Blackmagic Forum

I have 15” 2019 i9 (8 core) MacBook Pro with 4 thunderbolt3 ports. I tried to use 2 Ultrastudio Mini Recorders simultaneously and sometimes it works sometimes don’t. The error message displays that there is not enough power provided by MacBook bus to power both of them simultaneously. I tried different port combinations but nothing works. I have Baseus adapter to which I also connect Intensity Shuttle and it works: one US M Recorder and I Shuttle but will not when just two US M Recorders are connected (even without IShuttle). It is HUGE disappointment after I spent $3300 on MacBook Pro which can’t support two camera via US M Recorder. My old 2015 MacBook Pro can handle power to two US M Recorders with no problems. I called Blackmagic and was told it is surprise for them. They never heard about such problem. Are any of you using two US M Recorders on similar MacBook Pro with Thumderbolt3? What is going on?

I'm not using that combination, but in general, the way to handle that is to use a decent-quality powered USB hub between the laptop and the devices, such that the hub gets its own AC power and supplies it to the devices without drawing it from the laptop.

well do you have in mind any self powered video capture devices using SDI connector on one side and USB-C to 2019 MacBook Pro???

Try connecting one on each side of the MBP.
Your MBP with four TBT3 ports have one controller for both ports on each side.

I tried all possible combinations. Nothing works 100%. Sometimes it allows to have two of them plugged in sometimes just one. It MUST be consistent and reliable. I am counting on this in my professional work. Prayer and luck will not work here.

Request for Blackmagic representative:
could you please provide power requirements for:
- UltraStudio Mini Recorder (thunderbolt)
- UltraStudio Mini Monitor (thunderbolt)
- Intensity Shuttle USB 3.0
- Intensity Shuttle Thunderbolt

so I can check with Apple technicians how many of those devices can be connected to i9 2019 MacBook Pro and the new one 16" MacBook Pro.

It doesn't look like Blackmagic has published detailed power consumption specs for these products, but since these are all bus-powered devices they would need to fit within the power delivery standards of the relevant ports:

• Thunderbolt 1 or 2: up to 9.9W (550 mA @ 18V)
• USB 3.0: up to 4.5W (900 mA @ 5V)

Given that the Intensity Shuttle USB and Thunderbolt share vary similar hardware, I'd be surprised if the Thunderbolt version consumed significantly more power than the USB model (even though this is permitted by the Thunderbolt specs).

Note that since the newer Macs only have Thunderbolt 3 ports, you would need to use Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapters in order to use these older Thunderbolt devices. Assuming these adapters have some built-in electronics (which seems likely given the price of the adapters), they may consume some power on their own (in addition to the power consumption of the attached Thunderbolt device).