Super Sticky Thread for USB-C Docks, Cables and Accessories [MERGED]

[Mike Boreham]

I understand that a USB-C lead supplied for charging purposes (e.g. Apple and Anker battery leads) do not need to be rated for USB 3 data speeds, but it does cause confusion when similar leads are rated for USB 3.

I have a 12" MacBook, an Apple charger, several Samsung T3 SSD drives, and an Anker Battery. I have also bought a few USB-C to USB-C and USB-C to USB-A leads to get short leads. So I have quite a pile, which I use for charging and data connection purposes.

I have just discovered that some of these only connect the Samsung T3s at USB2 speed. (The Apple, Anker and Monoprice).

I have now tested them all and put all the leads rated at USB2 at the back of a dark cupboard except the long white Apple one which is not easily confused with the others.

USB-C is the modern standard so why not make all USB-C leads to USB 3 spec ?

I assume there is no harm in using a USB 3 rated cable for charging purposes ?

EDIT Since posting the above I have realised that the USB-C to USB-A cables still have the blue to differentiate USB 2 and USB 3, but the USB-C to USB-C leads have nothing to show if they are USB 2 or USB 3.

 

[jimthing]

The issue is likely price, and tech, related.

In an ideal world one would want:
- Tbolt 3 at full 40Gbps.
- USB-C 3.1 gen-2 at full 10Gbps.
- charging at full ~100W.

To get all three of the above, you seem to have to buy short (as in 0.5m) cable. As soon as you go to 1m or 2m, you seem to either have a Tbolt 3 cable at only 20Gbps, with USB 2.0 speeds, and only 60W charge. Or you get a USB-C cable that does full charge ~100W, that doesn't do Tbolt at all, and again only does USB 2.0 speeds.

The only interesting cable seems to be the 2m one due to come with the LG 5K display, as it does seem to offer all three. Or at least 40Gbps Tbolt 3, full 100W, and 3x 5Gbps USB-C ports (though that could be the display itself sending the USB signal over Tbolt 3 to garner 3x 5Gbps speeds).

One wonders if it's even possible to offer all three at 1m/2m/3m lengths?? I can't find decent info regarding general tech specs possible for cables anywhere online.

 

[cerberusss]

Can I safely assume the usb-c cable that comes with it is good to go as well?

Yes, I think that's a safe assumption. They say it's the same as the Nexus 6P charger, and these guys (Nathan K./Benson Leung) are absolutely rabid when it comes to the USB-C standard.
[doublepost=1481142451][/doublepost]

USB-C is the modern standard so why not make all USB-C leads to USB 3 spec ?

I think it's because of price, but also because the cables that carry USB 3.x are noticeably thicker and/or stiffer. They're not as easy to wrap and carry. I've got a Targus cable, specifically the ACC927USX https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LZDSAZX and it's rated for USB 3.x speeds, plus charges at 100W. It's a great cable but it's pretty thick.

but the USB-C to USB-C leads have nothing to show if they are USB 2 or USB 3.

Indeed that's strange... I think it's because you have two dimensions: the data speed, but also the wattage. But still they could come up with some visual reminder. As an aside, the best cables sometimes have an "USB-IF Certified" logo on them, or they say that they're eMarked cables. So you can recognize at least something on the packaging.
[doublepost=1481142568][/doublepost]

I wish there was the same hub as Aukey's with a "USB-C out" plug instead of the short cable sticking out of it.

Yeah, I think that's called a captive cable and it's not my preference. These hubs seem to be for travel purposes, while I stick hubs under my desk.

 

[Puerto King]

I understand that charging my MBP 15" through the apple AV digital adapter will take longer (since it is only 60W passthrough) - will this cause any performance issues, e.g. CPU throttling?

I'd like to do this for the simplicity of just using one cable.

 

[gwang73]

I understand that charging my MBP 15" through the apple AV digital adapter will take longer (since it is only 60W passthrough) - will this cause any performance issues, e.g. CPU throttling?

I'd like to do this for the simplicity of just using one cable.

No, it won't throttle earlier but it will drain the battery slowly. The MBP will pull power from both the 60w charger and battery if it needs to.
This happens to me when I'm running some video processing that uses all 4 cores and hyper threading.

 

[objektør]

Yeah, I think that's called a captive cable and it's not my preference. These hubs seem to be for travel purposes, while I stick hubs under my desk.

That's where the extension cable comes in. I use the Aukey hub with such a cable and it works fine for my purposes.
I got the hub out of the way and I it works with or without powersuply.

 

[HeatherA]

Yeah, the provided charger needs to be big enough that it can support the maximum load the laptop will ever see. That's full brightness with the CPU and GPU pegged, with the maximum number of peripherals connected. In practice it will usually only need a fraction of that power, even when in use.

My rMB comes with a 29W charger, but it will charge off a 10W charger while in use, and a 12W usb-c charger I have in one of the outlets in my kitchen actually charges it pretty fast.

Interesting... I have a 29w USB C brick, so conceivably I could use that as a 2nd charger for my 15" tMPB if I'm not using any peripherals? I'd be happy even if it doesn't charge at full speed but keep the charge state of the machine while using. I really do not want to buy another 87 watt setup.

If I ever get my tMBP I will have to try this out.

 

[kwandrews]

QUICK REVIEW: OWC USB-C DOCK

I just picked this one up for my 2016 MBP 13"TB. So far, it's working perfectly! Every port is fully functional. It charges the MBP at 60w as designed (confirmed in in system report/power). HDMI works great with the 2560x1440 monitor I'm currently using. If I pick up a USB-C 4k, I'll just plug directly into the MBP to get 60 vs. the 30 on the dock.

Read / write speeds on the USB 3 drives I have connected are all solid, just as they were direct connected with dongles to the MBP. I have an SSD drive rated for 450mbps via USB-C. That's what I get when direct to the MBP. Via the dock, I get about 415-420. I can live with that. The SD card reader works well.

So far, I'm very pleased. I feel confident it saying it's a good match for the 13" MBP (and of course the 12" MB) IF you do not need TB3 speeds with disks. I don't have anything that reads/writes at that speed. I'll gladly trade the $150 savings vs. the new TB3/USB-C OWC dock coming in February (ETA) and I have it in my hands today.

 

[Mike Boreham]

QUICK REVIEW: OWC USB-C DOCK

I just picked this one up for my 2016 MBP 13"TB. So far, it's working perfectly! Every port is fully functional. It charges the MBP at 60w as designed (confirmed in in system report/power). HDMI works great with the 2560x1440 monitor I'm currently using. If I pick up a USB-C 4k, I'll just plug directly into the MBP to get 60 vs. the 30 on the dock.

Read / write speeds on the USB 3 drives I have connected are all solid, just as they were direct connected with dongles to the MBP. I have an SSD drive rated for 450mbps via USB-C. That's what I get when direct to the MBP. Via the dock, I get about 415-420. I can live with that. The SD card reader works well.

So far, I'm very pleased. I feel confident it saying it's a good match for the 13" MBP (and of course the 12" MB) IF you do not need TB3 speeds with disks. I don't have anything that reads/writes at that speed. I'll gladly trade the $150 savings vs. the new TB3/USB-C OWC dock coming in February (ETA) and I have it in my hands today.

Thanks! Is this the one you have got:
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/usb-c/owc/usb-c-dock

Have you tried moving data between two connected SSD or HDDs?...this is where the smaller cheaper ones fall down in my experience.

 

[cerberusss]

Is this the one you have got:
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/usb-c/owc/usb-c-dock

Just a warning for others: at the bottom of that page, it says: *15-inch MacBook Pro 2016 is NOT compatible.

 

[kwandrews]

Thanks! Is this the one you have got:
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/usb-c/owc/usb-c-dock

Have you tried moving data between two connected SSD or HDDs?...this is where the smaller cheaper ones fall done in my experience.

Yes, that's the one. Yes, I'm doing a mass migration right now via Carbon Copy Cloner. I have a 4TB software RAID connected to 2 ports in the back. A source drive on the 3rd in the back and another source drive in the front. I also have the SSD (external) connected to the MBP directly. Right now, the USB3 drive connected to the back is writing to the software raid on the back (2 ports). This is the second job in the string. The fist completed without issue. They should all be done in the new 4-5 hours. I have them scheduled hourly to help eliminate overlaps too much.

So far, so good. OWC makes good stuff and I trust them. I've used their RAM and SSD's for years.
[doublepost=1481615455][/doublepost]

Just a warning for others: at the bottom of that page, it says: *15-inch MacBook Pro 2016 is NOT compatible.

Correct. It SHOULD be able to use the drives and HDMI like the 13" but it will NOT charge as it's only 60w. I don't have 15" to confirm the drives. BTW, my dock is connected to the slower ports on the right side of my 13" MBP TB as it's that's how my desk is setup....for now. I'll try the other faster ones tomorrow but don't anticipate any issues.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Yes, that's the one. Yes, I'm doing a mass migration right now via Carbon Copy Cloner. I have a 4TB software RAID connected to 2 ports in the back. A source drive on the 3rd in the back and another source drive in the front. I also have the SSD (external) connected to the MBP directly. Right now, the USB3 drive connected to the back is writing to the software raid on the back (2 ports). This is the second job in the string. The fist completed without issue. They should all be done in the new 4-5 hours. I have them scheduled hourly to help eliminate overlaps too much.

So far, so good. OWC makes good stuff and I trust them. I've used their RAM and SSD's for years.
[doublepost=1481615455][/doublepost]
Correct. It SHOULD be able to use the drives and HDMI like the 13" but it will NOT charge as it's only 60w. I don't have 15" to confirm the drives. BTW, my dock is connected to the slower ports on the right side of my 13" MBP TB as it's that's how my desk is setup....for now. I'll try the other faster ones tomorrow but don't anticipate any issues.

Thanks for info about drive-to-drive performance. I am tempted!

The power rating is described as 80W in the link, so not obvious to me why it is not compatible with the 15".

 

[richpjr]

Thanks for info about drive-to-drive performance. I am tempted!

The power rating is described as 80W in the link, so not obvious to me why it is not compatible with the 15".

Maybe all of the power isn't passed through?
[doublepost=1481639922][/doublepost]

Yes, that's the one. Yes, I'm doing a mass migration right now via Carbon Copy Cloner. I have a 4TB software RAID connected to 2 ports in the back. A source drive on the 3rd in the back and another source drive in the front. I also have the SSD (external) connected to the MBP directly. Right now, the USB3 drive connected to the back is writing to the software raid on the back (2 ports). This is the second job in the string. The fist completed without issue. They should all be done in the new 4-5 hours. I have them scheduled hourly to help eliminate overlaps too much.

So far, so good. OWC makes good stuff and I trust them. I've used their RAM and SSD's for years.
[doublepost=1481615455][/doublepost]
Correct. It SHOULD be able to use the drives and HDMI like the 13" but it will NOT charge as it's only 60w. I don't have 15" to confirm the drives. BTW, my dock is connected to the slower ports on the right side of my 13" MBP TB as it's that's how my desk is setup....for now. I'll try the other faster ones tomorrow but don't anticipate any issues.

I really can't wait until something is out that properly powers the 15. I guess the TB3 dock in February.

 

[kwandrews]

Yes, that's the one. Yes, I'm doing a mass migration right now via Carbon Copy Cloner. I have a 4TB software RAID connected to 2 ports in the back. A source drive on the 3rd in the back and another source drive in the front. I also have the SSD (external) connected to the MBP directly. Right now, the USB3 drive connected to the back is writing to the software raid on the back (2 ports). This is the second job in the string. The fist completed without issue. They should all be done in the new 4-5 hours. I have them scheduled hourly to help eliminate overlaps too much.

So far, so good. OWC makes good stuff and I trust them. I've used their RAM and SSD's for years.
[doublepost=1481615455][/doublepost]
Correct. It SHOULD be able to use the drives and HDMI like the 13" but it will NOT charge as it's only 60w. I don't have 15" to confirm the drives. BTW, my dock is connected to the slower ports on the right side of my 13" MBP TB as it's that's how my desk is setup....for now. I'll try the other faster ones tomorrow but don't anticipate any issues.

Drive performance update: ALL data migrated perfectly, no issues at all. I was swapping data between 5 drives connected.
[doublepost=1481649165][/doublepost]

Thanks for info about drive-to-drive performance. I am tempted!

The power rating is described as 80W in the link, so not obvious to me why it is not compatible with the 15".

Because it MUST use 20W to power the rest of the unit (SD, USB 3, USB C data and general power). It only has 60W reserved to power a MacBook. Also, if all of your devices are bus powered, it will take some of that remaining 60W as well. I had 2 bus powered connected and 2 with their own power connected and it charged my 13" at 60w. If all were bus powered, it would likely drop a bit. Look closer at the link, it states...

"Of course, the OWC USB-C dock provides ample power alongside connectivity, delivering 80W of power to your connected devices, including up to 60W to charge your computer. You'll never have to worry about juggling between connectivity and a dead battery again."

 

[Mike Boreham]

Drive performance update: ALL data migrated perfectly, no issues at all. I was swapping data between 5 drives connected.
[doublepost=1481649165][/doublepost]

Because it MUST use 20W to power the rest of the unit (SD, USB 3, USB C data and general power). It only has 60W reserved to power a MacBook. Also, if all of your devices are bus powered, it will take some of that remaining 60W as well. I had 2 bus powered connected and 2 with their own power connected and it charged my 13" at 60w. If all were bus powered, it would likely drop a bit. Look closer at the link, it states...

"Of course, the OWC USB-C dock provides ample power alongside connectivity, delivering 80W of power to your connected devices, including up to 60W to charge your computer. You'll never have to worry about juggling between connectivity and a dead battery again."

Thanks for good info.

 

[mwcarl]

Correct. It SHOULD be able to use the drives and HDMI like the 13" but it will NOT charge as it's only 60w. I don't have 15" to confirm the drives. BTW, my dock is connected to the slower ports on the right side of my 13" MBP TB as it's that's how my desk is setup....for now. I'll try the other faster ones tomorrow but don't anticipate any issues.

The power rating is described as 80W in the link, so not obvious to me why it is not compatible with the 15".

I don't know exactly why but is not compatible with the 15", only the charging functionality works. There is no data connectivity. I was unable to get any of the ports to work, although the laptop would charge. At full power usage, I guess you'd probably not be able to charge and it would drain some power.

 

[mbf82]

Hello everybody,

I recently got a new 13" Macbook Pro with Touch Bar for personal use. I'm considering using it at the office as well (replacing an older non-macOS laptop), but I will need a dock/lots of adapters. I skimmed through the 33 pages in this thread and I'm still very undecided.

I need:

• Power (with a new Apple charger / dock charger because I would leave the original at home)
• Connection to two 1920x1200 Samsung external monitors (DisplayPort, DVI or VGA; no daisy chain support)
• Ethernet
• At least a USB 3 port
• At least a spare USB-C port on the laptop itself
• As few things to connect to my laptop when I arrive in the office as possible
• A headphone jack would be great
  
• I live in the UK, so stuff I can find here

The Caldigit USB-C dock would be ideal, but, while the online reviews are good, the reviews here aren't.
I also don't understand from the spec if it's supposed to be able to deal with both my monitors at the same time.
The dock web page says (towards the end) this: “9 Requires active converter, $114.99” but I don't understand what it's referring too!

The OWC USB-C dock seems good (I would need an extra adapter for the other monitor though), but the on Amazon (both UK and US) are horrible. People here seem to like it which is confusing.

The HooToo is quite nice and has good reviews, but it doesn't have ethernet, audio and second monitor. Moreover, I would need to buy an extra charger as well, ending up making this quite expensive.

I'm ignoring kickstarter/indiegogo project and the Belkin hub as I don't want to wait ages for something untested.

What would you do if you were me?

An unrelated question, but useful in this context. Does the 13" support two external monitors plus the internal one?

 

[kwandrews]

Hello everybody,

I recently got a new 13" Macbook Pro with Touch Bar for personal use. I'm considering using it at the office as well (replacing an older non-macOS laptop), but I will need a dock/lots of adapters. I skimmed through the 33 pages in this thread and I'm still very undecided.

I need:

• Power (with a new Apple charger / dock charger because I would leave the original at home)
• Connection to two 1920x1200 Samsung external monitors (DisplayPort, DVI or VGA; no daisy chain support)
• Ethernet
• At least a USB 3 port
• At least a spare USB-C port on the laptop itself
• As few things to connect to my laptop when I arrive in the office as possible
• A headphone jack would be great
  
• I live in the UK, so stuff I can find here

The Caldigit USB-C dock would be ideal, but, while the online reviews are good, the reviews here aren't.
I also don't understand from the spec if it's supposed to be able to deal with both my monitors at the same time.
The dock web page says (towards the end) this: “9 Requires active converter, $114.99” but I don't understand what it's referring too!

The OWC USB-C dock seems good (I would need an extra adapter for the other monitor though), but the on Amazon (both UK and US) are horrible. People here seem to like it which is confusing.

The HooToo is quite nice and has good reviews, but it doesn't have ethernet, audio and second monitor. Moreover, I would need to buy an extra charger as well, ending up making this quite expensive.

I'm ignoring kickstarter/indiegogo project and the Belkin hub as I don't want to wait ages for something untested.

What would you do if you were me?

An unrelated question, but useful in this context. Does the 13" support two external monitors plus the internal one?

OWC dock + extra monitor adapter (HDMI, etc.) in the right side port.

 

[carestudio]

Hello everybody,

I recently got a new 13" Macbook Pro with Touch Bar for personal use. I'm considering using it at the office as well (replacing an older non-macOS laptop), but I will need a dock/lots of adapters. I skimmed through the 33 pages in this thread and I'm still very undecided.

I need:

• Power (with a new Apple charger / dock charger because I would leave the original at home)
• Connection to two 1920x1200 Samsung external monitors (DisplayPort, DVI or VGA; no daisy chain support)
• Ethernet
• At least a USB 3 port
• At least a spare USB-C port on the laptop itself
• As few things to connect to my laptop when I arrive in the office as possible
• A headphone jack would be great
  
• I live in the UK, so stuff I can find here

The Caldigit USB-C dock would be ideal, but, while the online reviews are good, the reviews here aren't.
I also don't understand from the spec if it's supposed to be able to deal with both my monitors at the same time.
The dock web page says (towards the end) this: “9 Requires active converter, $114.99” but I don't understand what it's referring too!

The OWC USB-C dock seems good (I would need an extra adapter for the other monitor though), but the on Amazon (both UK and US) are horrible. People here seem to like it which is confusing.

The HooToo is quite nice and has good reviews, but it doesn't have ethernet, audio and second monitor. Moreover, I would need to buy an extra charger as well, ending up making this quite expensive.

I'm ignoring kickstarter/indiegogo project and the Belkin hub as I don't want to wait ages for something untested.

What would you do if you were me?

An unrelated question, but useful in this context. Does the 13" support two external monitors plus the internal one?

Definitely ignore kickstarter, I did invest once, and the guy were running away. It was a Type-C dock. They kept saying hardware problem, shipping problem, all kind of problems, then they stopped replying my email.

According to my experience and what I have read, the Caldigit USB-C dock is the best choice for your 13" Macbook Pro. It does everything you need from your wish list but not the two-extended-monitors support. They are using MST hub in their USB-C dock. Apple does not support MST hub. If you load windows to the Macbook Pro, you then can use dual extended monitors through their dock. This, from my limited knowledge, is restricted by USB-C bandwidth. If you want dual monitor support in macOS, you must wait for Thunderbolt 3 dock then.

Either USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 dock, you should also update to the newer 10.12.2 macOS before plugging device to your Mac. Apple announced it earlier today and corrected many bugs.

 

[mbf82]

OWC dock + extra monitor adapter (HDMI, etc.) in the right side port.

Do you own a OWC dock?
Why on the right side?

Definitely ignore kickstarter, I did invest once, and the guy were running away. It was a Type-C dock. They kept saying hardware problem, shipping problem, all kind of problems, then they stopped replying my email.

I did use kickstarter/indiegogo before and everything went well, but I would not use it for this kind of HW unless the manufacturer already had a similar successful campaign before.

According to my experience and what I have read, the Caldigit USB-C dock is the best choice for your 13" Macbook Pro.

But many people here (like CptRick and skyborsy) report it doesn't work. I find it difficult to ignore all these bad reviews!

 

[carestudio]

But many people here (like CptRick and skyborsy) report it doesn't work. I find it difficult to ignore all these bad reviews!

Oops, unless I read it incorrectly, I think several people here reported it's been working great. At least for my case, the caldigit one fits into my budget and it works fine with the external monitor. I was reading CptRick's question again, I believe it's either the bad unit or CptRick had a bad cable or used none caldigit cable? I was using Apple's charger cable which is a type-c cable, but that is only USB 2 speed and does not carry video at all. Apple has that information on their page so I was told to use only caldigit type-c cable, since then, everything was working OK. The most recent problem I found was the random lockups when plugged in an external monitor, that seems to be fixed in 10.12.2 according to Apple's new release. You can also read some updates from other people below

http://crazydiamondstar.blogspot.com/2016/08/usb-c-dock-best-baymax-for-macbook.html

However, if you want two monitors setup, you must wait for Thunderbolt 3 dock. Belkin or OWC one can do it.

 

[mbf82]

However, if you want two monitors setup, you must wait for Thunderbolt 3 dock. Belkin or OWC one can do it.

Do you mean cannot? The caldigit one claims it can?

Waht I cannot understand is whether, after connecting two external monitors, I can still use the internal one.

 

[carestudio]

Do you mean cannot? The caldigit one claims it can?

Waht I cannot understand is whether, after connecting two external monitors, I can still use the internal one.

You can connect two external monitors and with your internal one, no problem. However, those two external monitors will only show in mirror mode, meaning that both external monitors will show the same identical images. That is so called mirror display. This probably does not do anything good for you if you are looking for dual extended displays. Read this over

http://caldigit.com/usb-3-1-usb-c-dock/index.asp#Display

For Mac customers looking to use dual monitors with an extended desktop this is not currently possible, as MST (Multi Stream Transport) is not supported within the Mac OS.

and

http://caldigit.com/usb-3-1-usb-c-dock/faq.asp#Video

1. Can I connect both HDMI monitor and DisplayPort monitor at the same time? what should I expect?

Yes, you can connect two monitors at the same time. The video capability may vary based on the GPU, software driver, maximum display resolution and video interface cables.

The current MacBooks (USB-C version) and MacBook Pros (Thunderbolt 3 version) do not support multiple monitors in extended mode through MST hub. When you connect the USB-C Dock to two 4K monitors, you will have two mirrored 4K monitors extended from MacBook. In other words, the MacBook cannot support dual monitors in extended mode. It will only support one extended monitor and if two monitors are connected to the dock, both of the external monitors will mirror each other.

For example:

MacBook 2015 — CalDigit USB-C Dock — Extend —> First 4K monitor (DisplayPort) — Mirror —> Second 4K monitor (HDMI)

I think it comes down to MST hub support, Mac OS does not support MST hub at all that is why you will only see dual mirrored monitors.

The same caldigit usb-c dock can output dual extended monitor if you load bootcamp and windows to your MacBook Pro.

 

[kwandrews]

Do you own a OWC dock?
Why on the right side?

Yes, I own the OWC dock and it's working brilliantly for me with the 13" TB. Since it's not a TB3 dock, you own't notice a slow down in data with the slower ports on the right side. For the dock, plug in whatever side you want. I tested it with my external SSD drive rated for 450mbps and it was the same R/L with and without the dock. However, for the monitor, I would go with HDMI on the right as it was stated it was for dual non-4k monitors.

Therefore, you don't need the extra throughout with the more powerful ports on the left side of the MBP. So, for the monitor, it makes sense (unless it's an ergonomic thing) to plug in a monitor on the right side (slower ports) to keep the faster ones open on the left if needed.

 

[youbzh]

“9 Requires active converter, $114.99” but I don't understand what it's referring too!

Hi,
This means you need to use an active converter to connect a Displayport monitor to the dock's HDMI output. I'm using this with a cheap Aukey multiport adapter, it works quite well (needs to be connected to a USB port).
I've just ordered a Plugable ud-ca1 dock, I'll try to post about it when I get it.