Accessory-maker Hyper just unveiled a six-port USB-C hub for the new iPad Pro. The HyperDrive for iPad Pro allows every type of wired accessory supported by the new tablets to be plugged in.
USB Type C — it’s no longer a novelty but an emerging connectivity standard for Apple products. As a newer, more powerful variation of the same USB we all know and love (well, kinda), USB-C features higher power and faster data transfer than its predecessors via a smaller connector.
While older USB Type A and B were a great gift for Mac users — few mourned the passing of ADB and SCSI — USB is often finicky. Just plugging in an old-school USB cable can prove challenging, since you must position the connector just so for it to slide smoothly into the port. That often means several tries to achieve the proper angle and orientation.
Those obstacles disappear with USB-C because, in addition to its smaller size, it is designed to be reversible — with no up or down orientation, just like a Lightning cable — and the cables can have the same type of connector on both ends.
If you’ve got a MacBook, you’ve got a productivity powerhouse. But you can up the ante with the right accessories, so we’ve rounded up a few of the best. We’ve got a USB-C laptop stand, a breakaway USB-C charging cable, and a multiport hub that vastly expands your MacBook’s connective possibilities.
Plus, each of them is available at a fat discount!
The possibilities for work and creativity on a MacBook are essentially endless. But they’ve got serious limitations in the connections department. On the newer models, all you’ve got is a single USB-C port.
Buying a new MacBook is stage 1. Stage 2 is trying to figure out how to get all your peripherals to work with a single USB-C port. Thankfully, there’s another way.
When you get a new MacBook, you get a powerful machine with one connection for peripherals. Simplicity is great, but let’s be real: Nobody uses USB-C exclusively. That makes having a single USB-C connection severely limiting.
So you’ve got the brand new MacBook. Congrats! Now all your non USB-C peripherals (which is probably all of them) are obsolete. Apple’s solution is to have you buy a bunch of adapters, but HyperDrive has a seamless solution that expands the new MacBook’s single port into five of the most-familiar, most-used formats.
The HyperDrive 5-in-1 Hub is a great alternative to a computer bag full of dongles, and right now you can get it for $39.95 at Cult of Mac Deals.