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Apple released macOS Monterey to all users worldwide earlier this week. Now there are increasing reports that USB hubs are suffering from connection problems.
Some Mac users who have upgraded to macOS Monterey are having problems connecting USB hubs and other USB-based devices to their Mac devices. Reports are documented on Reddit, Apple's developer forum, and Apple's support communities. In some cases, users report that the USB 3.0 ports on their hub have stopped working since upgrading to Monterey, while HDMI, USB-C, and other hub ports continue to work as expected. However, there are also reports that the USB hubs no longer work at all. Some of the issues even affect Apple-certified hubs. writes for example, Reddit user Flyersny81:
My USB-C hub is having issues with the update. The HDMI port connected to my second screen works on the hub but none of the USB3 ports work at all. I've tried different C ports on the MacMini and different hubs (I have 4). I also reproduced this issue on my M1 MacBook Air after updating to Monterey. Here is the hub I use. These hubs worked perfectly in Big Sur. After a phone call with Apple support, they advised me to use an Apple certified hub. I used this one I still had in my bag and both the HDMI and USB3 ports worked. I tried connecting the Amazon hub to the Apple hub but that didn't work either. Support told me that many people have complained about this issue and that hopefully it will be fixed with the next patch.
macOS Monterey: The problem is not new
In other cases, the USB hubs work except for the power delivery port. Interestingly, most of the reports come from owners of M1-powered Macs. But there are also many complaints from Intel Mac users. This is not new, however. There were already various reports of USB problems during the beta phase of macOS Monterey. This seems to be an old bug that Apple has apparently not yet patched. So if you haven't updated to macOS Monterey yet and are dependent on a USB hub, you should be patient. A patch should be released soon, given the number of complaints. (Photo by volodymyrshtun / Bigstockphoto)
