Recommended hub to connect USB devices to new iMac

DigitalChickster wrote:

a lot of the ones I'm seeing say they work with laptops. Does that automatically mean they WON'T work with an iMac?

No, they should work fine with your new iMac.

One thing you didn't mention is the type of USB connectors that your peripherals use. Most older devices came with USB-A style connectors. On the other hand, your new Mac has USB-C ones. So you will need to take this into consideration.

One great source for hubs is Other World Computing (OWC).

The second link I provided you should help you determine the type(s) of connector(s) that your peripherals use ... but it sounds like they are, most likely, the USB-A type.

As that is the case, you will want to either get a hub that supports both USB-C and USB-A type ports OR, get one that only supports USB-C, and then, use USB-A to USB-C adapters for any USB-A peripherals you have.

Not to try to confuse the matter even more, you may want to know how these ports are named:

• USB port types (shapes): USB-A, USB-B, USB-C, etc.
• USB protocol standards (how much data they can handle, as well as, how much power they can support): USB 1.0 thru USB 5.0
• You will also see another protocol, called Thunderbolt. These use the USB-C type ports, but are primarily intended to be able to support Thunderbolt peripherals. They can also support daisy-chaining these same peripherals to "share" the same physical port. The OWC link I provided you is for a hub that supports both USB 4.0 & Thunderbolt 5.0 devices.

Unlike kick162, I have owned hubs from OWC and Star Tech and never had any go "bad" on me. That's not saying that they don't, it's just my experience over the last 10 years. The key is two-fold: 1. As you already know, be sure you understand the vendor's return policy, and 2) Only purchase hubs from known-quality suppliers.

In my experience every hub under ~$100 is equally as bad. So if you only have to connect USB-A ports, i'd recommend buying a ~$20 hub, because those cables generally don't send as much data as for example a USB-C cable. See if that works. If it doesn't work, you can try a hub which is a bit more expensive.

I bought one for $110, it broke within a week. The connectors all worked, but as soon as i did as little as move the hub cable a centimeter, it disconnected all the devices connected through that hub. My friend bought the same one as me, had exactly the same issue. Another friend bought one for $20, also did not work as he hoped, but still, he paid $90 less than me.

Hope this helps! Good luck :)