Belkin Launches New USB-C Multiport Hub Designed for Macs

[Unity451]

Two USB-A, one USB-C, and a dual SD card slot for $70? Really? If this was some super-snazzy solid chunk of aluminum or something, maybe, but this isn't even nice looking, and it's certainly not offering anything worth a 2-3x premium over similar things from decent 2nd-tier brand companies. You can get a hub that has all that plus an HDMI port from Anker for like $35 list.


Maybe this was snark that went over my head, but every Mac Apple sells has a 3.5mm headphone port, so I'm unclear on why (if you're using it with a Mac) you'd care if a hub had one.

Hah! It actually wasn't snark. Based on where my laptop is sometimes positioned, it isn't always easy to access the headphone port from the computer itself without an extension cable. It'd be nice to have one right at the monitor when I'm docked in.

 

[ignatius345]

there's already usb c ports on the imac........

OMG, is that what those are???

 

[[AUT] Thomas]

Advertising "with mount" and supplying adhesive tape... Courage...

 

[star-affinity]

I don't understand why it seems rare that the hubs gives more USB-C ports for data instead of just adding USB-A ports. Feels like we're never going away from USB-A since we keep putting in hubs that change the USB-C port on the computer into USB-A ports. We need more USB-C ports!

Same thing for USB-C capable displays with a built-in USB hub – still mostly USB-A ports being offered. Stop it!

 

[merrygoround]

Spending 1000s on a computer that requires ports and dongles. Iconic

 

[DailySlow]

It’s very doable to get an extension usb c cable and clean up your setup. Other hubs DO have an earphone jack. I have iPad Mini 6 with a hub. HDMI, ethernet, two type 4 usb can run a mouse and/or a cd/dvd drive, sd and micro sd slots. Cost a bit over $30 so have two, one attached to desk one for travel. Only piece missing is iPadOS 16 with a new Files superpower. Oh and use btooth ear buds so no jack is not an issue but they ARE out there.

 

[DailySlow]

I'm no expert, but from what I gather, it's the available chipsets that determine the feature set.

There are a limited number of chipsets available, but they are not all the same. Yes, the boards based off those chipsets are often repackaged and sold under a number of different brands, but bigger companies often roll their own with different designs and of course different firmwares. This is very important for Mac compatility. My guess is that a lot of the generic ones do minimal Mac testing because I often find them problematic on Macs in one way or another.

As for ones with multiple USB-C ports, apparently the chipsets available that supported that were few and far between, partially because there wasn't much call for them on the Windows side, at least until recently. Plus there are bandwidth and power delivery concerns that need to be addressed.

This is why I much prefer having the ports on board the Mac itself than having to rely on a third party hub. However, cost is of course an issue. If the choice for me is between a $1299 Mac mini and a $1999 Mac Studio, I'd buy the Mac mini with hub because I don't want to spend the extra $$$ on the Mac Studio, I don't need the power of the Mac Studio, and I don't like the size of the Mac Studio.

You are correct on the power concerns for multi usb c ports. You are charging your Mac/iPad, peripherals, a monitor too? Distributing all that from one charger plugged into a wall plug is complicated. Oh and a versatile hub generates a LOT of heat - could be a problem.

 

[ArkSingularity]

Part of the reason that most USB-C hubs don't have multiple USB-C ports is that it's technically very difficult to really support all of the features that might have been available through the host's USB-C port in a hubbed architecture. You could very easily make multiple USB-C ports and just run them as USB 3.0 (many hubs that do have multiple USB-C ports do exactly this, they are just USB3 with a type-C port), but supporting displayport, alternate mode, thunderbolt, or other such standards isn't really something that is technically feasible due to the way that older USB and thunderbolt standards were designed. They don't really support being split up by hubs like this.

USB4 solves this and finally adds support for doing this in much easier ways than before (supports daisy chaining, explicitly supports hubs, etc), but the chips and hardware involved in supporting USB4 are still very expensive. It will likely be a few years before these start to drop down in price and become more accessible to the market. Until then, the cheaper hubs that have multiple USB-C ports will likely still be limited to using USB3 on those ports.