Yesterday, Shawn posted an article about the emergence of USB-C and the growing pains associated with a new connection form factor.

That formed the center of discussion for one segment on yesterday’s Amplified podcast. Conversation turned to the problem of a computer sporting a single port used for all connections, for power, for data transfer, for video, etc.

Turns out, Shawn’s article laid all that out as well. Apple will ship a USB-C to USB-C cable, as well as a power brick that plugs into the wall with a USB-C port. Plug in the brick, then plug the USB-C cable into the brick and your computer.

But what if you need to connect an external monitor or hard drive? The port is already used up. Well, for $79, Apple has your answer, an adapter with a USB plug on one end, and three ports on the other, one USB-C (for power), one HDMI (for video), and one standard USB port (for all your existing USB accessories). They’ve also got another version with USB-C, VGA, and USB in case that’s the way you roll, as well as an adapter for USB-C to (old) standard USB.

What about Thunderbolt?

Thunderbolt isn’t dead and USB-C doesn’t look like it’s going to kill it off soon. Indeed, it seems likely that USB-C will wind up replacing ports on consumer-leaning Macs, like future MacBooks (if 12-inch isn’t the only model), Mac minis, and iMacs, while the Mac Pro and MacBook Pro will probably retain Thunderbolt for the highest performance with external drives and other peripherals.

This makes perfect sense to me. The new MacBook is light as a feather, designed for portability. So consolidating down to a single USB-C port is logical. With judicious use of WiFi, you could spend the MacBook’s entire life without need for peripherals, just the occasional sip of power.