Is it necessary to download Silicon Motion Drivers in a MacBook Pro M4?

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Is it necessary to download Silicon Motion Drivers in a MacBook Pro M4?

Situation: recently bought a Belkin INC 015 Connect Universal USB-C 8-1 Dual Display Core Hub to connect my external monitor and Logitech camera to my new MacBook Pro M4. Upon opening the Belkin box I found a a sticker on the Hub indicating to "download Silicon Motion drivers before using the hub." Checked the compatibility of this hub with Mac laptops and the box says that it's compatible with MacBook Pro M1,M2, and M3. Called Belkin and the customer rep said to check with Apple whether the MacBook M4 is compatible with the Belkin hub INC 015. My questions are (1) Is it safe to assume that this Belkin hub is compatible with my MacBook Pro M4? (2) Is it absolutely necessary to download the Silicon Motion drivers? (3) What happens if the Silicon Drivers are not downloaded? Thank you in advance for helping me with this issue.

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 15.3

Posted on Feb 3, 2025 3:09 PM

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Answer 1

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mac921 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 4, 2025 11:02 AM in response to Rudegar

Thanks for the time you have put in responding to my question. It is uplifting to know that the Apple Community is so responsive. In addition to the responses I have received to this community, I also talked to an online Apple Support person who was very helpful as well. I'd like to share what this person said. (1) Although this model of Belkin's hub INC 015 is not listed on the website, it is apparently compatible with MacBook Pro M4. Apple support also said that there is no need to download the silicon motion drivers (indicated on the Belkin's hub) as mine is an Apple silicone Mac laptop. Thanks again for your input.

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Answer 2

Feb 4, 2025 10:14 AM in response to mac921

mac921 wrote:

(1) Is it safe to assume that this Belkin hub is compatible with my MacBook Pro M4?

Yes. In all likelihood it is perfectly compatible. USB-C is a universal standard.

(2) Is it absolutely necessary to download the Silicon Motion drivers?

Probably not. And more likely than not, they will be Windows Drivers.

(3) What happens if the Silicon Drivers are not downloaded?

If it has any specific features outside if the general USB-C spec they may not work, but that's unlikely.

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Answer 3

mac921 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 4, 2025 8:25 AM in response to Rudegar

Dear Rudegard, thank you for providing context to my inquiry. I contacted Belkin customer service regarding this issue and the rep said that only Apple can tell me whether the Belkin INC 015 Connect Universal USB-C 8-1 Dual Display Core Hub is compatible with my MacBook Pro M4. I thought I could get an answer through this community. Do you have any additional ideas as to where or how get the necessary answer? Thank you so much.

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Answer 4

Rudegar

Level 10

181,602 points

Feb 4, 2025 8:31 AM in response to mac921

what would be the harm in installing it and trying it out?

what would be the harm in not installing it and trying to connect the hub?

these forums are user helping other users like yourself, it's sort of going

to a physical apple store and asking other customers there advice

even if apple wrote here then it would be unlikely they kept record of all third party devices for compatability or even if they tested them, it's the job of those who produce the devices to be compatabil

so your only freak chance for a 100% validation would be if another of us users actually owned the same device and used it with the same macbook pro.

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