It also has two USB-A ports (with 15W of shared power output), HDMI, and an SD card reader.
It’s the same selection (albeit with USB 3.1 instead of 3.0), but hey, this style makes the iPad Pro look like some sort of sci-fi computer. (There’s a spacer that magnetically hooks onto the hub’s interior if you need to use it with the iPad by itself.) The oddball design doesn’t net you any extra ports compared to the HyperDrive. A permanently affixed USB-C cable plugs into your iPad and powers the hub, which is designed to be used with or without Apple’s Smart Keyboard Folio. (Based on the comments, I’d stay away from that campaign.)Īnyway, I take great joy in how out-there this thing is, even if a USB plug coming out of the top will never look anything but utterly ridiculous. But it seems like this is a situation where Kanex is just stamping its name on a Chinese design that others are also using: the same product is on Kickstarter here as the BoltHub. The one I tested was from Kanex, and it’s being sold exclusively through B&H in the US. More recently, a funkier option has come along: a USB-C hub that wraps around one of the iPad Pro’s corners. If the iPad Pro is your only computer, a latch-on hub might make sense If you don’t have a screen protector on your iPad, there’s nothing to worry about. USB-C is reversible, yes, but if you flip this bare-bones hub around, the longer grip edge will create enough of a gap between your iPad Pro and Apple’s keyboard to prevent it from working. Note, however, that the unit I got from B&H lacks a second grip that’s compatible with screen protectors, which came bundled with the version Kickstarter backers received. The Sanho HyperDrive offers six ports in a slim design that attaches directly to the iPad Pro. Attached to the aluminum hub is a grip that distributes the weight across more of your iPad to prevent strain on the USB-C port. I tried out the HyperDrive 6-in-1 iPad Pro USB-C hub, which began as a Kickstarter but is now available at retailers like Amazon and B&H. Most of these range between $90 and $100. That’s a nice little assortment in a package that fits securely against the iPad Pro. The two I tested include USB-C (for both data and pass-through charging of the iPad), a USB-A 3.0 port, microSD, SD, HDMI, and a headphone jack.
You can even keep them attached full-time if your iPad Pro is mostly used on a desk.
If the iPad Pro is going to be your one and only computer, you might be drawn to USB-C hubs that are specifically designed to latch onto Apple’s flagship tablet. None of the products I tested had a badge on the box to indicate MFi / Made for iPad certification, but they all functioned (mostly) as expected.
Apple provides very little guidance on which hubs work the best with the 2018 iPad Pro all the company really says is that hubs and docks should both work over the USB-C connection. Thankfully, the jack-of-all-trades nature of USB-C means that you can use USB-C hubs to get those missing ports back - and then some. I ask: can any device be “pro” if it has just one lonely port? You get to use it for one thing at a time, be it charging, using the USB-C headphone adapter, or plugging in a range of dongles (and soon, mercifully, external hard drives). The iPad Pro’s single USB Type-C port is one of my main frustrations about an otherwise truly stellar piece of technology.