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Apple selling a $79 MacBook Pro power adapter without a USB-C cable goes too far

109 points| lisper | 9 years ago |9to5mac.com | reply

85 comments

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[+] jakobegger|9 years ago|reply
It seems obvious that Apple is trying to reach iPhone-like levels of gross margin in the Mac lineup. Prices of the new Macbook Pros are getting ridiculous.

I'm pretty sure that's why they are getting out of the display business; they wouldn't be able to sustain their ridiculous margins, so they leave that part to someone else.

[+] asher_|9 years ago|reply
The margins on their displays was surely massive. They were in the order of 2x as expensive as equivalent Dell models. I think it was probably volumes, not margins, that had them drop the thunderbolt display.
[+] johansch|9 years ago|reply
I think you nailed it. Their 40% gross profit margin is quite infuriating. Particularly since they're just milking the franchise by now, rather than actually innovating.
[+] micaksica|9 years ago|reply
Too far? Apple is a luxury good. You are buying the Prada, the Audi/BMW/Benz/etc of laptops - they position themselves at the high end market and will extract as much margin as they can from that market. These price increases follow suit with their aspirational positioning. There is no "too far", just what their target market with a lot of discretionary income will still purchase.
[+] flashman|9 years ago|reply
Apple is a premium brand, not a luxury one. Premium products are mass marketed and justify their price premium with higher quality and useful extra features. Luxury products are niche targeted and justify their price premium with exclusivity and unnecessary extra features.

Put it this way: an iPhone is premium, manufactured in the millions. A gold iPhone is luxury, manufactured in the thousands.

[+] johansch|9 years ago|reply
There is a "too far". When it slides from being an expensive good tool to a very expensive luxury item mostly used for show. It's a lot easier to be pretty than to solve (new) problems.

Of course, their watch foreshadowed all of this. They are not interested in solving problems; they want to turn into a Prada/Chanel/Hermes/LV style super luxury brand.

[+] mattdennewitz|9 years ago|reply
a prada bag comes with its straps, gratis. an audi's battery is connected to the engine for no extra charge.
[+] sp0rk|9 years ago|reply
> There is no "too far", just what their target market with a lot of discretionary income will still purchase.

How do you know the author does not fall into that category?

[+] j45|9 years ago|reply
Apple equipment isn't just premium or luxury, it's truly better built and engineered than the average or high end laptop PC. It's only been a year or two that PC's have started catching up, with machines like the zenbook 3, x1, etc.
[+] pedalpete|9 years ago|reply
Is there a reason why the power adapter wouldn't include a USB-C cable? Can it be used without it? Does the power adapter work with older Macs using a different cable?

I'm not trying to forgive apple, I'm trying to understand why/how a decision like this could be made.

[+] twiceaday|9 years ago|reply
Perhaps most people who buy an adapter do it to replace an old one, so you can use the old cable.

I prefer things modular like this. It lets me re-use / buy the right length cable for the use-case. The only problem I see is the price here.

[+] jsz0|9 years ago|reply
The best reasons I can think of are:

1. Combating e-waste. Pack-in cables are convenient but not always needed.

2. It encourages people to buy and use the appropriate length cable for their needs. With USB-C it's a lot harder to include a 'good for most people' length because the cable connected to the laptop for charging doesn't have to connect directly to the DC adapter.

[+] chrisl99|9 years ago|reply
The only reason I can think of, is you can use a USB-C-to-Lightning cable and use it as a fast charger for iPad Pro.
[+] askvictor|9 years ago|reply
My only guess is they figure you can take the cable with you. Assuming the wall wart is easy to access to plug and unplug.
[+] x0x0|9 years ago|reply
My suggestion is there's 19 reasons times the number of people who buy a second or third charger...
[+] eridius|9 years ago|reply
> But I discovered that Apple did have one more hidden extra cost in store for 2016 MacBook Pro buyers

This seems like an extremely misguided article. The overwhelming majority of users don't buy extra power adaptors. I'd wager that most power adaptors that are purchased are to replace the old power adaptor (because it was damaged or lost). So no, this is not a hidden cost in store for MBP buyers, this is a "hidden cost" in store for the handful of people who like to buy 2 spare power adaptors to go with their brand new computer.

[+] j45|9 years ago|reply
I have one for each of my desk setups at work and home. I don't think I'm the majority in any way but I don't think it's that uncommon either.

USB-C cables are cheap enough anyways as long as you find one that can handle the power and amperage

[+] SomeHacker44|9 years ago|reply
I have at least 5. I may be hard-core, but I have one in my travel bag, one at the office, one in my home office, one in my living room, and one in my bedroom.

Granted, some of these have Magsafe 1 to 2 adapters on them, but those little things are also expensive.

At around $600 for the additional sets, plus probably another $300 for other dongles in quite a few locations, I think I will not be upgrading anytime soon.

[+] doe88|9 years ago|reply
One more time, this is greed. More than ever their North Star (to use an expression of T. Cook) seems to be greed. I'm lucky enough to have enough money to be able to buy their products but lately I seem to have reached a threshold where I think there is something really wrong with their behavior, I'm less and less inclined in enabling them by buying their stuff. First time in years I thought about switching back to Linux as my main system.
[+] huangc10|9 years ago|reply
The Macbook (2016) itself does come with a USB-C cable for the power adapter right...? Does it?
[+] NickHolt|9 years ago|reply
Yes - a fact that most people seem to be forgetting.

People will be less apt to complain when they realize they don't have to replace their entire adapter when they wear down the cable as is the case now.

[+] quink|9 years ago|reply
Two complete power supplies for a MacBook Pro cost more than the ThinkPad my dad is running Creative Cloud and Visual Studio and whatever else on.

With huge financial jump in the barrier of entry with these MacBook Pros, and with my Mac Mini no longer being supported with this release of mac OS why would I (and I suppose many others) still want to touch the Mac ecosystem with even a ten-foot pole?

I think Apple is purposely squeezing the line dry for what they can still wring out before they'll jump ship to what can only be called iOS "Pro".

[+] eridius|9 years ago|reply
I'm pretty sure ThinkPads cost more than $160.
[+] nicky0|9 years ago|reply
Macs sure are pricy.
[+] dcgoss|9 years ago|reply
According to around 1:50 of https://youtu.be/zkOKtwiceVw, Apple hid the extension cable inside the box underneath everything else.
[+] nicky0|9 years ago|reply
Not sure if that was a joke...
[+] eridius|9 years ago|reply
Wrong cable. That video is showing where the extension cable is, not the USB-C cable. And that's talking about the MacBook Pro itself, not buying the power adaptor as a stand-alone product.
[+] smpetrey|9 years ago|reply
Whoa whoa whoa that's awful packaging design
[+] pman2000|9 years ago|reply
I don't really care that they're no longer bundling the 2 together. What I DO care about is having to pay $79 for a charger then another $20 for the cable. Those prices are just fked...
[+] reustle|9 years ago|reply
Well, I'm at least excited that this cable is a separate piece. I'm tired of needing to get a new macbook charger every time the joint of the white thin wire and the brick gets bent out of shape.
[+] asp_hornet|9 years ago|reply
That's not the problem. The problem is there isn't one included with the charger. It doesn't need to be sold only included or only separately.
[+] tdkl|9 years ago|reply
They should just rebrand to Apple Accessories co. at this point, because the level of greed is unprecedented.
[+] anonbanker|9 years ago|reply
Author should read Thorstein Veblen's seminal work The Theory of The Leisure Class. There is no "too far" when it comes to conspicuous wealth.
[+] bhartzer|9 years ago|reply
Won't there be third party vendors selling these adapters for much less? If it's just for travel I won't mind using one that's not from Apple.
[+] nicky0|9 years ago|reply
The gripe seems to be more with the price rather than the lack of a cable per se. Since they sell the cables too.
[+] tedunangst|9 years ago|reply
I suspect one purpose of the gripe is to embed lots of amazon links.
[+] Keverw|9 years ago|reply
> the $69 (13-inch model) or $79 (15-inch model) power adapter

I wonder why they have two separate adapters and couldn't make one for both. Seems to add a bit of fragmentation.

[+] tylerwhipple|9 years ago|reply
I do not know if the prices were different in the past, but 13" laptops previously used a 60W power adapter, while the 15" used an 80W
[+] snowwrestler|9 years ago|reply
Up to now, any Apple laptop could use any power adapter. I regularly plug my 2012 MacBook Air into the brick for my 2008 MacBook Pro. I will be VERY surprised if that is not the case anymore.

Probably the main reason to build different bricks is so that the smaller lighter laptop also has a smaller lighter brick.

[+] gumby|9 years ago|reply
It's just a USB Type C brick. I have several (from various vendors including Apple) and use them with different (non-Apple) cables, including those with Type C on one end and micro A on the other. No big deal.

Those adaptors should outlast your device and are hopefully relatively future proof.