7 ms·

With my 2014 MBP, my Windows laptop, or my Chromebook, I can plug straight into a hotel TV and watch a movie from my laptop. With my 2019 MBP, I need an adapte

by myelin 5y ago

With my 2014 MBP, my Windows laptop, or my Chromebook, I can plug straight into a hotel TV and watch a movie from my laptop. With my 2019 MBP, I need an adapter. This doesn't seem like a big deal, but the first time I went on vacation with my family after getting the 2019 MBP, I forgot that I needed to pack the adapter, and we couldn't watch whatever series we were currently binging on Netflix or HBO, which was pretty annoying. I'm happy to see HDMI ports showing up on more laptops these days!

handrous 5y ago
> I'm happy to see HDMI ports showing up on more laptops these days! HDMI is going to be especially sticky, and great to have built-in, for years to come, most likely. AFAIK USB-C cannot replace it, because, like most data cables that aren't HDMI or Ethernet, it has really, really short max-length limitations. Meanwhile, HDMI can have runs of 20+ meters and work totally fine, no repeaters or anything. If you're building in a ceiling projector, or have a TV at one end of a room but the connection in a conference table, you will use HDMI. Something might replace it, but it'll be a cable we've not heard of yet, not USB-C.
- Sebb767 5y ago
  You can send USB C and/or Thunderbolt over fiber. It's rather expensive as of now, but it's possible. Example 50m cable: https://www.rockshop.de/corning-thunderbolt-3-optical-cable-50m https://www.rockshop.de/corning-thunderbolt-3-optical-cable-...
  - rbanffy 5y ago
    Or, you know, buy a $10 dongle.
    - handrous 5y ago
      That's actually really cool if you wanted to send input over the same connection. Like, if the thing that's remote is the computer, not the monitor or projector. Put your noisy graphics workstation in the utility room or something, run Thunderbolt & USB3 over fiber to your desk on another floor, but still feel like it's local, not like RDP or VNC. Way too expensive for that, but if the price drops a bunch on that tech, that'd become an option.
      - Sebb767 5y ago
        > Way too expensive for that, but if the price drops a bunch on that tech, that'd become an option. You can get those cables for ~500$. It's not super practical yet, but if you can afford a 1500$ GPU, you can also add that :) Plus, you'll need to worry about cooling, noise and optics a lot less, which, on a high end build, might already be enough saving to make it worthwhile.

by myelin 5y ago

handrous 5y ago

> I'm happy to see HDMI ports showing up on more laptops these days! HDMI is going to be especially sticky, and great to have built-in, for years to come, most likely. AFAIK USB-C cannot replace it, because, like most data cables that aren't HDMI or Ethernet, it has really, really short max-length limitations. Meanwhile, HDMI can have runs of 20+ meters and work totally fine, no repeaters or anything. If you're building in a ceiling projector, or have a TV at one end of a room but the connection in a conference table, you will use HDMI. Something might replace it, but it'll be a cable we've not heard of yet, not USB-C.

Sebb767 5y ago
You can send USB C and/or Thunderbolt over fiber. It's rather expensive as of now, but it's possible. Example 50m cable: https://www.rockshop.de/corning-thunderbolt-3-optical-cable-50m https://www.rockshop.de/corning-thunderbolt-3-optical-cable-...
- rbanffy 5y ago
  Or, you know, buy a $10 dongle.
  - handrous 5y ago
    That's actually really cool if you wanted to send input over the same connection. Like, if the thing that's remote is the computer, not the monitor or projector. Put your noisy graphics workstation in the utility room or something, run Thunderbolt & USB3 over fiber to your desk on another floor, but still feel like it's local, not like RDP or VNC. Way too expensive for that, but if the price drops a bunch on that tech, that'd become an option.
    - Sebb767 5y ago
      > Way too expensive for that, but if the price drops a bunch on that tech, that'd become an option. You can get those cables for ~500$. It's not super practical yet, but if you can afford a 1500$ GPU, you can also add that :) Plus, you'll need to worry about cooling, noise and optics a lot less, which, on a high end build, might already be enough saving to make it worthwhile.