Everything Apple (the Mac heads thread)

Would possibly need some software to work wirelessly unless it has implemented Apple specific screen sharing.

Ta. What’s the thinking with the 13” having only two Thunderbolt / USB4 ports? My 2019 has four and I use all of them all of the time (network / iPhone / two external monitors).

Guess you can buy a very expensive USB4 splitter to get another four ports?

I have a Caldigit TS3 so never had to think about port issues…

The two port model is a MacBook Air in a MacBook Pro case. It can’t drive more than one external monitor.

(Actually the Intel ones could, but the M1 models inherit some limitations from being built around lightly modified iPad chips)

You can with DisplayLink
e.g.
https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookpro/comments/k68sto/m1_macbook_pro_8512_model_three_external_displays/

With something like the Caldigit, or cheaper options or Sabrent
https://www.sabrent.com/product/TH-3DP2/thunderbolt-v3-dual-displayport-adapter/
or HyperDrive, Plugable

You’re depending on the quality of the DisplayLink driver, which has historically been less than great.

I think that Sabrent thing requires native dual display support.

True. But does seem they've been reliable for a while now. We have people at work on Macbook Airs that are using dual screen setups, I think some with the docks and some with displaylink.

I think Howard's asking as he's looking at a MBP I'm selling, so wanna avoid sticking my nose into his research too much :D

Interesting. I run two external screens, one 4k one HD, and the built in on my intel 2019.

USB C / Thunderbolt hub recommendations?

I'm attempting to run my MacBook Pro with a monitor, keyboard, trackpad and webcam. However, with only two USB-C ports on the MacBook, is it just easier to have the monitor/charging in one port and the webcam in the other? Or would there be a benefit of getting a hub to connect everything together?

I did the same thing recently with a Dell dock, works amazingly well. Has its own power brick though.

Dell dock

Which one? Have you got a link?

Caldigit TS3+ is pretty good, supports my 5K2K display as well as another one with 1920x1200 res, plus power delivery, with a single cable.

You could also go with a thunderbolt compatible display with an integrated USB hub, that way with a single cable you can have the display and USB (as well as sound) for the webcam/keyboard and hopefully power too, as most of those also have power delivery.

WD19, I got it used for £100

+1 for the TS3.

Perfect feature set and no compatibility/ durability concerns.

I got this instead of the caldigit, which was out of my price range.

Satechi USB-C On-the-Go Multiport Adapter – 9-in-1 Portable USB Hub – Compatible with 2020/2019 MacBook Pro, 2020/2018 MacBook Air, 2020 iPad Air, 2020/2018 iPad Pro https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08X1YVCZG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_79YWPFRTN1HZ45NWN4TW

Currently have a 1920x1080 hp monitor connected via hdmi, run laptop power into it, and charge my MacBook Pro through it, also have my wacom tablet via usb running though it as well and still have two usb c ports and another USB port free to plug stuff into..

It’s been fine for the 6mths or so I’ve had it.

Which MBP? 2016 onwards is and yes, it should be a one cable solution.

Have you got this sorted yet? Those Ultrafine monitors are odd (but awesome) beasts.
I have had zero issues with mine but when I sold it (on here) the chap who bought it could not get it to work at all, he brought it back and we tried everything and nothing worked, think he had a one year newer MacBook than my main one.
Since then I have used it with a 2016 MBP, 2017 MBP, 2018 Mac mini and a Dual boot hackintosh with TB3 and it was fine with all, but the guy who bought it from me had no luck.
You are talking the Apple sanctioned ones right?

You could also go with a thunderbolt compatible display with an integrated USB hub, that way with a single cable you can have the display and USB (as well as sound) for the webcam/keyboard and hopefully power too, as most of those also have power delivery.

I've already got a screen (LG 27"), although I'm not sure if it does any of this. I was hoping it would be a one cable solution for charging and the monitor display, which is what I normally have at work (this is for my WFH solution), and that's great, but doesn't have the webcam option.

From the specs (or the image in there somewhere) looks like it already supports this. If you connect it with the supplied USB-C cable you should be able to use the usb ports behind the screen as well as up to 60w power delivery (which might or might not be enough depending on your laptop)

So just connect the keyboard/webcam to the back of the screen and it should all work.

The screen issue is sort of fixed. Went from one problem to another. To cut a long story short, I already had a monitor which I was using with an Apple TV through HDMI, this was an LG-27qn880 and then I got another monitor the LG UltraFine 32UN880 to replace that and use the smaller one as a WFH setup. But, neither monitor would work happily with the MacBook Pro's (2016 & 2020) or the iPad Pro's. The 32" monitor would charge everything, but wouldn't display anything.

After a hour on the phone with Apple, and a further hour on the phone with LG trying a combination of all the devices and supplied cables, it transpires that the USBC port on the 27" monitor is faulty and is off for warranty repair, and the cables LG supplied with both monitors don't work with Apple devices. I ended up getting a Thunderbolt 4 cable which works perfectly with the 32" monitor, it charges and displays perfectly, despite displaying a warning message that it's not LG compliant.

And LG are sending a couple of sets of new USBC/Thunderbolt cables to see if this fixes the issue.

So just connect the keyboard/webcam to the back of the screen and it should all work.

The keyboard and trackpad are USBC so, I'm not sure if that would work without an adapter? But, they're the Apple ones, so should only need plugging in every so often to charge. The webcam I haven't bought yet, still deciding what to get, but I'm guessing this means I'll need to a get one with a normal USB cable.

And LG are sending a couple of sets of new USBC/Thunderbolt cables to see if this fixes the issue.

Ouch. The TB/USBC cable supplied with my LG 34WK95U wasn't very good either, it worked only with direct connection to the Macbook and not daisy chained with the CalDigit. (it probably had its reasons... maybe there wasn't sufficient bandwidth left to carry both data + display after the dock)

I happened to have a 4k/144 (DP 1.4) USBC to DisplayPort cable at hand, ready to be returned, but when I tried it worked very well. Had to forego "single cable input" to the display as I also had to run the USB cable to it (but it all connects to the docking station anyway) and put the supplied (and flimsy) LG cable where it belonged, in its box.

This is exactly what I have … LG Ultrafine 5K used with a 2016 MBP or 2020 M1 Air.

One cable from laptop to screen. Then a lightning cable from screen to use to charge/connect Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, plus a USB C to 3.5mm adaptor for my speakers and a USB C to USB A cable for a charging mat.

All works fine. Only issue I have is a bug managed to sneak between the display and the front panel about two years ago and is now stuck in the centre left of the display.

I got this instead of the caldigit, which was out of my price range.

Satechi USB-C On-the-Go Multiport Adapter – 9-in-1 Portable USB Hub – Compatible with 2020/2019 MacBook Pro, 2020/2018 MacBook Air, 2020 iPad Air, 2020/2018 iPad Pro https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08X1YVCZG/r­ef=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_79YWPFRTN1HZ4­5NWN4TW

This is the one we recommend at work to 90% of people. Only a few people need the CalDigit... the Saitechi is great

Ahhh not the Apple Ultrafines then.
Not all TB3 cables are created equally, in fact they are a real pain. The 32 Ultrafine talks of USB C which isnt TB3, and then you've got passive and active TB3 options, but sounds like you've got it sorted now which is good!