
Make Your MacBook Pro, Again - jhund
https://www.owcdigital.com/DEC/
======
zdean
I'm starting to see quite a few brands co-opting the President-elect's
signature slogan like they have here. This baffles me. On the one hand, yes,
it's a slogan that pretty much every (at least) American knows and is familiar
with. On the other hand, there's some very significant portion of the
population that is very viscerally offended (at the least) by the President-
elect. So to jump on that wagon, you risk very strongly offending and
alienating a large portion of the population along a line that has nothing to
do with whether or not they'd be you consumer...but with which way their
political beliefs fall.

My comment isn't meant to be a judgement call on whether or not doing this is
normalizing something distasteful...it's simply meant to point out that OWC
like many other brands may be shooting themselves in the foot over a lazy and
reactionary marketing gimmick.

~~~
stcredzero
_On the other hand, there 's some very significant portion of the population
that is very viscerally offended (at the least) by the President-elect._

And some subset of that sub-population that has no sense of humor left.

~~~
zdean
Perhaps. But to ignore them is to be tone-deaf for the sake of a marketing
gimmick.

~~~
stcredzero
You know, co-opting a phrase is also a valid means of parody. If you are so
"triggered" by phrase structure that you have no sense of humor left, then the
terrorists have won! ;)

~~~
squarefoot
No, they can't.

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dchuk
Despite there being no info on this page, judging by the sheer size of this
thing (it looks bigger than the whole MBP), I would hope that it has eGPU,
storage, battery, etc. Shit it's big enough to have a DVD drive from the looks
of it.

If it doesn't have all that, I can't fathom what they could even put in all
that empty space. Maybe it's only thick around the perimeter? It gets shallow
in the middle?

~~~
phreenet
Anandtech has a picture of the bottom of it. It appears to be solid
throughout. It also appears that this system bolts onto bottom of MBP using
longer screws that fit into the factory screw holes. From the full article[0]:

"To install the OWC DEC, users will not have to open up their MacBook Pro,
only remove Apple's screws and screw the DEC on to the bottom of the machine."

[0] [http://www.anandtech.com/show/11033/owc-previews-dec-
addon-f...](http://www.anandtech.com/show/11033/owc-previews-dec-addon-for-
macbook-pro)

~~~
r00fus
Is it supposed to have that slightly different cast to the aluminum? I almost
wish they'd make it an entirely different color or material (black
polycarbonate ?) if that's how it's going to look.

------
n00b101
_Precision CNC milled from aircraft grade aluminum to 1 /1000ths of an inch
tolerance_

There's some marketing hype there, I think 0.001" precision is standard for
CNC machining with aluminum. All it's effectively saying is that the product
is CNC-machined aluminum. Having said that, a CNC-machined aluminum enclosure
is really great (as any MacBook owner can tell you) and it is more expensive
to produce than injection moulded plastic.

In terms of machining precision on its own, relatively impressive precision
would be somewhere around 0.0001" (one ten-thousands of inch) precision. But
that would be complete overkill for this kind of product.

Apple is one of the world's largest (if not _the largest_ ) users of CNC
machining. There are some great write-ups online about this that I can't find
right now.

------
guessmyname
According to the images, this will only work with the MacBook Pro with TouchID
as the connection between the computer and the base seems to be via the USB-C
port on the right side, something that does not exists in the non-TouchID
version. I hope there is a cable or something that I can extend to connect the
base to the USB-C ports on the left side because that is the computer that I
have.

I really miss the RJ45 connector. Since I bought this computer I have
complained about inconsistent Internet speeds as the router — which is placed
behind the computer — delivers only 60% of its real connection because it is
consumed over WiFi. I am forced to restart the router every hour or so just to
get the miserable 10Mbps that I pay.

I was already prepared to buy one of those accessories for the Mac that people
hate so much, just to get a stable Internet connection because WiFi seems to
be broken, even at less than 20cm from the router. I hope that this "base"
does not weights as much as it looks. I assume it will also include a
(replaceable) SSD and — maybe? — an extra battery.

I wonder if this thing can be lifted without a separation from the computer on
the left side.

Edit #1: To add more to the story, I have a Raspberry Pi directly connected to
the router with a script that runs every 30 minutes, the script measures the
Internet speed and reports back to me, every time the speed is lower than 5Mb
I get a notification to reboot the router, that is my "setup". I wish I could
change the router, but somehow the ISP restricts the delivery of the service
to the device that they provide, and they are not willing to change it for a
new one because — according to their statistics — the 10Mb are being delivered
(which is true, except via WiFi).

Edit #2: I live in a country where there is no Apple Genius bar, so it is
difficult — if not impossible — to me to get assistance on this matter from
them. I will do what others have suggested, will replace the router and see
what happens. Thanks.

Edit #3: Thanks @heavymark I meant 10Mbps instead of 10MB

Edit #4: On a side note, this will be funny to carry in an airport specially
if you come from a country known for drug trafficking. People have tried to
smuggle drugs on the back of computer screens with less space than that and
still get caught, now imagine an skeptical officer checking a computer with
this base.

~~~
passive
You have a brand-new Macbook Pro but a router that can't deliver 10Mbps for
more than an hour at a time?

~~~
heavymark
I believe the author wrote "10MB" rather than "10Mbps". 10MB would equate to
80Mbps I think right? Unless he meant to right 10Mbps?

~~~
guessmyname
Sorry, yes, I meant 10Mbps (I will edit my comment)

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giarc
Is it a battery? Is it more ports?

That page says nothing.

~~~
rerx
This curiously lacks displayport and hdmi.

~~~
JustSomeNobody
Licensing maybe?

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bryanlarsen
more information: [http://www.anandtech.com/show/11033/owc-previews-dec-
addon-f...](http://www.anandtech.com/show/11033/owc-previews-dec-addon-for-
macbook-pro)

------
phaed
It speaks volumes that a manufacturer has to step in and deliver the product
the consumers want and Apple is incapable of delivering.

~~~
steffan
I think the real test is how many of those who complained that they would be
happier if Apple had just made it thicker and included all the ports would
actually buy something like this. (And also if they are more than a very, very
tiny minority)

~~~
malensek
Exactly. It will be interesting to see how something like this sells.

I have a feeling that it will fill a niche, but not be a hugely popular option
with most MBP users. Folks can whine about the lack of ports, but in a few
years USB-C devices will be quite common and reliable.

For something like ethernet, I'd honestly rather "haul" a small dongle around.

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
That thing does look like it suffers for having an Ethernet port, because it
has to be taller to accommodate it. I would similarly rather have an Ethernet
dongle than a much thicker laptop.

------
mwpmaybe
This seems a little more appropriate to me:
[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hypershop/hyperdrivetm-...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hypershop/hyperdrivetm-
compact-thunderbolt-3-usb-c-hub-for-m)

~~~
gm-conspiracy
Seems like an accident waiting to happen.

Would the connectors shear off into the ports, or bend the ports as the
connectors are bend away?

~~~
slantyyz
I have a mini hub like that for the Surface Pro.

I definitely wouldn't leave it on when transporting my Surface for the reasons
you describe.

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Theodores
A permanently attached docking station. This is not going to sell like
hotcakes.

However, what if computers ended up being made and sold like very expensive
cars? You know how it goes, a standard brand new Mercedes G-Wagon/Range Rover
won't do, that is just the donor vehicle that gets transformed with more
cylinders, even bigger wheels and lots more leather.

Why aren't the people who go for that sort of display of opulent wealth not
getting visibly pimped computers such as this one? A few more ports, a bigger
battery, some quality to the machined ports, with that people will think I am
pro. A bit like getting a Porsche and swapping all the panels out for carbon
fibre, bigger wheel arches and a roll cage.

~~~
Smushman
I lol'ed. I agree that it is more of a niche application for sure. I also
agree with the further conclusion that making it removable would have made it
more useful.

Like someone else mentioned, I also didn't see HDMI.

I think I heard the 'whammy' sound play...

------
shortformblog
This idea is great, but it'd be cool if they offered the same form factor
except putting a giant battery in there instead of more storage. I think
people would be more willing to carry this around if it effectively doubled
their battery life.

~~~
slantyyz
Based on the photos alone (who knows what the final product will be) --
there's only one USB-C connector.

If it was going to have a battery, wouldn't it make sense to put another USB-C
connector in the base?

Seems weird to use the Mac to charge a battery in the base and then suck power
back from said battery through the same single USB-C connection.

~~~
shortformblog
What's so weird about it? There's a massive business of external batteries in
the mobile space that do effectively the same thing. What does Mophie know
that OWC doesn't?

~~~
slantyyz
Doesn't the mophie have its own charging port?

I think it's weird because the external battery would need to know to only
charge when the host Macbook Pro is charging, otherwise it's draining the
Macbook Pro's battery to backup the battery it's draining.

~~~
shortformblog
What's stopping OWC from including a charging port that does just this while
sending a message to the MBP that it's plugged in? That's effectively what all
those external batteries do. We're discussing a theoretical change to a device
that isn't on the market yet.

~~~
slantyyz
>> What's stopping OWC from including a charging port that does just this
while sending a message to the MBP that it's plugged in?

Nothing is. But it would be _weird_ to do so with the base having only one
USB-C port. The more common expectation is that there would be a pass-through
USB-C port.

>> That's effectively what all those external batteries do.

I've always been under the assumption that all the external batteries have
their own circuitry to take power from its incoming port and send power
(either passing through AC or from its battery) to the outgoing port when the
host device demands it. I was not aware that the outgoing port on all those
external batteries also got power from the host devices, so I guess I learned
something today.

>> We're discussing a theoretical change to a device that isn't on the market
yet.

Going back to my original comment, I just made an observation that it would be
weird for the product ---as shown in the photos--- to use that one port to
charge itself and to charge the Mac. Most products I know use a pass through.
That's it. I did not suggest a theoretical change to the device.

\--edit - by "charge itself" I mean in the case where it did have a battery

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azraomega
How much weight it adds to the laptop? Does it increase battery life? It
obviously not gonna increase RAM, likely increase SSDs because OWC sell
them... It looks terrible tbh. How is this better than using dongles?

I saw the MBP 2016. I was very happy and went and bought a old MBP 2015 with
retina at a discounted rate... I'm a happy camper and lousy early adopter.

~~~
LeifCarrotson
> How is this better than using dongles?

In every possible way, by not being a bunch of dongles?

It slips into most laptop carriers, it's instant to set up and tear down, it
has a constant arrangement so I can get used to where a connection is, it
keeps sensitive stuff like M.2 PCBs and 2.5" drives nicely enclosed, it keeps
my desk organized and clear of clutter...

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grennis
Unless this has a decent eGPU instead of 2 year old technology it's still not
"pro"

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chiph
The panel gaps on the sides look about the same size as a tray-load DVD/Blu-
ray drive would be. So I wonder if the new SD card slot & USB ports are
modules that could be swapped for optical drives, additional SSD storage,
batteries, etc.

~~~
phreenet
Those gaps are actually just material milled away so the product doesn't block
the vents on either side of the bottom MBP.

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jlahijani
The ethernet port seems a bit close to the 2 USB Type-C ports. I wonder if the
USB Type-C ports will still be able to support a flash drive (the thicker ones
anyway) while being wired in.

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rerx
This clunky contraption reminds me of the "Ultrabase", a sort of mobile
docking station for the Thinkpad X220 and earlier -- only those offered way
more connection options.

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fevangelou
Too much space for just a few extra ports. If they are smart enough, they
should add a built-in bluray player and perhaps a couple decent speakers.

