I've been thinking for a while how the main reason Thunderbolt 3/USB-C is so convenient is because of it's ability to plug in just one cable when docking/un-docking. What I reckon would be a better product for Satechi to sell or sell as well is a simple dual-ended extender that would allow you to plug in 2 different devices but have the ability to physically connect/disconnect in one motion. Also, ideally this would come with a utility that allows you to eject multiple drives at once
Might have to start a kickstarter project here guys!
IMHO, all you really need is a sturdy and rigid "bonnet" into which the ends of two USB-C cables can be securely locked. With that, you take your two USB-C cables for your two USB-C (or Thunderbolt, or whatever) hubs that go in (left ro right MacBook Pro USB-C port pair), click them both into the bonnet, then from there on, plug the "bonnet" and its two connectors into the laptop to dock/undock. The bonnet needs to be sturdy enough that you can't correctly plug one of the two in while the other isn't quite in, etc; the feel of plugging/unplugging seeming as much as possible like you are plugging one "thing" into one (albeit now pretty large) port is the main UX challenge here.
That said, the *better* solution than this Satechi abomination or the more versatile bonnet idea is to use a Thunderbolt chipset and a single cable in your solution, similar to the above-linked OWC device (
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB3ADP2DP/ since I still have that open in my tabs). One cable and one plug is far far superior to a multi-headed "dock". MacBook Pro supports dual monitors on Thunderbolt, but if you have just USB-C chipset in there there just isn't enough bandwidth for two monitors on one port.
[[Insert lengthy diatribe about how utterly incompetent USB-C committee is around which cables work with which standard and the horrible naming conventions and the impossibility of knowing if a collection of "USB-C looking cables" and "USB-C looking ports" will all work together until/unless you actually connect them all and try it]]
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I don't get this. Seems like every device out there consumes USB-C ports to give us USB-A ports. What I would LIKE, however, is a true USB-C hub with one (1) connection to my MacBook and multiple USB-C ports for connecting to devices. Yes, I realize that this could introduce a power issue... or a bandwidth issue... so having an external power supply would be OK, as would limiting the device to NOT support monitors. I'm simply thinking of ways to connect many devices via USB-C, such as hard drives, iDevices, etc. Seems silly to me to maintain both USB-C and USB-A cables for different scenarios.
Generally speaking, if you want a strong stable solution and are using a Mac, you need to stop searching for "USB-C Hub" and instead search for "Thunderbolt docking station". They are more pricey (Thunderbolt chipsets appear to cost more, but more importantly the components need to be much heavier duty to handle the power loads of Thunderbolt 3 / someday-USB-4), but (1) will allow multiple full-power+full-bandwidth USB-C-level connections, (2) can provide full (87W) power to your MacBook Pro in many cases, and (3) allow a single simple port connection to your laptop rather than this dual-port monstrosity. Ars Technica has run at least one market review of Thunderbolt docks and come up with a few (three if I remember correctly) docks that got very high marks.
