USB HUB draining battery?

[BR4DOKYBrazil]

As I said here, I entered the Mac world by purchasing a Macbook Air M3.

As there are only 2 USB-C inputs, I purchased a Baseus USB HUB with HDMI output and some extra USB ports. However, I notice that when I leave it connected to the Mac, I feel that the Mac's battery drains faster than when the HUB is not connected. The difference is quite noticeable. I need the HUB to connect a UBS-A Token for a lawyer's digital signature and, rarely, to connect an external monitor. But I notice that, with just the Token connected, it drains the battery faster.

I just bought a USB-A to USB-C adapter from Baseus to use on the Token instead of always using the HUB to see if that solves the problem.

I searched the internet and saw that there are people with the same problem. Have you ever had something similar?

 

[raythompsontn]

Have you ever had something similar?

Yes. A USB-C SSD connected will drain the battery faster. A Ethernet adapter will drain the battery faster. These external devices require power and that power comes from the computer battery.

 

[Torty]

What if you connect the hub to USB-C power supply?

 

[bradman83]

What you probably want is a dock that can supply power to the laptop instead of just a hub. There are a number of quality USB-C docks that can support a single display and some external peripherals. No need to go the expensive Thunderbolt route.

As others have pointed out an un-powered dock needs to draw power from somewhere for itself and the devices plugged into it, and that somewhere is your laptop. If the laptop itself isn't plugged in then it depletes the battery faster than the laptop alone would.

 

[BR4DOKYBrazil]

Yes. A USB-C SSD connected will drain the battery faster. A Ethernet adapter will drain the battery faster. These external devices require power and that power comes from the computer battery.

What if you connect the hub to USB-C power supply? View attachment 2377969

What you probably want is a dock that can supply power to the laptop instead of just a hub. There are a number of quality USB-C docks that can support a single display and some external peripherals. No need to go the expensive Thunderbolt route.

As others have pointed out an un-powered dock needs to draw power from somewhere for itself and the devices plugged into it, and that somewhere is your laptop. If the laptop itself isn't plugged in then it depletes the battery faster than the laptop alone would.

As my Lawyer Token has a USB-A output and, in rare moments I would use an external monitor, a monitor that I just sold, as the 15" Macbook became satisfactory for my work, I bought a HUB to connect these accessories, but I never imagined that it would drain energy, even though I was aware that it would have to be powered by some energy.

The HUB I bought supports connecting it to an external source, but it would be another cable between the accessories.

I bought this adapter for my USB Token:

Adaptador USB USB-C

Perfeito para Dispositivos com Porta USB C: Conecta dispositivos USB A ou Micro USB:Compatível com a maioria dos dispositivos: Plug and Play: Fácil de usar:...

www.baseusbr.com

Can you tell me if this type of adapter needs power and if it will drain my battery like the HUB?

 

[raythompsontn]

That adapter is merely an interface conversion. Any device connected to it will draw power. You need a powered hub. There are several available on Amazon. A powered hub will get it's power from the electrical outlet.

This one is good and will accept any USB-C power cord and power the Mac and the Hub.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087QZVQJX?tag=macworld05-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&asc_refurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.macworld.com%2Farticle%2F668462%2Fbest-usb-c-hubs-and-adapters-for-mac.html

You will need a USB-C power source, one came with your Mac, and USB-C to USB-C cable that is capable of carrying power.

240W USB C Charge Cable 2 m - Apple

Apple Store Search Results

www.apple.com

It is from Apple. It is flexible, about six feet long.

 

[BR4DOKYBrazil]

That adapter is merely an interface conversion. Any device connected to it will draw power. You need a powered hub. There are several available on Amazon. A powered hub will get it's power from the electrical outlet.

This one is good and will accept any USB-C power cord and power the Mac and the Hub.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087QZVQJX?tag=macworld05-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&asc_refurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.macworld.com%2Farticle%2F668462%2Fbest-usb-c-hubs-and-adapters-for-mac.html

You will need a USB-C power source, one came with your Mac, and USB-C to USB-C cable that is capable of carrying power.

240W USB C Charge Cable 2 m - Apple

Apple Store Search Results

www.apple.com

It is from Apple. It is flexible, about six feet long.

The HUB I bought from Baseus also has a power port, but as I only use it for the USB-A Token, it is impossible for me to keep the HUB and power it. I had a 27" monitor to work with, but I've adapted so much to the Macbook screen that I'm not using the monitor, making the HUB completely unnecessary. That's why I bought the adapter.

My HUB:

HUB USB C 4K com HDMI

Expanda suas possibilidades com o Hub USB-C 4K da Baseus. Conecte-se em 4K via HDMI e adicione periféricos com as portas USB adicionais. Compacto e poderoso.

www.baseusbr.com

 

[BR4DOKYBrazil]

My adapter has arrived. I'm going to test it, but I believe this adapter doesn't drain my battery like the HUB.

 

[Saturn007]

Waiting to hear…

Were your suspicions confirmed? That the simple dongle drained little, while the hub drained a lot?

Have you tried measuring the differences?

 

[radiocabea]

Waiting to hear…

Were your suspicions confirmed? That the simple dongle drained little, while the hub drained a lot?

Have you tried measuring the differences?

I'm kinda late, but I just noticed that when using a USB hub with an ethernet port, that my Mac was charging way slower than usual. I've got iStatMenus measuring how much power my computer is using, and atm I'm using about 15-18W (I'm downloading things at 70MB/s to an external SSD). I also connected a simple USB-C to USB-A dongle that came with a drawing tablet (UGEE S640)

My gear:
Macbook Pro 14 inch 2021 with m1 pro (10 core CPU, 14 core GPU) with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage
OS: Sonoma 14.5
no external displays
1- Ugreen 60600 (4 in 1, 3 USB-A 3.0 1 gigabit ethernet port) nothing connected to the USB-A's
2- USB-C to USB-A that came with the UGEE S640 tablet nothing connected to the USB-A (I've included an image of it, just a generic adapter)
3- Crucial X9 2TB connected with the included USB-C to USB-C cable

From the System Report, I think the 4 in 1 hub only uses power for the ethernet port, and the 3 USB-A ports don't use any power.
The same can't be said for the USB-C to USB-A dongle thing, even tho nothing is connected on the USB-A side, it uses 100 mA (0,5 W) idling (maybe it's because it's USB 2.1 and not 3.1?)
Since I'm downloading multiple big files, I'm writing 13MB-50MB/s) to the external SSD, so it's using "a lot" of power.
Usually, I use about 7-8W of power when I'm on the computer. Right now I'm using 12W with spikes reaching 26W (I just charged my phone on the computer right before doing this experiment so the 26W is probably from the phone charging at 15W)
I'm using the 65W magsafe charger.

Hope I helped!