Confused about which hub/dock to purchase

[vitamanic]

I have a MBP 16 2019 and all of the ports are occupied. I was hoping to buy something to consolidate the mess of wires coming into my notebook, it gets annoying every time I want to disconnect it for portability.

This is what I have connected:

• LaCie portable drive - This is a 2.5 mechanical that's powered from the USB-C port. (can use USB-A if needed)
• 2.5 SATA SSD external drive - This is yet another external powered from the USB-C port that I use for Adobe Scratch. (can use USB-A if needed)
• Wacom Intuos Pro S - Also powered from the USB-C port. (can use USB-A if needed)
• Default 100W charging brick that came with my laptop.

I'm hesitant to hastily buy something off of Amazon because some of the listings specify "data only" or things like "not designed for charging" for some of the ports. Thing is, I know at least the LaCie and Intuos tablet are definitely pulling at least 5W which would be equivalent to "charging" your average phone.

The whole hub/dock bricking saga last year also gives me pause...

I don't need a full blown dock, don't need display support, and I'd really like to keep the price reasonable ($50 or under).

Any help would be super appreciated!

 

[Basic75]

USB hubs are a product category filled with loads of rubbish and no good and easy way to find out which ones have high quality. Unless you want to spend hundreds of dollars/euros on a Thunderbolt dock which might raise the probability of getting something decent. Tell us what you chose and how it went!

 

[xraydoc]

I have a MBP 16 2019 and all of the ports are occupied. I was hoping to buy something to consolidate the mess of wires coming into my notebook, it gets annoying every time I want to disconnect it for portability.

This is what I have connected:

• LaCie portable drive - This is a 2.5 mechanical that's powered from the USB-C port. (can use USB-A if needed)
• 2.5 SATA SSD external drive - This is yet another external powered from the USB-C port that I use for Adobe Scratch. (can use USB-A if needed)
• Wacom Intuos Pro S - Also powered from the USB-C port. (can use USB-A if needed)
• Default 100W charging brick that came with my laptop.

I'm hesitant to hastily buy something off of Amazon because some of the listings specify "data only" or things like "not designed for charging" for some of the ports. Thing is, I know at least the LaCie and Intuos tablet are definitely pulling at least 5W which would be equivalent to "charging" your average phone.

The whole hub/dock bricking saga last year also gives me pause...

I don't need a full blown dock, don't need display support, and I'd really like to keep the price reasonable ($50 or under).

Any help would be super appreciated!

Search through the threads here - lots of discussion on exactly this topic.

 

[theluggage]

I don't need a full blown dock, don't need display support, and I'd really like to keep the price reasonable ($50 or under).

A port described as "data only" or "Not suitable for charging" probably means that it won't support the higher current/voltage modes for fast-charging phones or powering laptops etc. but should support a single "bus powered" USB-A device (up to 2.5W I think). However, problems could arise if you connect more than one such device to an unpowered hub that has to get all of its power from a single host USB-A port.

In theory, a "proper" USB-C-to-multi-USB-C hub like this:

4-Port USB-C Hub | Satechi - Apple and PC Accessories

satechi.net

- even a "data only/no charging" one - should be able to benefit from the extra power output of the host TB3 ports, but I don't have one to try and its nigh-on impossible to confirm that from the published specs... and for your use that's the only advantage of a 'pure' USB-C hub.

Since all of your devices are USB 3.0 at most your safest bet might be to get an old-school USB 3.0 hub with its own power supply - which should happily support multiple bus-powered devices - and connect it to the Mac using a USB-A-to-C dongle. Obviously you won't get the theoretical maximum throughput from two external drives sharing the same hub if you use them simultaneously - but it doesn't sound as if either of your drives is 'bleeding edge' so that is probably not an issue.

If you don't get a "full blown dock" then you'll probably be stuck with "wasting" one port on your MBP for power/charging from the standard brick. This is why MagSafe came back... For "future proofing" something like the Caldigit Elements hub would give you your one-port-charging-and-data utopia with much better bandwidth, but at a price.

 

[satcomer]

Look at the Thunderbolt 4 Dock from Saechi Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Dock[/;url] too get all those other ports!