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etaleb

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 7, 2012
275
10
Guys - newly moving to Mac M2 from a PC and have a connectivity question. I currently use 3 periperals all connnected to USB ports - external spinning HDD, Jabra 40 Evolve wired headset & speakers. Given there are only 2 USB ports on the Mac, should I get thunderbolt to USB adaptors or simply invest in a dock. I can get a USB dock or maybe a Thunderbolt HDD enclosure. Some make/models would be helpful


Thanks
 

Bigwaff

macrumors 6502
Sep 20, 2013
256
128
A USB hub should suite you fine but make sure it’s a powered hub if those peripherals don’t have their own power supplies. I would imagine any decent brand hub will do. I’ll let others name make/models but I would simply google for reviews.
 

sracer

macrumors G3
Apr 9, 2010
9,989
12,357
where hip is spoken
I just received a Satechi hub for my M2 Mac Mini....
There's an internal SATA SSD slot. I installed a 2TB WD Blue drive for Time Machine, and have an external 1TB Samsung T7 SSD for all of my media.

 

dwig

macrumors 6502a
Jan 4, 2015
852
408
Key West FL
Guys - newly moving to Mac M2 from a PC and have a connectivity question. I currently use 3 periperals all connnected to USB ports - external spinning HDD, Jabra 40 Evolve wired headset & speakers. Given there are only 2 USB ports on the Mac, should I get thunderbolt to USB adaptors or simply invest in a dock. I can get a USB dock or maybe a Thunderbolt HDD enclosure. Some make/models would be helpful


Thanks
What "Mac M2"?? Do you mean "Mac mini M2"??

If so, there are 2 USB-A 3.1gen1 ports and two USB-C ports that support up to TB4 and can "fall back" to TB3 and USB 3.1gen2. Just plug your headset and speakers into the two USB-A ports and get a USB-C to whatever (USB-microB 3.0, ...) cable to replace the existing cable you've used with the HDD. A new cable is far better and stacking a USB-A to USB-C adapter on your existing cable, though that will work. That will still leave one TB4 port open for future use and you can always add a hub (preferably powered) later if/when more ports are needed.
 

etaleb

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 7, 2012
275
10
I had no idea you could use TB4 just like USB-C and it's the same connector. My speakers and Jabra 40 headset are not replaceable cables so I'll just proceed with a female USB-A to male USB-C adaptor.

Does it matter if I connect my 7200rpm external HDD to the USB-A or USB-C port? I guess the latter is faster?

Thanks!
 

thebart

macrumors member
Feb 19, 2023
83
22
I had no idea you could use TB4 just like USB-C and it's the same connector. My speakers and Jabra 40 headset are not replaceable cables so I'll just proceed with a female USB-A to male USB-C adaptor.

Does it matter if I connect my 7200rpm external HDD to the USB-A or USB-C port? I guess the latter is faster?

Thanks!

It's a spinning disk. The port will not be the bottle neck. You can use the slower USB A port.
 
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