Looking for a Thunderbolt 3 hub... that doesn't cost $8,000.

[Entertainer]

I'm finding the same problem I had with my 2015 MBP - all thunderbolt hubs cost upwards of $300.

It's damn near impossible to find something portable and inexpensive under that price - everything I have found have been USB-C hubs.

I need the following connections:

USB3, SD Card, HDMI. And it needs to be portable. F8CK OWC hubs.


I just want to use the power that Thunderbolt 3 provides - because why include Thunderbolt 3 connections if there practically isn't anything good out there that connects to it?

 

[Thysanoptera]

So you need TB3 hub, that ... doesn’t provide TB3 port. May be difficult, I don’t really see a reason why would anybody produce such device. And why usb-c is not enough for you? You really only need TB3 if you want to drive 4k@60hz or multiple lower res monitors. Or have some fancy external RAID that can do more than 10Gbps. Or eGPU, but in this case you don’t really want to use a hub because the bandwidth will be shared with other connected devices.

Oh, and no TB3 would be ‘portable’, like the usb-c dongles.

 

[chrfr]

I'm finding the same problem I had with my 2015 MBP - all thunderbolt hubs cost upwards of $300.

It's damn near impossible to find something portable and inexpensive under that price - everything I have found have been USB-C hubs.

I need the following connections:

USB3, SD Card, HDMI. And it needs to be portable. F8CK OWC hubs.


I just want to use the power that Thunderbolt 3 provides - because why include Thunderbolt 3 connections if there practically isn't anything good out there that connects to it?

It seems like a USB-C hub is exactly what you’re looking for.

 

[Entertainer]

But I don't understand why they make all 4 ports be Thunderbolt 3, but then the only devices you can really get are USB C. Thunderbolt 3 is 40 GB/s, USB-c is only 5. Makes no sense.

 

[BLUEDOG314]

Its just forward looking. Same physical connection so why not use the faster standard? Once TB3 is more widely adopted prices will come down.

 

[Mike Boreham]

The above comments about USB-C being sufficient are probably correct, but maybe this one is what you are looking for:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CalDigit-T..._rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=7ENV32STSAEYMPTRRW2Z

Note there are two versions: HDMI 2.0 and DualDisplay Port 1.2.

 

[apiro]

I'm finding the same problem I had with my 2015 MBP - all thunderbolt hubs cost upwards of $300.

It's damn near impossible to find something portable and inexpensive under that price - everything I have found have been USB-C hubs.

I need the following connections:

USB3, SD Card, HDMI. And it needs to be portable. F8CK OWC hubs.


I just want to use the power that Thunderbolt 3 provides - because why include Thunderbolt 3 connections if there practically isn't anything good out there that connects to it?

Depends what you mean by portable.

If small but still stationary - buy this http://shop.caldigit.com/us/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=171, it's now 299.99. No one can beat it in ports/power.

If portable as in take with you every day, such a portable device would not be able to spend all the bandwidth Thunderbolt 3 has (except if you want it to drive 5K display) so not worth the cost. Buy USB-C 3.1 gen 2 (10 Gbps) device instead.

 

[Entertainer]

Thanks for the replies. I have the Caldigit in the Thunderbolt 2 format actually, so I’m gonna try and get a T3 to T2 cable for it.

 

[Entertainer]

Its just forward looking. Same physical connection so why not use the faster standard? Once TB3 is more widely adopted prices will come down.

You know they said the same thing about thunderbolt 2, and pretty much nothing existed for thunderbolt 2. By the time there will be anything in thunderbolt 3 available they’ll be using a new connector format, probably whale sounds and penguin chirps.

 

[BLUEDOG314]

You know they said the same thing about thunderbolt 2

I think (hope) it's different this time around. You definitely see TB3 capable type C ports on plenty of other brands. I can't really recall that with TB2.

 

[zhenya]

But I don't understand why they make all 4 ports be Thunderbolt 3, but then the only devices you can really get are USB C. Thunderbolt 3 is 40 GB/s, USB-c is only 5. Makes no sense.

The speed difference for the kind of hub you are looking for doesn't matter one bit because USB has more bandwidth than your use requires. Making the hub TB3 would add cost and complexity for zero benefit.

All 4 ports on the MBP are TB3 because it gives maximum flexibility, with minimum confusion. All ports have the same capability, so you have the option of using any port you like. Left-handed mouse users can plug in their charger/dock/accessories on the right and out of their way. You can charge, connect 2 4k monitors, and a TB3 external disk without the need of involving a dock if you so wish. And so on.

 

[Polo2883]

What about this dock? Anyone have any experience?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078DZCK5T/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER