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hpd71

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 29, 2015
2
2
So,

Got the usb-c 2016 MacBook Pro 15" and can't seem to find a usb-c hub... Back the the old USB days you could easily get a external dongle or little hub that allowed you to plug in lots of usb devices and then it would plug into a single USB port on the PC...

Do these not exist for usb-c ?

I know your meant to be able to just connect one device to another device and so on so they are in a chain and then only use 1 usb-c port, but that's just not the case as so many devices don't have a port on them to continue connecting to..

So my 4 USBC ports are all full, and I need more...

1 - 4k Monitor, that is Display Port so I have a usb-c to display port .. thats one of the usb C ports gone and the 4k has no usb-c ports.

2 - Drobo 3D5.. It thunderbolt3 and it won't allow my USB-c to Display port to connect as the 2nd usb-c port is T3 only and won't work with usb C device

3 - A USBc to USB hub to plug in old USB devices, a third monitor via HDMI and an ethernet port . No USBc port to connect

4 - Got to plug in the power somewhere. I would have thought I could have plugged this into the Drobo but when I do, it seems to not provide enough power as the laptop slowly loosed battery charge until I run out.

So I also want/need to plug in an iPad / iPhone now and then, as well as some other usb-c devices and I can not do it as there are no more ports...

So the perfect solution is to get a single usb/t3 hub type device with lots of port and I can just plug all these devices into it and then have it connect to a single usb port on the laptop....

But it seems to be a device that just doesn't exist.....
 
OK... Where have you looked? Amazon must have 15 or 20 different types of hubs and docks that connect to USB-C or Thunderbolt 3.
Keep in mind that the ports on your MBPro are Thunderbolt 3, shared with DisplayPort and USB-C. So, there are potentially a lot of different kinds of signals that can be provided through the single (or dual in some cases) connector, and many of the hubs/docks show those capabilities.
example:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q9JXWTP
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078J7FSWM
 
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As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
OWC or macsales had reliable and sturdy c-port products that are backed by guarantees and are designed for these computers.
they might be a bit more pricey, but worth the price.
i will miss them dearly!
 
OWC or macsales had reliable and sturdy c-port products that are backed by guarantees and are designed for these computers.
they might be a bit more pricey, but worth the price.
i will miss them dearly!
Sounds like you are talking about OWC in the past... Is there some recent announcement about that company that I have missed? Or is this personal?
 
There are many Thunderbolt 3 docks out there.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/docks/owc-thunderbolt-3-dock
https://www.elgato.com/en/dock/thunderbolt-3-pro
https://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F4U095/
https://www.caldigit.com/ts3-plus

Any of those will have full power for a Macbook Pro 15. They have a Displayport, either mini or full size, but either way you can plug in a monitor with that port. These also have an upstream Thunderbolt port which you can plug in another monitor. Finally, you should plug the Drobo in directly on the Mac, on the opposite side of a Thunderbolt 3 dock, so that you can take advantage of the bandwidth of both Thunderbolt host chips in the 15" Macbook Pro instead of sharing the bandwidth of one if you plug in both Thunderbolt devices on the same side.
 
But it seems to be a device that just doesn't exist.....

In short, you're correct. A basic USB-C port replicator doesn't exist. Someone explained to me the technical reason why that is, but I've since forgotten the rationale.

I have 7 free USB-C ports by virtue of my LG 5K Ultrafine monitor.

Well, my monitor serves as a port expansion and a hub so hub devices do exist, but there is not yet a simple 10 port USB-C hub or something of that nature.

If you find anything, please post it because I'd be interested myself. The only reason why I have enough ports is because I'm hooking some of my peripherals to USB-B ports that are expanded from one of my USB-C ports. At some point, I'll start phasing out all USB-B devices and I'm going to need more USB-C ports.

I also don't really want to plug all sorts of stuff into my MBP. I like having just one plug to remove when I want to grab it and go so I'm hooking all sorts of adapters into my 5K monitor's ports to get all of my peripherals attached.
 
You can probably solve the “immediate” issue by plugging the “legacy devices” USB hub into the daisy-chain port of the drobo.

Longer term, grab a TB3 or USB-c (the former will give better performance for things that are speed sensitive) “dock” or breakout box, that will likely give you Ethernet, DisplayPort and regular USB type a/c ports. The good ones will provide power too but not all will provide enough to run+charge a 15mbp.
 
Sounds like you are talking about OWC in the past... Is there some recent announcement about that company that I have missed? Or is this personal?
i personally cannot use them anymore, unless they sell items for Dell
 
Sounds like you are talking about OWC in the past... Is there some recent announcement about that company that I have missed? Or is this personal?

I can only speak for myself with my experiences, but I have one of their TB3 docks that has already been replaced once under warranty and the replacement is now going out. It took a lot of effort to get them to replace it so both their customer service and their products will have me looking at other vendors for the replacement.
 
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