Need more USB-C on my MBP 15"

[M0bi0us0ne]

I managed to switch almost all my peripheral to USB C and got rid of most of the dongles, now I don't have enough ports to plug everything in. I did a bit of research and wasn't able to find any USB C to USB C hub to extend the amount ports.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[casperes1996]

I managed to switch almost all my peripheral to USB C and got rid of most of the dongles, now I don't have enough ports to plug everything in. I did a bit of research and wasn't able to find any USB C to USB C hub to extend the amount ports.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

What exactly is it that you plug in? I'm a bit confused as to what devices you'd always need plugged in that you'd use up all four ports? And with none of the devices being daisy-chainable.

 

[4RunnerHeaven]

Get a dock.

 

[M0bi0us0ne]

What exactly is it that you plug in? I'm a bit confused as to what devices you'd always need plugged in that you'd use up all four ports? And with none of the devices being daisy-chainable.

I use a second screen (with no ports) a back up drive, a graphic tablet and one port is used for power, in case I need to plug in something else (another usbc ssd) I need to unplug something. As I mentioned I managed to get rid of 90% of legacy ports, having to go back to a legacy to USB C hub just to free some ports seems a bit ridiculous and counter productive since USB C it’s suppose to substitute all of those ports.
I wish the MBP had 6 to 8 ports.
There are plenty of USB A hubs with up to 12+ ports I don’t understand why no one has made a USB C one.
The only one I found is a belkin that adds only 1 more USB C and has horrible reviews

 

[casperes1996]

You're right, it does seem a bit strange that there's no USB-C to more USB-C hub, or at least Thunderbolt to multi USB-C. The first one could perhaps be explained by performance concerns. You can offer many USB 2.0 ports with max speed with one 3.1 gen 2 port, but obviously you can make one USB C 3.1 gen 2 port into 5 without losing maximum performance, but if you transformed Thunderbolt into many USB C ports you could keep USB C 3.1 gen 2 performance.
Only thing I can think of that does this are some screens, but again in that case, the port extension is in a product, not a stand-alone part.
It's definitely technically possible though, seeing as LG's UltraFine 5k display has 3USB-C ports.

I looked around a fair bit to see if I could find anything and, nope. So yeah, at least for now it seems you're damned until someone decides to produce something like this.

And I also don't think you should get your hopes up that a future revision will have more USB C ports either. In fact, I think it's more likely that two of them will be cut if anything. With the reasoning that you can just get a wireless graphic tablet, and use 60GHz wireless to connect your display and such.
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Get a dock.

I think you missed a fundamental part of what this is about

 

[eddjedi]

You can do all of that with one cable. I run a 1920x1080 screen, power, 2 x USB 3.0 external HDs and my mouse/keyboard etc over a single cable and this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B073WBJSG4/

If you don't want the dock on your desk (as all of these docks come with stupidly short cables for some reason) I can also confirm this extender works with the above dock without affecting speed or reliability:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01FM4ZWV0/

 

[casperes1996]

You can do all of that with one cable. I run a 1920x1080 screen, power, 2 x USB 3.0 external HDs and my mouse/keyboard etc over a single cable and this:

The OP quite explicitly states however that he/she doesn't want to use non-USB C cables and want to switch everything over to USB-C. The OP is aware of docks like this, but want to avoid type-A, HDMI, etc. and do what it is that all the future statements say we should - move it all to C

 

[elf69]

cusby hub will do it.
dont think it on market yet but modular hub just buy the connections you want...

https://conceptcus.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/cusby-usb-c-modular-expandable-adapter/

 

[theluggage]

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Well, you could get one of the widely available USB-C to multiple USB3-A hubs, then get a bunch of dongles for your new USB-C devices....

I'll get my coat

You're right, it does seem a bit strange that there's no USB-C to more USB-C hub

Not strange really - there's a huge new market for hubs and docks that bring back "legacy" connectors for customers' existing equipment, but not so many customers with a lot of USB-C peripherals to connect - and producing a USB-C-to-USB-C hub in which the downstream sockets support anything more than USB3.1g1 + the minimum power requirement is a lot more complex and expensive than a USB3-A hub.

Also, there are very few USB-C 3.1gen2 peripherals around and, all joking apart, most 3.1g1 peripherals see no real advantage from being connected via USB-C rather than an old fangled USB3-A connector - and non-Apple USB-C peripherals often ship with a USB-A adapter cable.

If you do have a gen2 device that can actually use the bandwidth - such as a high-end NVMe external SSD - you're probably going to want to connect it directly to the host for maximum performance, not via a hub. Ditto displays: you don't really want to connect a display via a USB-C hub, since a 4k@60Hz display causes every other device on that host socket to fall back to USB 2 speeds - so that's best connected directly to the host, too. As for power delivery, a USB3-A socket can run a 2.5" hard drive or charge a phone just fine - the main peripherals that benefit from USB-C are the hubs themselves, that need to power several such devices.

Sorry, but apart from replacing MicroUSB on mobile devices, USB-C is classic case of "a solution looking for a problem".

 

[eddjedi]

The OP quite explicitly states however that he/she doesn't want to use non-USB C cables and want to switch everything over to USB-C. The OP is aware of docks like this, but want to avoid type-A, HDMI, etc. and do what it is that all the future statements say we should - move it all to C

Sure I got that, but what they want does not exist yet. Therefore having everything plugged in with one cable is a much better solution than what they do currently.

 

[theluggage]

cusby hub will do it.

Except 2 minutes checking reveals that it is a 2 year old crowd-funded project that seems to have gone silent for the last year.

If it actually existed, given theres currently a shortage of alternatives, maybe - but its still going to be bulkier and more expensive than a single unit with a selection of ports. Also, as far as I can see, every module would add a new hub to the "tree" so anything connected to the last module is going to see a hub, connected to a hub, connected to a hub... Another solution looking for a problem...

 

[casperes1996]

Not strange really - there's a huge new market for hubs and docks that bring back "legacy" connectors for customers' existing equipment, but not so many customers with a lot of USB-C peripherals to connect - and producing a USB-C-to-USB-C hub in which the downstream sockets support anything more than USB3.1g1 + the minimum power requirement is a lot more complex and expensive than a USB3-A hub.

Also, there are very few USB-C 3.1gen2 peripherals around and, all joking apart, most 3.1g1 peripherals see no real advantage from being connected via USB-C rather than an old fangled USB3-A connector - and non-Apple USB-C peripherals often ship with a USB-A adapter cable.

If you do have a gen2 device that can actually use the bandwidth - such as a high-end NVMe external SSD - you're probably going to want to connect it directly to the host for maximum performance, not via a hub. Ditto displays: you don't really want to connect a display via a USB-C hub, since a 4k@60Hz display causes every other device on that host socket to fall back to USB 2 speeds - so that's best connected directly to the host, too. As for power delivery, a USB3-A socket can run a 2.5" hard drive or charge a phone just fine - the main peripherals that benefit from USB-C are the hubs themselves, that need to power several such devices.

Sorry, but apart from replacing MicroUSB on mobile devices, USB-C is classic case of "a solution looking for a problem".

All this is true and fair, but it does seem like the industry wants to move towards every connection being USB-C regardless of speed needs. So if you just want to connect a mouse and a keyboard that have gotten to be USB-C, and you don't need the speed, I don't see why multiport adapters shouldn't exist already. At least a single product.

 

[b_scott]

You could also connect your backup drive to your network instead. Wireless to the MBP

 

[theluggage]

So if you just want to connect a mouse and a keyboard that have gotten to be USB-C, and you don't need the speed, I don't see why multiport adapters shouldn't exist already.

...but USB-C mice and keyboards are like hen's teeth and many people prefer wireless (especially for mobile devices which is where most USB-C ports are found in the non-Apple world).

I'm sure they will come, but today's reality is that people typically have lots of USB-A devices and few USB-C devices, and it makes more sense to have plenty of USB-A and use dongles (or host USB-C ports) for USB-C, rather than vice-versa.

 

[casperes1996]

...but USB-C mice and keyboards are like hen's teeth and many people prefer wireless (especially for mobile devices which is where most USB-C ports are found in the non-Apple world).

Sure, but then USB-C thumb drives that are sure to come or may already be here. I've tried having five thumb drives attached to USB A ports at once for a few different peculiar reasons. Again, no a situation that's exactly common, but an eventuality that can occour. And again the speed isn't that vital. You just want the ports. If everything is to move to USB C, we need to have multiport hubs. In fact, right now I'm using my Apple Extended Kayboard as a USB A 2.0 hun. I've got it plugged into a USB 3.0 port in my iMac, and there's obviously a speed loss from pluggin into the keyboard, but having two USB ports on the keyboar (which makes one extra considering it also takes up one on the iMac), is slightly more valuable than the speed of the USB 3.0 port. Plus I get to use this great keyboard with 19 F keys! (Bought it before the new one came out in wireless, so only wired was an option for a 19F key Apple keyboard.
(And in case you wonder what on Eart anyone could use 19 F keys for - custom shortcuts, especially for Final Cut)

 

[theluggage]

Sure, but then USB-C thumb drives that are sure to come or may already be here.

Yes, there are plenty of USB-C memory sticks on the market, but guess what? Half of them are "dual interface" sticks with USB-C on one end and USB-A on the other.

So its still more useful for hubs to have lots of USB-A sockets, leaving your host USB-C sockets free for high speed/high current devices, displays, TB3 devices etc.

In fact, right now I'm using my Apple Extended Kayboard as a USB A 2.0 hun. I've got it plugged into a USB 3.0 port in my iMac

Same here - and one of the reasons that I'm using an "old" wired keyboard while the fancy wireless keyboard that came with my new iMac is sitting in a cupboard. It's really useful to have 2 extra USB-A sockets on the desk... however, 2 extra USB-C sockets would be much less useful, since everything I own has USB-A - including stuff bought in the last year for which there were no USB-C equivalents (and no need, since they only need USB2.0).

Not saying that there shouldn't be a multi-USB-C dock on the market for those who need it - just pointing out why the market isn't there yet.

 

[ixxx69]

The reality is that this is just one of those insane situations where literally the product should exist but doesn't.

While it may not be a HUGE market yet compared to USB-A, there's at least 10 million Macs out in the wild that have USB-C, and for there not to be even a SINGLE hub with multiple USB-C ports on the entire planet... how can that be?

Way smaller niches are serves in other product categories. Is there a technical issue here? Why won't Apple release one if no one else will? We're nearly 3 years into the USB-C era... this is just getting bizarre.

 

[casperes1996]

Same here - and one of the reasons that I'm using an "old" wired keyboard while the fancy wireless keyboard that came with my new iMac is sitting in a cupboard. It's really useful to have 2 extra USB-A sockets on the desk... however, 2 extra USB-C sockets would be much less useful, since everything I own has USB-A - including stuff bought in the last year for which there were no USB-C equivalents (and no need, since they only need USB2.0).

Not saying that there shouldn't be a multi-USB-C dock on the market for those who need it - just pointing out why the market isn't there yet.

Sure, but point is that whilst I get why it doesn't make super much sense to focus on USB C hubs right now relative to USB A hubs, there still should be a few out there, whilst obviously not as many as the USB A variety, as there are USB C devices, and whilst more people will have many A devices, some will fill all their C ports.
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Way smaller niches are serves in other product categories. Is there a technical issue here? Why won't Apple release one if no one else will? We're nearly 3 years into the USB-C era... this is just getting bizarre.

No technical issue as far as I can tell. The Ultra Fine 5k display in fact works a bit like a USB C hub, in that it has three USB C connection ports. Obviously that's also for driving the display, but all three aren't needed for that so you'll have free ports too.

 

[theluggage]

Sure, but point is that whilst I get why it doesn't make super much sense to focus on USB C hubs right now relative to USB A hubs, there still should be a few out there,

I think the bottom line is that it is just more complex and expensive to implement a multi-USB-C hub than a USB-A one (which will be a tried and tested generic chipset). Each USB socket needs the logic to handle the reversible cable, negotiate alt modes, cable types etc,

Can't remember if it is in this thread, or another, but I came across a very recent press release for a USB-C 3.1g2 multiport hub chip announced just this month (with the implication that this is a new thing). It will be some months before that starts showing up as products.

The Ultra Fine 5k display in fact works a bit like a USB C hub, in that it has three USB C connection ports.

I don't think a multi-USB-C hub breaks any of the laws of physics - its just more complex and expensive. The LG Ultrafine specs were clearly laid down by Apple and they were obviously on a USB-C only trip (a USB-A socket or two would have been really, really useful on those displays).

Of course the Ultrafine 4k can only do USB2,0 speeds on its downstream ports because the rest of the bandwidth is used for 4k@60Hz. The 5k uses a Thunderbolt link to the computer (and has its own USB 3.1 controller driven by Thunderbolt/PCIe) so it can do better.