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Don't Miss Out on OWC's 14-Port Mac Thunderbolt Dock at $99.99 ($180 Off), Ending This Weekend

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Last week, OWC knocked the price of the popular 14-Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock down to $99.99, from its original price of $279.99, and this deal is still around this weekend. This is a match of the all-time low price on the accessory, and the sale is set to end Sunday night.

owc-dock-sale.jpg
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with OWC. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Besides this dock, you'll find a large collection of accessories on sale for back to school on OWC, including USB-C hubs, external drives and enclosures, and internal memory upgrade kits for Mac.



In regards to the 14-Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock, this accessory features two Thunderbolt 3 ports, five USB Type-A ports, one USB Type-C port, one Mini DisplayPort port, one gigabit Ethernet port, one S/PDIF digital audio output port, and one 3.5mm stereo audio input/output port. There are also two memory card slots for microSD and SD cards.

All of the devices listed below are in new condition at OWC, although the retailer does provide various item condition options for anyone who might want to save money by purchasing open box items. Be sure to visit OWC's sale landing page to browse the full sale, which also features deals on cables, Mac accessories, keyboards, and headphones.

Docks and Hubs

External Drives and Enclosures

Memory

Miscellaneous

Keep up with all of this week's best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.

Article Link: Don't Miss Out on OWC's 14-Port Mac Thunderbolt Dock at $99.99 ($180 Off), Ending This Weekend
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/07/27/owc-thunderbolt-dock-99-last-chance/
OWC used to make some awesome products. Sadly they've gone downhill quite quickly. See other Mac Rumors posts from other users - major quality control issues, and bad customer service [the 2 things they used to excel at]. Also the headline is again misleading as these hubs go for just a bit more than their sale price [like $20 more].
 
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mthomas184 said:
This is the one I bought and its been solid for me.

RayCue Mac Mini Hub & Type-C Stand with SSD Enclosure
Click to expand...
There's a substantial difference between a USB-C hub and a Thunderbolt dock especially when you're connecting multiple monitors or NVMe drives. The OWC docks are actually a really good deal whether they are regularly $114.99 on Amzon or $99 on sale.

Not sure I would want that massive RayCue hub with just 5 ports when I could get 14 ports, 4x the bandwidth with Thunderbolt, ethernet, and multiple monitor support from a dock that is 1/2 the size of the RayCue, for $20 more.
 
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vjl323 said:
OWC used to make some awesome products. Sadly they've gone downhill quite quickly. See other Mac Rumors posts from other users - major quality control issues, and bad customer service [the 2 things they used to excel at]. Also the headline is again misleading as these hubs go for just a bit more than their sale price [like $20 more].
Click to expand...
Their PATA raid enclosures both failed on me, which meant all the data was gone as I couldn’t recreate the RAID outside the enclosure. This was a while back, obviously. Also had the dock for the original iMac fail, and some 2.5” enclosures fail.

Since then, SATA enclosures haven’t failed, but I never bought a hardware RAID again because of that experience.
 
My sincere apology for any issue at any time. I and the team here take every issue seriously and, for over 35 years, we have been here to help.

We've not had a PATA enclosure in the market for more than 10 years, but I understand when there is a problem, can feel like yesterday. The level of quality, care, and just engineering excellence in the full OWC product line I can tell you is without compare in our space. We listen, we evolve, we bring solutions that our customers need and depend on in workflows that can't fail. Things like live concerts, NASA systems control, and even at the Super Bowl. We're here to help before a sale and long after too - with real people who absolutely care. We build solutions with the understanding that our customers depend on them in many different workflows and with data where failure is just not an option. We can not control every aspect of use, but what we can control we build to be the best possible.

With respect to the $99.99 deal - it's a deal and it's gone after this week. We've done some summer promos in the $110-120 range recently prior to this - no ideal where Amazon gets a $114.99 'typical' - but I can promise, this deal is gone come Monday and will soon be back up closer to $200, which is still a bargain for the capabilities this Dock provides. These are fully enabled, full bandwidth ports with the chipset balance to ensure things don't throttle ports back. easy to add ports - engineering done right means that there is good bandwidth for all the ports + low latency from accesses via them. This kind of work goes into each and every one of our Docks - performance and reliability - Longevity in design into each any every OWC product.

Thousands are enjoying this OWC Dock that MacRumors has called out and we're glad for them to have the benefit our docking provides. Thanks!
 
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iwillfollow said:
Not sure I would want that massive RayCue hub with just 5 ports when I could get 14 ports, 4x the bandwidth with Thunderbolt, ethernet, and multiple monitor support from a dock that is 1/2 the size of the RayCue, for $20 more.
Click to expand...
That USB-C hub is specifically designed to sit under or over a Mac Mini, hold a 2.5" SSD and provide a couple of front-facing ports for SD cards, thumb drives etc., and is bus powered. For that, it effectively takes zero extra desk space - and the Mini already has Ethernet, HDMI and USB-A ports. It leaves a free USB-C and HDMI on the Mini, both of which can drive displays - and the M1 Mini only supports two displays anyway.

The OWC is primarily designed as a laptop dock, so it has a large power brick to enable it to charge a laptop, and includes ethernet and USB-A ports that Mac Mini users already have.

Horses for courses.

USB-C with USB 3 is fine for all but the fastest single SSDs (or multi-drive systems) and is fine for Time Machine, media libraries etc. The real need for Thunderbolt is if you want a hub that can drive multiple 4k displays or 1 4k display + another USB 3 or Thunderbolt device.
 
Hate this dock and most other ones that are on the market at this time. When will manufacturers finally stop adding USB-A ports to new hardware?! The whole point of USB-C was to standardize and get rid of USB-A & B.

You want backwards compatibility? Fine, then use a tiny adapter for legacy devices! But don’t make me use an adapter for new devices when they shouldn’t need one. Get this USB-C transition over with already and decommission A&B, mini, micro and whatever else there is.

Right now we’re literally living this!
standards.png
 
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theluggage said:
That USB-C hub is specifically designed to sit under or over a Mac Mini, hold a 2.5" SSD and provide a couple of front-facing ports for SD cards, thumb drives etc., and is bus powered. For that, it effectively takes zero extra desk space - and the Mini already has Ethernet, HDMI and USB-A ports. It leaves a free USB-C and HDMI on the Mini, both of which can drive displays - and the M1 Mini only supports two displays anyway.

The OWC is primarily designed as a laptop dock, so it has a large power brick to enable it to charge a laptop, and includes ethernet and USB-A ports that Mac Mini users already have.

Horses for courses.

USB-C with USB 3 is fine for all but the fastest single SSDs (or multi-drive systems) and is fine for Time Machine, media libraries etc. The real need for Thunderbolt is if you want a hub that can drive multiple 4k displays or 1 4k display + another USB 3 or Thunderbolt device.
Click to expand...
Without going into other differences between a 10Gb/s usb-c dock vs a 40Gb/s thunderbolt dock, just want to note that all of our docks are designed for desktops and laptops alike.

While power delivery capabilities up to 96 watts are specifically to provide power/charging from the dock when in use with a laptop or usb-C iPad Pro, this doesn’t diminish the dock’s primary capability set for all systems.

On limited thunderbolt port systems - like current Mac mini - it’s a nice benefit also to have a full 40Gb/s downstream thunderbolt port for additional thunderbolt daisy-chain or an additional usb-c device.

At the end of the day - use and select what’s going to work the very best the work flow / capabilities you need.
 
Given the frequency of the OWC sale and the Samsung monitor sale...I'm expecting them to merge next month. Buy a Samsung monitor and get an OWC dock for free!!

Seriously, though...supply chain management is tough. The last guy who really excelled at it...I think he used to work at COMPAQ...well, he became the CEO of Apple. I hear he's been doing fairly well for himself.
 
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If not such a demand / need to support usb-a, we’d drop them. But not giving customers the usb-a ports they are asking for - adapter dongles are a hassle and headache.

Removing usb-a ports from docks doesnt change the customer need to have those ports available.
dredlew said:
Hate this dock and most other ones that are on the market at this time. When will manufacturers finally stop adding USB-A ports to new hardware?! The whole point of USB-C was to standardize and get rid of USB-A & B.

You want backwards compatibility? Fine, then use a tiny adapter for legacy devices! But don’t make me use an adapter for new devices when they shouldn’t need one. Get this USB-C transition over with already and decommission A&B, mini, micro and whatever else there is.

Right now we’re literally living this!
standards.png
Click to expand...
 
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OWC Larry said:
My sincere apology for any issue at any time. I and the team here take every issue seriously and, for over 35 years, we have been here to help.

We've not had a PATA enclosure in the market for more than 10 years, but I understand when there is a problem, can feel like yesterday. The level of quality, care, and just engineering excellence in the full OWC product line I can tell you is without compare in our space. We listen, we evolve, we bring solutions that our customers need and depend on in workflows that can't fail. Things like live concerts, NASA systems control, and even at the Super Bowl. We're here to help before a sale and long after too - with real people who absolutely care. We build solutions with the understanding that our customers depend on them in many different workflows and with data where failure is just not an option. We can not control every aspect of use, but what we can control we build to be the best possible.

With respect to the $99.99 deal - it's a deal and it's gone after this week. We've done some summer promos in the $110-120 range recently prior to this - no ideal where Amazon gets a $114.99 'typical' - but I can promise, this deal is gone come Monday and will soon be back up closer to $200, which is still a bargain for the capabilities this Dock provides. These are fully enabled, full bandwidth ports with the chipset balance to ensure things don't throttle ports back. easy to add ports - engineering done right means that there is good bandwidth for all the ports + low latency from accesses via them. This kind of work goes into each and every one of our Docks - performance and reliability - Longevity in design into each any every OWC product.

Thousands are enjoying this OWC Dock that MacRumors has called out and we're glad for them to have the benefit our docking provides. Thanks!
Click to expand...
There are a lot of people on this planet, each with a different set of experiences. I can tell you that my experience with OWC has been nothing short of poor. I have purchased several different items from them starting in 2005 with a Mac RAM Upgrade and finally ending in 2022 with an OWC Thunderbolt to Dual DisplayPort 1.4.

For the first couple purchases, I was very happy. However, over time each purchase has either failed or performed significantly under spec and compared to other products. The last product was returned due to failure. I will say that for any failed product, the MFG has offered a replacement, or if quickly enough, a refund. However, two of the four failed product replacements also failed. Over the years I kept telling myself, based on experiences with their older products, I was just unlucky or it was just a particular product. But after only still using one out of the last six purchases, I don't think I am unlucky.

When 5 out of 6 products from one MFG fail or massively underperform....you move on from that MFG. That is what I have done and can not in good faith recommend this MFG to anyone.
 
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I am a regular buyer (maybe 15 years now) of OWC stuff and am generally quite pleased with their products. I don't need this particular thing, but if I did, I'd jump right on it.

Last thing I needed was a replacement enclosure for another enclosure that couldn't remain connected to my Silicon Mac... the infamous "unexpected ejection" problem that affects some but not all enclosures since macOS Big Sur. I've tested though so much to reach the conclusion that this is a now 4-year macOS bug(s), so no need to play the redirection game of blaming cable, enclosure, drive, me, my settings, etc... nor suggesting the amphetamine app option (which only works for some), etc... no offering up the various things that are usually slung to try (I've tried everything). I'm quite confident that Apple and only Apple can fix this one by debugging this part of macOS.

Working through a few enclosures that also had the same problem, I decided to try OWC's Mini Stack STX since I could load it with 20TB HDD and 8TB of m.2 and have a few more thunderbolt ports too. It has been consistently-connected for a couple of years now with no "unexpected ejections."

In my experience, they make quite good stuff and seem especially dedicated to Mac. We Apple people should not be so quick to pound all things not branded Apple. Others certainly can make good stuff too. And especially with third parties that seem to be trying to make things that work well with our Apple tech, we should- IMO- be a bit more supportive.

I read through most posts in this thread and it looks like they can't make anything good. It was the same with the Sonos thread a few days ago... and the Samsung Monitor thread a few days before that. Hopefully a post or two of positive counterpoint may paint an alternative picture for anyone needing some good hardware accessories for their Macs.
 
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Hardly the experience we drive for and simply, sorry for such a sequence - my sincere apologies. Feel free to private message me if more do share, etc. thank you for the feedback.

Arsenikdote said:
There are a lot of people on this planet, each with a different set of experiences. I can tell you that my experience with OWC has been nothing short of poor. I have purchased several different items from them starting in 2005 with a Mac RAM Upgrade and finally ending in 2022 with an OWC Thunderbolt to Dual DisplayPort 1.4.

For the first couple purchases, I was very happy. However, over time each purchase has either failed or performed significantly under spec and compared to other products. The last product was returned due to failure. I will say that for any failed product, the MFG has offered a replacement, or if quickly enough, a refund. However, two of the four failed product replacements also failed. Over the years I kept telling myself, based on experiences with their older products, I was just unlucky or it was just a particular product. But after only still using one out of the last six purchases, I don't think I am unlucky.

When 5 out of 6 products from one MFG fail or massively underperform....you move on from that MFG. That is what I have done and can not in good faith recommend this MFG to anyone.
Click to expand...
 
OWC Larry said:
No - it doesn’t have a display link chipset to add a third display on the non-pro/max/ultra systems. Supports native of course.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick response! Do you guys have any docks that do have Display Link for that purpose that support two 4K displays?

I’ve seen the OWC Display Link Adapter that has a USB-C port and two HDMI ports that supports 4K so if there was a dock that had something like that plus some additional USB-C ports or a Thunderbolt port to make up for whatever port the dock uses plus a USB 3 port for a printer and an Ethernet port or something close to those ports configuration that it would be perfect for my use case.

Thanks in advance!!!
 
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