I can’t wait for Apple to cut the cables

“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.”

I travel. I enjoy it. When I do I take my iPhone and iPad with me. I sometimes also carry a second phone which I put a local SIM card inside, and when I know I might need it I’ll also travel with my Mac. And I’m wearing my Apple Watch the whole time, too.

Wires all over the place

That’s a lot of great technology. Each one of those things is the best in breed: the best smartphone, tablet, notebook and smartwatch, each from the same company and equipped with fantastic features like Continuity that lets you easily work between all those platforms.

A fantastic user focused experience. Brilliant tools to stay productive, entertained, connected wherever you happen to be.

Just so long as you remember to bring your power supply. And not just one supply, either, you need one for your Mac, and one for your Watch and one each for your iOS devices. That’s not just cables, either, that’s the cable and the brick. Why? Because Apple doesn’t sell a USB charger you can carry with you to power all the devices you use.

Did I pack it!!

So you carry one for each device, and can easily forget one of them which means when you travel you suddenly find yourself with the problem of finding a supply for that device. Alternatively I’ve seen some travellers who bring a 4-way power block with them so they can charge all their devices using one power outlet.

Why does this make sense?

I’ve written about this before, of course, but one thing I neglected to mention was the cables: a cable for the Mac, a cable for the Watch and at least one cable for the iOS device. If you travel with one of each you’ll need three cables even if you only use one power adapter.

All these things to remember to carry bulk out the baggage and strain memory – it’s so easy to forget to bring that cable or that adaptor.

Wires suck

I can understand that the Macs and iOS devices need different adapters, I can accept they may need different cables, but in general I would like to be able to

leave my home to travel and take one power adaptor and perhaps two leads to be able to keep my whole collection of Apple products going.

Which is why I look forward to Apple’s wireless charging solutions soon, which I hope will include a charge pad onto which you will be able to place your Watch, completely wire-free iPhone and iPad. Maybe.