Will an external display connected via thunderbolt 2 act as a USB hub?

[Nick5a1]

Hello. I have a 13" early 2015 Macbook Pro, and am going to purchase a 4k external monitor. I'm leaning toward the LG 27UD88. As my Macbook Pro doesn't have USB-C, I'll be connecting via a mini display to display port cable. The monitor has a couple USB 3 ports. If I plug something into one of those such as a microphone or external hard disk, would they be accessible to my Macbook Pro via the displayport cable? Thanks!

 

[paddlebearer]

I have a 13" 2013 MBP that has a thunderbolt port. I purchased an adapter to convert that port to HDMI. I can hook it up to my TV and watch DVDs.

 

[jaytv111]

I don't think that will work, since DP and HDMI are only transporting video and audio signals. Because of that you won't have any USB data going through the DP or HDMI ports. You could get a Thunderbolt monitor for this purpose, either TB2 or TB3 with the Apple TB3 to TB2 adaptor (it works in both ways, converts TB3 to TB2 and TB2 to TB3, so old Macs can use new Thunderbolt 3 monitors, though the 5K displays won't be native 5K resolution since they don't have enough bandwidth and graphics power, but 4K versions work at native resolution).

 

[leman]

It won't work, since you are only connection the video signal. For it to work as a USB hub, you would also need to connect the USB bus. With USB-C monitors, often the only way to do this is via the USB-C connector since they don't typically offer the USB input (if someone has more experience with this, please correct me).