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USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness - Dennis Schubert (overengineer.dev)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I was looking for a new USB-c hub and came across this article. It's an interesting write-up of what is on the inside of some popular options

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I actually owned the first one he mentioned and it died after a few months of 9-5 usage.

I had tons of issues with the cheap ones sold by 3rd party resellers, mostly because they are cheap chinese crap with bottom of the barrel components inside. However, what the author fails to pay attention to is that Macs have Thunderbolt 4 ports. Yes, Thunderbolt is compatible with USB-C, but you are adding a layer of complexity into the mix. Instead I recommend getting a native Thunderbolt dock.

I eventually paid a premium for a native Thunderbolt 4 dock and have had zero issues since.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Yes, Thunderbolt is compatible with USB-C, but you are adding a layer of complexity into the mix.

While that is true for Thunderbolt 3, it is no longer true for Thunderbolt 4, as Intel donated the Thunderbolt specifications to USB-IF specifically to reduce the complexity you mentioned.

Thunderbolt 4, instead of extending the USB-C spec with another protocol, is now just a maxed out USB4 Gen 3 with all the bells and whistles (except EPR I think), and Thunderbolt 4 is mostly just a label Intel charges money to slap on at this point, as any USB4 Gen 3 spec'd device should work the exact same.