Apple slashes prices on USB

Apple heard you, MacBook Pro customers.

Less than a week after unveiling a series of legacy-port-free MacBook Pro laptops, Apple announced that it is temporarily lowering the price of USB-C (AKA Thunderbolt 3) gear, including third-party peripherals and all adapters and cables.

"We recognize that many users, especially pros, rely on legacy connectors to get work done today, and they face a transition. We want to help them move to the latest technology and peripherals, as well as accelerate the growth of this new ecosystem. Through the end of the year, we are reducing prices on all USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 peripherals we sell, as well as the prices on Apple's USB-C adapters and cables,” an Apple spokesperson said in a written statement.

For Apple, the move is a rapid and almost unprecedented response to criticism.

In the wake of the MacBook Pro redesign, some consumers and tech media pundits expressed outrage that the company was forcing new MacBook Pro owners to either update all their peripherals to USB-C or buy an ever-expanding collection of dongles to connect legacy equipment. The new MacBook Pros do not ship with adapters.

On both the 13- and 15-inch models of the new, smaller and lighter MacBooks, Apple removed everything from the MagSafe power connector and HDMI ports to the full-size USB ports and SD card slot. It replaced them all with a collection of USB-C ports -- two on the entry-level 13-inch model and four on the 13- and 15-inch models with Touch Bar technology. In all cases, the ports can be used for data and charging, and they promise data-transfer speeds of up to 40Gbps.

"We are extremely excited about the new MacBook Pro, which is the best pro notebook we’ve ever made. It has the fastest CPU, graphics, memory, storage and I/O, best display, the innovative Touch Bar and more. MacBook Pro uses the most advanced industry-standard connector, USB-C with Thunderbolt 3, to provide maximum performance, expandability and compatibility," the Apple spokesperson said.

Even though USB-C is clearly the future industry standard and this is not even Apple's first USB-C only system, some worried Apple went too far, too fast. Certainly pro users with significant numbers of legacy equipment were not ready to switch over en masseto USB-C. At least now, MacBook Pro consumers will be able to fill their holiday stockings with cheaper USB-C gadgets, dongles and cabling.

Among the USB-C deals Apple is offering now through Dec. 31 are:

• Apple-branded USB-C to USB Adapter will drop from $19 to $9 

• Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter drops from $49 to $29

• A 1-meter USB-C to Lightning Cable drops from $25 to $19. (2-meter down to$29.)

• $20 off a USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter

• $20 off a USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter

In addition to 25% off all third-party USB-C peripherals sold through Apple, the company is lopping $20 off the SanDisk Extreme Pro SD UHS-II Card USB-C Reader.

Apple will limit sales on these devices. Consumers can buy a max of five Apple-branded items and a max of two third-party devices.

The deals will also not apply to Apple USB-C power adapters or the 2-meter USB-C Charge Cable.