely using them, but that's because there's a better alternative, which is USB-C
Haven’t got a clue have you?
http://blog.fosketts.net/2016/10/29/total-nightmare-usb-c-thunderbolt-3/
That article seems greatly over-exaggerated which is noted by people in the comments. I'd like to hear real-world usage, how many people buy USB-C cables to find out it doesn't work with their new Mac. I have a feeling it'd be very little. As if this is something Apple hasn't thought about, I'm sure the compatibility issues are nowhere near as bad as this article makes them out to be, and this is the first article I've seen that has posted about all these "incompatibilities"
But over exaggeration fits in well here
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You're right, trolls like you greatly over-exaggerate "issues" with anything new Apple creates.
Good point but i rather enjoy #donglegate right now
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Good thing dongles are only temporary :)
I mostly agree with your point but would say that losing the either of those drives allowed much lighter and thinner machines whereas taking away all of the legacy ports in one go seems mean for no equivalent gain. I was considering the 2 port machine and.given that I'll usually have power and external monitor connected, even a single USB-A port would have helped me a lot.
I don't think putting USB-C was designed to make it any lighter, the same way the headphone jack wasn't removed from the iPhone to make it any lighter. The USB-C ports offer a higher speed whilst being able to do what the legacy ports did, with 1 type of port, that's the gain, but maybe more USB-C ports are needed?
Apple really should provide a basic set of dongles for the new MacBook Pro owners for free, considering how expensive they are already. As for me, I'll continue to use my 2011 MacBook Pro until they release a 32GB capable one. I hope they adjust their prices to a more reasonable level in the next release cycle also.
I feel that way also. At the very least it should have had one USB-C to USB and one for SD cards.
Neato. Now what I'm wondering is: when the Mac Pro is updated, since it's been this long, what's it going to have?
Right now, it's 4x USB3 + 6x T2 + 2x gigE + 1x HDMI. If they're intent on pushing USB-C/T3, it can conceivably replace all of those.
It's less hassle to use dongles on the desktop than a laptop, since you don't have to plug it in as often, and you don't have to carry them around. Having a big array of identical, reversible ports is going to be great when you can't see behind the desk to where you're plugging it in: just use any of them, in any orientation.
12x USB-C/T3? 10x USB-C/T3 + 2x gigE? My guess is if they kill gigE, they'll include an adapter in the box, since that's so ubiquitous among Mac Pro users. It's basically the only specialized port that's left.
Seems like an odd concession for a company that claims to have record orders for the new Macbook. Perhaps they also had a record number of cancellations?
Or, alternatively, maybe they are telling the truth, and they simply want to accelerate the growth of this new ecosystem. That record sales are still below their own expectations. That when they play chess they can see more than one move ahead, and so they can see that selling cables at a lower profit margin for a couple months is worth it to get even more USB-C devices (both computers and peripherals) in the hands of users as quickly as possible.
Which is more likely: that Apple has unreasonably high standards for themselves, wants to push new technology, can play the long game, and is telling the truth? Or that none of these is true, and a record number of people saw the new MacBook Pro specs, ordered one, and then changed their minds and cancelled their orders?
Based on the ship dates in the Apple store today, they're selling 15" MacBook Pros faster than they can produce them, so if you pick the latter, it means you also think Apple was lying about their initial production capacity. This is the company with perhaps the most impressive supply chain management in the world.
Same supply chain that after years of selling the iPhone still can’t get the demand right.
GEDDOWDAVEEER!
There is a huge pent up demand for new MacBook Pros as they haven't been refreshed in quite a while. I'm in this boat, I'm using a maxed out 4 year old rMBP, but what I really wanted was a 32GB capable machine to give me room to grow for the next 4 years. I didn't get that so I'm sticking with what I have. I'm also looking at Windows / Linux alternatives because I'm concerned about Apple's obsession with "thin and light". I would much rather have a laptop with more ports and a pound of extra weight but clearly Apple doesn't want to offer that to "pro" users.
I ordered a MacBook Pro right as soon the Apple Store opened for business, as I'm overdue an upgrade and am excited about the touch bar, plus I could really do with 2TB storage for all my media files. Having to wait 2-3 weeks is giving me a chance to reevaluate my purchase though, and several times I've hovered over the cancel order button. I don't need thinner, my current top of the line 15" MBP is absolutely fine, and I don't mind replacing all my existing cables and dongles with USB-C ones. What I'm REALLY not happy about though is: loss of magsafe (which has saved my bacon on far more occasions than I care to think about), lack of a single USB-A socket for when I need to plug in USB flash drives, which I do frequently, and being limited to 16GB. Oh, and did I mention the lack of magsafe? At last count I have four chargers (one in the office, one in my study, one in the lounge, and one at my girlfriend's), all of which I suppose I have to replace too. I think I'll wait now for the stupid thing to turn up just to see what it's like, but I suspect there's a better than 50% chance that I'll be so irritated by not having a charger for it when I need it (assuming it hasn't already been yanked to the floor by then of course) that I'll return it within the first few weeks.
Oh I forgot, the keyboard! I'm really not looking forward to typing on a stupid cheap and plastic touch keyboard with no proper key travel, but I guess I'll wait and see what it's like in practice. And an oversize trackpad, where the old one is just fine. Again, I'll reserve judgment, people are saying it doesn't actually register spurious trackpad presses when you rest your palm while typing, but I'm certainly worried.
Why oh why didn't Apple introduce two new laptops with touch bar? A new thinner lighter model for regular users who don't care about pro features, and a genuine "pro" model which is the same size as the current version and has room for extra memory, proper keyboard, more sockets, and so on?
I tried the keyboard with the butterfly mechanism on the new MacBook and I have to agree with you. I didn't like the feel. Some people seem to like it so perhaps in time I'll adapt.
I feel that if Jobs is still running Apple we'll be getting 64GB RAM, better voice and 3D gesture recognition without any need for a touch bar and vouchers for free dongles as a good will for customers. He would have demanded and succeeded in getting Intel to bring forward their Kaby Lake Mobile CPU release schedule for the MacBook Pro line. Just saying.
It wouldn't have 64GB RAM, it's detailed in this article why the MacBook Pro doesn't have higher than 16GB: http://www.imore.com/why-doesnt-new-macbook-pro-have-32-gb-ram
The only way it could have more than 16GB would be to greatly reduce the battery life, in which case it wouldn't be a MacBook, so no, Steve wouldn't have done this
Jobs is dead. Get over it. Either buy Apple stuff or don't buy. I, for once, am not interested in the new MBP. I'm very happy with the MBP 13" retina I bought three months ago. And even if Jobs was still alive we do not really know what his decision would be. Move on, guys.
I understand your dilemma with the cancel button. I ordered an iPhone 7 Plus, but after waiting 4-5 weeks for delivery, I returned it without opening it. I realized I'm fine with my iPhone 6. That was a $1000 purchase. Apple really should get their production together.
As for your charger situation, why can't you carry your charger with you? Instead of having four.
"and I don't mind replacing all my existing cables and dongles with USB-C"
"lack of a single USB-A socket for when I need to plug in USB flash drives"
Why don't you just use the dongle you don't mind using with your USB flash drive?
Just a matter of convenience. Let's say I go somewhere, perhaps visit my brother for the weekend, I'd take my laptop as a matter of course but I might not take a big bag of dongles if I don't expect to need it, and then I suddenly want to share a file.
But you just contradicted yourself massively. If you say you don't mind using dongles, then just keep the dongles along with your Mac, you don't know when you'll need them so it makes sense to keep them with you at all times. Soon there will be an abundance of USB-C devices/accessories so you won't need adapters anymore, it makes sense for the next generation MacBook Pro to only have next generation ports.
I'm not happy about it, but I don't mind buying a dongle or cable for situations when I expect I might need it, eg. to plug in a camera or SD card reader or HDMI projector or external hard drive or something. But there will be situations when I'm out and about without my bag of bits but still might want to plug in a USB memory stick!
i cancelled but only for now. i will get one by end of dec but i want to see real benchmarks first and let them work out new model kinks.
A welcome move except the whole MacBook Pro fiasco has made me reevaluate my computing needs. I've realised I do 90% of everything on my iPad Pro (with Logitech Create keyboard) and the rest can equally be done on Mac or PC, the PC being able to do stuff like gaming and VR too, so that's where my money is going. Too little, too late.
Good thing that Thunderbolt 3 allows you put whatever GPU you want on the machine if required for things like VR.
Until you want crossfire or sli.