Thunderbolt 3/USB-C Adapters, Cables, and Hubs for New MacBook Pro

[PracticalMac]

this F---- IDIOTIC!

Spending another $(ungodly sum) for handful of adapters that will be lost/broken/borrowed and never returned when it would cost almost nothing to have it built in.

But then Apple wont make less $$ not selling a bag full of overpriced junk.

 

[Cervelo-Van]

It's sold as a Pro product, Pros use Ethernet, Timecapsule uses Ethernet and is dreadfully slow over wifi or did you forget that product existed?
I want you to post a link that is based in fact and NOT made by Apple to state the 'majority of laptop users NEVER use ethernet' because according to you that's Apples metric....

I would even bet if Apple removed Ethernet off the iMac you would defend it...

I conduct several one hour video coaching sessions daily. I was getting drop-outs on wi-fi to the point where I had to switch to Ethernet. I have fiber coming into my building, but still not stable enough. Since I switched to Ethernet, no problem.

My first computer was an Apple IIe. I like the progress that Apple makes. but someone above posted a picture of all the dongles Apple sells, and that bothers/worries me.

I currently have my Ethernet plugged into a Thunderbolt 2 adaptor which is plugged into a Thunbderbolt 3 Adaptor. This is RIDICULOUS. I then have another dongle which gives me power, an HDMI slot and 1 USB connection. Since the two ports on the new entry level MBP are very close to each other, the cables and dongles are not flush. Very un-Apple like.

With only 1 USB slot on that dongle, I have to remove each device before connecting another one. Not good.

Guess I will have to spend some time exploring how I can get all my devises too connect OTA. I know my printer can do so, my Garmin bike computer., and my iPhone. Apple Watch updates, not so sure, seems that I have always needed to connect it to the computer.

 

[Neepman]

The best part about the bevy of dongles and adapters I am going to have to carry around with my lovely slim MBP is I will be able to use my big huge "dork bag" from 1995 I had to use to carry all my kit needed for my Powerbook 1400cs. Sure glad I kept it!

 

[MplsP]

The irony is that so many of you are so caught up in the group-think here that you can't see that long-term, the new Thunderbolt 3 ports will greatly streamline connectivity on the MBP. Those of you who still want your HDMI, mDP, usb-a, magsafe, etc. would have a mass of cables connected to both sides of the MacBook any time you were set up with all these peripherals. With Thunderbolt 3 you can have a dock hidden away and 1 clean cable connecting to the laptop. Even cleaner than the iMac in the picture.

... or you could just have a computer that included a port that you can use without a dongle. No one argues the capabilities and potential benefits of USB C. If you wanted a single cable tucked out of the way, you could easily have 1 USB C port and then 3 USB A ports that you can actually use. The problem is it's the interface of the future, not the interface of the present. Most of us live in the present and need to work in the present.

I find it telling that when I searched for USB C peripherals, I found some external hard drives, a couple of jump drives, and a hole bunch of dongles and hubs (which are just glorified dongles.) I buy a laptop to be portable. If i wanted to be tied down with a bunch of dongles and hubs I'd just buy a desktop.

 

[orangemurphy]

Apologies to anyone who has previously made the comment but nearly everyone on this is missing the point. Apple aren't replicating the horror of tangled wires on PC's they are demanding that everyone (as in tech companies) change their wires to USB-C. And what's more the companies will! In fact I wouldn't be surprised if in 2017 the new iPads/iPods/iPhones all change the wires to USB-C and change the plugs to USB-C. It seems where Apple leads people follow (blindly or not)
[doublepost=1479218161][/doublepost]

Confounding.

It's like they actually hate their loyal customer base. You buy the latest phone and the latest Laptop, and you cant plug it in without buying an adapter. You buy fancy new headphones you were more-or-less forced into for your brand new phone and you can't use those without buying ANOTHER ADAPTER.

Seriously, what. the. heck.

They don't hate their loyal customer base they just know that their loyal customer base will buy whatever they sell even if it was only 10 months ago they bought the latest product and replaced all the kit that did not fit.

 

[claud9999]

FYI, based on this post on Macrumors, I bought a couple Satechi-branded devices (their 4K hub, their SD/Micro-SD adapters) and I've been testing them on my 15" just received. Sadly, the 4K hub fails to provide enough power for my USB-powered Seagate 4TB drive [really a 2x 2TB RAID-0 device], and the HDMI doesn't work (monitor and computer recognize that the cable's connected and I can bring up settings for the monitor, but no image.) The SD/Micro-SD reader doesn't work at all, although I'll give it one more try before returning it. And we'll see if their USB-C to USB-B adapter works or not. (The hub worked for some other USB drives and for SD cards...but at $70, HDMI needs to work!)

Needless to say, ordered a bunch of Apple-branded adapters...Seems third-party is too flakey at this point.

 

[HappyMacGuy]

Seriously?! This is like an April Fools Day joke gone bad. Wow!

 

[claud9999]

FYI, based on this post on Macrumors, I bought a couple Satechi-branded devices (their 4K hub, their SD/Micro-SD adapters) and I've been testing them on my 15" just received. Sadly, the 4K hub fails to provide enough power for my USB-powered Seagate 4TB drive [really a 2x 2TB RAID-0 device], and the HDMI doesn't work (monitor and computer recognize that the cable's connected and I can bring up settings for the monitor, but no image.) The SD/Micro-SD reader doesn't work at all, although I'll give it one more try before returning it. And we'll see if their USB-C to USB-B adapter works or not. (The hub worked for some other USB drives and for SD cards...but at $70, HDMI needs to work!)

Needless to say, ordered a bunch of Apple-branded adapters...Seems third-party is too flakey at this point.

Turns out I was able to get the SD card reader to work last night after a bunch of fiddling. (The reader's slots are mighty tight and don't have the usual click-in/click-out for Micro-SD and the regular SD doesn't go in very far before it's engaged...also without a positive click.) I will give the 4K hub another try but I tried a bunch of things yesterday with no joy.

 

[utdrmac]

While it is still in campaign mode, this looks promising. All the ports I need, plus a 1.5x battery?! Count me in!
https://igg.me/at/line-dock-usb-c-laptop-docking-station/x/2978829/14477922

 

[LGShepherd]

While it is still in campaign mode, this looks promising. All the ports I need, plus a 1.5x battery?! Count me in!
https://igg.me/at/line-dock-usb-c-laptop-docking-station/x/2978829/14477922

I really like this dock and hope it is actually made, but Indiegogo worries me.

 

[magw21]

I don't think anyone else has mentioned this here yet... The OWC USB-C Dock is NOT compatible with the new 15" MacBook Pro. I ordered one as soon as I ordered the Mac (the day they were announced). I couldn't get the ethernet port to work, so I contacted OWC. It then became evident that my USB 3 drive was running at USB 2 speed when connected via the dock. Then the ethernet port suddenly started working. The dock's behaviour is erratic. They emailed me just this morning to confirm that it isn't compatible with my MBP model, so they're going to set up an RMA. I've yet to hear whether they're going to cover the shipping (I'm in Australia so I hope so!). They've been great so far, so I'm optimistic.

I'm not sure about the new 13" MBP models, but if you were thinking of ordering one you might be best to check with them first, or wait for the release of the new OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock in February.

EDIT: I just got an email back from OWC and they said they'd be 'happy to provide me with a label for the confusion', so I think that means they're covering the shipping. Fantastic.

 

[utdrmac]

I really like this dock and hope it is actually made, but Indiegogo worries me.

What worries you about Indiegogo? They've announced user-upgradable internal SSD, passthrough charging and new MBP 15" support. Only wish it could get here sooner!

 

[colinwil]

FWIW. Belkin has a TB3 dock coming out that seems to have both the power and flexibility to be a good docking / charging station.

http://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F4U095/

Edit: 170W ps with 85W available for charging

Yeah - I saw that - looks interesting. No SD card reader or TB 2 ports though.

OWC have announced a new TB3 dock - https://www.owcdigital.com/products/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-3-dock-overview - but they don't say whether it will be able to deliver 85w to a 15" MBP, and no TB2 ports either, but it does have SD card & S/PDIF(!).

It looks like it's going to be a contest between these two for multiport TB3 adapters - at least to start with. I wonder what Caldigit have up their sleeves.

Edit: Caldigit... http://www.caldigit.com/usb-3-1-usb-c-dock/ Only a 90W power supply though - vs the Belkin's 170W

 

[LGShepherd]

What worries you about Indiegogo? They've announced user-upgradable internal SSD, passthrough charging and new MBP 15" support. Only wish it could get here sooner!

I've heard so many stories about projects on Indiegogo taking your money but the never fulfilling the orders or completing the project,. I've also experienced similar on Kickstarter.

I do want this dock though and really hope it happens. I'll be buying one if possible.

 

[macman312]

Nothing says "Pro" like showing up to a job with a handful of adapters and dongles.

To be fair the Satechi ones look really good and it means you only need one adaptor.

I think they could have kept the SD card reader. Everything else had to go though. USB-A is pretty old.

 

[CBlakeston]

To be fair the Satechi ones look really good.

Have the Satechi SD / Mini SD card adapter. Its fine but seems to use USB 2.0 so tops out at 35MBs. For me thats fine.

USB-A was getting old but so was the SD Card slot. the latest cameras use a variety of different cards not just 'SD Card' so you end up using a USB reader anyway.

 

[guy_mac]

Tim Cook. King of the Dongles.

 

[CBlakeston]

Tim Cook. King of the Dongles.

eh? I have less dongles now then when I had before . and the speed of my hard drive increased 50MB/s

 

[Altis]

To be fair the Satechi ones look really good and it means you only need one adaptor.

I think they could have kept the SD card reader. Everything else had to go though. USB-A is pretty old.

But USB-A is still the standard that everyone uses and brand new products come equipped with. Keeping one USB-A port would have been a good idea -- it's not like they ditched it for thinness, even.

 

[SeaFox]

Everything else had to go though.

Why?

No really. A professional uses the tool that is most appropriate for the job, and the port not being the new-marketroid-hotness has nothing to do with it. The USB-A port is still the standard, regardless of how old it is (and we're just talking about the port here. USB-A ports/plugs can be used with USB 3.1 transmission speeds).

Did we need to get rid of the other ports because Apple needed room for the USB-C port? No. There's no reason they couldn't have had both. We weren't hurting for available room on the edges.

Could have fit nicely to the left of the SD card slot.
Apple could have removed the Thunderbolt ports if they really needed to -- a smaller percentage of the customer base if going to be making us of Thunderbolt devices.

 

[MarsViolet]

Tim Cook. King of the Dongles.

Tim Cook. The Dongle King of Chicago.

 

[Botts85]

Did we need to get rid of the other ports because Apple needed room for the USB-C port? No. There's no reason they couldn't have had both. We weren't hurting for available room on the edges.

But then it wouldn't be thinner!

 

[RumorSeeker]

The more Apple messes with the "New MacBook Pro" lineup, the more I love my early 2011 17" beauty with multiple ports conveniently capable for use without a dongle menagerie and the extra case to carry around.

 

[Jay42]

But USB-A is still the standard that everyone uses and brand new products come equipped with. Keeping one USB-A port would have been a good idea -- it's not like they ditched it for thinness, even.

Lol, have you seen the new MBP? The side profile is way thinner than a USB-A port.

 

[RumorSeeker]

By the time USB-C will become ubiquitous, these MacBook Pros will have been added to the pile of Apple devices cast aside to the purgatory known as "obsolete" by the company, despite being very much useful to a huge amount of the owners. The newer replacements will be endowed with another connection capability that almost no one has seen in their daily life requiring a completely new set of $3 dongles Apple will gladly sell you for $40, and the dupe goes on.