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> Imagine for a moment that you had a magical morphing port That's mostly the case with Apple's devices where all ports support all functionality, but there's
by pdpi 8y ago
> Imagine for a moment that you had a magical morphing port
That's mostly the case with Apple's devices where all ports support all functionality, but there's products in the market where some but not all USB-C ports are Thunderbolt- or USBPD-enabled. This becomes a royal pain in the arse, where you have a bunch of ports that all look like they should support the peripheral you're trying to plug in, but don't, for some reason.
- MBCook 8y agoSo put a USB-C hub (because that’s the connector, what else would you buy?) into your Mac. And you plug your display into that. And it has some USB-C and Thunderbolt stuff plugged in. It used to all work, but now with the hub in-line your Thunderbolt drive doesn’t work and your display doesn’t get a signal. The hub must be broken, right? So you buy a new one. Same problem. How is any normal person supposed to figure this stuff out? You’re right. It’s a total mess.
- pdpi 8y ago> So put a USB-C hub (because that’s the connector, what else would you buy?) into your Mac. This will eventually become a problem, definitely. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be much of a problem right now because USB-C hubs are as common as hen's teeth (they're usually C to A, or C to a bazillion things)
- MBCook 8y agoRight. If the hub supports Thunderbolt that fixes TB and USB-C will keep working but you’d still lose passyhrough video unless it was designed for that too. And don’t forget power delivery. Good USB-C hubs that support everything will be quite expensive. They’re basically limited Thunderbolt docks.