No one wants a huge piece of plastic hanging out of their laptop. Please can we finally get a much smaller one that can be left plugged in?
Get rid of the dongle once and for all.
I bought a new dongle just a couple of weeks ago; the new one I received was the same size as my old one, certainly not as compact as the one in this picture. Perhaps they have only just changed it.
Steve.
I don’t want to - I like being able to carry all my licences around with me, have the software installed and ready to use on multiple computers (3 at the moment), and activate it just by plugging in. Software licencing can be a real pain, IMO. Yes, there are “don’t lose it” issues, but Steinberg’s current policy/support on this is pretty good, from the experiences that my clients have had with damaged dongles, etc.
Someone on another forum mentioned having one and Guillermo confirmed they were now shipping these ones (that was on the 8th Mar)
Cloud-based licensing is the way to go IMHO. I use multiple computers as well and being able to pre-authorize those machines and simply transfer usage with a few mouse clicks beats having to carry around a piece of plastic and dedicating a hardware port or using a hub - especially when those ports are getting harder to come by on newer laptops. Dongles need to go the way of the dodo.
+1000, thats why I use StudioOnePro for live stuff, Im not gonna risk the dongle. At least make the thing out of better plastic or something sheesh
Its a real pain because it gets left in hubs and I leave with my laptop. there are few things more infuriating and was the main reason i started migrating to logic. Its also dangerous as can break the laptop if it knocks into something when transporting. There in then the simple fact that modern laptops don’t have many usb ports and you therefore have to carry hubs.
It needs to go but in the very least it needs to be very short like wifi USB adapters were
Agreed, carrying around the dongle every time I take my laptop is ridiculously risky, so I just end up using a different DAW on it (the light version of Cubase that uses the software eLicenser is way too limited). I doubt that’s what Steinberg wants, because forcing to use another DAW is an obvious way to entice people to switch completely.
Granted software authorization is always going to be more vulnerable to piracy unless you require Internet access at all times and actually run something essential on the back end (which would be even worse than the dongle). So I think it makes sense for Nuendo to use the dongle in the future as well, since it’s such a different price range. But Cubase is in the same market with Logic, Digital Performer, REAPER, Studio One, SONAR etc., none of which require a dongle at this stage.
I wonder if the problem is partly psychological, because Cubase used to be probably the most pirated DAW back in the day and at some point the Syncrosoft stuff just got so good the crackers basically said this isn’t worth it anymore. That kind of victory over piracy is pretty unprecedented when I think back in software history, so I certainly understand why Steinberg values it very highly. But it may just be time to let it go, because the market isn’t getting any less competitive, and with the prevalence of laptops and traveling the dongle is definitely a disadvantage.
Just curious… why would you transport your laptop with the dongle still plugged in? 
There are a million reasons why you might want to move your laptop around without having to worry about a dongle. Just repositioning the screen or moving to a different room are ones that spring to mind.
Even though it takes up a port, I am still pretty happy for Steinberg to use a dongle if they think its right for them. As you can see its worked up till now as a good copy protection device. However it needs to be much much smaller if they are deciding to keep it. I used to have a usb wifi adapter (way back in the day) and that was tiny so could just stay permanently attached to the laptop.
Aaauuggh what a missed opportunity. The new dongle is an improvement in that it is a little shorter, but it still looks flimsy. This is the kind of form factor I could live with in a laptop
You could leave it in and never worry about it being knocked. Easily lost maybe, but at least for those of us who need to work mobile it gives us an option to use a 2nd license in a practical way.
Yes exactly!!! 
+1 that would work if they really feel dongle is the only way to go
Come on Sternberg can we consider this please? I honestly believe its a big factor when people are choosing their software.
They just rolled out the smaller dongle. There are so many ways to avoid breaking it, from using USB extension cable to wrapping it in tape. btw, Sternberg doesn’t even know they have a dongle to fix! 
+1
Major PITA for mobile.
Someone above saying that new dongle isn’t that much smaller and another person saying they ordered and just got a standard sized dongle. Either way this isn’t really what we are asking for.