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.
More high-speed ports with the Plugable TBT4-HUB3C
Apple clearly believes in the Thunderbolt standard — it puts it in every Mac and even the 2021 iPad Pro. But that doesn’t mean every computer has a surplus of these ports. The MacBook Air and latest iMac come with only two of them, for example.
The TBT4-HUB3C adds more. And these don’t have the limitations of basic USB-C ports. Each port delivers Thunderbolt 4’s full 40 Gbps performance. And 60W power delivery.
“With all three downstream Thunderbolt ports, you can connect external devices such as monitors, storage drives, or network adapters and receive the same top-tier functionality across the board,” promises Plugable. And the hub can be daisy-chained with other accessories.
Thunderbolt uses USB-C ports, and the hub is backward-compatible. “Finally, the market has a pure USB-C hub that supports the full set of today’s USB standards: Thunderbolt 4, USB4, Thunderbolt 3, USB-C, and older USB devices,” said Bernie Thompson, Plugable’s CEO and Founder.
The hub comes with a 0.8-meter (2.6-foot) cable for connecting to your computer. And a USB-C to HDMI 2.0 adapter as a bonus.
The Plugable TBT4-HUB3C launched Wednesday on Amazon. It costs $189 with a $15 off coupon.
1-meter and 2-meter Thunderbolt cables
Plugable also just introduced the TBT4-40G1M 1-meter Thunderbolt passive cable. Alternatively, the TBT4-40G2M measures double that length, which requires an active repeater chipset from Intel.
The shorter cable runs $33.95 on Amazon with a $5 off coupon, while the longer one goes for $59 on Amazon with a $10 off coupon.
