I find USB-C to an almost scandalous regression in technology. Few people seem to be talking about it given how much frustration I would think there is over it.
My MBP has 2 USB-C ports. That’s all. Of these ports, the options to expand off of them are slim to nil. I have not encountered a single hub or multi port adapter, including Apple’s that works properly or reliably.
Essentially it is a situation where I cannot use more than two of my USB-C ports at once, which usually means I can only use one, as the other is always reserved for charging.
The hubs are trash. The adapters are trash. Near all of them are from brands I have never heard of.
The whole thing just seems broken. But notebook manufacturers, especially Apple, have now been doubling down on it for years now.
My work laptop is one of the 2 port Pros too. To make matters worse it's the lowest space spec too.
Total nightmare using this for video work, not enough space to store the video files so have to use an external drive, dongles are not reliable enough to keep a drive mounted so have to dedicate one port to that, second port has my screen but when my battery goes low I have to go back to editing just on the laptop screen because I have to plug the power back in.
It's just compromise after compromise and for what? What did I as a user as a customer gain here?
CalDigit TB3 docks work perfectly in my experience across Macs, ThinkPads and the occasional oddball machine. This has been the case for several years now.
Likewise, I regularly present using the Apple adapter with HDMI, USB-A (for a remote) and power input without issue.
My MBP has 2 USB-C ports. That’s all. Of these ports, the options to expand off of them are slim to nil. I have not encountered a single hub or multi port adapter, including Apple’s that works properly or reliably.
Essentially it is a situation where I cannot use more than two of my USB-C ports at once, which usually means I can only use one, as the other is always reserved for charging.
The hubs are trash. The adapters are trash. Near all of them are from brands I have never heard of.
The whole thing just seems broken. But notebook manufacturers, especially Apple, have now been doubling down on it for years now.