The choice from Apple was to cut out or replace most of the ports from their previous machine. The previous model of the MacBook Pro shipped with multiple USB A ports, 2 Thunderbolt ports, a headphone/microphone jack, the port for the magnetic charger, an HDMI out port, and (perhaps the most useful) an SD card reader. Instead, Apple opted to remove these ports and add two USB C ports to the 13" model and 2 USB C ports to the 15" model. Both new models also ship with a headphone/microphone jack. USB C is relatively new technology, and not every company has caught up with the times that Apple seems to be in. Apple has done away with their magnetic charging and has replaced it with a USB C charger. This decision is one of the most questionable, as the magnetic charger can last much longer and be safer to both the computer's ports and the charger itself. It can be compared to having headphones snag on a door handle and the jack on the headphones gets bent. If the headphones were connected magnetically, they would just unplug with little to no harm done to the actual port or jack of the headphones.
*above is the previous model of the MacBook Pro
*above is the new 2016 model of the MacBook Pro
Apple is known to remove ports or buttons whenever they can, so it comes to no surprise that Apple has changed their machine again. Apple did the same thing to their iPhone 7 and 7+, removing the headphone jack and replacing the home button with a glass solid state "button" that uses Apple's haptic feedback technology. This technology is used in their laptop's trackpads. Speaking of trackpads, the new MacBook Pro's trackpad is unnecessarily large. It takes up space that is typically palm real estate, which can mess up the accuracy of the cursor. Usability is everything when it comes to computers. Apple marketing their machine as "Pro" is anything but true. This is not a machine that pros use. With the new USB C ports, dongles are needed to do pretty much anything. Apple charges a pretty penny for their own dongles, but cheaper ones can still be purchased. It is still a hassle for anyone who wants to "upgrade" to the latest and greatest. Another hassle and marketing gimmick that takes away from the computer's usability is the new Touch Bar. This replaces the top row of the function keys and replaces it with an LCD screen that changes depending on what you are doing on the computer. You can scrub through a YouTube video or an iMovie project, you can change the volume and brightness of the screen and keyboard with the swipe of your finger, and you can type your most used emojis on iMessage. Perhaps the only useful feature of the Touch Bar is the inclusion of Touch ID, where you can unlock your device with your fingerprint (the same technology that was introduced with the iPhone 5S).
Another positive feature of the new MacBook is the new speaker system. The sound quality of the speakers have vastly improved, but sadly the speaker grilles are mostly cosmetic. Most of the "grille" is made up of small circular dents in the metal that do not pass all the way through. Most of the sound passes through the side cooling vents.
While Apple seemingly has made a poor product, and despite the poor reviews from tech reviewers and the poor reception of the machine from some notable tech YouTubers, this new machine will still fly off the shelves. The poor engineering and decisions from Apple to cut ports from the machine make usability difficult and make dongles a necessity to do pretty much anything. USB C is the way that new technology will be designed with, but for now cutting all ports except the headphone jack and replacing them with USB C is not a wise decision by Apple.
Article: http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/11/17/13665258/macbook-pro-speaker-grille-fake-teardown
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