I have an early 2015 MacBook Pro with Retina Screen and USB type A ports. I'm trying to declutter (and come up with a way of easily switching my peripherals between my windows laptop and my Mac) and there are a plethora of USB-C hubs with HDMI out. Is it possible to use a USB-A Male to USB-C female adaptor to use this port for HDMI out on my machine?
I have a USB 3 type A docking station at work that outputs DVI and Display Port that I use with my Mac, so I'm aware that my laptop will output video over USB, but I've tried the above configuration and the laptop sees the hub as USB 2.0 and no display is detected.
TLDR;
Can I use a USB-C hub with a Type-A to Type-C adaptor to get HDMI from my Early 2015 MacBook Pro with no USB-C port?
It may be my flawed understanding, but I am under the impression that USB-C was just the type of connector and independent from the spec, so I don't know why this wouldn't work.
Best Answer
USB-C is indeed just a connector, and so a number of different standards can use it. HDMI output needs the Thunderbolt 3 standard to be delivered over the USB-C connectors, but your 2015 MacBook Pro doesn't and can't use that standard on its USB-A ports. A USB-A to USB-C adaptor will simply pass on the USB data.