Satechi launches pair of 4K60 compatible USB-C Multimedia Adapters

AppleInsider

Satechi has released two new USB-C adapters-- one that features a multitude of multimedia solutions, and another designed to make multi-monitor setups a breeze.

Satechi's USB-C Multimedia Adapter

Satechi, the company that made one of our favorite smart outlets, is releasing its most powerful USB-C adapter to date. The Type-C Dual Multimedia adapter seeks to be an all-in-one solution for your desk setup.

The Type-C Multimedia Adapter features a patent-pending dual-connector design. This expands a computers two USB-C ports into multiple others, including a 4K HDMI port at 60Hz, a 4K HDMI port at 30Hz, which allow for a 4K display to be extended across two monitors. The plug-and-play adapter is compatible with the 2018/2019 MacBook Pro, 2018 MacBook Air, and 2018 MacMini.

There is also a USB-C PD charging port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and two USB 3.0 ports. The adapter also features a Micro/SD card reader, eliminating the need for a dedicated SD card reader.

For those who are looking to extend their dual display and don't need the additional features, there is a Type-C Dual HDMI Adapter. This adapter features the same dual-connector design, but boasts two HDMI ports at 60Hz and one additional USB-C charging port.

The Type-C Multimedia adapter is available in both Silver and Space Gray from Amazon for $109.99, and the HDMI-only extender is available from Amazon for $64.99 as well. Using the coupon code DUALDISPLAY will score you an additional 20% off.

palegolas

Can’t help but thinking it would be able to accomplish most of that on one port if they fully embraced Thunderbolt instead of USB-C? Is licensing an issue? I mean, with this design they’re basically locking compatibility with computers that have Thunderbolt anyways, no?

entropys

palegolas said:

Can’t help but thinking it would be able to accomplish most of that on one port if they fully embraced Thunderbolt instead of USB-C? Is licensing an issue? I mean, with this design they’re basically locking compatibility with computers that have Thunderbolt anyways, no?

That was my immediate thought too. All it would take would be a minor MacBook redesign and this product would also need to be redesigned. Why not just use TB3 and one port?

sflocal

I have zero clues what this dock gets you over a Thunderbolt3 dock.  

Mike Wuerthele

sflocal said:

I have zero clues what this dock gets you over a Thunderbolt3 dock.  

We're not excited about it either. Between that spacing between the USB-C prices being fixed, the combined 10gbit/second between the two ports, and the $110 price, there are full 40Gbit TB3 docks for not much more.

cygnus23

The Sonnet Thunderbolt 3 to Dual HDMI Adapter 4K 60Hz has been available for over a year and is $80. I have like 10 off them at work and they're great. Single TB3 port on the iMac Pro, In fact you can plug two of them in (one on each of the two Thunderbolt 3 buses) and have FOUR 4K60 outputs. Don't know what the specs are for a TB3 port on the lappys vs. the iMac Pro, but I can't imagine why it would be different. TB3 should be TB3. Now if you plug in anything else on a TB bus, you lose drop from 40Gb/sec to 20Gb/sec for display bandwidth and would not be able to support 2x 4k60 on one bus, as I understand it. I'm assuming any Mac laptop with two TB3 ports has one bus, and four TB3 ports is two busses. 

anome

entropys said:

palegolas said:

Can’t help but thinking it would be able to accomplish most of that on one port if they fully embraced Thunderbolt instead of USB-C? Is licensing an issue? I mean, with this design they’re basically locking compatibility with computers that have Thunderbolt anyways, no?

That was my immediate thought too. All it would take would be a minor MacBook redesign and this product would also need to be redesigned. Why not just use TB3 and one port?

Interesting thought. I now have two different models of the Sanho "Hyper" hubs that do support Thunderbolt 3, and they also use two ports. The earlier one only supported Thunderbolt and Power Delivery through the one pass through port, with an additional USB 3.1 Gen 2 port, plus HDMI, SD Card, USB A, etc. The later one supports TB3 through both of the USB-C ports, but one of them only supports PD at 60W. I'm not sure what problems restrictions there are for the bus that requires them to use two inputs, but it seems to be a common thing.