Is it safe to use USB-C multiport hub adapters/docks with the M1 MacBooks? There appear to be several users who have dead MacBooks after plugging them in to these adapters/docks. Thank you!
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.1
Yes, there seems to be an issue with MacBook M1s and USB-C hubs with PD (power delivery). You can go to MacRumors Forums and search for a thread called "M1 MacBook Air won’t power on".
Mine died and is now in the shop awaiting for a new main board replacement.
I really hope that Apple acknowledges the issue and ensures it is resolved. I have a total of 3 MacBook Air M1s and it is really worrisome.
Yes, there seems to be an issue with MacBook M1s and USB-C hubs with PD (power delivery). You can go to MacRumors Forums and search for a thread called "M1 MacBook Air won’t power on".
Mine died and is now in the shop awaiting for a new main board replacement.
I really hope that Apple acknowledges the issue and ensures it is resolved. I have a total of 3 MacBook Air M1s and it is really worrisome.
Is this only a problem with the PD hubs? I just purchased this one:
Will this be a problem? Thanks.
As stated in a few posts in this thread, yes, it seems to be related with PD hubs. At this point, I would not connect any usb-c hub with PD. 1 of my 3 MacBook Air M1s got killed by this. The logic board had to be replaced.
My partner had her MBP M1 fail probably because of this Anker Dongle above. Problems charging, freezing and having to reinstall OS 3 times, because of boot loop after login.
Replacement logic board and usb board carried out by Apple under warranty. After only using an Apple HDMI dongle for a couple of weeks she seems to be now having freezing issues, won’t now charge from the standard MacBook charger - diagnostic codes PPP007 and PPP008, also problems with the track pad NDR005, NDR006.
It’s only 4 months old and Apple refuse to replace it with a new one. At the ‘genius bar’ the day we took it in I saw at least 3 other M1’s in for repair.
Apple have seriously messed up somewhere in design or production.
A large group of those were the cheap, made by one company and
sold with lots of different names stamped on the case.
If you want something reliable, I would get one of the docks
from OWC which is a "Mac centric" company that thoroughly
tests their products for Mac compatibility.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/docks
They have both Thunderbolt and USB-C docks.
This happened to me. MacBook Air M1 was connected to USB-C hub with HDMI and Power Delivery (PD) using the original MacBook power adapter. Went for a cup of tea and when I returned, the MacBook was powered off and never came back to life. It is not at the Apple Authorized Service Center here in Panama.
I'm really worried because I have other 2 MacBook Air M1s and don't know if they are going to fail. For now, I will not connect them to USB-C hubs until this is cleared up.
Too risky to spend $2000+ on the MBA I ordered and have it die or be constantly paranoid about plugging whatever into whatever, so I canceled my order. I also am dismayed that you can't have two, high efficency/low power external SSDs connected at once due toMBA power weakness, even though there are separate Thunderbolt buses. Maybe it's related. I'll hang back with my old-timey late 2012 MacBook Pro and hope to buy an M1 sometime in the future.
Same issue here. I have never had problems with using a Multiport USB-C Dongle on my Intel MacBooks. Now i have a M1 MacBook Pro since 3 weeks and it died after plugging in the dongle with PD (original power adapter)....
The problem does not seem to happen to M1 macbook only. My daughter's late 2018 macbook air died last week after one month use of $100 USB-C dock from Caldigit. Apple's current two thunderbolt port design should be blamed because it is evitable for users to use USB-C / Thunderbolt docks / hubs to connect something.
Not sure. I don't know whether this issue is only for Caldigit Soho USB-C dock or not. But, I saw several people complaining about the same issue for M1 macbook with various kind of USB-C hub in reddit, macrumor, youtube. So, be carefull using the adapter. If you do not use it, unplug it. My daughter just plugged it from the beginning to end.
I think it is definitely not specific or isolated with Caldigit or any brand. It happened to me with QGeeM brand. At this moment, I'm assuming the problem exists with any USB-C hub with PD (when used with PD).
FWIW, it is not happening with all MacBook Airs connecting via USB-C
hubs. There are many more that are not having any problems. This
leads me to believe that there are more than normal flaws with
USB-C ports. As a matter of fact, there have been a whole variety
of "flaws" with the USB-C ports across all M1 devices. There have
been several reports on the MacMini community of TB/USB-C ports
that have become non-functional. Several have been noted to
have various USB-C docks used with the port failure.
I guess this is what can happen when you try to have a single
interface support 4 different standards with 3-6 different variations
of each one and literal thousands of different devices from
a myriad of manufacturers with varying degrees of quality control
that plug into that port.
I had issues also. Apple Support claims it has to do with hubs with to many ports on it. So I ordered the Multiport adapter and the Satechi with only one USB A port an see what these do on the longrun.
My MacBook Air M1 died when using it with an Aukey USB-C hub with power delivery. It just turned off when I unplugged the power cable and made clicking noises. Apple replaced the logic board and display but I'm afraid to use the USB-C ports now.
When the Mac was returned to me, I bought the official Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter, hoping that I'd be safe with that but then I read of people with that adapter having their MacBooks bricked too. So, I don't know what to do other than not using any hub at all.
Then the complete notebook becomes useless.... I ordered the same Multiport Adapter as well as the Satechi from Apple, come's in tomorrow.
How to connect everything without a hub? Camera, monitor, card reader , Wacom tablet...
With some bad luck an Intel notebook of some sort remains the better choice..
Dead MacBook M1 after Using USB-C Multiport Hub Adapters/Docks
