What powering scheme do you use in M1 MacBook Air and USB-C Hub?

[Javi74]

Hi everyone.

First of all, excuse my poor English. It's not my mother tongue, so I'll probably make some mistakes.

What order do you power the M1 when connected to an USB-C hub?

I've seen 3 options:

1- Connect the AC adapter to the Macbook, and the Macbook to the USB-C: I think it could be not the best option, as I'm making the laptop "feed" the hub, so I could be forcing the laptop.

2- Connect the AC adapter to the USB-C hub, and the hub to the MBA. This way I only use one port of the MBA, but I've seen that when I'm using many devices connected to the hub and the screen at 100% of light, the battery doesn't keep at 100% (I'm using the original MBA AC adapter).

3- Connect one AC adapter to the hub and another to the computer. Maybe this is the best option, but I'm not sure if it could be bad for the laptop to get power through the 2 ports at the same time. Besides, this way both ports get used.

Thank you very much.

 

[jdb8167]

I use a Caldigit SOHO USB-C dock that has pass through Power Delivery. Originally I was using my M1 MBA’s 30 W power adapter but that wasn’t giving enough power depending on what was connected to the dock. So I updated to an Anker 65W 4 Port PIQ 3 USB-C power delivery adapter. This is working out very well.

 

[dandeco]

In many cases, I have the AC adapter plug connected to one of the two Thunderbolt 4 ports on my MacBook Air, and my Falwedi 10-in-1 USB-C hub connected to the other port. I don't have any dedicated USB-C or Thunderbolt 3/4 devices yet, so I generally use the hub to connect my USB 3.0 external drives and read the SD card from my Canon Vixia R600 camcorder. Gets the job done very nicely!

Depending on the situation, like if there's not enough length between the AC plug and the MacBook Air, or once I do use a USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 device (like an external driving using it), then I plug the AC power cord into the USB-C hub, though it can cause the hub to get pretty warm (yet the MacBook Air remains pretty cool throughout!)

 

[MacDividend]

I use a Novoo 8-1 USB-C Hub. I primarily use it for the USB 3.0 and HDMI ports. It connects via a USB-C cable to your computer, and there is also an additional USB-C PD port. I've had a good experience with it so far since I've had it for over a year now.