This one small, inexpensive addition makes the new MacBook much better
The newest laptop from Apple may be too innovative for most people.
It's really thin and it's very pretty. But, unfortunately in this case, there's "one more thing": it doesn't have traditional USB ports. You know USB ports: they're the things you plug literally every electronic device you own into. They look like this:
Melia Robinson/Tech Insider
Well the new MacBook doesn't have ports for those. Instead it uses a new kind of port called USB-C that lets you charge the device, plug in accessories, and hook up an external monitor.
Apple has a solution, of course, if you need to plug in older devices: you could buy this $80 adapter. That's after you spend thousands of dollars on the laptop itself, mind. Not the best option, but it is your only choice if you want to continue to plug regular old USB devices into your shiny new MacBook. It looks like this:
Apple
It adds a single USB port to your otherwise port-less new MacBook and an HDMI port (the kind of port on the back of your TV). In the not-so-distant future, actually, many devices will switch over to USB-C. The new Google phones use USB-C, for example.
But we're not in the future just yet. So what do we do about all these classic USB devices in the meantime, other than shelling out an extra $80 for Apple's not-so-great adapter?
One company has an elegant solution that's not just better than Apple's, it's less expensive. Behold:
Satechi
You see it? It's the little grey bar to the left of the new Macbook, and it comes with a ton of ports. Like, so many ports:
Satechi
That's three classic USB ports, one SD card reader, and one microSD card reader. And how much does it cost? Literally half the price of Apple's version ($34.99).
Better yet, it fits onto your new MacBook so, so, so much better than Apple's unattractive, more expensive adapter. It'll also work with other computers that have USB-C, like Google's new Chromebook Pixel. Want to know even more? Check out this video from Satechi:
