Usb Hubs For Macbook Air M2

[Dan7385]

Is any one using a USB hub with their mac?
I purchased 2 x 4 port usb C to A hubs from Ugreen and they show a huge reduction in activity monitor when connected.

Example: No usb hub connected, activity monitor shows 20 hours left on 100% charge.

Connect usb hub and activity monitor shows 7 hours remaining with 100 % charge showing.

I have the same issue when using the apple single connector and connect my time machine/ desktop fan or printer.

I have spoken with apple support and they do not have an answer.

I notice that apple store sell satachi hubs. But before I splash out more money, am looking for anyone who is actually using a hub that works with their M2 macbook air.

Thank you.

 

[MacInWin]

Welcome to the forum. From your description, the USB Hub is clearly being powered by the MBA, which is why the battery life prediction drops so much. The MBA itself is very energy efficient, I'm betting the hub isn't.

What is the situation in which you need this hub? If it's on battery, then you may have to live with it, or look for a hub that isn't power hungry. If you are on mains power most of the time, you could get a powered hub with its own power supply. Can't tell from your original post which would be needed.

 

[Dan7385]

Welcome to the forum. From your description, the USB Hub is clearly being powered by the MBA, which is why the battery life prediction drops so much. The MBA itself is very energy efficient, I'm betting the hub isn't.

What is the situation in which you need this hub? If it's on battery, then you may have to live with it, or look for a hub that isn't power hungry. If you are on mains power most of the time, you could get a powered hub with its own power supply. Can't tell from your original post which would be needed.

@MacInWin
Thank you for your prompt and helpful reply.

I was referring to using the hub whilst on battery power on my MBA.

It is powered by the MBA. I was trying to understand why the battery time left reduced immediately from 20 hours to around 7 hours, as soon as I plugged the usb/printer or fan.

Surely, it would not reduce immediately. And when the printer is powered off, and connected through the hub, it still shows a dramatic reduction.

Even if I connect the powered off printer to the single apple usb connector, the battery level still drops.

I was thinking that these hubs are just not compatible with MBA m2. Or is it a fault with the MBA c type software that does not like some peripherals attached?

Regards

 

[MacInWin]

The predictive logic used to estimate battery time remaining measures the amount of current the battery is providing, then how much is remaining to get to the estimate of time. So, if the hub draws a lot of current, the computer calculates immediately that the increased demand, if continued, will cut the useful time on the battery from 20 to 7 hours. If you unplug the hub, the demand drops and the estimate will pop back up to what it was before, or to what it now computes to be the estimate.

The drop even with the printer off can be several things--the printer is still drawing power even when powered off for some reason, or the hub itself is demanding power just to connect to the MBA.

I don't think it is a compatibility issue as much as it is a design that demands a lot of power from the source. Again, the MBA is VERY efficient and the hub probably is not.

You can do a test, if you want. Unplug the hub. Look at the time remaining on the battery. Now plug the hub in and not the new estimate. Now unplug it again and see if the estimate goes back up. That difference is the demand from the hub. Now repeat that with the hub and the printer plugged in. The second difference is the printer demand from the hub that the hub is passing along to the MBA.

 

[Dan7385]

The predictive logic used to estimate battery time remaining measures the amount of current the battery is providing, then how much is remaining to get to the estimate of time. So, if the hub draws a lot of current, the computer calculates immediately that the increased demand, if continued, will cut the useful time on the battery from 20 to 7 hours. If you unplug the hub, the demand drops and the estimate will pop back up to what it was before, or to what it now computes to be the estimate.

The drop even with the printer off can be several things--the printer is still drawing power even when powered off for some reason, or the hub itself is demanding power just to connect to the MBA.

I don't think it is a compatibility issue as much as it is a design that demands a lot of power from the source. Again, the MBA is VERY efficient and the hub probably is not.

You can do a test, if you want. Unplug the hub. Look at the time remaining on the battery. Now plug the hub in and not the new estimate. Now unplug it again and see if the estimate goes back up. That difference is the demand from the hub. Now repeat that with the hub and the printer plugged in. The second difference is the printer demand from the hub that the hub is passing along to the MBA.

Many thanks.

I have completed all the tests you mention in the last paragraph. And yes when disconnecting the hub, reboot the MBA, the power left returns to normal.

However, when I connect the printer to the apple single connector, even with the printer power plug removed, it still reduces battery time left.

Regards

 

[MacInWin]

Yes, that is expected. The printer (and the cable from the MBA to the printer) have electronics in them that are powered by the MBA. So, when they are connected, even without the hub, the demand on the battery is higher. What makes it so visible to you is that the MBA has amazingly low demand, so low that the battery expectation is very, very high. But the printer is a high demand device, so when it is connected, it draws down on that battery probably more than the MBA itself. Previous MBAs, with Intel chipsets inside, drew much more power than the new Apple Silicon, so the relative change in expected battery life wasn't changed so dramatically. Plus, your hub/cables could be fairly inefficient at converting from Thunderbolt to USB protocols, adding more to the battery draw.

Looking at the tech specs on an M2 MBA, it has a 52.6-watt-hour battery. You said it reported a battery prediction of 20 hours, which means that the MBA itself was drawing about 2.63 watts. Then, with the hub connected, the power draw of the MBA *and* hub with printer jumped to about 7.5 watts, or about 4.9 watts more. That's not really that much power, but compared to the tiny amount the MBA uses by itself, it's a BIG change. And the prediction from the battery circuitry appropriately dropped from 20 hours at 2.63 watts to 7 hours at 7.5 watts. You also mentioned fans, which are also big power draws. What are the fans for? The MBA doesn't need them, it runs very cool just by itself. Again, much cooler than the older Intel MBAs. If you are using the fans to cool the MBA, you don't need them.

If you don't want that kind of power drain, get a different hub, one that has its own power connection from the mains and that does NOT draw from the MBA. Plug the printer into that hub and it will take the power from the hub's supply, not the MBA. Printers are not normally portable, so having a hub that needs mains power should not be that much of a problem, unless you plan to carry the MBA, hub, and printer with you everywhere.

As for the power situation you described, don't worry about it. It appears to be normal.

 

[Dan7385]

Yes, that is expected. The printer (and the cable from the MBA to the printer) have electronics in them that are powered by the MBA. So, when they are connected, even without the hub, the demand on the battery is higher. What makes it so visible to you is that the MBA has amazingly low demand, so low that the battery expectation is very, very high. But the printer is a high demand device, so when it is connected, it draws down on that battery probably more than the MBA itself. Previous MBAs, with Intel chipsets inside, drew much more power than the new Apple Silicon, so the relative change in expected battery life wasn't changed so dramatically. Plus, your hub/cables could be fairly inefficient at converting from Thunderbolt to USB protocols, adding more to the battery draw.

Looking at the tech specs on an M2 MBA, it has a 52.6-watt-hour battery. You said it reported a battery prediction of 20 hours, which means that the MBA itself was drawing about 2.63 watts. Then, with the hub connected, the power draw of the MBA *and* hub with printer jumped to about 7.5 watts, or about 4.9 watts more. That's not really that much power, but compared to the tiny amount the MBA uses by itself, it's a BIG change. And the prediction from the battery circuitry appropriately dropped from 20 hours at 2.63 watts to 7 hours at 7.5 watts. You also mentioned fans, which are also big power draws. What are the fans for? The MBA doesn't need them, it runs very cool just by itself. Again, much cooler than the older Intel MBAs. If you are using the fans to cool the MBA, you don't need them.

If you don't want that kind of power drain, get a different hub, one that has its own power connection from the mains and that does NOT draw from the MBA. Plug the printer into that hub and it will take the power from the hub's supply, not the MBA. Printers are not normally portable, so having a hub that needs mains power should not be that much of a problem, unless you plan to carry the MBA, hub, and printer with you everywhere.

As for the power situation you described, don't worry about it. It appears to be normal.

That's great. Thank you for taking so much of your time to explain it all in a language that I can understand.

I will stop using the fan and also look for a powered hub for my peripherals.

Also, the printer is 12 years old, and the time machine is HDD and also some 7 years old. Thus as you suggest, the cables are probably not working well with MBA.

I have written to Anker to ask which of their hubs, suits my needs and also works with the MBA m2.

Very grateful for all your help.

Regards

 

[Randy B. Singer]

Is any one using a USB hub with their mac?
I purchased 2 x 4 port usb C to A hubs from Ugreen and they show a huge reduction in activity monitor when connected.

Did you purchase a cheap unpowered hub like this one?:

https://www.ugreen.com/products/4-ports-powered-usb-3-0-hub?variant=39815558037566

The USB-C ports in your MBA deliver close to 100 watts of power each. If you have attached an unpowered USB hub to one of your MBA's USB-C ports, all of the power draw is coming from your MBA's battery. If you have two such hubs attached to your MBA, there is up to twice the draw.

Given that, why would you be surprised that Activity Monitor projects that your laptop's battery will run through its charge quickly? My biggest surprise is that the tech support folks at Apple didn't seem to be able to communicate this to you clearly.

If you don't want your battery to be run down by all of the devices that you are attaching to your MBA, you have to decrease that draw on your MBA's battery, either by plugging your laptop into a charger, or by using powered hubs, or by only using peripherals that cause little to no draw of power of their own.

 

[Dan7385]

Did you purchase a cheap unpowered hub like this one?:

Ugreen 4 Ports Powered USB 3.0 Hub

The USB-C ports in your MBA deliver close to 100 watts of power each. If you have attached an unpowered USB hub to one of your MBA's USB-C ports, all of the power draw is coming from your MBA's battery. If you have two such hubs attached to your MBA, there is up to twice the draw.

Given that, why would you be surprised that Activity Monitor projects that your laptop's battery will run through its charge quickly? My biggest surprise is that the tech support folks at Apple didn't seem to be able to communicate this to you clearly.

If you don't want your battery to be run down by all of the devices that you are attaching to your MBA, you have to decrease that draw on your MBA's battery, either by plugging your laptop into a charger, or by using powered hubs, or by only using peripherals that cause little to no draw of power of their own.

@Randy B. Singer

Firstly my surprise at the activity monitor showing the decrease, was because I was totally unaware of the power that this hub was drawing from the battery. I am a novice and relied upon the salesmans information, as I have never used a hub before.

And yes, this was one of the hubs and the other was a 4 way usb from the same company, but in space gray aluminium.

I am learning every day and have done a lot more research now.

I am awaiting a reply from Anker regarding a powered hub that suits my needs.

But many thanks for your insight and help.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I am awaiting a reply from Anker regarding a powered hub that suits my needs.

You might like this one:

Plugable 7-in-1 USB Powered Hub for Laptops with USB-C
$45
https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-USB-Charging-Laptops-USB-C/dp/B096YKDYX5/ref=sr_1_5

Unfortunately these hubs don't come dirt cheap. (Of if they do, they tend not to be reliable.) This is the cheapest hub that I know of that offers this many ports.

 

[Dan7385]

You might like this one:

Plugable 7-in-1 USB Powered Hub for Laptops with USB-C
$45
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096YKDYX5/?tag=macforums0e4-20

Unfortunately these hubs don't come dirt cheap. (Of if they do, they tend not to be reliable.) This is the cheapest hub that I know of that offers this many ports.

Many thanks. The price is not a problem and I am happy to pay for the right item.

The shipping cost to Thailand is another 26 USD.
And, I have just noticed it also only works on USA AC power. So, I would need to buy a converter.

I appreciate all your help and kind suggestions.

Regards

 

[MacInWin]

And, I have just noticed it also only works on USA AC power. So, I would need to buy a converter.

Actually, it takes 12v/5A input. You can see the barrel socket in the pictures of it. So you can look for a mains device that puts out 12v/5A. Or you can look for a more universal hub from someone like Anker or Hyper and see if you can avoid the shipping.

 

[Dan7385]

Many thanks. The price is not a problem and I am happy to pay for the right item.

The shipping cost to Thailand is another 26 USD.
And, I have just noticed it also only works on USA AC power. So, I would need to buy a converter.

I appreciate all your help and kind suggestions.

Regards

Actually, it takes 12v/5A input. You can see the barrel socket in the pictures of it. So you can look for a mains device that puts out 12v/5A. Or you can look for a more universal hub from someone like Anker or Hyper and see if you can avoid the shipping.

 

[Dan7385]

Many thanks.

 

[Howard Brazee]

I bought a hub when I bought the brand-new M1 iMac a year ago. I'm not sure what model it is, I can't tell by looking at it, but when a memory card or external drive is plugged into it, I keep getting notices all day saying that was disconnected. If I had money, I'd get a powered Thunderbolt bus (but powered can be a problem with laptop computers). I wouldn't get one with USB-A plugs (I bought a couple of adaptors).