U2725QE USB hub recognized as 2.0 when connected to MacBook Pro

Yes this setting is on the display itself. Click the joystick on the back, then toggle up for the full menu. Scroll down to the "Display" section and you'll find the MST option there.

Good luck! It didn't help for me, unfortunately.

[Edited by Moderator]

Just finished with Appler Senior Tech support and also with dell tech support, Appple MacOS doesnt support MST and I was advised to turned it back off.

Recap on my setup and issue:

• Macbook Pro M2 Max + 2 x U2725QE via Daisychain with thunderbolt 4 cables (supplied by dell)
• Hub is fickle and will connect as 2.0 or 3.2 depending on the connection or restart or power on sequence.
• My reosltuion, hertz, main deisplay were not being remembered and have seem to have stabilised by turning off MST on both monitors.

This is without a doubt a Dell issue. The hubs deep inside the DISPLAY are using this slow data rate, not anything inside your Mac. They are driven by Dell firmware.

[in my opinion] the Dell representative who suggested 'make sure your Mac is getting enough power' did not understand that the Ethernet adapter and the Hubs that drive it are ALL inside the DISPLAY, not inside your Mac.

The suggestion to check that your Mac is getting enough power reveals this lack of understanding (or lack of paying attention). This suggest to me that you need someone with a deeper understanding. You likely need a senior technician from Dell to review this.

The answer from any Apple official support you contact will likely be: "This hardware is inside a third-party device, is NOT running Apple software, and Apple does not provide Direct support for third-party hardware.

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Believe in yourself. You are on the right track. Be polite and professional, but insist that they treat your concerns seriously. Their response to date does not suggest they even listened or understood your concerns -- they assumed this was an Apple hardware malfunction.

Hi All

After dealing with Dell tech support that have told me its an Apple issue adn i need to raise with their support. I think i have multiple issues that steam from it being 2 x u2725qe via thunderbolt daisy chain. I will keep everyone updated once i get a ticket raised and i will create a specific thread for those issues.

I have a new Dell U2725QE monitor connected by Thunderbolt to a M4 Mac Mini running MacOS 15.5. I experience exactly the same problem where the USB bus on the monitor sometimes provides only USB2 speeds (and occasionally fails to connect a USB device at all). I have found a simpler workaround than the one discussed above.

All that is required is for the monitor to be powered off until the Mac starts loading the OS. I don’t pull any cable plugs and I only use the power button on the back of the monitor to power cycle it.

So from a cold start, I leave the monitor turned off until the startup chime from the Mac, and then turn the monitor on using the button. 

For a restart, I let the Mac shut down until the screen goes blank and then turn the monitor off at the button. As before, after the chime I turn the monitor on again.

I don’t think either of these sequences requires precise timing, but I guess the monitor needs to be off long enough for its USB bus to reset.

This workaround is not only simpler, it also avoids the wear and possible damage to plugs and cables subject to frequent disconnection, and on a restart it allows the MacOS to automatically unmount any attached devices.

My attached USB devices are all storage devices, so I allow this procedure may not work so well with other devices such as a USB keyboard (although a keyboard should work as USB2, so that is unlikely to be a problem). But there are many different USB devices. There are also many models of Mac hardware and MacOS versions.

Best would be for Dell to solve this problem - and soon. I am on the verge of returning my monitor because it fails to meet its advertised specifications.

(Posted also to Dell support group where the same discussion occurs.)

<< or if Apple engineers can weigh in from the macOS USB initialization side>>

Apple movers and shakers do not troll the Apple community discussions looking for problems. Apple engineers are prohibited from posting here.

if you want the attention of an Apple employees, you can post a terse description of the problem using the Product Feedback links:

Product Feedback - Apple

...or contact Apple support and work with them to get a resolution or a Formal, Tracked, Bug Report onto the reporting system. It will take working with a Specialist (not just a First responder) to get someone with enough depth.

Official Apple Support

My response was to check the specs on the interface on the display, to see if it was indeed sold as 2.5 Gig Ethernet capable. And yes indeed it was sold as 2.5 Gig Ethernet interface.

it is possible that the device can generate clocks and handle bursts of traffic, so as to participate on a 2.5 G Ethernet network. But not being able to provide sustained support at those transfer speeds is extremely deceptive.

Having the port always flow-controlled back to less than one-fifth the nominal speed (USB-2 of 480 M bits/sec rather than the assumed 2,500 M bits/sec) is not a full-featured interface. if there is no technical relief available, Selling it as a 'real' 2.5 G Ethernet interface is a deceptive business practice.

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:

My response was to check the specs on the interface on the display, to see if it was indeed sold as 2.5 Gig Ethernet capable. And yes indeed it was sold as 2.5 Gig Ethernet interface.

The only downstream port on that monitor that looks like it has any business being on an internal USB 2.0 hub is the "Analog 2.0 audio line out port (3.5 mm jack)."

Dell – Dell UltraSharp 27 4K Thunderbolt Hub Monitor - U2725QE

I could not easily find specs on the chips used to create the Hubs used in the display.

What I wanted to see was whether those Hub chips were capable of higher than USB2 speeds, IF they were properly programmed. Or if that hardware was inherently not capable of higher speeds.

I think I found some now. the main hub for this play is 7206:

The Microchip USB7206 SmartHub™ IC is a low-power, OEM configurable, USB 3.2 Gen 2 hub controller with 6 downstream ports and advanced features for embedded USB applications. 

off that hangs this other chip, 7216:

The Microchip USB7216C SmartHub ™ IC is a low-power, OEM configurable, USB3.2 Gen 2 hub controller with&nbsp;6 downstream ports and advanced features for embedded USB applications. 

[in my opinion] that display desperately needs updated firmware.

I purchased one of these and the hub is useless for me. If a hard drive mounts at all (which is 50/50), it will disconnect as soon as I try to transfer a file to it. I've tried this with a small SSD (that my phone is powerful enough to use) as well as an external HD with its own power supply. When I try to connect a Sony camera over USB, it fails to connect and says "Check the connected device" on its display. Dell support also tried telling me that it might be a power issue, but a Thunderbolt hub with 140W PD should be able to handle a small hard drive or digital camera.

I am on my second display now as I returned the first hoping it was faulty, but the second one is exhibiting the exact same behavior.

I'm on a M2 MacBook Air, which has Thunderbolt 3/USB 4 so it's not an issue there. Most recent up to date MacOS.

Torn between waiting to see if Dell wants to address this issue or return yet another display that is not performing as advertised.

I think I found the solution, I have two of these monitors connected to my M2 Pro Mac mini via thunderbolt cables and was having the same problem with the USB hub.

Open the settings panel on the monitor, navigate to "Display" and turn on the "MST" option. After I did this, my USB hub started functioning normally. For some reason with this setting turned off, the monitor is using the entire bandwidth of the TB connection for the video signal.

jlb2003 wrote:

I think I found the solution, I have two of these monitors connected to my M2 Pro Mac mini via thunderbolt cables.

Open the settings panel on the monitor, navigate to "Display" and turn on the "MST" option. After I did this, my USB hub started functioning normally. For some reason with this setting turned off, the monitor is using the entire bandwidth of the TB connection for the video signal.

So you are saying these are settings INSIDE the display itself, sometimes called "on-Screen display settings", right?