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Expanding USB Ports to MacBook Pro 2011

N

nickmeister01

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hi, I’m running out of USB ports on my MacBook Pro Late 2011 model. I want to be able to connect a pioneer DJ controller which connects via USB, 2 USB Logitech webcams & a USB flash drive to play music with the Pioneer controller.


I am unsure if the current USB ports will draw sufficient power to run the above using an ordinary USB Hub/Extender? If this is not possible then is there a way of using the thunderbolt connection (eg thunderbolt to usb hub/extender) as this is currently not being used?


Many thanks
 
You could try a powered USB hub (ie it will have its own power cable that plugs into a wall socket.) however I’m not sure what bandwidth requirements those devices might have - sharing a single usb2 port on the computer might be too slow for them.

you could get a thunderbolt “dock”. I bought an Akitio model that added 2x usb3 and 2x eSATA, it works well.
 
Stephen.R said:
You could try a powered USB hub (ie it will have its own power cable that plugs into a wall socket.) however I’m not sure what bandwidth requirements those devices might have - sharing a single usb2 port on the computer might be too slow for them.

you could get a thunderbolt “dock”. I bought an Akitio model that added 2x usb3 and 2x eSATA, it works well.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply, may give that a try although those look a little expensive. Good to know that it works though.
 
Does your system have an ExpressCard Doc? You can get ExpressCards that give you an additional 2 USB 3.0 ports at very high speeds.
 
nickmeister01 said:
Hi I’m not sure, it doesn’t have a slot on the side for one
Click to expand...

The 17 has the ExpressCard slot - I guess that they removed it on the 15. So I assume that you have a 15 or 13.

I use a powered USB hub at home but it's USB 3.0. You'd have to determine whether or not a USB 2.0 port could support the bandwidth that you want to run through it. You could always give it a try as powered USB hubs are not that expensive compared to Thunderbolt Docking Stations.
 
Yes I’ve got the 15. Assuming it’s also USB2.0 so presume getting a USB3.0 hub would just mean it would be backward compatible with USB2.0?
 
pshufd said:
The 17 has the ExpressCard slot - I guess that they removed it on the 15. So I assume that you have a 15 or 13.
Click to expand...

The first couple of generations of 15" unibody had expresscard. I know my 5,1, which also has a removable battery, has one. I THINK it went away either for the 2010 models, or they were the last ones to have it-the Expresscard slot became SD on the 15", and it was only retained on the 17".

With that said, I agree with some other posters that a TB dock is likely the ideal way to get more USB ports, especially if one wants/can use USB 3.0.
 
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