Are USB-C Hubs Killing M1 MacBooks?

Over the last few months, there have been some M1 Mac users report that USB-C hubs have been killing and bricking their M1 Macs. Specifically, it seems to be the pass-through charging or power delivery (PD) feature.

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Chapters:
00:00 The Issue
00:51 What Could Be The Causes?
02:36 The Fix
03:14 What Should You Do?

#m1macbook #macbookair #createdtech

[CreatedTech]

If you are thinking of buying a hub, here are two that I recommend and have tested myself:

[ThastsiT]

I have been using M1 pro for two months and I never charge mine via hub(apple USB hub). I always use them separately. Just by my instinct. Glad they addressed the issue on time.

[rickgrimes]

Since Macbooks have two thunderbolt type c port, I use one exclusively for charging the other exclusively for type c adapters. I think this is the best approach

[cebulagner]

There are two ports, I use the one exclusively for power and the other for the hub (bluetooth mouse, hdmi, camera, ethernet etc.)

[rumaru]

I'm happy with my M1 MBPro and Anker hub... That said, this is what bothers me of Apple, they always spin/shift the blame unto others. Bad USB Hubs, but curiously it only affects them, not Win10 PC's.

[joshuabaulding]

This happened to me on a 2015 MacBook with USB C Dock several years ago. I was using it with a USB Storage drive attached, wasn't charging through the dock, and heard a click and the laptop screen went blank. Took it to an independent Mac repair shop and they confirmed the logic board was dead.

[josesavant]

Again, thank you for keeping it short and to the point!

[tikiortaka]

I am using a relatively cheap USB C hub from Portronics and I don't use it for charge through but to read a normal pendrive. I have faced no issue.

[billionbites]

thanks, I've purchased an Anker one just in case, I haven't had any issues but I have been using a cheap brand hub and noticed that it does heat up.

[Tonyhunterblade]

My M1 macbook air died in january because of an USB-C hub with power delivery (Aukey). The motherboard and touchID have been replaced... So, I bought the official apple USB-C hub, and no problem with it. Recently I updated to 11.2.2, but I did not retry my aukey usb-c hub because I'm scared to send my macbook again to the apple store x)

[zak.flying]

I used a Anker Hub with my Intel MBP needless to say got these exact symptoms so went back to Apple on warranty where the main logic board was changed, the power button and even the screen! Very strange.

[carlosmquerales]

Excellent ! thanks for recommend these USB-C like Anker. Almost bought a generic one.

[WrvrUgoThrUR]

Almost three minutes in before I realized this video is two years old.

[OzziePara]

I've been using the Anker USB-C hub per your recommendation on one of your previous videos and it's been working fine. Zero problems so far....

[arnonabuurs]

"a small number of cases" where have i read that before :P

[nicholasragusano]

I have been using the Otolla 10port hub. It uses both usb c ports. I also use a charge through that plugs into the hub. I have not had any issues with either except occasionally a peripheral will turn off unexpectedly. That, I think, happens if the power draw exceeds the power available. I find the need for external hubs very important with the new M1 MacBook Pro, since it only has two usb c ports.

[SHook]

I have had my hub since April of last year, and I used it on my 2018 iPad Pro all the time, and ive been using for the past few days and its still fine. I don't use it for charging, I use the hub for the usb A ports for my keyboard and mouse, and I use the HDMI ports and ethernet port. I use the second USB-C port to charge my MacBook Air M1

[uhlrbxg]

Thanks for the video. This has been a source of anxiety for me for the last weeks. Have had M1 MacBook Pro since end of January. While it works, I can actually replicated a spontaneous reboot by plugging both Anker 7 in 1 hub and the Apple VGA/USB-C adapter, connecting it to external drive. All of this on battery. When I eject the disk, unplug the hub and plug the power cable into the port the MacBook reboots within minutes.

Not ok for a +€2000 machine. Wondering if anyone else has this?

[DarkMagicAudio]

I am convinced it killed my first 2021 M1 13” MacBook Pro. I believe it is what killed the monitor, which went completely black and unusable. It was an (AUKEY USB C Hub 10-in-1 Type C Adapter) from Amazon. Apple replaced my M1 and I got a new one now that I have not used a hub with yet, as I am honestly terrified to, so I’m stuck with 2 USBC ports, with sometimes only 1 as power is using the other. There is also currently another issue where the battery is showing needing support, even with it being 100% functioning, that is caused according to Apple support by a recent Big Sur update bug. So the M1 is full of weird problems currently.

[peatear]

The latest version of Big Sur was design to fix this issue. Which is really great cause it turns out it can be fixed through the software. I was afraid they were gonna have to do a mass recall.