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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want to plug up to five pairs of headphones or earbuds into one MacBook and share the audio with everyone in the room, choose Cubilux 5-Way; if you need to replace a broken or dead headphone jack inside a 2020 MacBook Air M1 (A2337), choose HAWSON A2337.
• Cubilux 5-Way — biggest strength: one USB-C port fans out to five 3.5mm jacks, so a single MacBook can feed five sets of headphones at once.
• Cubilux 5-Way — biggest trade-off: there is no independent volume control on the outputs; everyone shares one volume level set from the host device.
• HAWSON A2337 — biggest strength: it restores a working 3.5mm headphone jack on a MacBook Air M1 Retina 13" A2337 (2020) when the original audio board or flex cable fails.
• HAWSON A2337 — biggest trade-off: it is an internal replacement part, not a listening accessory, and it takes real repair skills to install.
• Who each pick is for: choose Cubilux 5-Way if you want to listen together on a modern USB-C MacBook; choose HAWSON A2337 if you want to fix the headphone jack on that specific 2020 MacBook Air.
The Cubilux 5-Way is a USB-C to 3.5mm audio splitter, plain and simple — but "five" is the number that matters. One USB-C connector goes into your MacBook (or iPhone 15/16/17, iPad Pro, iPad Air, Galaxy S25/S24, Pixel 10/9/8, and similar USB-C devices), and five 3.5mm jacks come out the other side. That turns a single laptop into a shared listening station: a movie on the couch with four friends, a podcast on a road trip, a language lesson where several people need the same audio at the same time.
The build leans premium. Cubilux uses an aluminum alloy shell with a metallic black finish, which is the kind of housing that resists the scratches and scuffs a splitter picks up bouncing around a bag. It's also described as lightweight and compact, so it disappears into a pocket or laptop sleeve. On the audio side, Cubilux claims crystal-clear transmission without distortion or loss — reasonable for a passive splitter feeding multiple 3.5mm outputs, and the headline feature here is really the port count, not any processing.
HAWSON A2337: Who It's For
The HAWSON A2337 is not a listening accessory at all. It's an internal replacement audio board with a headphone jack connector and flex cable, built specifically for the MacBook Air M1 Retina 13" A2337 (2020 model). If the 3.5mm jack on that machine stops working — no sound, crackling, a port that no longer grips the plug — this is the part that gets a functioning jack back.
The part is tested before shipping and confirmed working, and it arrives as a complete board-plus-cable assembly rather than a bare connector. That matters because the flex cable is usually the failure point, so replacing board and cable together is the sensible approach. The unit weighs about 2.31 ounces and measures roughly 3.65 x 1.16 x 4.77 inches — small, flat, and clearly designed to tuck into the chassis where the original sits.
Here's the honest part: HAWSON itself says this is not an easy job for someone without disassembly and assembly skills. You're opening a MacBook, working around delicate internal components, and reconnecting a flex cable. If that sentence makes you uncomfortable, this product is not for you — and no amount of careful reading substitutes for the ability to do the repair. It's also strictly model-bound: it fits the A2337 MacBook Air M1 Retina 13" from 2020, and HAWSON explicitly asks buyers to verify their computer's year and model before ordering. Buy it if you repair your own hardware or work with someone who does, and you've confirmed your machine is an A2337. Skip it if you have any other MacBook, or if you'd rather not open the lid at all.
• Best for group listening → Cubilux 5-Way. Five 3.5mm outputs from one USB-C port is the entire point.
• Best for fixing a dead headphone jack → HAWSON A2337. It's a replacement part for a specific failure, not an accessory.
• Best for modern MacBooks (USB-C / Thunderbolt 3/4) → Cubilux 5-Way. It's built for USB-C and Thunderbolt computers plus a wide range of USB-C phones and tablets.
• Best for a 2020 MacBook Air M1 (A2337) specifically → HAWSON A2337. Compatibility is narrow by design and that's a feature, not a bug.
• Best for non-technical buyers → Cubilux 5-Way. Plug in, listen. No disassembly, no risk.
• Best for DIY repairers → HAWSON A2337. Tested part, but installation demands real skill.
• Best for travel and shared audio on the go → Cubilux 5-Way. Lightweight, compact, aluminum-bodied, pocketable.
• Best for per-person volume control → neither. The Cubilux offers only uniform volume from the source, and the HAWSON is a repair part with no volume features at all.
For most people searching "headphones for MacBook," I'd buy the Cubilux 5-Way. In my opinion it's the more broadly useful product: it works with USB-C MacBooks, iPads, iPhones and Android phones, it needs no tools, and it solves a real, everyday problem — letting several people listen to the same thing at once. The HAWSON A2337 is the right call only if you own a 2020 MacBook Air M1 (A2337), your headphone jack has actually failed, and you're confident doing the repair yourself. Different jobs, different buyers. Match the product to your situation, and check the current price on Amazon before you commit.
On a modern MacBook with USB-C ports, you either connect a USB-C headphone adapter, use USB-C headphones directly, or plug into a 3.5mm jack if your model still has one. The Cubilux 5-Way takes that a step further: it plugs into USB-C and gives you five 3.5mm jacks, so up to five pairs of headphones can share one MacBook's audio. Volume is then adjusted uniformly from the Mac itself.
Plug the headphones into the Mac's 3.5mm jack, or into a USB-C adapter or USB-C headset if your Mac only has USB-C. With the Cubilux 5-Way, the connection is: splitter into the Mac's USB-C port, headphones into any of the five 3.5mm jacks. The Mac treats it as one audio output, and all connected headphones receive the same signal at the same volume.
It depends on the year. The 2020 MacBook Air M1 (A2337) has a built-in 3.5mm jack — and if that jack fails, the HAWSON A2337 audio board with flex cable is the replacement part for it. Newer MacBook Air models lean on USB-C, where a USB-C adapter or the Cubilux 5-Way splitter is the practical route to wired listening.
MacBook Pro models vary by generation: older ones have a 3.5mm jack, newer ones rely on USB-C/Thunderbolt. For wired headphones on a USB-C MacBook Pro, use a USB-C audio adapter or a USB-C splitter like the Cubilux 5-Way, which is listed as compatible with USB-C and Thunderbolt 4/3 computers. Note the HAWSON A2337 is not made for MacBook Pro — it's specific to the MacBook Air M1 Retina 13" A2337 (2020).
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