Need a good USB HUB

[02R96]

I have a Mid 2011 Mac Mini with 2.7Mhz Processor, 8GB of Ram & an AMD Radeon 256 running dual displays. It has four USB 2 ports which are all in use. I need a hub that will recognise my iPhone 7+ and other Apple "stuff". I have two that don't recognize anything Apple. They are a Beldon USB 2 and a CyberPower that is USB 2 also. Both have the external power supply.

Can anyone tell me what's wrong and recommend a USB Hub that is Apple compatible?

 

[Fishrrman]

I would suggest that you get a USB3 hub.
Backward compatible with USB2, and someday you're going to replace the Mac you have now, so the USB3 capability will be "there and waiting" for when you do...

 

[chabig]

Can anyone tell me what's wrong and recommend a USB Hub that is Apple compatible?

All hubs are “Apple compatible”. USB is an industry standard. The two that aren’t working are probably defective.

 

[treekram]

I have a Mid 2011 Mac Mini with 2.7Mhz Processor, 8GB of Ram & an AMD Radeon 256 running dual displays. It has four USB 2 ports which are all in use. I need a hub that will recognise my iPhone 7+ and other Apple "stuff". I have two that don't recognize anything Apple. They are a Beldon USB 2 and a CyberPower that is USB 2 also. Both have the external power supply.

Can anyone tell me what's wrong and recommend a USB Hub that is Apple compatible?

What is the other Apple "stuff" that you have - I'm going to presume it's other Apple iDevices. I also presume that the problem you're having is that your iDevices don't show up in iTunes or other Apple software. If there's some other problem, it would help if you detail it further.

So do these iDevices work if you plug them in directly to your Mini?

If not, is there a point in time that they did work with the hubs and if so, was there some event that marked the point where it no longer worked - like updating the OS, etc.?

I have had problems in the past with my 2014 Mini recognizing my iPad and it was a problem (of my making) with the security mechanism that the macOS uses with regards to the iDevices. If you answer the previous two questions, I give you an idea as to whether this is a possible issue or not.

 

[mikzn]

I have quite a few older USB hubs and 2 newer Anker (powered) USB hubs. Even though I bought the external powered hubs my iPad pro and iPhone 8 will not charge when connected to these powered USB hubs.

My guess is that apple has some kind of compatibility check and prevents the battery charging with unknown devices to protect the battery

All the hubs I have work and will transfer data etc. - but not all will charge new iDevices

might be worth while to make sure what ever model you purchase will be able to charge your models of iPhones and iPads

edit for spelling

 

[Partron22]

king of compatability check and prevents the battery charging with unknown devices

You bet. One of my Samsung chargers gets me a "not charging" message on my iPad, the other charger works great.
The charger and device are supposed to talk to each other, but not all do. That goes at least all the way back to USB2.
So some hubs, are just crud. Also with USB3 you get trouble with Bluetooth crosstalk, so you need decent shielded cables.
I've got a couple "plugable" brand USB3 powered hubs that work with about anything I plug into them; Apple or not.

 

[mikzn]

lol - laughing at my post spelling error "King of Compatibility" definitely not apple - lol

 

[harriska2]

I use this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B072TW79NY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It detects our iPhone SEs, iPads (12.9s and Air 2) and doesn't seem to interfere with wifi or bluetooth. It does not charge my devices. It also won't work with the Superdrive DVD USB2 player/recorder - the OS gives a message to plug directly into the mini. I have it placed about a foot behind the Mac mini. The mini sits under the left side of my monitor. The USB keyboard and plugged in Magic Track Pad 2 are a bit over a foot from the mini. It runs 2 external HDDs, webcam, Magic Trackpad 2, keyboard switcher for keyboard/mouse, USB thumb drives, etc. I did have a problem whereby it wouldn't read each of the external hard drives for the first time. I plugged it directly into the mini. Once it read the drive and it was formatted, I turned off the drive and plugged it into the powered hub and no problems since.

 

[02R96]

I use this one:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B072TW79NY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It detects our iPhone SEs, iPads (12.9s and Air 2) and doesn't seem to interfere with wifi or bluetooth. It does not charge my devices. It also won't work with the Superdrive DVD USB2 player/recorder - the OS gives a message to plug directly into the mini. I have it placed about a foot behind the Mac mini. The mini sits under the left side of my monitor. The USB keyboard and plugged in Magic Track Pad 2 are a bit over a foot from the mini. It runs 2 external HDDs, webcam, Magic Trackpad 2, keyboard switcher for keyboard/mouse, USB thumb drives, etc. I did have a problem whereby it wouldn't read each of the external hard drives for the first time. I plugged it directly into the mini. Once it read the drive and it was formatted, I turned off the drive and plugged it into the powered hub and no problems since.

Thanks for the responses. By "Apple stuff" I mean my iPhone7+ and my sons iPad. I don't know the version. The main problem is the Mini doesn't "see" either one of the devices. I think I have a couple of "crap" hubs. I'm not concerned about charging anything, just data transfer. Thanks again for the help.

 

[HDFan]

I bought the external powered hubs my iPad pro and iPhone 8 will not charge when connected to these powered USB hubs.

I have a couple of Satechi powered USB 3 hubs which I love. Some devices, such as an iPad, on the normal ports are seen (like in iTunes) but do not charge. Luckily the hubs also have higher powered 5 volt ports (which are power only) that work just fine. I assume that the normal ports just don't have enough juice to charge some devices. I put a LeGion USB meter on both ports. They both show ~5 volts and up to about .7 amps so I'm not sure why one set of ports is so finicky ....