The Belkin Auto-Tracking Stand Pro is the first-ever accessory to work with Apple DockKit. Using this tech, it can hold up an iPhone, rotate and tilt to keep the camera focused on the user during video calls.
After being announced CES 2024 in January, the accessory reached the market on Friday.
Kensington on Monday unveiled one of the first docks using Thunderbolt 5, a new version of the networking standard that’s up to three times the speed of its predecessor. The SD5000T5 will sport an array of ports, and support dual 8K displays.
Also at CES 2024, the accessory-maker took the wraps off a trio of USB-C docks.
The world is full of USB drives, from portable thumbdrives to full external SSDs. Happily, you’re not closed off from these just because you use an iPhone or iPad. Connecting to external drives has gotten much easier than it used to be.
And you’ll have full read/write access to everything on the drive. You won’t even need to install any software, as the app you need comes preinstalled on your device.
The movies and shows on a MacBook or iPad can be easily played on a full-size TV, but many computers need an adapter to add the HDMI port. The Plugable USBC-4IN1 has just what’s needed, offering 4K video at 60Hz. Or Plugable’s USB-C dock is well suited for using an HDMI monitor to get work done.
Plus, it stands out from the pack with a USB-C port that supports simultaneous 100W power pass-through charging and 10Gbps data transfers. There’s a couple of high-speed USB ports, too.
I put the surprisingly affordable accessory through a series of test to see if it lived up to its promises. Here’s what I found.
Connect the new Plugable USBC-4IN1 hub to a Mac or iPad to add an HDMI port, and two USB-A ones, also. And its USB-C port supports simultaneous 100W power pass-through charging and 10Gbps data transfers.
Plugable just launched a hub for MacBook or iPad users who need to connect to multiple USB-A accessories. It includes four ports for legacy accessories, and connects to the computer via USB-C.
The inexpensive hub is designed for use in an office or on the go.
The JSAUX Omnicase 2 Pro is an 11-in-1 USB-C travel hub that offers USB and video ports plus SD card readers. And it sets itself apart from rival hubs with a built-in case for storing a cable, various adapters and SD cards. It’s ready to connect a Mac or iPad to USB accessories, monitors, Ethernet, memory cards and more. And it includes adapters if you run into connection problems.
I tested the multiport hub out to see how well it works. Here’s what I found.
The most important feature of the new Hyper Thunderbolt 4 Power Hub is something it doesn’t have: a giant power brick. The three-port hub offers 40Gbps data transfers as its rivals do, but in a more compact form.
The device was unveiled in summer 2022 and went through crowdfunding but is only now available for all to buy.
The OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock offers eleven ports in a range useful types, and is designed for portability. That sets it apart from typical Thunderbolt docks that are too bulky for travel.
The device was announced at CES 2023, going on now in Las Vegas.
The Satechi Thunderbolt Slim Hub brings a trio of very high-speed ports to a Mac, plus it has a USB-A port for other accessories. It’s good enough to earn a CES Innovation Award.
Satechi also used the Consumer Electronics Show to announce a 6-port charger and a USB4 NVMe SSD enclosure.
Plugable’s new USB-C dock is small enough to be mistaken a hub but has room for seven ports. And that includes dual 4K HDMI ports that can be used even with Macs that ordinarily support only one external monitor.
The USB-C HDMI Docking Station also has USB and Ethernet ports, as well as an SD card reader.
Place the new Belkin Connect USB-C 6-in-1 Multiport Hub in the back of an iMac or monitor to discreetly add multiple ports to a computer. It offers a couple of USB-A ports, memory card readers and more.
The HyperDrive Duo Pro 7-in-2 USB-C Hub plugs into the side of a MacBook to add a variety of useful ports. The standout is Ethernet, but there’s also USB-A, HDMI and microSD.
I did real-world testing of the 2022 version of this clip-on hub, and found that it lives up to the hype.
Feel the need for more external screens to go with your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro? On Tuesday Hyper rolled out its new HyperDrive 4K Multi-Display Docking Station. It’ll help you connect up to three 4K displays with a 60Hz refresh rate.
And what’s more, the dock works with every MacBook made since 2016, Hyper said.
The new Plugable TBT4-HUB3C hub turns a single Thunderbolt 4 port into three of them, expanding the number of high-speed accessories that can be connected to a Mac or iPad Pro. That includes big displays and large-capacity drives.
And Plugable also launched new 1-meter and 2-meter Thunderbolt cables Thursday.
The Sanho HyperDrive USB-C 6-in-1 Hub clips to an iPad and adds a collection of ports, allowing the tablet to make use of a variety of popular accessories, from mice and headphones to external displays. The multiport adapter offers outstanding functionality in minimal space.
The original version is one of the best iPad accessories ever. I tested the followup and it’s even better.
Plugable decided to stand out in the crowded market for USB-C multiport adapters with a low-price offering. On Tuesday, it unveiled a 7-in-1 Hub that comes in at a significantly lower cost than many of its rivals.
Even so, it can connect to multiple legacy USB-A accessories, a external monitor and removable memory cards.
Many people would like to add a few ports to their MacBook Pro, but Hyper just launched a hub for people who’d like to add a ridiculous number.
The HyperDrive Ultimate Ultimate Hub offers more than three dozen ports, in an unbelievably wide variety. It goes a long way toward turning a MacBook into a desktop PC.
When you plug a USB-C hub into your new iPad Pro, you will see a new icon appear in the iOS status bar, up on the right by the battery, Wi-Fi, and LTE status icons. It’s a little blue lozenge with an icon of an old-style Camera Connection Kit in it, and it appears for just a short moment.
The new icon is handy to let you know that your hub has been recognized, but it doesn’t always work as expected.
Apple has made accessories companies busy working furiously to create the perfect dongle or hub for users furious over a new MacBook Pro will only USB-C ports.
We crave change and innovation from Apple, then moan when we are not ready for it. SCOSCHE Industries hopes to ease your transition with a new USB-C AV multiport adaptor with three ports for your peripheral devices.
Like blades on a disposable razor, there can never be enough ports on a USB hub. At least, that seems to be the thinking behind Satechi’s 7-port USB 3.0 monster, a wedge-shaped desktop hub made for Mac users.
In the age of tiny, efficient Thunderbolt and Lightning ports, stuffing a full-sized USB plug into a Mac now seems so very very old fashioned. Still, USB is still the oversized and awkward norm, and stuff them into our Macs we must.
Which is where Satechi’s “Premium 4-Port Aluminum USB 2.0 Hub” comes in.
Today, Twitter announced a new design for the popular micro-blogging site that will start rolling out over the next couple of weeks, which they hope will make it easier than ever to connect with other users and discover great new content.
If you go to Twitter.com, you won’t see the sexy new interface for a while yet, but as part of their push to update all officially supported Twitter platforms to the new paradigm, Twitter has pushed out a totally overhauled version of the Twitter for iPhone app.