I realize there may not be much beyond “upgrade.” I have an older MacBook Pro (mid-2012) with two USB-A ports and two Thunderbolt (2) ports. I’m using a Dell D6000 dock that connects via USB-C (with an included USB-C to USB-A adapter).

The Mac seems to work with the dock—keyboard, mouse, etc. are all functional, and I can drive two external 1080p displays. However, the performance is poor: the mouse is laggy, window movement is jittery, and interactions generally feel choppy. My hunch is that the connection bandwidth available through the dock/adapter path isn’t sufficient.

Is there anything I can do to improve this setup? Or is the practical answer that I’m limited by older hardware and the USB-A bandwidth can’t handle what I’m asking? When I plug in a newer Windows laptop (USB-C), the exact same dock and setup works much better. I also have a work laptop from the last Intel-era Mac before Apple Silicon—performance is better, though it still doesn’t feel as fast as running directly on a native display. For my use (mostly browsers and code editors), DisplayLink is usually acceptable.

I’m mainly just trying to get as much life out of the 2012 machine as I can.

Last edited by steal a brainrot