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The computer pops up a warning if you plug a fast device into the slow port, which is a lot more informative for the average user than a tiny label that most users wouldn’t even read.

Labels would be nice, I guess, but their absence is hardly a dealbreaker.

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Windows has been showing popup USB speed warnings since at least Windows XP.... so 25 years?

Let's not use this cope to mislead anyone into thinking this is a unique Mac innovation (it isn't) that trumps this abomination of human factors (it doesn't).

by coder54326 days ago|

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I have never ever seen Windows provide this warning even once just because there is a faster port on the machine and the user plugged the device into the wrong one. Please provide a source for this claim that you are making. Citation absolutely needed.

In the unlikely case that this feature exists thanks to Microsoft, I would like to say that is great, because it is much more user friendly than only having tiny labels. But since I’ve never seen this feature work before, it seems to me that it must be broken, if it exists at all.

by SecretDreams26 days ago|

https://superuser.com/questions/1022542/windows-10-display-a...

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The OP might be remembering this (link) style of message from the Windows XP days. I don't think I've seen it for windows 7/10/11, sadly.

It will warn you if you're charging over the slower to charge port, though.

by wlesieutre26 days ago|

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/u...

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These warning messages do exist, at least for if your computer supports USB4 but not on that port, or thunderbolt / DP alternate mode but not on that port

by retired26 days ago|

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You get a message on screen that you should be using the other port.

But yes, labeling should have been better. One of the USPs of MacBooks is that all USB ports are the same. Unlike other computers where you have to look where you are plugging it in. The Neo breaks that tradition.

by QuercusMax26 days ago|

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That was definitely not the case on one of the macbooks I had, which wouldn't charge properly on the right side if recall. Maybe one of the last Intel macbook pros?

by _aavaa_26 days ago|

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Do you think those same users know the difference between usb3, usb4, and thunderbolt (or even that all three exist)? More over, do you think they know how to tell cables apart for the three?

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$150 netbooks solved this by labeling the ports "SS" or using blue USB-A inserts, but those are matters inferior PC users have to deal with.

by fredoliveira26 days ago|

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I legitimately have no idea what "SS" means next to a port, and I've seen it plenty of times. Labeling doesn't solve everything. The message on screen that you get when you plug something into the wrong port on the Neo is, obviously, much better because it assumes nothing about the user's knowledge except for the ability to read.

by wlesieutre26 days ago|

https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/usb_data_performance...

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SuperSpeed, but you’re not supposed to use that as a consumer facing label anymore

> NOTE: USB4® Version 2.0, USB4® Version 1.0, USB 3.2, SuperSpeed Plus, Enhanced SuperSpeed and SuperSpeed+ are defined in the USB specifications however these terms are not intended to be used in product names, messaging, packaging or any other consumer-facing content.

USB-IF’s recommended name for this port is now just “USB 10Gbps”

Not that I would expect an average consumer to understand that as a label, but at least it takes up less space and allows relative comparisons better than USB 3.0 SuperSpeed+ or whatever the old equivalent was.

by auguzanellato26 days ago|

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> it assumes nothing about the user's knowledge except for the ability to read.

Sometimes I question whether some users have that ability

by HDBaseT26 days ago|

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Most people can read; it’s comprehending what they just read that’s the deal-breaker.

by stodor8926 days ago|

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> I legitimately have no idea what "SS" means next to a port

surströmming

by a9624 days ago|

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Do. Not. Open. That. Port.

by madars26 days ago|

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USB 3.0 was marketed as SuperSpeed USB. SS-marked ports should give you 5Gbit/s, compared to 480 Mbps USB 2.0.

by rco878626 days ago|

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I feel confident in saying that I am better at computers than 99.99% of the general population and I have no clue what “SS” or blue USB ports are supposed to indicate.

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[flagged]

by retired26 days ago|

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Apple never colored their ports because up until the Neo all ports were the same speed. No need to distinguish them.

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No need to distinguish ports when you can remove them all instead.

by Schiendelman26 days ago|

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"Solved" - hardly. No one knows what those symbols mean.

by wlesieutre26 days ago|

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Apple should show users an alert when they plug a USB-3 device into the USB-2 port because they are visually identical

Oh wait https://i.imgur.com/7HWgxZ1.png

I don't know the details of Apple's silicon designs, but I assume the USB port bandwidth is because this is using the chip from iPhone 16 Pro, a phone which of course had a single USB-3 port. They've done what they can with it to hit the price point.

The alternative was to not include a second USB port for charging, in which case people would be bitching about it not being able to use peripherals while charging like the last time they made a single port laptop.

by 26 days ago|

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deleted

by maccard26 days ago|