Before connecting the docking station to your PC and connecting a monitor and other external devices, ensure to install all the required drivers. Connect the monitor to the docking station using the VGA / HDMI / DisplayPort / mini-DisplayPort / USB Type-C cable provided with the monitor.
Nearly a year and half ago, OWC was one of the first companies to, offering over a dozen ports of various types to support a variety of accessories. While I loved the sheer number of the ports offered on the original version of the dock, there were some shortcomings, including a lack of any 10 Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports and only 60 watts of charging power, which may not be enough for 15-inch MacBook Pro users. Users for whom those two concerns are dealbreakers will be glad to hear that OWC is launching an updated version of its Thunderbolt 3 dock in just a few weeks, addressing these issues. The new OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock is exactly the same size and shape as the original, with a horizontal design constructed of an aluminum band (in silver or space gray) wrapping all the way around the sides and glossy black plastic on the top and bottom.
All ports are clearly labeled in white, and there is an OWC logo and 'Thunderbolt 3 Dock' branding printed on the front of the dock. The dock measures in at a hair over 9 inches wide by 3.5 inches deep and an inch tall. It weighs about 1.2 pounds, although as a desktop dock you're not likely to be moving it around very often so weight shouldn't be much of a factor. Because OWC's new dock is so similar to the original version, I'm not going to walk through all of the features, and I'll instead focus on the differences. But rest assured, the new version continues to have five USB-A ports running at 5 Gbps, a pair of Thunderbolt ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a Mini DisplayPort port, and S/PDIF output and combo 3.5 mm audio ports. Two of the USB-A ports (one front and one rear) offer 1.5A of power for faster charging of connected devices.
New version on top, original model on bottom As for new additions, OWC has added two additional ports on the front of the dock: a microSD card slot that complements the SD card slot from the original version, and a new 10 Gbps Type-C USB 3.1 Gen 2 port. Both of these are great additions that many users will find handy. New version on top, original model on bottom I tested out the new 10 Gbps USB-C port on the front of the dock using a fast CalDigit Tuff external SSD, and I saw solid speeds coming in at over 500 MB/s read and 480 MB/s write. Speeds when connected to one of the 5 Gbps USB-A ports came in at around 350 MB/s read and 325 MB/s write, which typical for this drive over that type of connection.
Speed test using 10 Gbps USB-C port and external SSD One connectivity option you'll find missing compared to the original version of the dock is a FireWire 800 port, which was formerly located near the center of the dock on the rear. It's not a particularly surprising omission given the continuing decline in use for the standard and the fact that OWC had previously dropped the port from its main Thunderbolt 3 dock lineup. The loss of the port won't be an issue for the vast majority of users, but if you happen to still need FireWire connectivity you'll need to look at other dock options. If you're a 15-inch MacBook Pro user, you'll be glad to hear that OWC has bumped up the charging capabilities in the new dock to 85 watts from the original 60 watts. That'll be enough to charge up your MacBook Pro at the same speed as from Apple's power adapter, and it'll keep your machine powered up even under heavy loads.
135-watt power brick from original version (left) vs. 180-watt power brick for updated model (right) It's a very welcome improvement, but it does come at the cost of a larger external brick needed to support the increased power. The power brick included with the new dock is 180 watts, up from 135 watts in the original version. That increases the brick's size fairly significantly, but in most cases you'll be able to tuck it away somewhere and not have to worry about it. Overall, the new Thunderbolt 3 Dock from OWC is one of my top picks among all of the docks I've tested. Has been my go-to dock since its release, but OWC's dock now gives it a run for its money with the array of ports and full 85-watt charging power that put it just about on par. OWC's dock will be priced at $299, which is competitive with other high-end Thunderbolt 3 docks, some of which can run up to $350 or more.
OWC says the new dock will be available from its online store at and at other retailers starting in early November. Note: OWC provided the Thunderbolt 3 Dock to MacRumors free of charge for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was received.
MacRumors is an affiliate partner with macsales.com and may earn commissions on purchases made through links in this article. We still see a lot of complaints about the lack of multiple connection types on the new MBP. Those people have never had one and a dock. It's sooooooo nice to be able to sit down at my desk, plug in just 1 cable and have power, multiple monitors, numerous peripheral, hard drives, network, and more, all from just one cable. Previously that required a couple minutes of plugging in cables then a couple more minutes every time you wanted to take your laptop and leave. Just 1 cable for everything is a game changer and well worth the price of a hub. Those that complain about needing dongles are doing it wrong.
We still see a lot of complaints about the lack of multiple connection types on the new MBP. Those people have never had one and a dock. It's sooooooo nice to be able to sit down at my desk, plug in just 1 cable and have power, multiple monitors, numerous peripheral, hard drives, network, and more, all from just one cable. Previously that required a couple minutes of plugging in cables then a couple more minutes every time you wanted to take your laptop and leave. Just 1 cable for everything is a game changer and well worth the price of a hub. Those that complain about needing dongles are doing it wrong. This is really missing the point of the complaint.
There were plenty of USB hubs prior to Thunderbolt 3, and in the situation you described you always could have sat down to your docking station and plugged one cable into the computer to connect multiple devices (ok, maybe two if you need power as well). The complaint is that when you're on the go, you now have to buy and carry a ton of dongles to connect peripherals which previously connected directly to the laptop. We still see a lot of complaints about the lack of multiple connection types on the new MBP. Those people have never had one and a dock.
It's sooooooo nice to be able to sit down at my desk, plug in just 1 cable and have power, multiple monitors, numerous peripheral, hard drives, network, and more, all from just one cable. Previously that required a couple minutes of plugging in cables then a couple more minutes every time you wanted to take your laptop and leave.
Just 1 cable for everything is a game changer and well worth the price of a hub. Those that complain about needing dongles are doing it wrong. It's possible to get that kind of docking ability without sacrificing ports. My work Dell XPS 15 accomplishes that offering one Thunderbolt 3 port, and then offering 2 USB 3.1 ports, a HDMI port, a headphone jack, and an SD card port. No dongles needed. We still see a lot of complaints about the lack of multiple connection types on the new MBP. Those people have never had one and a dock.
It's sooooooo nice to be able to sit down at my desk, plug in just 1 cable and have power, multiple monitors, numerous peripheral, hard drives, network, and more, all from just one cable. Previously that required a couple minutes of plugging in cables then a couple more minutes every time you wanted to take your laptop and leave. Just 1 cable for everything is a game changer and well worth the price of a hub. Those that complain about needing dongles are doing it wrong. People who are using their laptops anywhere but at a desk next to an AC outlet are 'doing it wrong'? Spend so much on a new laptop and then spend even more to get (some) ports that previous models had. Business wise, it's perfect.
But it's far from customer friendly. You don't have to spent $300 for a TB3 dock, unless you really need the bandwith for either more TB3 devices further down the line or multiple 4k displays on the same port (or you really want to).
I would say that about 95% of all users would be perfectly fine with an USB-C dock, which costs a fraction of the TB3 dock discussed here, and still offers pretty much every port you need, from 4k HDMI, to ethernet, SD card slots and multiple USB-A.
Update: The chart listing dock features has been refreshed to include new releases since this article's original publication. That new MacBook Air has a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports, and is missing many of the older ports you need to have to connect your peripherals. Fortunately, there are a large number of Thunderbolt 3 docking stations to choose from, but with choices comes consumer confusion. As the market for the docks has grown, it has become harder to decide which dock is the best one to buy.
Tradeoffs abound, between the number of extra ports they add, the additional features that are nice to have, and the price of the unit itself. Ultimately, the kind of dock required for the job depends entirely on the user's current needs, as well as planning for any future changes to their computing environment so there's no need to get another one any time soon. Why get a dock? Ultimately, the aim of the dock is to connect more of a user's equipment to a Mac. The dock adds more ports at the expense of one existing Thunderbolt 3 connection, while also increasing the usefulness of the Mac at the same time, such as by adding a memory card reader, a secondary audio connection, or more displays. For example, an iMac owner may want to add multiple external drives to expand their storage capabilities, but do not wish to have all of the drives clogging up all of the available ports on the rear.
They may also wish to have the extra components connected away from their workspace, so a single cable to connect multiple devices in that way may be a better option. Kensington SD5000T Thunderbolt 3 dock For MacBook Pro or MacBook Air users, a dock can be used as a way to connect power, all of their peripherals, accessories, and other hardware to their system while at a desk through a single Thunderbolt 3 connection, rather than multiple cables. If they wish to work away from the desk, it's a single cable to disconnect everything, saving time when they have to move.
What to look for Of the docks compiled by AppleInsider into the chart, the majority offer two Thunderbolt 3 ports, allowing one to be connected to the host system, while another is free to connect another Thunderbolt 3 device, effectively preventing the user from 'losing' a Thunderbolt 3 port. While many offer USB 3.1 Type-C connections, a few of the docks highlighted rely on it to connect to the host Mac instead of Thunderbolt 3. For the most part, these docks will work relatively fine, but the maximum bandwidth between the dock and the Mac will be reduced from 40Gbps to 10Gbps, making them less desirable for those wanting to push high amounts of data. Belkin ExpressDock HD The ability to deliver power over the Thunderbolt 3 connection is extremely useful to MacBook Pro owners, allowing for charging through the same cable without running a second purely for power.
Though all offer power delivery in varying levels, owners of the 15-inch MacBook Pro will want to look at docks with at least 87 Watts of power delivery through a single connection in order to properly charge their Mac. Again, most docks offer some sort of display connectivity, so users can add multiple monitors to their setup. Depending on the dock, this can take the form of one or more connections, including HDMI, DisplayPort, and Mini DisplayPort, most some including support for dual 4K monitors at 60Hz, assuming you're willing to use your downstream Thunderbolt 3 port to do so. HyperDrive Thunderbolt 3 Hub All of the docks offer USB 3.0 Type-A connections, allowing for the connection of hardware that has yet to graduate to Type-C. The majority also include audio connections, as well as Gigabit Ethernet ports for connecting to wired networks, a feature likely to be welcomed by MacBook Pro users. In quite a few cases, the manufacturers included an SD card reader, though some also incorporate a microSD card slot into the design. Considering the plethora of microSD-to-SD adapters on the market, the latter isn't an essential feature for the vast majority of users.
A few of the docks do differentiate themselves by including some lesser-used or older connectivity options, such as eSATA, VGA, and FireWire 800. It could be argued that there could be adapters and dongles on the market that can replicate these depreciated connections, so potential users having an urgent need to use those connection types may still want to look at others in the range —but we'll talk about some older connectors in a bit. That being said, as a dock is bought for its ports, it may be worth concentrating on those offering these extra ports to avoid the need of acquiring said adapters. Though there is probably no perfect solution to each use case, minimizing any extra purchases may be an idea worth pursuing. What do you need? We've summarized nearly all the shipping, fully Mac-compatible options below.
Note that most of these are Thunderbolt 3 docks, with a few USB 3.1 type C docks includes. As such, this list is mostly for MacBook Pro and future MacBook Air owners right now. OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock FireWire 800 is capable of 100 megabytes per second maximum. The last Apple computer that debuted with the technology was in 2012. Yes, they sold it alongside the Retina MacBook Pro for many years —but that doesn't mean the technology is new.
In all likelihood, you've got a RAID case with a pair of PATA drives that you've clung on to. If that's the case, those drives are very, very old and it's time to replace them anyway assuming you value your data.
When you buy a new mac, your old stuff doesn't light on fire. Hook up your old gear, and move your data across your network to your new MacBook Pro or iMac. If you simply must keep the drive online, then connect it as a server —and really consider getting the data off. As far as eSATA goes, it is also a deprecated technology, and has been mostly supplanted by UASP support in USB 3. The days of eSATA are numbered —and it was never adopted in any great quantities.
![Weather dock for mac Weather dock for mac](/uploads/1/2/5/3/125355942/191845349.jpg)
CalDigit TS3 If you've got an eSATA enclosure, it probably has USB 3.0 also. Just use that, instead. If it's a USB 2.0 enclosure, consider pulling the drives out and putting them in a more modern enclosure —or like we advised the FireWire people, transfer it across a network to your new hardware. If you don't want to do that, AppleInsider can confirm that there is a USB 3.0 to eSATA adapter that supports port multiplying cases that works fairly well if not with all chipsets —and it is. As good as they were, the days for both FireWire and eSATA are behind us.
Unless you absolutely have to, don't spend good money after bad. An Alternative - eGPU Enclosures If the user simply wants to add more USB 3.0 Type-A ports, simply acquiring a standard USB Hub with a USB-C to USB-B peripheral cable would most likely solve their expansion needs.
For those wanting such expansion through Thunderbolt 3, there is another left-field option: eGPU enclosures. A relatively new product category, eGPU enclosures are used to add a graphics card to a Thunderbolt 3-equipped Mac, with the intention of considerably boosting their graphical performance. These enclosures also include power delivery at various levels, with some capable of charging a 15-inch MacBook Pro, and some models also add in extra connections on the rear to fully take advantage of Thunderbolt 3's massive bandwidth. Mantiz MZ-02 eGPU enclosure At $349 and up minus the cost of a graphics card, they —assuming you're looking at boosting the graphics capability of your host machine as well. Where to buy The docks highlighted above are available for purchase from a variety of retailers with instant discounts and/or sales tax incentives.