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sunfrotto

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 4, 2017
5
0
Bangkok, Thailand
First, sorry for my bad English.

I've read some reviews of USB-C to HDMI dongle on the Apple website.
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MJ1K2AM/A/usb-c-digital-av-multiport-adapter?page=4

There're many users mention about problem with their external monitor, either flicker or gone blank. I'm not sure weather this problem still exist in the lasses model? Can anyone with that dongle and 2017 MacBook Pro hook up an external monitor? Or if you use another brand of adapter and it's working, please advice me, I would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
 

iKnowMr.Jobs

macrumors 6502
Oct 17, 2010
273
96
I use one with the MBP in my sig and have no issues. I think most of the issues people had with it were early on when the firmware was messed and has long since been fixed. The only issue you'll have with the adapter at this point is the price. I got mine when they slashed the price on all USB-C adapters for awhile. I think I got mine for $45-$50 at BestBuy during that period, and even then that still quite high. I only bought it because there was a lot of garbage adapters at that time that could fry your entire computer and I didn't want to chance it. At this point, the landscape of USB-C is slightly improved and the Apple adapter is absurd $70, my advice would be to research cheaper alternatives.
 

sunfrotto

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 4, 2017
5
0
Bangkok, Thailand
I use one with the MBP in my sig and have no issues. I think most of the issues people had with it were early on when the firmware was messed and has long since been fixed. The only issue you'll have with the adapter at this point is the price. I got mine when they slashed the price on all USB-C adapters for awhile. I think I got mine for $45-$50 at BestBuy during that period, and even then that still quite high. I only bought it because there was a lot of garbage adapters at that time that could fry your entire computer and I didn't want to chance it. At this point, the landscape of USB-C is slightly improved and the Apple adapter is absurd $70, my advice would be to research cheaper alternatives.


Thank you very much for your advice, I'm not sure about the firmware because there're a lot of mixed opinion either in Apple website or amazon. I've found Moshi's USB-C to HDMI Adapter interesting and I will try to find it in local shops.

I have one connected to my 2016 MBP right now and it hasn't experienced any of the issues listed in those reviews.

The problems are specific to the 2017 MBP.

Thanks for your opinions. I think this problem is firmware related, therefore I don't know whether it is specific to 2016 MacBook Pro, which I think it's more popular than 2017 one so, most of review might came from 2016's users. Or it is specific to macOS Sierra graphic driver on all MacBook because

1. iMac users never reported this problem.
2. When switching to windows by bootcamp, everything works just fine.
 

ryannel2003

macrumors 68000
Jan 30, 2005
1,815
388
Greenville, NC
My MacBook Pro has a build date of March 2017 and I just purchased the adapter a few weeks ago so maybe they've updated something in the firmware or the OS to fix the previous issues. At one point when I first got the adapter some of the video on my TV looked grainy when it was streaming 4k but it seems to have gone away when I was using it today.
 
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Macshroomer

macrumors 65816
Dec 6, 2009
1,305
733
Any tips on what is both a top quality adapter and not the $70 Apple one? Time is money for me and if the best one is the Apple one, then $70 is a pittance.
 

deadworlds

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2007
1,027
758
Citrus Heights,CA
I own a the Late 2016 MBP with touch bar and have owned the Apple HDMI adapter. I have noticed that I can only get the HDMI output to work when I also have the power cable plugged into the adapter. If i remove the power cable then screen goes black and I can never get it to display anything, even after reconnecting the HDMI cable, only once the power is plugged back in will it output to HDMI. Im assuming that this is not how its supposed to be working. Too bad I'm past my 14day return period. Anyone else experiencing this?

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MJ1K2AM/A/usb-c-digital-av-multiport-adapter?fnode=8b
 

xmonkey

macrumors 6502a
Jun 30, 2016
687
932
CA
I've just see this one http://www.snapnator.com/shop. Seems legit for me, I use only 1080p@60, what do you think?
That's a good price for something claiming to do 4K/60, but the impressions of their Magsafe replacement product in this thread do not bode well so I'd probably steer clear of them (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/snapnator-is-a-scam.2025812/page-4)

If you're only going to need 1080p/60hz then pretty much any cheap and well-rated adapter on Amazon should work. Even the Apple one should have no issue with that resolution, although it is a little pricey.
 

sunfrotto

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 4, 2017
5
0
Bangkok, Thailand
That's a good price for something claiming to do 4K/60, but the impressions of their Magsafe replacement product in this thread do not bode well so I'd probably steer clear of them (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/snapnator-is-a-scam.2025812/page-4)

If you're only going to need 1080p/60hz then pretty much any cheap and well-rated adapter on Amazon should work. Even the Apple one should have no issue with that resolution, although it is a little pricey.

Just've seen that thread, I'll buy another alternative instead.
 
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