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Belkin USB-C Express Dock

J

juanfal

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 10, 2015
4
-1
I've spent a lot of energy, time, and money in Thunderbolt. Last thing, a Belkin Thunderbolt Express. My monitor a 3440x1440 UltraWide LG with 2 Thunderbolt 2 has been the a final decision after Apple ignoring any Apple TB display update.


The new MB12 is simply more than I expected in what a cool and beautiful design refers. But it has spoiled everything with respect to connectivity. No hard disk, no sd, no ethernet, no HDMI 4k, no nothing. And many of these things are still to appear, if so. :(

So it all depends on what Belkin (others?) is thinking about a Dock like the TB they lasted to sell two years after TB appeared. I sometimes hate Apple

Does anyone know anything about docks for USB-C?
 
It's a brand new market so there isn't really much of anything available right now, but the capabilities and the fact that it's a much more accessible standard than Thunderbolt means that the accessory market should take off much quicker. I think this will be a great thing for Apple in the long run because docking has always been a sore spot for Apple laptops.
 
I'm not AS invested in Thunderbolt stuff as you are (just a standard 1080p monitor via hdmi for me), but I do have a Belkin Thunderbold dock, and I love it. I'm now just hoping Belkin, or someone, will come out with a USB-C dock. I wonder how long it'll take before we see that sort of product?
 
When they DO update the displays, they will all be USB C and the thunderbolts will be collector items like the 17 MBP.
 
But isn't the speed of the usb-c port only 5gbs while tb-1 is 10gbs and tb-2 is 20gbs? If so, then will there be contentions if one was connecting a monitor, an external drive and anything else?
 
The situation is even weirder, as the current Intel HD Graphics 5300 is able to feed an external: 3840 x 2160 but the USB-C is not
 
The current MacBook is doing usb 3.0 via the type-c connector. In theory, that should still be able to run a 4k monitor at up to about 50hz as there are 4 lanes available to be bundled, giving 20Gb of total throughput, right below the 21.6Gb needed for 4k at 60hz.

I suspect that they chose to use usb 3.0 because 3.1 requires 5 more wires which would have greatly increased the diameter of the charging cable.
 
zhenya said:
The current MacBook is doing usb 3.0 via the type-c connector. In theory, that should still be able to run a 4k monitor at up to about 50hz as there are 4 lanes available to be bundled, giving 20Gb of total throughput, right below the 21.6Gb needed for 4k at 60hz.

I suspect that they chose to use usb 3.0 because 3.1 requires 5 more wires which would have greatly increased the diameter of the charging cable.
Click to expand...

They are using usb 3.1 but at 5gbps.
 
lchlch said:
They are using usb 3.1 but at 5gbps.
Click to expand...

No they aren't.

This post puts it better than I can. https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/20825473/

deconstruct60 said:
Type-C doesn't require USB 3.1. It is not "early", they are two different things. Type-C is just a connector. The system with Type-C connector(s) may or may not have a USB 3.1 controller inside ( it may or may not have DisplayPort or other alternative sources inside).

Likewise USB 3.1 doesn't require Type-C connector. USB 3.1 can be run with Type A sockets/connectors.


"... Since both the USB 2.0 Standard-A and USB 3.1 Standard-A receptacles may coexist on a host, color coding is recommended for the USB 3.1 Standard-A connector (receptacle and plug) housings to help users distinguish it from the USB 2.0 Standard-A connector. Blue (Pantone 300C) is the recommended color for the USB 3.1 Standard-A receptacle and plug plastic housings. ..."
http://www.em.avnet.com/en-us/desig...1-A-Brilliant-Example-of-What-USB-Can-Be.aspx

Type-C has more headroom to follow what comes after 3.1 but for what is going into systems for the next 3-4 years A or C is a design choice not a requirement for top end USB.


What Apple has implemented in this MacBook is just USB 3.0. "USB 3.1 Gen 1" is just a longer way of saying USB 3.0. It does play in the somewhat common misunderstand that Type-C and USB 3.1 are not tightly coupled to one another. People see a Type-C connector and think "Wow USB 3.1"... well not necessarily. Slap "USB 3.1 Gen 1" on it and can spin some hype.
Click to expand...
 
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