MacBook Pro Dongle Nightmare

[slugg]

Why is it so hard to figure out a good way to do what Apple says you can do? I want to plug one Thunderbolt thing in and be done. With the one plug, I expect to get at least two normal USB ports, charge my 2017 15 inch MacBook Pro, and have two additional monitors.

There always seems to be some kind of showstopper. Some solutions don't provide enough power to the 15 inch model. Others aren't able to drive two monitors. Or it requires special monitors that cost $1k each.

I may be willing to use two Thunderbolt connections, but not three. Using three would mean that I'd have cables sticking out of both sides of the laptop, so I wouldn't be able to place the laptop in a three-screen configuration. Stupid design.

With my former 2015 MBP, I could plug the charger, two monitors, and a USB hub all on the left side of the machine. No problem.

This is ridiculous. It's as if a "pro" never tested this MacBook "Pro" during development.

 

[v-600]

Have a listen to http://atp.fm/episodes/228 around the first 20 mins. They have a nice section of follow up about why USB-C hubs or multiple devices are causing issues.
With a purely practical head on I'd suggest using a 2015 MBP - unless you really need the touch bar, ginormous track pad or the few extra CPU processings it sounds like the 2015 is the better bet, and probably a bit cheaper.

With a snarkastic head on I'd say you have the Apple answer. There is a product out there that does what you need. Throw money at the problem and make it go away. Not sure exactly which monitor you've found but a £600 (rough estimate on $1000) monitor for a £1800 laptop isn't too bad?

Or it requires special monitors that cost $1k each.

 

[ViRGE]

What exactly are you trying to hook up? Maybe we can help you figure out a solution.

 

[slugg]

The 2017 15 MacBook Pro is the only option. It's being provided by my new job (yay, new job).

I want to hook up two additional monitors, a full sized keyboard, and a mouse. No more than two ports on the laptop may be used at a time, including charging.

The best possible option I can find is two Lenovo P24h monitors. However, I can't find a single review that confirms that they work with the MacBook/Pro in a daisy chain configuration. The daisy chain is necessary because while these monitors do provide power over USB-C, they only provide 60w (45, depending on where you read the specs) and the 15 inch MBP needs 85w. So basically, one plug would be used for the two monitors, the other would be used by the charger.

But again, nobody seems to know if they work properly with Mac.

 

[v-600]

I think you can daisy chain thunderbolt devices but only the end of the chain can be DisplayPort (I am fairly certain this used to be the case with Thunderbolt 1&2 but not sure if it still holds true with TB3).

 

[TheStu]

There exist usb-c to hdmi adapters that work (but I don’t know of any that offer 2 hdmi). I have one for my MacBook that provides hdmi, 3 usb-a, Ethernet, andan sd slot.

 

[ViRGE]

The 2017 15 MacBook Pro is the only option. It's being provided by my new job (yay, new job).

I want to hook up two additional monitors, a full sized keyboard, and a mouse. No more than two ports on the laptop may be used at a time, including charging.

The best possible option I can find is two Lenovo P24h monitors. However, I can't find a single review that confirms that they work with the MacBook/Pro in a daisy chain configuration. The daisy chain is necessary because while these monitors do provide power over USB-C, they only provide 60w (45, depending on where you read the specs) and the 15 inch MBP needs 85w. So basically, one plug would be used for the two monitors, the other would be used by the charger.

But again, nobody seems to know if they work properly with Mac.

Alright, that makes sense.

So the MacBook Pro certainly supports daisy chaining, and I know of no reason why what you want to do would not work. However I completely get why you don't want to roll the dice there since no one has published results so far.

This is a bit of a screwball setup, but the following would work for you.

Port 1 -> 24h (#1) with mouse and keyboard attached
Port 2 -> Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter -> 24h (#2), driving said monitor over HDMI. You can then plug the MBP's power adapter into the upstream USB-C port on the Apple adapter.

So you end up having to use one adapter, but nothing exotic. And more importantly, an Apple adapter so that you can count on everything working.

(You could even get it down to 1 cable with an Elgato Thunderbolt 3 dock, though that's a more expensive option)

 

[slugg]

Alright, that makes sense.

So the MacBook Pro certainly supports daisy chaining, and I know of no reason why what you want to do would not work. However I completely get why you don't want to roll the dice there since no one has published results so far.

This is a bit of a screwball setup, but the following would work for you.

Port 1 -> 24h (#1) with mouse and keyboard attached
Port 2 -> Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter -> 24h (#2), driving said monitor over HDMI. You can then plug the MBP's power adapter into the upstream USB-C port on the Apple adapter.

So you end up having to use one adapter, but nothing exotic. And more importantly, an Apple adapter so that you can count on everything working.

(You could even get it down to 1 cable with an Elgato Thunderbolt 3 dock, though that's a more expensive option)

Good idea! I think that'll work for me. It's a shame that we need "screwball" solutions, but at least it's a viable solution. Thanks a ton!

 

[ViRGE]

Good idea! I think that'll work for me. It's a shame that we need "screwball" solutions, but at least it's a viable solution. Thanks a ton!

Truthfully I went looking for a pure USB-C passthrough adapter, but it would seem no one makes such a thing. Due to the interplay between alt modes and power delivery, I'm not 100% sure the spec even allows such a thing.

But either way, I'm glad that setup will work for you. And the best part is that you don't even have to use this setup; rather it can be treated as a fallback. Go ahead and see if daisy chaining works, and if it does, you've saved yourself an adapter.

 

[slugg]

Truthfully I went looking for a pure USB-C passthrough adapter, but it would seem no one makes such a thing. Due to the interplay between alt modes and power delivery, I'm not 100% sure the spec even allows such a thing.

But either way, I'm glad that setup will work for you. And the best part is that you don't even have to use this setup; rather it can be treated as a fallback. Go ahead and see if daisy chaining works, and if it does, you've saved yourself an adapter.

Yep, my thoughts exactly.

I'll check back in here in a few weeks and chime in to share my results.

 

[slugg]

Uhh... why did the thread title get censored from "nightmare" to "
*********htmare"?

 

[ViRGE]

I'm going to guess someone is trying to censor out racial slurs, and got a little overzealous...

 

[slugg]

So I've got it set up right now. Daisy chaining does not work. The charging "works," but I'm draining battery faster than it can charge. I'm not too happy about this...

 

[TheStu]

So I've got it set up right now. Daisy chaining does not work. The charging "works," but I'm draining battery faster than it can charge. I'm not too happy about this...

Hold on, it’s a MacBook Pro 15”, right?
And you said only only 2 ports could be used????

 

[slugg]

Hold on, it’s a MacBook Pro 15”, right?
And you said only only 2 ports could be used????

Yes and no.

Yes, the MacBook Pro has 4 ports and they all work.

I only want to use two ports because I like to place my laptop to all the way to the left, butted directly up to the center monitor. If I use 3 ports, then that means I have wires coming out of both sides. This would then interfere with the center monitor.

Part of the frustration is that this "one port to do everything" fantasy is forced on me and it simply doesn't work in any practical, cost effective capacity.

As an aside, the actual MacBook Pro is a heck of a machine. I love the form factor and performance. I hate the port situation, so that's unfortunate. Also, the fundamental problem with the touch bar is that I don't look at the keyboard while typing, but the touch bar requires looking. So essentially, I just never use it. I do wish it had hardware buttons. I would gladly swap if I could.

 

[ViRGE]

So I've got it set up right now. Daisy chaining does not work. The charging "works," but I'm draining battery faster than it can charge. I'm not too happy about this...

D'oh.

Well bummer. I am genuinely surprised that daisy chaining didn't work there, since there's no technical reason that it shouldn't. Though that's also why I suggested the backup plan of the AV adapter, in case something like this happened. I'm guessing you've since ordered the adapter, so do let us know how things work out once that arrives.

Part of the frustration is that this "one port to do everything" fantasy is forced on me and it simply doesn't work in any practical, cost effective capacity.

"Cost effective" being the key word there. Some of the TB3 docks are great, but their costs are a wet blanket.

Hopefully things will improve later in 2018, now that Intel is allowing third parties to manufacture TB3 controllers. Right now you need to buy an expensive Intel controller to get PCIe lanes back, and then a bunch of different PCIe-to-X controllers to provide dock ports. Direct TB3-to-X controllers are going to make this a lot simpler and cheaper, at least once the bugs are worked out.

 

[GreenGhost]

This situation is absolutely ridiculous but there's nothing we can do besides trying to get the best adapters. If anyone has any suggestions, let us know.
I need wired Ethernet (office requires it), 1 USB, 2 monitors (I'd go with HDMI to be more flexible; with my 2012 MBP I used displayports). Couldn't find one that would do it, yet.