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Desktops (Apple) Hardware Technology

M4 Mac Mini Likely To Lose Support For USB-A, Keep Internal Power Supply (9to5mac.com) 116

Posted by BeauHD from the what-to-expect dept.
According to Mark Gurman, Apple's upcoming M4 Mac mini will undergo a major redesign, dropping USB-A ports entirely in favor of five USB-C ports. The new design will also feature front ports for the first time, an internal power supply, and retain Ethernet, HDMI, and the headphone jack.

"As I've been reporting for several months now, the Mac is in for a big transition to M4 chips -- starting around the end of this year and extending into the first half or so of 2025," writes Gurman in a newsletter for Bloomberg. "Apple plans to kick things off soon with a new Mac mini, iMac and MacBook Pro. Of those models, the Mac mini will get the most dramatic new design, its first major overhaul since 2010. Just to put that in perspective: The last time there was a Mac mini redesign, preorders of the iPhone 4 had just began."

M4 Mac Mini Likely To Lose Support For USB-A, Keep Internal Power Supply More | Reply

M4 Mac Mini Likely To Lose Support For USB-A, Keep Internal Power Supply

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  • It is Time (Score:4, Insightful)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2024 @05:46PM (#64759860)

    Personally I have no issue with dropping USB-A at this point, finding a large majority of things I encounter now have USB-C already anyway (including some cars!)

    I am really happy they kept internal power supply, it's part of what makes the mini such a nice form-factor.

    • Almost all the good keyboards and mice are A. Then again Apple users don't usually care about that :)

      Anyway got loads of USB A stuff around that works well enough that it isn't worth replacing. In other words not obsolete. But not replacing working stuff isn't really the apple way either.

      • Re:It is Time (Score:5, Informative)

        by taustin ( 171655 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2024 @06:57PM (#64760038) Homepage Journal

        Almost all the good keyboards and mice are A.

        Adapters are about $3 each on Amazon.

        • The future of Apple:

          https://imgur.com/a/eu7YhJV [imgur.com]

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          At this point a USB hub is pretty much mandatory on a lot of machines, especially laptops. They just don't have enough USB ports. It's fine as long as you account for that in terms of desk space, weight you have to carry when travelling etc.

          It's laptops that are the real pain in the dongle. I want one USB A port because I have a lot of USB A gear and little desire to carry adapters and extra cables.

        • Yep, I know you can get a bunch of dongles and dongles and more dongles. It's just crappy. There's plenty of room. I'm not disputing that it's possible to get it all working, just like it was possible to use those crappy Apple laptops with no HDMI ports. I know: I had one for work. But it was still crappy.

          Not like majorly crappy, just low grade crappyness. Perfect for a premium product!

      • Good News: If your "good keyboard" doesn't have a hard-wired cable on it, you can easily find USB-C to USB-B cables for under $10.

        If your "good keyboard" has a hard-wired cable on it, A. it might not be as good as you think it is; and B. you can get an even cheaper adapter.

        If you're buying a "good" keyboard for $100+, I have a feeling you aren't going to care about the $3 adapter you need. Or, if you do, then you have some seriously interesting hang-ups about technology.

        • Re:It is Time (Score:5, Funny)

          by bill_mcgonigle ( 4333 ) * on Tuesday September 03, 2024 @10:45PM (#64760396) Homepage Journal

          But I type at 5Gbps!

        • The USB-B connector is the square-shaped one that looks like a dog house. Typically only found on printers and older external hard drives.

          https://ifi-audio.com/usb-conn... [ifi-audio.com]

        • If your "good keyboard" has a hard-wired cable on it, A. it might not be as good as you think it is

          It does and yes it is. This is a very Apple kind of attitude. Steve Jobs summed it up best: you're holding it wrong. To which I raise my RSI ridden middle finger at you. Drop the snobbery. I know my needs better than Apple does, thanks very much.

          I have a feeling you aren't going to care about the $3 adapter you need.

          What I love about having a nice sleek machine is a bunch of shitty, wobbly dongles hanging off

          • What I love about having a nice sleek machine is a bunch of shitty, wobbly dongles hanging off it. Really adds to the look and feel. And convenience! Oh also bonus points if they put the C ports so close that you can't get two dongled A plugs in side by side.

            They sell adapters/dongles that add a 3-4 inches of cable to the end that eliminate the problem of plugging them in side by side, and largely eliminate the look of a dongle handing off (rather than having them stacked right at the computer they're offset and basically become a little bulge in the cable towards the end.

          • If your "good keyboard" has a hard-wired cable on it, A. it might not be as good as you think it is

            It does and yes it is. This is a very Apple kind of attitude. Steve Jobs summed it up best: you're holding it wrong. To which I raise my RSI ridden middle finger at you. Drop the snobbery. I know my needs better than Apple does, thanks very much.

            I have a feeling you aren't going to care about the $3 adapter you need.

            What I love about having a nice sleek machine is a bunch of shitty, wobbly dongles hanging off it. Really adds to the look and feel. And convenience! Oh also bonus points if they put the C ports so close that you can't get two dongled A plugs in side by side.

            Yes, you can technically get away with not having USB type A ports. But doing so, when there is plenty of A stuff out there and none of it is disappearing fast, is just Apple wankery. The sort that's usually praised by Apple fans. It's not like there isn't room for a few A ports as well. And it's a "premium" machine.

            I remember when Apple were praised for their bravery and Genius (tm) for dropping everything except USB C, then praised again when in their Genius (tm) they put HDMI ports back into their (now weirdly ugly) laptops.

            I'm not into needless waste, frankly. I have a mix of new hardware and old. I'm definitely running hardware so old it would be a very long time out of OS support from Apple because, well, there just hasn't been a pressing need to upgrade. And if you're not in Apple land you can get very long support windows on the software side these days. Heh also being in not Apple land it also has a reasonable amount of RAM...

            I also have new stuff too. I just don't like waste and fucking around, really.

            I'm sure you still pine for that laptop with the DB-25 serial and 34 pin Centronics Parallel Port, too.

            Psst! It's not a Sea of Dongles. It's One USB-C/TB Cable snaking out of the way to a Dock with the Port-Complement that works for YOU. That's the beauty of it. Instead of having your Laptop tied down like Gulliver with 5 different cables going to it, you have a blessedly-clutter-free work area around your Laptop.

            Plus, when some malfunctioning Peripheral torches that Legacy Port on that Dock, oh, well; you

            • I'm sure you still pine for that laptop with the DB-25 serial and 34 pin Centronics Parallel Port, too.

              BuT yOu'Re HoLdInG iT wRoNg!1!1!1!

              No, no I'm not. I have a usb A to DB-25 adapter. Oh huh another USB-A piece of kit I hadn't even thought about until you brought it up!

              Fact is, there's a lot of USB-A kit out there which is perfectly fine, and it's still being manufactured in quantity, unlike the printer straw man you are desperately trying to construct.

              Psst! It's not a Sea of Dongles. It's One USB-C/TB Ca

      • Almost all the good keyboards and mice are bluetooth.

        FTFY. A Mac user is not going to soil his workplace with a cable and an off-brand keyboard. And those wireless keyboards which charge over USB don't care what connector the other end of the cable you plug in has.

        • Re: It is Time (Score:4, Informative)

          by Larsrc ( 1285062 ) on Wednesday September 04, 2024 @04:01AM (#64760744)

          Mac user here, using a wired mouse and a wired off-brand keyboard. Wires are just more reliable, even if they are less aesthetically pleasing. Not all Mac users are latte-sipping minimalist types.

        • A Mac user is not going to soil his workplace with a cable and an off-brand keyboard.

          Precisely. In mac land, form beats function, doubly said if the function is old. Back in the world of PCs, I'm stuck on old PS2 and USB keyboards because al the usual fuckers have discontinued the good ergo keyboards. Microsoft used to make decent ones, unfortunately they absolutely ass-fucked their last ergo keyboard before cancelling it entirely.

          Oh also the wireless logi one I have has a tiny low profile USB A wireless do

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by flink ( 18449 )

          I use a wired mechanical keyboard with my MacBook. The entire backend development team uses them here. It's nice to have a unix env locally when you are targeting Linux on docker as a deployment environment.

        • I am the tech at a school. No way am I making entire labs of Bluetooth mice and keyboards. First off is cost, not to mention their ability to walk off easily. I'd rather have a $5 wired mouse walk off than a $30 Bluetooth one. I'd hate to have to manage a single lab of Bluetooth devices.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dgatwood ( 11270 )

          A Mac user is not going to soil his workplace with a cable and an off-brand keyboard.

          If the Mac Mini came with a keyboard and mouse, you'd be right, but it doesn't. And if you're buying a Mini, you're deliberately buying the cheapest piece of hardware that can still call itself a Mac. So, given that you're likely talking about the most thrifty Mac users out there:

          • How many of those users do you think are actually going to spring for the $199 Apple wireless extended keyboard with Touch ID or even the non-Touch-ID version for $129 when they can buy an Amazon Basics USB wired keyboard for $1

        • All the good ergonomic mice use BlueTooth. I have a MacBook and use a vertical Logitech mouse. I also have to schleppt my laptop to client meetings sometimes and for that I have the little flat Apple mouse. There is no way I carry a wired thing around for that and I don’t think working on a laptop trackpad directly.

    • I have nothing that came with USB-C by default, except, except the laptop docking station. No headphones, no mice, no keyboards, no external drives, no phones, etc. My work laptop that is only USB-C came with an adaptor for HDMI and USB-A. Having to buy an adapter separately, even if cheap, is a drawback.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jythie ( 914043 )
        Which gets into the tradoff. No matter what ports you put on the thing, someone is gonna have to use adapters based off what they already have laying around.

        • Which gets into the tradoff. No matter what ports you put on the thing, someone is gonna have to use adapters based off what they already have laying around.

          Pre-Fucking-CISELY!!!

      • I have nothing that came with USB-C by default, except, except the laptop docking station. No headphones, no mice, no keyboards, no external drives, no phones, etc. My work laptop that is only USB-C came with an adaptor for HDMI and USB-A. Having to buy an adapter separately, even if cheap, is a drawback.

        So we can never have nice things; because we must forever appease those who refuse to use the available solutions to allow their cruft to work with The New Hotness.

        That's about it, right?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rossdee ( 243626 )

      "(including some cars!)"

      About the last thing I would consider connecting to a desktop computer is a car.

    • one less port with that

    • I don't really care anything Mac, but there's an important question: Does it have a headphone jack ?

      • I don't really care anything Mac, but there's an important question: Does it have a headphone jack ?

        Every Mac has at least 3.5 mm Stereo Output Jack. I just wish they still used the cool 3.5 mm In/Out/Optical Out jack; but I digress. . .

    • USB-A is nice because it's simple. Many little useful things don't need the power and complexity of USB-C. I use all my USB-A pets on my recent Mac mini. But it's par for the Apple course to deprecate things early.

      • USB-A is nice because it's simple. Many little useful things don't need the power and complexity of USB-C. I use all my USB-A pets on my recent Mac mini. But it's par for the Apple course to deprecate things early.

        Right.

        We'd all be chanting N-8-1, IRQ4, if we waited for when you were ready!

      • USB-A is nice because it's simple.

        I have always felt USB-A was not as simple as USB-C from a user standpoint, because it can only go in one direction and often you get it wrong at least twice before you get it right.

        That's why I always preferred Lightning in the past, but I'm fine with USB-C or Lightning from a user standpoint (though I still think Lightning is a more durable connector, but close enough I guess).

    • a large majority of things I encounter have USB-C except motherboards and computer peripherals, strangely enough
    • An internal power supply isn't a winning idea. It's one of the failure-prone parts and, with modern CPUs, probably the second or third largest heat source in the unit.

      • An internal power supply isn't a winning idea. It's one of the failure-prone parts and, with modern CPUs, probably the second or third largest heat source in the unit.

        And so far, has been a fairly easily-replacable Subassembly in the Mac mini.

        • It is easily replaceable by someone with suitable technical skills. Any idiot can figure out how to buy a new power brick.

          • It is easily replaceable by someone with suitable technical skills. Any idiot can figure out how to buy a new power brick.

            This is on the order of "Watch the video twice; get out the screwdrivers. . ."

            • Yeah, that's pretty much beyond the technical ability of most users, especially Apple products. Stop living in a bubble.

              • Yeah, that's pretty much beyond the technical ability of most users, especially Apple products. Stop living in a bubble.

                Bullshit.

                I know you would like to believe otherwise; but Apple Users exist on the same Experience and Expertise Continuum as Users of all other Compute Platforms.

                It long past time for that meme to die.

  • Minor Update (Score:5, Informative)

    by crow ( 16139 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2024 @05:51PM (#64759866) Homepage Journal

    This is really a minor update. Apple dropped USB A from the iMac a while ago, so this is a rather obvious next step. It makes it easier to add more ports in the same space, and dongles are cheap. It's really just a filler story because they figured they needed a story on every new Apple product, so they highlighted the biggest change, which wasn't that big.

    So the real news is that Apple is updating the Mac Mini with a M4 chip and making some other tweaks at the same time. Anyone about to buy one should be happy with the update.

    • "and dongles are cheap" unless it's a 3.5 speaker port and then it's a fucking outrage.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by taustin ( 171655 )

        Amazon does not appear to agree with you. [amazon.com]

        (There are several that also have a USB C jack on them, so you can daisy chain other devices in while using your archaic speakers. Nothing in the first page was over $20, most were under $10, and a few were under $5.)

        • He wasn't specifically talking about the cost. He was mocking all the people around here that just can't be bothered to buy a $5 adapter that they can just leave on the end of their headphone cable. The outrage!

          • How many adapters? I have 3 different headphones with jacks. The one I used to use with my phone (now I have nothing, not even bluetooth, I do need to get an adapter but haven't made the trip to the store to see what they have); then the one that's in my laptop case for the times I need want to use it in an airport or hotel with laptop or ipad (both luckily have jacks); then the extra one on my home desk because its sound is better than the built in laptop mike.

            It's just like that time everyone says "get

          • He wasn't specifically talking about the cost. He was mocking all the people around here that just can't be bothered to buy a $5 adapter that they can just leave on the end of their headphone cable. The outrage!

            Just wrap a layer of tape across the connection, and it just becomes part of the cable!

            I've been saying it since the iPhone 8 dropped the headphone jack.

      • unless it's a 3.5 speaker port and then it's a fucking outrage

        Probably because a mobile device meant to be carried in your pocket with only one port is quite a different thing to a desktop computer meant to be used in one location with multiple ports. You're definitely going to have to pay for more than a simple DAC dongle if you want to be able to charge your device and use headphones at the same time, and you'll have to be willing to carry around something bulkier.

      • Canâ(TM)t you use the $10 dongle, designed for the iPhone? It is just an ADC and a DAC in one package?

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        unless it's a 3.5 speaker port and then it's a fucking outrage.

        Apple is keeping the headphone jack. It's right there in the summary.

    • There's plenty of space on the Mac Mini for lots more ports. However, there's always more room needed in Apple's quarterly earnings.

      • There's plenty of space on the Mac Mini for lots more ports. However, there's always more room needed in Apple's quarterly earnings.

        If it has at least 4 TB/USB-C Ports, an HDMI Port, and a Headphone Jack, that will cover 99.9997% of All Users, given the breadth of inexpensive Docks.

        • Forcing your users to buy a hub or docking station for a desktop computer which could easily and affordably provide ports for the plethora of devices that still use them is the adult equivalent of a product marked "batteries sold separately". It's an incomplete product that requires me to buy other shit just to provide the most basic functionality.

          • Forcing your users to buy a hub or docking station for a desktop computer which could easily and affordably provide ports for the plethora of devices that still use them is the adult equivalent of a product marked "batteries sold separately". It's an incomplete product that requires me to buy other shit just to provide the most basic functionality.

            Blow me.

            Time marches on; deal with it!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tom ( 822 )

      So the real news is that Apple is updating the Mac Mini with a M4 chip and making some other tweaks at the same time. Anyone about to buy one should be happy with the update.

      This.

      I'm in that group. I was considering an M3 Mac Mini but wasn't sure. I'm exactly on the edge between Mini and Studio. An M4 Mini probably seals the deal on that option.

      • Yes, everyone should just accept whatever Apple releases, regardless of its shortcomings, because the processor inside has a higher number.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Tom ( 822 )

          The number is an indicator. The jump from M2 to M3 was substantial enough that I was more than glad that I waited with my MacBook Pro until they released the M3 version. For my desktop machine, I'd like a bit more power. From what I know so far, the M4 will deliver that.

          I don't care if it's called M4 or Jimmy. The point is that in the current generation a Mini is just a bit too low for me and a Studio is too high and too expensive. If the future Mini fills that gap, it's exactly the machine I want.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 )

      Apple dropped USB A from the iMac a while ago, so this is a rather obvious next step.

      The iMac also comes with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, so you don't constantly need a USB A port. I mean, you can buy USB-C keyboards if you look hard enough, but approximately nobody owns one, so approximately 100% of these things will end up with USB-C to USB-A adapters attached to two ports — one for the keyboard and one for the mouse.

      It makes it easier to add more ports in the same space ...

      In a laptop, yes, because height is a concern. But in a desktop, the opposite is true. There are companies that make dual-port and even triple-port USB-A connect

  • WAHHH! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    M4 Mac Mini Likely To Lose Support For USB-A

    A small selection of responses that headline is likely to generate:

    1) WAHHH! I will be bankrupted by the price of replacing my USB-A cables!!!

    2) I would rather die than use an Apple product but if I was an Apple hipster Apple would have to pry my iconic USB-A cable out of my cold dead hands?

    3) MURDER!!!

    4) Thank goodness PC makers will never do tha ... oh, wait, ... never mind.

  • It's 2024 and if I'm dropping $800+ on a computer I expect there to be 16 gigs of RAM in there. It would also help if they didn't gimp the SSD performance. And put some decent cooling in there. It's a desktop PC it's okay if it makes a tiny bit of noise.

    • I'm throughly convinced the only reason Apple even still keeps their personal computer lines around is so they have a development platform for their iOS devices. Apple is basically a mobile device and media company that still sells computers out of tradition.

      • That's really not true at all. Apple is just smart and has diversified their product line. Mac sales make up about 10% of their revenue. That still makes them the 4th largest computer manufacturer in the world, behind Levono, HP, and Dell, but ahead of Asus and Acer.

        It puts them in a much better spot in case of issues like Firefox is about to face. More than 4/5 of their revenue comes from charging Google to be their default search engine and the courts have just ruled against such. While Apple will lose bi

      • They're converging and iPad can be a bit like a Mac now.

        A full Mac Mode was Jobs's goal but he insisted on wireless displays.

        At the time Intel was hyping a 60GHz display interface - we stopped hearing about that.

      • You're selling about 300 to $400 worth of hardware for somewhere between 800 and $2,000. It's free money.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by gtall ( 79522 )

          No, they are selling the software as well so that it isn't as screwy as MS-Crapware or whatever passes as gui software for Linux.

      • No, they do it to have a complete ecosystem. Their services are made to work well with each other and so-so with everything else, to encourage buying all their stuff.

  • so is HDMI. Sleep crashes the Macs regularly. I originally thought it was my MacBook but it affects 3 systems and the forums are full of people complaining but no response from Apple.

    • The problem might not be the external connected devices - it might be the machine itself.

      We had a Mac Studio that would kernel panic every 48 hours or so. Apple support told us to disconnect everything (3 screens, USB-C and HDMI, lots of little peripherals) - crashes continued.

      Pre-Apple-Silicon, I believed kernel panics were almost always hardware, memory in particular. It took Apple support months to admit that - I had to go buy another Studio, swap it in, and watch the panics go away before they agreed

  • Get a Hub (Score:5, Insightful)

    by GotNoRice ( 7207988 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2024 @06:00PM (#64759900)
    Not a big deal at all. Just get a USB-C hub that has some USB-A ports on it, and keep it in the same bag with all of your other dongles that have replaced all of the ports that Apple has removed over the years. Perhaps even a mini docking-station that combines some of the functionality of the various dongles.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      Not a big deal at all. Just get a USB-C hub that has some USB-A ports on it, and keep it in the same bag with all of your other dongles that have replaced all of the ports that Apple has removed over the years. Perhaps even a mini docking-station that combines some of the functionality of the various dongles.

      Of all the things that break regularly, dongles are amongst the most often. Oh, what do I hear you say... I should keep spare dongles?

      I think I'll just keep not buying Apple, you get better product for half the price and my USB keyboard and mouse just plug straight in.

      Apple is done, the hypetrain derailed several years ago somewhere between Noshitsville and Fuckery Airport Parkway. I remember a time where ./ would be filled with every single rumour leading up to every single announcement, now we bar

  • Is there actually any USB-A devices out there that can't be connected with a passive adapter? can we have a new term for where everything is still supported but you need to carry around a $2 adapter.

    • well even an ADB to USB adapter is not terribly expensive. The ones made in low volumes by the cottage industry of retrocomputing are around $30.

      Anything supports everything if you have a sufficiently flexible interface and a community dedicated to keeping it alive.

      • Re:Does it really count as losing support? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by crow ( 16139 ) on Tuesday September 03, 2024 @07:03PM (#64760048) Homepage Journal

        What seems to be really dead is SCSI.

        You used to be able to get USB SCSI adapters. Now if you search on that, you'll see that in the descriptions, but if you read the details, it's really a SATA or Centronics printer port, not SCSI.

        I have a USB SCSI adapter that I use with my ancient Epson flatbed scanner, but it's slower than when I used it with an ISA SCSI card (yes, it's that old). The USB adapter is USB 1. I don't know if they ever made a USB 2 or newer version that would be plenty fast. Fortunately I don't do much scanning.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Bert64 ( 520050 )

          This.
          I had a need to restore some data from a bunch of old scsi drives recently, and didn't have an easy way to interface it to a newer machine. In the end i had to use an old tower box with pci slots and copy data over ethernet to a nas.

        • Yea. what happened was a lot of the working SCSI to USB adapters were done as a microcontroller with an 8-bit SCSI chipset (NCR 5380) hanging off it. Once the inventory for those chips ran low. People quit making them.

          The alternatives are to bitbang the interface with a microcontroller, takes about 20 signal pins for 8-bit SCSI. Or to do some of the wider SCSI it will take either a custom ASIC, a very flexible I/O controller, or an FPGA. With the latter being a pain because you'd need level shifters since

  • At least you'll know they are blessed by the spirit of Steve.
    • Well you dont want to void your warrenty by using thrid party cables.

      • I was about to generate a snark, but thrid is a real word, or was.

        Verb - (archaic) simple past tense of thread (third-person singular simple present thrids, present participle thridding, simple past and past participle thridded); (archaic) To pass through in the manner of a thread or a needle; to make or find a course through; to thread; (archaic) To make or effect (a way or course) ...

        Who knows, you might be into bardcore. :-)

  • The current Mini has a 32G RAM ceiling which counts it out for me as a contender as my new App development desktop machine.
    I work from home and don't travel except annual vacation. So dont need a laptop other than the M2 Air my wife uses.
    My current machine has 40G of RAM in it (iMac 27") and it struggles running Xcode and Android Studio at the same time.
    An extra 50% RAM would fix that. I like being able to flick between them.
    With the lower limit of RAM being raised to 16G I'm hoping that the ceiling gets ra

  • ...for the USB external adaptor dongle industry!
  • It's the future of ports, after all

    • The best standard doesn't always survive. Even though some companies try cpr on it long after they should have given up.

      • The Genius at the bar upon seeing the firewire port on my original mini:

        "What the fuck is this?"
        "It's a firewire port"
        "What the fuck is a firefly port?"
        "Apple's proprietary data transfer port"
        "Apple's???"

        *he then shoots a look to his fellow genius that says 'this guy is obviously a complete crackpot'*

        I think the mini was five years old at this point

      • ... when it was introduced, because it reduced the load on the CPU.

        And then CPUs got 500 times as fast, and that load reduction became irrelevant.

  • I have a few usb-a devices, but none too speed critical. So I have a MacBook Pro, one USB-C to 4xUSB-C hub, and one USB-C to 4xUSB-A hub, plugged into the first hub. Later I found a USB-C to 3xUSB-C + 4xUSB-A hub. Glued to the back of the monitor, so problem solved and everything is nicely hidden away.
  • My Dell Precision has no USB-A (nor Ethernet). IIRC it has one USB-C 3.2 and two TB4 (usb type-c). So you need a hub or adapter to plug good old USB-A like webcam, headset, keyboard, mouse, USB3 external SSD, usbkey, etc. And gigabit ethernet too. At least it has one HDMI port, and my hub has one too (4K@60).

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