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CES 2021: OWC Introduces Thunderbolt 4 Dock, New Storage Drives, and More

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Ahead of CES 2021, OWC is introducing four new products compatible with Macs, including the Thunderbolt Dock, USB-C Travel Dock E, Envoy Pro FX storage drive, and U2 Shuttle storage carrier for 3.5-inch drive bays.

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OWC's Thunderbolt Dock​

Priced at $249, the Thunderbolt Dock is equipped with four Thunderbolt 4 ports, four USB-A ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, an SD card slot, and a combo 3.5mm audio in/out. The dock connects to a Mac with a single Thunderbolt cable, with up to 90W of pass-through charging. With the dock, users can create a daisy chain with multiple bus-powered Thunderbolt drives, and connect a single 5K/6K/8K display or up to two 4K displays.

OWC's USB-C Travel Dock E features six connectivity options in a compact design: two USB-A ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, an SD card reader, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and a USB-C port that delivers up to 100W of pass-through charging.

The Envoy Pro FX is described as "the fastest and most compatible portable drive ever made," with read/write speeds up to 2,711 MB/s and compatibility with both USB-C or USB-A with an adapter. The drive features an aluminum housing with IP67-rated water resistance, a drive status LED, and silent operation without a power adapter. Pricing starts at $169 for a 240GB drive, with 480GB, 1TB, and 2TB storage capacities available.

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OWC's Envoy Pro FX​

The U2 Shuttle is described as "the world's first" U.2 carrier shuttle for 3.5-inch drive bays, combining four NVMe M.2 SSDs into a swappable, RAID-ready storage solution. The enclosure is available empty for $149.99 or with up to 16TB of storage.

The Envoy Pro FX and U2 Shuttle are available to order now on OWC's website, while the Thunderbolt Dock and USB-C Travel Dock E can be pre-ordered and will begin shipping in mid-January and February, respectively.

Article Link: CES 2021: OWC Introduces Thunderbolt 4 Dock, New Storage Drives, and More
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/01/07/owc-thunderbolt-4-dock-and-more/
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Reactions: Captain Trips and iLilana
Dongles, hubs, and the likes would be a thing of the past if apple just puts the ports back into their Macs. Plenty of space given how small the M1 based logic boards so it shouldn't be a brainer.....but maybe apple doesn't want to lose on that cash train on accessory sales huh?
 
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Reactions: TracesOfArsenic, Jakuta, oldmacs and 15 others
Docks are great. Being able to go to my desk and plug in a SINGLE cable to get charging, 2 additional monitors, an external drive, real keyboard, wired network, better speakers, and a mouse is a whole lot better than having to plug in a bunch of different cables.

If you don't use any of that stuff, then it shouldn't matter if docks exist. Just don't use one.

But for those of us that have a lot of external stuff (but still need the flexibility to go mobile with the computer at times) they're awesome.
 
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pray2crom said:
Dongles, hubs, and the likes would be a thing of the past if apple just puts the ports back into their Macs. Plenty of space given how small the M1 based logic boards so it shouldn't be a brainer.....but maybe apple doesn't want to lose on that cash train on accessory sales huh?
Click to expand...
Please don’t make me pay for your ports.
 
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Would this provide the ability to connect 2 external displays to an M1 Air?
 
It's interesting that they don't have any displayport or HDMI outputs for external displays. So you have to have a Thunderbolt / USB-C connection monitor, or use a special cable / adapter. I personally would have preferred at least 1 DP port given my monitor only has DP / HDMI connections, but understand having the extra thunderbolt port provides more optionality.
 
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Reactions: Techwatcher, seh, G5isAlive and 4 others
I have an email to tech support about the new OWC Thunderbolt Dock (11 port). I pre-ordered and received before Christmas. So far haven't heard back from them. The ethernet port is somehow taking down my LAN network when the connected 16" MacBook Pro goes to sleep. Happens on both a Unifi Dream Machine and an old Aiport Extreme for testing. For now, steer clear of the ethernet port.
 
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make it affordable. I think the price of hubs and dongles are out of control. We would buy more if they were more affordable. That being said licensing dongle connector tech feels like a scam.
 
pray2crom said:
Dongles, hubs, and the likes would be a thing of the past if apple just puts the ports back into their Macs. Plenty of space given how small the M1 based logic boards so it shouldn't be a brainer.....but maybe apple doesn't want to lose on that cash train on accessory sales huh?
Click to expand...
Why would you want to go backwards in technology. Maybe you don’t understand how powerful 4 usb-c ports are and I can’t help you there.
a few accessories is nothing for what you gain in having a port that does everything. Most my things are usb-c anyway. I wouldn’t want to go back old technology. I’ll keep a few “dongles” for my usb-a things. Not many i use anymore.
 
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One of the reasons, in theory, that Apple removed all these ports was to make the devices smaller and lighter but somehow if you have to have a hub you have made it bigger and more cumbersome
 
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I've had this dock for a couple of weeks now. Works great with my M1 MacMini. The only thing I don't like about it is the USB-C port to the computer in in the front. I suppose it makes sense if you have a laptop your constantly plugging in and unplugging. But for a MacMini, not so much as the cable just sticks out and gets threaded to the back of the MacMini anyway.

The SD card reader is fast BTW.

Edit: And the lighted OWC Logo on the top of the unit makes a swell night light ;)
 
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Rafterman said:
The TB4 dock is impressive, with top notch ports EXCEPT on the front, the USB port is 2.0? Seriously? Why not 10GB USB, like the back ones?
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To be honest I even prefer removing that USB 2 port for cleaner look, or moving one of USB 3 ports from back to front. Don't know what they are thinking putting USB 2 port at the most accessible location.
 
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pray2crom said:
Dongles, hubs, and the likes would be a thing of the past if apple just puts the ports back into their Macs. Plenty of space given how small the M1 based logic boards so it shouldn't be a brainer.....but maybe apple doesn't want to lose on that cash train on accessory sales huh?
Click to expand...

There is not plenty of space at all, most of that space is filled with battery, it's one of many reasons we have much longer battery life than in the past.
 
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