I have a new 2025 MBA 13". I need to buy a hub or dock to connect peripherals. I understand with proper adapters the USB/Thunderbolt ports on a MBA and on a hub or dock connected to the MBA can connect with Ethernet and with an external monitor using HDMI or DisplayPort. What is people's experience with this? Can I just buy a hub/dock with all USB-C ports--no Ethernet port and no HDMI/DisplayPort--and use adapters?
MacBook Air 13″
If a hub does not have its own power supply, this can cause issues.
USB 2.0 calls for a host port to provide 2.5W (500 mA @ 5V).
USB 3.0 calls for a host port to provide 4.5W (900 mA @ 5V).
Some drives hog nearly all of that just for themselves. (I believe System Information has reported that some of my portable drives use 896 out of 900 mA when plugged in.)
So with traditional USB-A, it s often necessary to use hubs with their own power supplies.
If a hub does not have its own power supply, this can cause issues.
USB 2.0 calls for a host port to provide 2.5W (500 mA @ 5V).
USB 3.0 calls for a host port to provide 4.5W (900 mA @ 5V).
Some drives hog nearly all of that just for themselves. (I believe System Information has reported that some of my portable drives use 896 out of 900 mA when plugged in.)
So with traditional USB-A, it s often necessary to use hubs with their own power supplies.
macpsychdoc wrote:
The various capabilities of different hubs/docs as to power, data transfer, and connection to a monitor is extremely confusing. Do you--or anyone reading this--have some good overview articles on nuts and bolts of hubs/docks, including how to quickly sort through many many hubs/docks to find what I am looking for?
If you want to charge your notebook from a hub, dock, or directly-attached display, the connection must be a USB-C or Thunderbolt one. The accessory must be wall-powered and support USB-C Power Delivery.
Charge your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro - Apple Support
USB-A, DisplayPort, and HDMI are not designed to carry large amounts of power. So if you had a display with both USB-C and DisplayPort inputs, and made a connection using a USB-C to DisplayPort adapter cable, the connection would not provide charging power to the notebook. It would only carry video.
Thunderbolt daisy-chaining and hub ports typically support USB-C (DisplayPort) output. Other USB-C hub ports don't. You should assume that a plain USB-C port just supports USB peripherals, unless the specifications of the port say otherwise.
Note that Macs can only drive
f a hub or dock lets you connect more monitors than this at once, that's usually a telltale sign that it drives some outputs using workarounds, or in a way that Macs do not support.
"Ethernet and video through USB-C ports on a hub: I have a new 2025 MBA 13". I need to buy a hub or dock to connect peripherals. [...]Can I just buy a hub/dock with all USB-C ports--no Ethernet port and no HDMI/DisplayPort--and use adapters?"
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Use a Third-Party Docking Station:
The J5 USB-C Dual HDMI Docking Station allows for Ethernet, USB-A, and HDMI connections. I use it all the time and it works right when plugged in.
macpsychdoc wrote:
Can I just buy a hub/dock with all USB-C ports--no Ethernet port and no HDMI/DisplayPort--and use adapters?
These Thunderbolt hubs are close to that. They split one Thunderbolt chain into three downstream Thunderbolt chains. You can attach up to two displays to the downstream ports. You will have to put up with USB-A port(s) – but there do not seem to be Ethernet ports or card readers on any of these.
Other World Computing – OWC Thunderbolt Hub
SonnetTech – Echo 5 Thunderbolt Hub
CalDIgit – Thunderbolt 4 | USB4 Element Hub
If you want something a bit less bare-bones, there are these two docks. They also split a Thunderbolt chain into three, and have no HDM port or DisplayPort.
Thank you. I have just gone from a 2015 iMac to a 2025 MBA so I missed many years of gradual changes in connectivity. Also not having to worry about hubs/docks.
The various capabilities of different hubs/docs as to power, data transfer, and connection to a monitor is extremely confusing. Do you--or anyone reading this--have some good overview articles on nuts and bolts of hubs/docks, including how to quickly sort through many many hubs/docks to find what I am looking for?
Thank you. I fear I might not have been clear. Or perhaps I am not understanding everything. I have a 2025 MBA and plan to use the included dedicated charging port to keep the laptop charged, so ordinarily I won't need to worry about charging power for the laptop.
What I meant by power was to power for example an external hard drive for backup and for holding music files (since they are too large to fit on the laptop). In reading descriptions of hubs I got the impression that some USB-C ports and cables would carry data but not power. I don't want to plug in my external drive to a hub and not have it work because it is not getting power from the laptop through the hub. Or do virtually all hubs provide the small amount of power needed for the aveage external drive?
Thank you. Looks good and glad to know it works. I lean towards getting something like this with USB-C. I will see if J5 makes such a thing.
PS Thanks for reminding me of OWC. I have some of their stuff from years ago and still working fine.
Thank you.
Ethernet and video through USB-C ports on a hub
