Apple had a change of coronary heart after its introduction of USB-C with the 2015 12-inch MacBook: the corporate hasn’t put solely a single peripheral port on any laptop computer it’s launched since. (And it discontinued the USB 3.1-only MacBook, too.) Some Apple silicon MacBook Professional fashions even supply devoted video and charging (MagSafe 3) ports!
However what do you do when you’ve, for example, an M1 MacBook Air or 13-inch MacBook Professional that should not have MagSafe? With two Thunderbolt 4/USB4 jacks on every mannequin, you want one for energy over USB-C, leaving one free. You may go for a USB-C dock that’s USB 3.x/4 solely or that helps Thunderbolt 3. In both case, a dock usually provides a number of 10 Gbps or sooner USB 3.x/4 jacks, HDMI, and passthrough energy, liberating up the opposite USB-C slot in your laptop.
Till final yr, should you wished so as to add a number of Thunderbolt 3 or 4 units, nevertheless, you had been caught. An growing variety of exterior SSDs and different storage units depend on Thunderbolt 3 or 4. And also you may need Thunderbolt 2 legacy units that may work by way of a Thunderbolt 3 adapter—however solely when plugged right into a Thunderbolt port.
It was inconceivable to purchase a dock or hub with further USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3/4 help. That modified with the introduction of Thunderbolt 4 hubs and docks, which depend on an elective function of Thunderbolt 3 made obligatory in model 4: permitting exterior Thunderbolt ports. (Any model of macOS 12 Monterey will do. If you happen to’re utilizing Huge Sur, you could want at the least 11.1 or 11.4, relying on the dock or hub.)
Just a few firms have launched exterior hubs and docks that match the invoice. The least-expensive possibility is the OWC Thunderbolt Hub ($159), reviewed in April 2021, which gives 4 Thunderbolt 3/4 jacks and one 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Kind-A port. As a result of one port connects by cable to your laptop, you internet three Thunderbolt 3/4 ports on the hub.
On the different finish of the spectrum is CalDigit’s mega-dock, the $400 Thunderbolt Station 4 sporting 18 ports of every kind, together with three Thunderbolt 3/4 jacks. We reviewed this unit in April 2022.
Whereas tons of of different USB-C docks would possibly match a part of the invoice, should you want extra Thunderbolt ports than yow will discover in your Mac, be sure that the dock you purchase spells out that it gives full Thunderbolt 4 exterior help. Take a look at Macworld’s Thunderbolt and USB-C information to docking stations for data on specs and the perfect docks yow will discover.
This Mac 911 article is in response to a query submitted by Macworld reader Jim.
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