Twelve South recently launched the StayGo, a portable USB-C hub that's designed to add additional ports to USB-C MacBooks and MacBook Pros. There are a lot of hubs out there on the market, but Twelve South is known for its high-quality Apple accessories, so I thought I'd take a closer look at the StayGo.

Design wise, the StayGo offers a simple but attractive design that's slim, portable, and easy to carry so it can go wherever you need it, but it's not quite as slim as some other USB-C hubs on the market.

staygodesigndots
The StayGo is made from a black aluminum material with a dot design on the front, and it measures in at about five inches by 2.5 inches and it's half an inch thick. There are four little rubber feet at the bottom so that it's stable and won't move when on a flat surface, and on the whole it's about as attractive as you can expect a USB hub to be.

staygosizeinhand
The rectangular shape of the StayGo houses multiple ports and a short built-in USB-C to USB-C cable so that you're never without a cord to use the StayGo with a Mac notebook. There's also a longer USB-C to USB-C cord included for when you need to position it further away from your Mac.

staygousbccables
The longer USB-C to USB-C cable is meant to provide users with a way to tidy up the cables on their desks while also providing additional ports, which it does successfully. The idea is to set it up away from where the Mac is, hiding most of the mess of the cords for a tidier workspace.

staygoports
The built-in cable is a unique feature that other USB-C hubs don't include, and I appreciated always having a USB-C to USB-C cable on hand. The cable comes all the way out of the StayGo using a little button on the cable that you can push up to expose it.

staygobuiltincable
There's a single USB-C port at the top of the StayGo next to the built-in cable, which can plug into a power source and supports passthrough charging up to 85W, enough to charge a 15-inch MacBook Pro using the power adapter that comes with your Mac if needed (a power adapter is not included). From an external power source, the hub supports up to 100W of power.

staygousbccable2
A second USB-C port on the side connects the StayGo to the MacBook Pro, and then there's a Gigabit Ethernet Port, a 4K HDMI port that can support a 4K display at 30Hz, three USB-A ports that provide power and support transfer speeds up to 5Gb/s. Two of the three ports offer 900mA power, while the third is a BC 1.2 port that supports up to 7.5W.

staygosdcards
At the bottom, there's an SD card slot and a micro SD card slot that work with the cards used in cameras, drones, and other devices. In testing, all of the ports on the StayGo worked as expected, and file transfer speeds were about as promised, though I did not test the HDMI port because I don't have a 4K monitor.

staygomacbookpro
It's worth noting that if you use a 4K display, the StayGo does not support 4K at 60Hz, plus it doesn't work with the faster UHS-II SD card specification, and it doesn't support faster USB 3.1 Gen 2 transfer speeds, so it may not be the best choice if you're looking for maximum performance. It is, however, a good all around hub for day-to-day usage when tops speeds aren't a priority or if you're not dealing with huge file sizes or a ton of file transfers.

Bottom Line

Twelve South's StayGo is more expensive than some other hubs on the market, but it has a greater number of available ports (most don't offer three USB-A ports), more port variety (Ethernet ports are rare), and it's flexible when it comes to usage because of the two cord lengths.

staygodesigndots2
If you're looking for a USB-C hub that's going to be reliable and that takes up minimal space, the StayGo is worth checking out. The StayGo isn't going to offer the speeds and versatility you're going to get with a Thunderbolt 3 hub, of course, but it's much more affordable than Thunderbolt 3 docks if you don't need the TB3 connectivity.

How to Buy

The StayGo from Twelve South can be purchased from the Twelve South website for $99.99.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Twelve South. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Twelve South provided MacRumors with a StayGo for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received.

Top Rated Comments

MarkAtl Avatar
46 months ago
I was thinking the same. Could be possibly heat management or simply an issue of not having enough space? I guess for many users portability is not a primary concern though so increasing the dock size could work.
It's a bandwidth issue. I bought the CalDigit dock last year and they offered a firmware "side grade" that gave you 60Hz @ 4K in exchange for USB 2 speeds while still keeping gigabit ethernet. Unfortunately unlike TB3 there's no way with USB-C to keep USB 3, 60Hz and gigabit all in one.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Soccertess Avatar
47 months ago
It’s a nice dock, shame it is even needed!! Would rather a MacBook with one USB-A and HDMI.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 15 Pro Mock Feature Buttonless

iPhone 15 Pro Max to 'Break Record' for Thinnest Bezels on a Smartphone

Friday March 17, 2023 2:59 am PDT by
The iPhone 15 Pro Max will have the thinnest bezels of any smartphone, beating the record currently held by the Xiaomi 13. That's according to the leaker known as "Ice Universe," who has divulged accurate information about Apple's plans in the past. Both iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to have thinner, curved bezels compared to the iPhone 14 Pro, potentially resulting in an Apple...
iPhone 12 Pro vs iPhone 15 Pro Feature

iPhone 12 Pro vs. 15 Pro: New Features to Expect if You've Waited to Upgrade

Friday March 17, 2023 10:29 am PDT by
While year-over-year iPhone upgrades are not always groundbreaking, new features can begin to stack up over multiple generations. For example, the iPhone 15 Pro will be a notable upgrade for those who still have a three-year-old iPhone 12 Pro. If you are still using an iPhone 12 Pro and are considering upgrading to the iPhone 15 Pro when it launches later this year, we have put together a...
iphone 14 pro max deep purple feature purple

iPhone 15 Pro Launching This Year With These 11 New Features

Monday March 13, 2023 6:47 am PDT by
While the iPhone 15 lineup is around six months away, there have already been plenty of rumors about the devices. Many new features and changes are expected for the iPhone 15 Pro models in particular, including a titanium frame and more. Below, we have recapped 11 features rumored for iPhone 15 Pro models that are not expected to be available on the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus:A17...
top stories 18mar2023

Top Stories: iPhone 15 Pro Pricing, New iOS 16.4 Beta, Siri vs. ChatGPT, and More

Saturday March 18, 2023 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's high-end iPhone models have started at $999 in the U.S. since they first launched back in 2017 with the iPhone X, but could this finally be the year that starting price sees an increase? This week also saw some more rumors about Apple's upcoming headset and the company's explorations in the booming AI industry as well as the release of a new round of beta updates, so read on for all...
iphone 14 pro max deep purple feature purple

iPhone 15 Pro Predicted to See First Price Increase Since iPhone X

Wednesday March 15, 2023 7:49 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will likely be more expensive than previous Pro models, according to Jeff Pu, a tech analyst at Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities. In a research note this week, Pu predicted the iPhone 15 Pro models will see a price increase due to several rumored hardware upgrades, including a titanium frame,...
original iphone auction

Factory-Sealed Original iPhone Sells for $55,000 at Auction

Friday March 17, 2023 1:08 pm PDT by
A first-generation iPhone still sealed inside its box sold for $54,904 at auction, which is more than $54,000 over the original $599 price tag of the device when it was released in 2007. The original iPhone was put up for sale by RR Auction on behalf of a former Apple employee who purchased it back when it first came out. Back in February, an original, sealed iPhone sold for over $63,000,...