It seems like Apple has been having some issues with power delivery recently. It’s a large update, but it’s probably best to install it as soon as possible. For its part, Apple calls them “non-compliant powered USB-C hubs and docks” in the new update’s notes. Most of the issues seemed to come from using a third-party dock, and while some of them seem to be from pretty obscure brands, there are a few recognizable ones that are reported to have killed laptops. As with all polls, it’s best to take the results with a grain of salt, but there’s an indication that some people were experiencing issues. It’s unclear how widespread the issues are, but a poll on Reddit had 74 out of 221 respondents report that their M1 Air or Pro had failed after using a hub.
Apple is once again releasing an update to prevent a charging problem from killing MacBooks - this time it’s to fix a problem where 2019 and later MacBook Pros, and 2020 and later MacBook Airs were being damaged when connected to third-party USB-C hubs and docks ( via MacRumors).
