Want to connect the new MacBook to more than one device? That’ll be $79

By Matthew S. Smith Published March 9, 2015

Apple’s new MacBook is an engineering achievement, but its design is controversial. The decision to drop almost all ports in favor of a single USB Type-C connector is sure to stir up the passions of port enthusiasts everywhere, and the reveal of the company’s official adapters is unlikely to calm them.

The new USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter is the most important, as it converts the MacBook’s single USB-C port into three separate ports, one for USB-C, one for regular USB 3.1, and one for HDMI. Users can charge the laptop with the adapter connected by plugging their power cord into the adapter’s USB-C connector. This hardware will set you back $79.

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Specifications also note that the HDMI port can only handle 1080p, which means it isn’t HDMI 2.0. Not unexpected given the Intel HD hardware inside the system, but it a bit strange to see the company select HDMI over the DisplayPort/ThunderBolt connection it’s normally relied on for video.

Users who most connect to an older device can instead pick the USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter which is similar, but replaces HDMI with VGA. The adapter is also smaller than its HDMI cousin, but is also $79.

Other revealed accessories include a $19 USB to USB-C adapter cable, a $29 USB-C charging cable and a $49 USB-C power brick rated at 29 watts. Users will need to become familiar with these options, because they’ll probably need at least one of them when the MacBook is released on April 10th.

Matthew S. Smith

Former Senior Editor, Reviews

Matthew S. Smith is the former Lead Editor, Reviews at Digital Trends. He previously guided the Products Team, which dives…

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