Yes but as long as you verify those knock-off items that are being sold on Amazon over at Fakespot
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CES 2019: Elgato Unveils Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock With Dual USB-C, Dual USB-A, Gigabit Ethernet, DisplayPort, and More
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The Caldigit TS3+ has 2 USB-C ports and 2 TB3 ports, but this might be the first that has 10 Gbit/s speeds on both the USB-C ports (the Caldigit has 1 USB-C port with 5 Gbit/s and 1 USB-C port with 10 Gbit/s).
Then, Thunderbolt 3 male-to-female cables and Thunderbolt 3 splitters are possible for shorter length? The link that you indicates says 0.5 m. Where to buy both products?
You don’t need a $350 dock to get the ports back that the previous model MacBook Pro had. You can get them all in a tiny $15-$20 USB-C hub from Amazon. I understand your point but don’t exaggerate. You also get two additional Thunderbolt ports on the new Pros that you didn’t get on the previous one. For actual professionals, that can be very important.
You're not going to a splitter in the conventional sense like a CATV splitter.
I suppose a short extension might be possible, but I don't know of any. I suggest you check Amazon or ebay.
LOL! $349 they are crazy for that just get a Macmini for a couple hundred dollars more. Oh wait the price of that also increased!! Damn you Apple!
On the chance you're not just trolling with an intentionally obtuse comment...
If you drop $400 on "dongles" you're doing it wrong.
A device like this provides a single-cable docking solution with Thunderbolt 3 pass through. Leave all your desk stuff in place; just plug the one TB3 cable into your MBP and you have power, dual external, monitors, ethernet, external drives/arrays, wired peripherals, etc.
You'd have paid essentially the same for a TB2 dock "back in the day"
If you only need a couple breakouts such as ethernet or USBA or whatever combo, buy one of the substantially less expensive USB3 hubs.
Or if you're just connecting to one or two items at your desktop just buy the appropriate inexpensive USBC cables for a few bucks.
Like I said, if you drop $350 on a device that's severe overkill for your needs, that's on you not Apple.
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How would I plug my MBP15 into a mac mini as a docking station so I can access dual monitors, external drives, power, etc. with a single cable?
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The dock is equipped with two USB-C ports that support USB 3.2 gen 2x1, two USB-A ports that support USB 3.2 gen 1x1, and two USC-C ports that support Thunderbolt 3…
I looked at this in 2015 when I first got a Retina Macbook. It turns out there are technical limitations with the USB-c specifications which make it difficult to build a 4 port USB-c hub. Just a slight oversight by the USB standards people!
I have been searching for that for years, yet found nothing. If somebody knows, I will appreciate such information. Thanks.
I think its the first two offer two ...aw, heck, what can you call them?... "USB-C ports with USB 3.1g2" in addition to the two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports (one of which has to be used as the Thunderbolt "input" so saying it has two is a bit disingenuous). Caldigit's TB3+ dock has one extra USB C/3.1
...because people already have tons of USB-A devices and few USB-C devices - and pretty much every new USB-C device comes with a USB-A cable or adapter anyway (unless its made by Apple who are two tight to even throw in a USB-C cable with a $1000 smartphone).
Also, existing USB hub chipsets couldn't route 10Gbps USB 3.1g2 or support the new USB-C power delivery protocols on multiple ports, and obviously wouldn't work as DisplayPort or Thunderbolt "splitters" - so there was no technical advantage of having USB-C "outputs" on a hub vs. USB-A.
ISTR seeing USB hub chipsets with 3.1g2 announced about a year ago - so they ought to be showing up in actual products about now - and maybe people are starting to accumulate enough USB-C gear to make it worthwhile.
Bear in mind, too, that a all the ports on a USB hub are sharing a single 5 or 10 Gbps USB 3.1 lane back to the computer - and some devices don't like running via hubs, whereas a thunderbolt dock has a 40 Gbps pipe to the computer, and can contain its own USB 3.1 controllers - so the ports on a TB3 hub should each offer a full port's worth of bandwidth.
I'm not sure that people "get" that a USB-C port in itself doesn't make USB 3.1 go any faster than it would via an old fangled "A" port - even though USB-C plugs and cables have 4 data pairs, currently only 2 of them (in/out) at a time are used for USB . That's going to change when USB 3.2 comes out (which can fit two USB 3.1 streams over a USB-C cable).
TB3 is a bus like the old iscsi. Has to be inline . so either the device has two ports, 1 in and 1 out, or just 1 and it's the end of the line. No splitters aloud.
...and there we have the problem, which many vendors have chosen to solve by simply pretending USB Type-C is just "better than your old USB ports". USB Type-C is probably one of the most difficult technologies to market, because what it is depends on what it does. How do you explain to people the difference between USB 3.1 and Thunderbolt 3 and why you would want one over the other? Even the speed argument doesn't really have much meaning to the average user. "Can I check my facebook and email faster?" is the kind of question the average user might ask. How do you even begin?
Of course, don't even think of mentioning USB Type-C's other "Alternate Modes", including DisplayPort. Indeed, USB Type-C is a marketers nightmare. A great port without a doubt, but a difficult one to explain.
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Does anyone make a charger with three or four USB-C ports? Not for data, purely for charging, so you could charge an iPad, iPhone (USB-C to lightning cable), Apple Watch (USB-C to dock cable) and maybe a backup battery (USB-C to micro-USB or just USB-C).
Why is USB-C so much more flexible but less flexible than USB-A? Why isn't it just "the normal" USB now?
Why is USB-C so much more flexible but less flexible than USB-A? Why isn't it just "the normal" USB now?
USB-C docs don’t supply pass through power I don’t think. They support USB-C data at 10GBPS vs 40GBPS in TB3 and none of them support more than one monitor. Second monitors on USB-C docks must connect direct to the laptop. TB3 docks are more featured, versatile, and because of the TB3 chipsets in them cost more $$.
Thanks for the explanation. But I guess that Thunderbolt 3 male-to-female cables are technically possible (even if they have short lengths). Is that right? If so, does someone know where to purchase them?
The components needed to enable USB Power Delivery take up a lot more space. That’s why your 10w iPad charger is so much smaller than your 87w MacBok Pro charger. GaN is poised to make these chargers smaller but they’re still limited by physics.