There are some very good reasons that the Mac still dominates musical stages.  A heck of a lot of bands who rely on laptops rely on Macs.  The single biggest reason is that Windows, despite improvements over the years, is still more complicated to use with audio equipment and is still more likely to have issues.  On the Mac, Core Audio makes every piece of music tech work really well.  On Windows, every company still has to make their own drivers.  Add in MainStage, the most popular software synth app on the planet, and you get an unbeatable combination.

I gig with a 2018 MacBook Pro which has four Thunderbolt ports – one is used for power, and the other three are available for whatever I need.  When Apple came out with the M1 MacBook Pro, it went down to a mere TWO ports.  Which sucks.  NO musician who uses a Mac Laptop can get by with just one port (the other being for charging).

Apple just announced the new, improved MacBook Pro, powered by the M2 chip.  It’s probably 6 to 8 times as powerful as the six core i7 processor in mine.  Would Apple up their port count?  The new MacBook Pro has ports… a whopping… wait for it… TWO of them.  One is for power.

WHY, Apple?  WHY?

They could have gone with 2 ports on the MacBook Air and four on the Pro, but they didn’t.

Let’s be honest.  Thunderbolt hubs don’t deliver what they should.  They do work, but not if you stress them too hard.  But if you’re a musician and you want a new MacBook Pro to use on stage, you HAVE to use a hub now.  This is seriously disappointing.

Not just to musicians.  Any graphic artist or video editor who uses an external monitor will also need a hub, because BACKUP DRIVE.

Yes, it comes with a power adaptor that has an additional port, right on the brick where it plugs into the wall and where it’s not the least bit convenient.  And it’s only for CHARGING.

Has anyone at Apple ever talked to a touring musician who uses a Mac on stage?  Exactly HOW is someone supposed to use MainStage now?  Let’s see, one port for power, one port for my 88 key keyboard controller, and I have no way to get the sound out of the computer now.  Unless I connect to the plug down in the power strip.  Brilliant.

The good news is that Apple has a nice 8 port hub with 4 traditional USB ports and 4 USB-C ports, and the hub is only a hundred dollars.  Oh, wait… NO, THEY DON’T.

I see a lot of Thunderbolt hubs being sold in the future.

Hey Apple, here’s what touring musicians want in the MacBook Pro.  They want a Mag-lock power connector, and they want four Thunderbolt ports, and a headphone jack.  And an Apple-made Thunderbolt hub.  Instead you give us two lousy ports.

How could Apple get the Mac Studio so right, and the MacBook Pro so wrong?  Well, I’ll be running my six core i7 for probably another five years, so it won’t matter to me much.  But I hope people complain.  Not that Apple will necessarily listen.  Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.

Being an Apple user is like being in a relationship with a super model who gives you great sex, and then every so often slaps your face for no reason.