Hands-On: OWC's 'DEC' Adds an SD Card Slot, Ethernet, and USB Type-A Ports to the MacBook Pro

[ikramerica]

Line Dock looks way better than this offering:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/line-dock-thinnest-and-smartest-laptop-power-bank-battery--2#/

And you don't have to screw it in to your computer...

OWC is a real company that produces real products and screwing it onto the computer seems like a plus to me.
[doublepost=1483642896][/doublepost]

Okay, it's a (not so elegant) prototype, but has potential.

With all the flat available space, maybe the other things they "consider" are a MUST to be in there to make it worthwhile. Maybe even a space for a CD drive is possible. At that point I would not screw it to the bottom (as a user)so I could leave it behind if I didn't need it at the moment, rather than unscrew things all the time.

BTW: Finally had a chance to try out this 2016 MBP disappointment of a product and all of the negatives were immediately apparent. The TB is in a bad spot, as one has to reach over the keyboard and clam shell type users can't use it at all.
What is pictured in the TB is way too small for my eyes and if that actually would force/entice users to use that row of keys more often, I can't see the advantage as it would be faster with keyboard commands.

Maybe some usefulness could be achieved, if the TB gets mirrored like the dock on screen and the actions one needs can be selected. In any case it seems to me, that right now whatever that bar is supposed to do better, I can do faster with my track pad.
To be fair, the display is very very good and sharp.

So true, for my work I have the MacBook Pro off to my right as an extra screen but a thunderbolt dock with 4K monitor, keyboard, trackball, time machine drive, etc hooked up by one cable. To take my book with me I just unplug a cable and go. But the touchbar is useless to anyone who doesn't stare at their small screen as their main monitor on their desk, you know, like most PROs. As a standalone machine it's not awful but as a desktop replacement it fails big time.

 

[Michael Scrip]

This thing could be a lot thinner if they didn't include the Ethernet jack. That one port determined the thickness of the entire, basically empty, shell.

Even without seeing a teardown... I'm pretty sure it's mostly hollow space inside. All the I/O is on the edges... and the 2.5" hard drive doesn't take up much room either.

But it's soooo thick because of that Ethernet port.

The other odd choice they made... why no battery? There's clearly room inside. But no... it's just a bunch of ports along the edges.

They basically took this:

and spread it out across the entire laptop while adding substantial thickness everywhere. Sure there's a hard drive in the OWC DEC too... but it's still unnecessarily thick, in my opinion.

I'm not saying this thing needs to exist at all. But if they're gonna go down this road... they could have made it a little more streamlined.

 

[now i see it]

⌫

 

[SnarkyBear]

Look at Lenovo's latest gen X1 Carbon announced at CES 2017, THAT'S how you do ports.

But, but, but...all those different ports are different shapes! There's no DESIGN there!

 

[Digital Skunk]

It's a little more interesting now that I've seen the video, but I still would've loved to see GPU acceleration of some kind. I know I know, there are a plethora of reason why it wouldn't be so, but that's REALLY the only reason I'd see this as a viable option, especially if you have to screw it into your computer.

More storage and USB ports are nice, but dongles handle that when you need them, and are gone when you don't.

GPU acceleration!

 

[Internet Enzyme]

this idea is awful. i'd rather carry dongles and external drives.

Agreed. If someone is going to put that ****ing thing on their laptop, I wonder why do they even buy Apple products. Just for macOS? Seems strange

 

[ikramerica]

Or instead you could get a refurb 2015 maxed out.

Or, a 2012 thicker macbook pro. Might as well.

I went the 2012 refurb last winter. Great move. Core i7 quad, put in my own 1TB SSD and max ram, couldn't be happier. Non retina but it's usually hooked to a 4K display anyway. Only thing is Apple will stop supporting it soon and all of a sudden it becomes a relic which can't get latest security updates, version of safari and other apps, etc. and that is when I may just dump Apple after 26 years of mac ownership.
(IIsi, IIvx, Quadra 800, PowerBook 140cs, iBook Blue, iBook Graphite, powermac graphite (later transferred into a PC case for fun), iMac lime, iMac flat panels of various years, 3 mac minis, iBook white x2, 15" PB with the flakey paint, 13" unibody, current 15" unibody. But I guess I'm not the kind of repeat customer Apple covets?

 

[GtotheE]

Not sure I understand this. Aside from the hard drive, what makes it easier to carry around than something like this?

http://ca.mobilefun.com/hyperdrive-...ign=shopping&gclid=CPi44ZLaq9ECFQgOaQod-WYDhw

And correct me if I'm wrong, but only one of those USB-3 ports would be able to power a bus-powered hard drive right? So if you have two hard drives plugged in at once, you'll need that huge thing and a dongle, while the above can plug in two bus powered drives, along with being much smaller and portable.

I'm no expert on these things, and by no means am I trying to sell the Hyperdrive (I haven't ordered one yet, but it's in the lead right now for me).

The flip side of it is just buying a couple of $6 USB-C to Micro B cables for your hard drives for $6 each, and not worry about USB dongles at all.

If you leave your computer in clamshell most of the time, then you'd probably be just as happy with an external dock (as then you still have the option to travel light without having to unscrew your computer). If not, it seems pretty clunky to travel around with.

Personally, I find I need less connectivity on the road (just USB-3, Thunderbolt 2, HDMI for now), and it would be nice to plug in to a dock at home. I can't see the value here.

 

[Since1987]

3rd parties giving the customers what they want/need.... because Apple WON'T !!! Not a good sign.

 

[rolsskk]

Agreed. If someone is going to put that ****ing thing on their laptop, I wonder why do they even buy Apple products. Just for macOS? Seems strange

So what's the basis behind your criticism then? Why should they then be buying Apple products?

 

[Michael Scrip]

More storage and USB ports are nice, but dongles handle that when you need them, and are gone when you don't.

Exactly.

I know people hate dongles... but it's not as bad as it seems.

You might not even need a dongle... maybe just a new cable for an external hard drive or whatever.

I understand the frustration with the loss of the SD card reader... but I'd rather get a tiny USB-C card reader instead of bolting this giant thing to the bottom of your Macbook permanently!

Honestly... that little side-mounted dock I posted earlier would solve 90% of people's day-to-day problems.

Plug it in when you need it... leave it off when you don't. And you probably wouldn't even feel it if you had to move the laptop around the office.

 

[nope7308]

What a joke...

Apple, are you listening? Of course you're not.

 

[CmdrPuffin]

Love it! Might finally have a viable upgrade path from my 15" 2012 non retina MBP.

 

[TallManNY]

For folks who miss their ports, see problem solved! Glad the complaining will now be done.

 

[Since1987]

I went the 2012 refurb last winter. Great move. Core i7 quad, put in my own 1TB SSD and max ram, couldn't be happier. Non retina but it's usually hooked to a 4K display anyway.

?? 4k? MacTracker says you have to have a retina 2013 to do 4k.

I did the same thing with my 2011 i7. 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM ( because according to Cook and Schiller no PRO needs more than 16GB ! ). Apple's new products are so compelling they are causing people to "upgrade" ( a function Apple no longer recognizes as legit ) their 5 year old hardware. Soon they won't have this problem as they will no longer make ANY computer that is upgradeable. That is.... IF they keep making computers at all.

Ship Be Sinkin' !!

 

[Val-kyrie]

CES 2017, the year of MacBook Pro connections augmentation devices

Unfortunately there is still no way to shrink that overly large trackpad.

 

[citysnaps]

How is equipping the MacBook Pro with 4 ports with twice the bandwidth of the fastest port of the previous model dumbing it down? Could you hook up a Thunderbolt 3 device to the supposedly "pro" 2015 model?

Or how about one or two external 5K displays, each driven with a single cable?

 

[andiwm2003]

it's a prototype so the built quality and fit will certainly improve.Also it might end up being less thick.

If the final version has a USB-c, 2 USB-a, SD-card, micro sd card, mini display port, HDMI, option for a 1-4TB SSD and extra Battery this would be great. Prices of 350 for the dock plus SSD price plus battery price would be great.

 

[DudeDad]

Line Dock looks way better than this offering:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/line-dock-thinnest-and-smartest-laptop-power-bank-battery--2#/

And you don't have to screw it in to your computer...

so you have to carry around a slab...

 

[SSDGUY]

With the release of the 2016 MacBook Pro, there were a slew complaints over the compromising thinness and the removal of ports. For professionals who rely on the MacBook Pro, this latest iteration fell short of expectations. The outcry was so loud, in fact, that Apple slashed prices on its USB-C adapters, a move rarely seen from the company.

This is the DEC from Other World Computing. It's a new dock for the 2016 MacBook Pro that's designed to return some of the missing features Apple removed. It's unique in the way that it connects to the computer and the functionality it brings.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.​

The DEC attaches to the bottom of the MacBook Pro by replacing the screws that hold on the bottom plate. This method won't void your warranty, but it will allow for the dock to be securely attached at all times.

At first glance the DEC looks comically large, but in person the size and weight are more than manageable. OWC claims that when attached to a 2016 MacBook Pro, the DEC will be as thin as the 2012 MacBook Pro. Weight didn't seem to be an issue, but this is an unfinished prototype that doesn't have all the hardware in place.

When considering the functionality of the dock, the size and weight compromises may be worth it. The DEC connects to the MacBook Pro over Thunderbolt 3 and will bring USB Type-A ports, Gigabit Ethernet, an SD Card Slot, and up to 4TB of storage. Additional features are also being considered, such as an expanded battery pack.

The models shown here are still in prototype phase, but OWC assured us the final models will be available within months. The DEC will come in both Silver and Space Gray, and at release it will be available for the 15-inch MacBook Pro. Pricing is not yet available, but OWC expects it to be priced lower than the BTO 2TB storage upgrade available from Apple.

Article Link: Hands-On: OWC's 'DEC' Adds an SD Card Slot, Ethernet, and USB Type-A Ports to the MacBook Pro

Gotta love spending all this money to add needed functionality that used to come with your computer … back when it was less expensive.

 

[speedbumpnv]

Ummm... Where they set up in a hotel room? Was this just an out of show gathering or is that their actual "booth" space? Using a hotel room as your trade show space is not allowed by many of the hotels in Las Vegas or the trade organizations that put of the various shows...

 

[nt5672]

what a fiasco... If you need to put that contraption on a 2.2K laptop, you buying the wrong laptop for your workflow .

Not really. Apple now has crappy hardware, but the best in class (for now) in macOS. Of course they are working on screwing that up also. So this just barely makes a hardware configuration that is workable for my workflow and use. If you can make use of the base toy computer, then by all means do, but some of us cannot.

 

[barkomatic]

It's sad how the last two Apple related "innovations" at CES is an accessory to turn a Macbook Air screen into a touchscreen and now this to replace lost ports.

In other words, to raise an already expensive Mac to the level of a Windows PC out of the box. Those are the innovations.

. . . but the touchbar!

 

[Ubele]

So if these things sell like hotcakes and you see them all around then folks who have been saying this will be vindicated. I don't know how many times I have heard "Don't give me thinner, keep it thick and instead give me X with the extra space". The "X" is sometimes a headphone jack, additional ports, more battery -- who knows.

If they sell great, then Apple needs to pay attention and change their design goals to focus on a function a bit more than form.

But if this product fails to get off the ground and gets discontinued then it will be clear that Apple is on the right track making things thinner -- because it will mean that they are playing to majority.

Not necessarily. It might fail because the combined cost of a new MBP and this device is too expensive for most people. The only way to know whether Apple is on the right path would be if they also offered a version like people on MR are clamoring for -- basically, the 2015 model, but with updated innards, at 2015-model prices. Whichever model sold the best would tell Apple what most people want.

I've often wondered why they don't sell previous generation Macs at lower prices, like they do with iPads and iPhones. (Yes, there are refurbished units, but you never know what's going to be available at any given time.)

 

[WestonHarvey1]

This monstrosity doesn't even have a battery in it?