I know USB-C is better, but I also know the overwhelming majority of thumb drives (as well as other peripherals) around are USB-A. Doesn't being free from having to carry an extra dongle around feel good?

I don't insist it (a USB-A port) should be there but I would be pleased to have one. Its lack would mean I would have to always carry a dongle with me. Why not build it in if you always carry it with you anyway?

> Plus it would keep the machine smaller (the physical height is an issue with the cases).

Some extra millimetres are exactly the thing I absolutely couldn't care less about. Completely irrelevant. Definitely not willing to sacrifice, let alone pay anything for this.

I honestly view smaller as lighter, and that I do -really- care about. I travel a lot, so having something ultra portable was my favorite part of the MBP 13". I even had a smaller and lighter 45W usbC charger I could use for it. I really really really enjoyed that.

and I just kept a dongle in my travel kit with my charger and other cables, nbd :) (but yeah everyone is different, I'd probably just invest in USB-c thumb drives, or the ones that have ports on both end for C and A).

I used MacBook Air 2013 (which was not mine) a lot and appreciate how portable (and durable) it is very much. This is exactly why I feel like buying a MacBook perhaps. But it already is perfect and I certainly don't want it to be even more thin. I actually just want a MacBook Air 2013 with better CPU/RAM/SSD/GPU specs and a Thunderbolt 4 port added to the those already there.

As I have emphasized the difference between USB-C and USB-A is just some millimetres and this doesn't make a valuable difference. Of course I would appreciate the difference if it was a centimetre or more.