USB hubs suitable for Sierra iMac

Question

Level 1

25 points

USB hubs suitable for Sierra iMac

Hi,

Is the "AUKEY USB Hub with 7 USB 3.0 Ports with Power Adapter 30W Aluminium for Data Transfer USB 3.0 Hub for Mac, Windows, and Other Laptops" suitable for iMac and Sierra?

Or "AUKEY USB 3.0 Hub 8 Ports ( 6 * USB 3.0 + 1 * AiPower Charging Ports 2,4A + 1 * Ethernet ) USB Hub 3.0 Ethernet for Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 10 , Mac OS , Linux 3.0,"

Or "Aluminium USB 3.0 7 Port Hub 5Gbps High Speed Data Cable Power Adapter"

Thanks

A

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), Mac OS X (10.7.3), null

Posted on Feb 1, 2017 9:44 AM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

156,698 points

Mar 12, 2017 3:43 PM in response to Pebblet

I don't know about a dual drive configuration, though it is certainly possible to do that I prefer simplicity. An external drive in a Thunderbolt enclosure will be about as fast as the internal hard disk drive.

It's very easy to determine if your Mac's performance is being limited by available memory. Please read Use Activity Monitor on your Mac - Apple Support. If the "Memory Pressure" graph is frequently "red" your Mac will benefit from additional memory. If not, it won't.

To install additional memory refer to Memory Upgrade Instructions in the  (Apple) menu > About This Mac > Memory.

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Answer 2

Pebblet Author

Level 1

25 points

Mar 12, 2017 6:08 AM in response to Pebblet

Hi John

I'm looking for expert advice again! I need an ext hard drive but will go powered (Thunderbolt I believe is the way to go). However I've more queries!

I've also been recommended dual-drive - I'm not familiar with anything other than just a hard drive! What do you do with a dual-drive?

I'm still waiting on the shop to change the internal RAM - they've agreed to courier a replacement for a week & take ours and swap the RAM for the correct 1333s, (and hoping they'll put in 32Gb while they're at it), but are dragging their heels now.

Just tried to make a Powerpoint which I hadn't done in ages, and it's so slow the whole thing freezes, so I can't! The new RAM will cure that?

Thanks for all your help so far.

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Answer 3

dot.com

Level 4

2,455 points

Mar 12, 2017 3:54 PM in response to Pebblet

In the typical dual-drive setup on a laptop you give up the internal DVD drive and substitute a SSD or another hard drive. Depending on what you do or need this can be helpful or not.

To install the second drive (either SSD or Fusion or normal spinning disk) you need a special adapter to fit in the DVD drive location and that will let you mount the SSD or disk to it. You can get these adapters from places like Fry's Electronics or from Amazon or Ebay. Make sure that you know exactly which MacBook/Laptop model you have so that you know which one to get.

I dd this on a MacBook Pro and put a SSD in the place of the DVD and made it my boot volume and make the original internal disk my /Users volume, but how you lay things out is completely up to you and how well you can deal with non-standard setups like this.

Don't forget that this will make reading DVD's or CD's only possible if you have an external DVD type drive.

Good luck...

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Answer 4

John Galt

Level 10

156,698 points

Feb 1, 2017 2:03 PM in response to Pebblet

USB hubs are generic. Any powered hub should work. Unpowered hubs will work as long as all their connected devices do not draw more power than what the iMac can supply to that one USB port.

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