USB-C and Thunderbolt are great, until you want to plug something into them. Then you (still) need dongles.
I tested 12 different USB-C hubs – these are my top 5
But is a dongle still a dongle if it doesn’t dangle? That’s the question posed by Hyper’s new HyperDrive USB-C Hub for the MacBook Pro, a double-dipping dock that turns the left side of your new super-duper computer into a bank of mostly useful legacy ports. In principle, it’s a fantastic idea. But in practice, the port selection feels a little odd, even unnecessary.
One of the best features of the new 2021 MacBook Pro is its arsenal of expansion ports. It gives up a single Thunderbolt port compared to the previous-generation MacBook Pro, but gains a MagSafe charger, an SD card slot, and an HDMI port. However, it’s still missing a ton of legacy ports, which is where a dock comes in.
The Hyperdrive Duo 7-in-2 USB-C Hub gets its name from the fact that it takes up two of the MacBook’s ports, turning them into seven different, useful ones. You get one Thunderbolt passthrough port for connecting whatever you might fancy, plus HDMI, USB-C, USB-A (both 5Gbps), Ethernet, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card slot.
