Dongle thread for the new Macbook Pro's

[xmonkey]

I would still need dongles for the items which aren't specifically USB. And there's not that many ports, so I need a way to connect to some sort of docking thing.

Could you be specific on the 'not specifically USB' things you'd need a dongle for? Genuinely asking so I can assess your situation

I'd actually argue there are a lot of ports. USB-C can do nearly everything and Apple gave us 4 of them. That's more flexibility than I'd get in the prior MBP.

 

[Cougarcat]

Surprised nobody seems to have mentioned this TB3 dock:

http://plugable.com/thunderbolt-3/

Although it's uglier and not quite as full featured as the OWC and Bellingham versions, it's much cheaper.

 

[alexandero]

Surprised nobody seems to have mentioned this TB3 dock: http://plugable.com/thunderbolt-3/
Although it's uglier and not quite as full featured as the OWC and Bellingham versions, it's much cheaper.

"Postponed indefinitely for MacBook Pro 2016 compatibility" – probably that's why?

USB-C can do nearly everything and Apple gave us 4 of them. That's more flexibility than I'd get in the prior MBP.

Well, the MBP without Touch Bar only has two. For me that's a challenge as I need to connect a display (4K/60Hz), Ethernet and a charger at my office.

 

[xmonkey]

Well, the MBP without Touch Bar only has two. For me that's a challenge as I need to connect a display (4K/60Hz), Ethernet and a charger at my office.

Fair point, although I'd argue the non-touch bar model isn't really a good buy (certainly not at that price).

That being said, a single cable from your MBP to a small hub or dock will allow you to have all those things connected at your desk.

 

[shareef777]

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...f4u095tt_thunderbolt_3_dock_w_0_5m_cable.html

It's more like $400


So much this. People need to look past dongles and adapters and go with cables. It's the beauty of USB-C. No ugly dongles to worry about and it's not really anymore inconvenient to the end user than their current situation (we're all still needing to carry cables regardless of what laptop we use).

Wow, sad state of affairs for the TB dock situation. I wanted to get a dock/dongle for my home so I can have a one plug solution for power/video/ethernet (maybe one USBA port, just in case, but I could live without that), but it needs to provide enough power for the 15" to run (i.e., 80W+).

 

[alexandero]

Fair point, although I'd argue the non-touch bar model isn't really a good buy (certainly not at that price).

I don't want to derail this thread, but currently it feels like the smarter move to buy the standard non-touch now, sell it after a year and buy a 2nd gen Kaby Lake (Coffee Lake, whatever) with Touch Bar, 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM - which by 2017 might be much cheaper than today.

That being said, a single cable from your MBP to a small hub or dock will allow you to have all those things connected at your desk.

Yes and no. I'm not willing to spend $300-400 for a Thunderbolt 3 dock (e.g. from Belkin). The price range $150-200 (e.g. CalDigit) does charge your MBP and promises 4K/60Hz support (while capping USB to 2.0 speeds), but they don't guarantee a stable 4K/60Hz connection yet. Also, I'm a bit scared that the built in charger will fry my MBP if defective. So that leaves option 3: a USB-C to DP cable on one port, and a $50 hub with Ethernet and USB-C power pass through on the other port (e.g. from Satchi, Sanho, PrimeCables). Which also is a clumsy solution, and most of these hubs do not specify the Watt limit for pass through (some seem to be capped at 45W).

 

[Cougarcat]

"Postponed indefinitely for MacBook Pro 2016 compatibility" – probably that's why?

There are two docks on that page. The more expensive $219 version with 60W charging is coming Q1 2017; it's the other one that is delayed.

 

[alexandero]

There are two docks on that page. The more expensive $219 version with 60W charging is coming Q1 2017; it's the other one that is delayed.

Oh, I'm sorry, my mistake. Thanks for the note.

 

[GoodOne]

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207256

• MacBook Pro can receive a maximum of 60W of power through the Apple USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter or USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter. For the best charging performance on MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2016), connect the power supply directly to your Mac.

Thanks!

Too bad. Well then I'll go with the Satechi http://www.satechi.net/index.php/co...micro-card-reader-3-usb-3-0-ports-silver-577# and connect Ethernet and HDMI so I still have the second USB-C port on the left free to Charge with full Speed.

 

[therealseebs]

We need a dongle thread for a several thousand $ macbook.

God help us!

This is why I'd have preferred to have at least a couple of things like ethernet and USB Type A ports. On the other hand, dongles for attaching to stuff are not all that unusual a thing, so.

 

[reasonrulaz]

Correct.

Additional question about this;

Is that cable (usb c - display port) support 4k resolution (actually uhd) + 60hz refresh rate..

I'm still using Samsung 590d 4k monitor with my MB Retina 15" Mid2014 (4k 60hz), can I will continue to use same monitor with new MbPro 15" ??

 

[therealseebs]

Could you be specific on the 'not specifically USB' things you'd need a dongle for? Genuinely asking so I can assess your situation

Ethernet, firewire, thunderbolt, displayport (or DVI). And arguably I can get a shiny new cable that connects USB-C directly to a displayport monitor, and you could argue that this is now a direct cable, not a "dongle". But from my point of view, if I have a displayport monitor, and a displayport cable, and I can't plug the cable into the laptop directly, then whatever's doing it is a "dongle". All of these are things where, at some point in the past, I had a macbook pro which I could connect to using the same cable I'd have used to connect to a desktop with the same port.

I'd actually argue there are a lot of ports. USB-C can do nearly everything and Apple gave us 4 of them. That's more flexibility than I'd get in the prior MBP.

So, my current MBP (2015 13") has HDMI, 2x thunderbolt2/MDP, headphone jack with optical out if I want it, SD reader, magsafe, and I think three USB 3 ports. And that's a 13". My gaming laptop has one thunderbolt, four USB 3, headphone and microphone jacks, VGA, HDMI, power port, and ethernet.

On the new MBP, if I plug the charger in, it eats up one of my four ports. To do anything else with that port, anything else whatsoever, I need a dongle of some kind... And not only that, but the only thing shipping today I know of that can do that and provide the 85W of power is the LG 5k display. If I don't want that specific display, nothing I can use for this purpose gives over 60W. So my old laptop, I have one port connected to a MDP->displayport adapter and then to a monitor through displayport, one connected to a thunderbolt hub, and then I have three USB ports left, plus a card reader. On the 15" mac, I'd have to use one for power, one with a thunderbolt2 adapter to connect to the thunderbolt hub, another with a displayport adapter to connect to the monitor, and then I'd have exactly one port left.

I have fewer ports and I need more hardware to connect them. That's not "more flexibility" in practice.

Once more of the brand new hardware that doesn't actually exist yet is made and on the market and debugged, then the4 USB-C ports will be pretty cool, yeah. But that's a theoretical future, and it hasn't happened yet.

 

[Impatientmac]

This is why I'd have preferred to have at least a couple of things like ethernet and USB Type A ports. On the other hand, dongles for attaching to stuff are not all that unusual a thing, so.

I don't know why people expect Ethernet on the MacBook Pro. It's been gone since the last update. Not saying it's not a useful port, but they're probably as likely to bring back the CD drive.

 

[therealseebs]

I don't know why people expect Ethernet on the MacBook Pro. It's been gone since the last update. Not saying it's not a useful port, but they're probably as likely to bring back the CD drive.

I wasn't saying I expect it. I was just giving it as an example of a thing that I would prefer to have. And honestly, if it were up to me, I'd also prefer to have an optical drive. Maybe even one of the super-duper fancy ones they used in the Wii which could handle the small-sized discs too. (Apple said a slot-loader couldn't do that, but Nintendo could in cheap consumer hardware, so.)

I use Ethernet every day. I use optical drives often enough to have one plugged in or at least on my desk next to a USB port pretty much all the time.

As noted, people like me are not really Apple's demographic anymore.

 

[Impatientmac]

I wasn't saying I expect it. I was just giving it as an example of a thing that I would prefer to have. And honestly, if it were up to me, I'd also prefer to have an optical drive. Maybe even one of the super-duper fancy ones they used in the Wii which could handle the small-sized discs too. (Apple said a slot-loader couldn't do that, but Nintendo could in cheap consumer hardware, so.)

I use Ethernet every day. I use optical drives often enough to have one plugged in or at least on my desk next to a USB port pretty much all the time.

As noted, people like me are not really Apple's demographic anymore.

I mean you're on an Apple dedicated forum talking about ports/drives that were removed 4+ years ago. It just seems odd either you've accepted it and keep dongles/external drives or you haven't in which case like you said the machines nor for you. But if that's the case it hasn't been for so long...

 

[xmonkey]

Yes and no. I'm not willing to spend $300-400 for a Thunderbolt 3 dock (e.g. from Belkin). The price range $150-200 (e.g. CalDigit) does charge your MBP and promises 4K/60Hz support (while capping USB to 2.0 speeds), but they don't guarantee a stable 4K/60Hz connection yet. Also, I'm a bit scared that the built in charger will fry my MBP if defective. So that leaves option 3: a USB-C to DP cable on one port, and a $50 hub with Ethernet and USB-C power pass through on the other port (e.g. from Satchi, Sanho, PrimeCables). Which also is a clumsy solution, and most of these hubs do not specify the Watt limit for pass through (some seem to be capped at 45W).

No doubt, the dock situation is still pretty half-baked. I don't particularly want to drop that much money either, but things should improve as this tech matures. These machines are brand new and most of the current docks were designed around the limitations of the Retina MacBook. I have confidence we'll see some new USB-C (3.1 gen2) docks that aren't as pricey as the TB3 ones but will give a good level of basic functionality (4K@60, Ethernet, etc), just gotta be a little more patient while the manufacturers get up to speed with the new Pros. It'd be nice if Apple had given a little more heads up to them, though.

Ethernet, firewire, thunderbolt, displayport (or DVI). And arguably I can get a shiny new cable that connects USB-C directly to a displayport monitor, and you could argue that this is now a direct cable, not a "dongle". But from my point of view, if I have a displayport monitor, and a displayport cable, and I can't plug the cable into the laptop directly, then whatever's doing it is a "dongle". All of these are things where, at some point in the past, I had a macbook pro which I could connect to using the same cable I'd have used to connect to a desktop with the same port.

TB2 to TB3 is an issue, can't do much there except the Apple adapter on that one (I think). I feel Apple didn't do a good enough job on pushing TB1/2, it's unfortunate. Firewire is a bit tough too as it's essentially defunct by now. But, the new TB3 OWC dock does have a FW800 port! It's also not as expensive as the Belkin while appearing to offer more functionality: https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/owc-thunderbolt-3-dock/

So, my current MBP (2015 13") has HDMI, 2x thunderbolt2/MDP, headphone jack with optical out if I want it, SD reader, magsafe, and I think three USB 3 ports. And that's a 13". My gaming laptop has one thunderbolt, four USB 3, headphone and microphone jacks, VGA, HDMI, power port, and ethernet.

On the new MBP, if I plug the charger in, it eats up one of my four ports. To do anything else with that port, anything else whatsoever, I need a dongle of some kind... And not only that, but the only thing shipping today I know of that can do that and provide the 85W of power is the LG 5k display. If I don't want that specific display, nothing I can use for this purpose gives over 60W. So my old laptop, I have one port connected to a MDP->displayport adapter and then to a monitor through displayport, one connected to a thunderbolt hub, and then I have three USB ports left, plus a card reader. On the 15" mac, I'd have to use one for power, one with a thunderbolt2 adapter to connect to the thunderbolt hub, another with a displayport adapter to connect to the monitor, and then I'd have exactly one port left.

I have fewer ports and I need more hardware to connect them. That's not "more flexibility" in practice.

Once more of the brand new hardware that doesn't actually exist yet is made and on the market and debugged, then the4 USB-C ports will be pretty cool, yeah. But that's a theoretical future, and it hasn't happened yet.

A lot of what you described could be done with a few new cables and not necessarily dongles (Displayport, HDMI, Card reader). I guess my position is that this early transition isn't going to be painless, for sure, but the more I explore options for I/O connections involving USB-C the more I like what I'm seeing. Like I said a bit above, these laptops are brand new and manufacturers need some time to design products that can work with all that new potential. Apple forcing this on the new Pros is going to create a sizable need and manufacturers won't want to wait too long to respond to it.

My plan is to wait for a good all-around dock for anything involving a desktop setup. That way I'm only going to need one cable plugged into the laptop when I'm home or at work to convert it to a full-fledged setup. For on the go work I don't think I'll need anything more than a few cables in my bag (which is already the case). An army of dongles certainly won't be needed.

Of course everyone's needs are different, but USB-C really is incredibly flexible already and it's only going to improve IMO.

 

[therealseebs]

I mean you're on an Apple dedicated forum talking about ports/drives that were removed 4+ years ago. It just seems odd either you've accepted it and keep dongles/external drives or you haven't in which case like you said the machines nor for you. But if that's the case it hasn't been for so long...

Okay, this may sound incredible, but I want to introduce you to a concept that is apparently completely unheard of:

Making do with things which aren't as good as you'd like, but which could totally be better.

This is a technique that is incredibly useful in a world where basically nothing is going to be perfect.

But, and this is important, you don't pretend that things are perfect; you recognize that they're imperfect, even though you have ways of dealing with them.

So, for instance, I lock my doors, but I also still advocate that we try to do things to make people less likely to try to break into houses and steal stuff. I don't say "well, I've been locking doors for several years, clearly there's no reason to oppose burglary anymore".

I've been using dongles and adapters and docks to get ethernet on macbook pros for a while now (although only since 2015, before that I was still using older models which actually had the ports I wanted). That doesn't mean I wouldn't be happier with a laptop which had those ports. I would absolutely be happier with a better laptop!

 

[alexandero]

I have confidence we'll see some new USB-C (3.1 gen2) docks that aren't as pricey as the TB3 ones but will give a good level of basic functionality (4K@60, Ethernet, etc), just gotta be a little more patient while the manufacturers get up to speed with the new Pros. It'd be nice if Apple had given a little more heads up to them, though.

Agree. Unfortunately I just can't wait much longer – my 2011 MBA has quite a few hardware problems (keys sometimes not working, flickering display, battery more or less dead, microphone defect) and I urgently need a replacement. I've been waiting for the past (at least) 12 months, and now the new MBPs are finally available I'm having a hard time waiting with that purchase until better docks are available too. And I assume I'm not the only one who's been holding onto his old hardware for much longer than expected, in anticipation of a major new release of the MBA/MBP series.

 

[Impatientmac]

Okay, this may sound incredible, but I want to introduce you to a concept that is apparently completely unheard of:

Making do with things which aren't as good as you'd like, but which could totally be better.

This is a technique that is incredibly useful in a world where basically nothing is going to be perfect.

But, and this is important, you don't pretend that things are perfect; you recognize that they're imperfect, even though you have ways of dealing with them.

So, for instance, I lock my doors, but I also still advocate that we try to do things to make people less likely to try to break into houses and steal stuff. I don't say "well, I've been locking doors for several years, clearly there's no reason to oppose burglary anymore".

I've been using dongles and adapters and docks to get ethernet on macbook pros for a while now (although only since 2015, before that I was still using older models which actually had the ports I wanted). That doesn't mean I wouldn't be happier with a laptop which had those ports. I would absolutely be happier with a better laptop!

Seems more like complaining about it raining in Seattle, or crowds in NYC. It might be a problem to you, but at this point it's not going to change and are well known things about those cities. Some people are fine with no CD drive, some people are fine with rain, very few people are ok with their house burglarized.

 

[therealseebs]

So, to summarize:

No shipping product except the LG 5k displays and Apple's charger can provide the needed 85W for the new 15" MBP over USB-C. The things that do passthrough from a charger are all capped at 60W. (Some partial exceptions, like Dell's working with up to 130W but only with Dell hardware.)

There are concerns about compability between Thunderbolt3 hardware using a particular common TI chipset and the new MBPs; they appear to be specifically rejecting such devices. (See: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-thunderbolt-3-devices.2012372/#post-23858218)

The only product even announced that provides an 85W docking solution for the MBP 15" that isn't a monitor is Belkin's product. It's not shipping, but it's announced. But it's also Belkin, which some of us regard as a serious failure.

All the docking things that provide extra display support using DisplayLink chipsets are currently having serious difficulties with OS X 10.12, so they are in practice probably not viable options.

So, if you want to dock a 15" MBP, your most likely immediate-future option is to get one of the various docks which doesn't use the DisplayLink parts, and which can provide 60W, and just never run the machine at full load for very long. So far as we know, this is expected to be safe, and the laptop will drain battery when loaded and charge when less loaded.

OWC has announced a cool-looking dock that may well do the charging thing, but as of this writing their page doesn't say specifically how much power it can/will provide.

Other contenders are a Dell WD15 dock (some reports of video not working, so it might be using the DisplayLink stuff), an OWC dock (some reports of problems), a CalDigit dock (I haven't actually got confirmation either way on how it works, but it's apparently capped at 60W despite their page saying the power supply is 90W), or individual docking cables made by various vendors including Apple and Monoprice that provide things like "HDMI and one Type A USB port".
[doublepost=1478212369][/doublepost]

Seems more like complaining about it raining in Seattle, or crowds in NYC. It might be a problem to you, but at this point it's not going to change and are well known things about those cities. Some people are fine with no CD drive, some people are fine with rain, very few people are ok with their house burglarized.

I think the key difference here is:

It is entirely within Apple's power to change things in response to complaints. They have, sometimes, in the past.

Seattle can't change its weather very practically, NYC can't really make crowds go away, but Apple absolutely could make the high-end laptop many people have asked for. They may not, but you know what? They're a heck of a lot more likely to make it if people continue asking them to than if we all stop talking about what we want from computers.

Apple does have feedback forms, and does have people reading forums to keep an eye on consumer responses. They're not completely hostile to the existence of such feedback. It's just the people who are currently happy who are complaining about the feedback.

And some day, they'll take away a feature you wanted, and you'll mention that you liked that feature, and a bunch of people will jump on you for posting about it because why would you complain, clearly Apple knows what's best. And those of us for whom that first happened years ago will get our quota of schadenfreude.

 

[Brookzy]

So, to summarize:

No shipping product except the LG 5k displays and Apple's charger can provide the needed 85W for the new 15" MBP over USB-C. The things that do passthrough from a charger are all capped at 60W. (Some partial exceptions, like Dell's working with up to 130W but only with Dell hardware.)

There are concerns about compability between Thunderbolt3 hardware using a particular common TI chipset and the new MBPs; they appear to be specifically rejecting such devices. (See: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-thunderbolt-3-devices.2012372/#post-23858218)

The only product even announced that provides an 85W docking solution for the MBP 15" that isn't a monitor is Belkin's product. It's not shipping, but it's announced. But it's also Belkin, which some of us regard as a serious failure.

All the docking things that provide extra display support using DisplayLink chipsets are currently having serious difficulties with OS X 10.12, so they are in practice probably not viable options.

So, if you want to dock a 15" MBP, your most likely immediate-future option is to get one of the various docks which doesn't use the DisplayLink parts, and which can provide 60W, and just never run the machine at full load for very long. So far as we know, this is expected to be safe, and the laptop will drain battery when loaded and charge when less loaded.

OWC has announced a cool-looking dock that may well do the charging thing, but as of this writing their page doesn't say specifically how much power it can/will provide.

Other contenders are a Dell WD15 dock (some reports of video not working, so it might be using the DisplayLink stuff), an OWC dock (some reports of problems), a CalDigit dock (I haven't actually got confirmation either way on how it works, but it's apparently capped at 60W despite their page saying the power supply is 90W), or individual docking cables made by various vendors including Apple and Monoprice that provide things like "HDMI and one Type A USB port".
[

Well put. The consortium that develops the Thunderbolt 3 standard needs to launch a certification programme where they will - free of charge - test and verify USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 docks, cables, and adapters, with a user-friendly website.

It's an absolute mess, and even where information exists (which is rare) you can never trust its accuracy.

I was a huge fan of USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 at the start, because I expected accessories to roll out rapidly.

Instead, nearly two years later, we have a disorganised, incompatible mess of accessories that are at best non-functioning, and at worst dangerous, in this so-called standard.

 

[MidnightSVT]

Thanks!

Too bad. Well then I'll go with the Satechi http://www.satechi.net/index.php/co...micro-card-reader-3-usb-3-0-ports-silver-577# and connect Ethernet and HDMI so I still have the second USB-C port on the left free to Charge with full Speed.

This is the HUB that I have gone with as well. I ordered through Amazon and it was delivered. While I do not have my 15" Pro yet, I tested it out on my girlfriends 12" MacBook and it does work well. I was able to format an SD card while being plugged into the Ethernet and charging my iPhone 7+ through USB to Lightning Cable. The color matches the Apple look and I thought the build quality was nice. It got warm, but not hot in the 20 or so minutes I used it.

 

[CookieFlow]

I can't be the only one in the market looking for usb C to micro usb cable?
I need a cable to charge my MX Master, S6 Edge, Headphones and they all use micro usb...

But besides Belkin that makes a very basic one (also way too long) I cannot find any other brands that does them, I really like flat or braided colorful cables and like 20-50 cm...
If anybody knows something !

Thanks

 

[GubbyMan]

This is the best HDMI 2.0 adapter I found. It uses DisplayPort Alternate Mode and it's cheaper than everything else that I've seen. http://plugable.com/products/usbc-hdmi/

 

[therealseebs]

The Satechi looks sorta neat, but unfortunately for me, none of my high-resolution displays can do high-resolution HDMI. (One does HDMI, but only up to 1920x1080, the others have no HDMI ports.) I suppose if I got a new monitor I could maybe make that work anyway.