The $25 Must-Have Accessory for Every MacBook Air & MacBook Neo Owner
If you’re a MacBook Air or MacBook Neo owner, there’s one accessory that I consider an absolute must-have; a USB-C hub. Why? Because it considerably expands the port options available to you, it’s not cumbersome, and the good news is that they’re also pretty cheap at around $25. What’s not to like?
A good USB-C hub will expand your port options beyond what the MacBook offers by default, and my particular MacBook Air USB-C hub of choice is the Anker 7-in-1, which includes an HDMI port, two USB-A 3.0 ports, a USB-C data port, a USB-C charging port, an SD card slot, and a MicroSD / TF card slot. It’s simple, affordable, and lightweight, making it a fantastic accessory.
- Grab the Anker 7-in-1 USB-C hub for $26 over at Amazon
Arguably the biggest downside to the MacBook Air or the MacBook Neo is its lack of ports for accessories and expansions, with both computers having just two USB-C hardware ports and a headphone jack. And for the MacBook Neo and older MacBook Air models, one of the USB-C ports is typically used for charging, which further reduces your available port options. But what if you want to use an external display? What if you want to connect your MacBook to a TV via HDMI to watch videos? What if you have some older USB-A hardware or flash drives laying about that you want to put to use? What if you have some SD cards or a TF card that you want to use with the Mac? By default, you won’t have those options, but with the addition of the simple and cheap USB-C hub, you will have those capabilities available to you right away.
There are many other USB-C hub options out there, but I personally like the Anker because it’s small and lightweight so I can easily throw it in my laptop bag when I’m on the go, plus it’s very affordable. It’s also from a popular brand, which helps to have thousands of positive reviews behind it, and while our intended purpose is for a Mac, it also works on a PC if you need to use it elsewhere.
Personally I wish Apple made a USB-C of their own like this, I think it would be a big hit. But while they don’t offer a 7-in-1 hub like Anker does, they do have the $70 Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter, but that only has one USB-A port, one HDMI port, and a USB-C power passthrough port, so it’s not much of an expansion in comparison, and it’s also nearly 3x the price of the Anker.
Do you use a USB-C hub to expand the port options for your MacBook Air or MacBook Neo? Do you have a preferred model? Are there any accessories that you consider must-haves for your Mac laptop? Share your thoughts and hardware in the comments.
I have been using one of these on my iPhone for quite a while now.
Hub, yes, but I got a hub with a built in NVME enclosure, thus getting round the ridiculously small storage on the entry-level MacBook Air. 2TB storage for music, video etc and more than fast enough, and cheaper than an upgrade to 512G
Something like this should be bundled with every MacBook purchase. If Apple is doing away with useful ports, it’s the least they can do.
Actually got an Anker a few months ago:
Anker USB-C Hub for MacBook, 7-in-2 Mac Dock with 4K@60Hz HDMI
recently and have been happy with it. This was based on reviews similar to yours.
I have a similar USB hub and I agree it is necessary. I think Apple should make a version of this USB dongle and include it in the box with every new MacBook purchase. It peeves me that they took away so many ports and now we have to use adapters and dongles instead. They did fix this a bit on the new MacBook Pro which has ports again, but not everyone wants to spend $3000 just to get some port options.
Every time I see one of these articles about ports, I flash back to the good old days.
SCSI chains.
No? Doesn’t ring a bell? 1/2″ cables with connectors the size of two AA batteries in series, and bigger? Maximum of 7 daisy-chained devices? Inevitable conflicts related to device order? Remote drives that refuse to mount?
And none of that new-fangled hot swapping, either!
250MB external drives priced at $800? I was so happy to get my hands on a 10MB device called HyperDrive – that plugged into one of Apple’s serial ports. But it had 10MB, and was only $950!
Those were the days, my friends. So. No more whinging while sorting out USB-C cable speeds, m’kay? 😂😂😂
Computing these days is such a lovely thing. No Chooser. Nor MultiFinder. Dead simple networking. And internet!
I bought an Anker USB-C hub when I bought my 2019 MacBook Pro that only had USB-C ports. It was a great accessory. Since I upgraded to a 2023 MacBook Pro with MagSafe and HDMI ports, I don’t use it as much. It’s still convenient when I want to connect and disconnect multiple devices at a time.