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Hands-On With the New Thunderbolt 4 Brydge ProDock for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air

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Brydge in December introduced a new ProDock Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station that's designed for Apple's latest MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models. We picked one up and thought we'd check it out to see if it's worth the $400 asking price.


The ProDock is designed as a vertical dock, meaning it takes up a limited amount of space on a desktop. A MacBook is designed to slot into the dock, functioning in clamshell mode with external displays.

The dock includes an upstream Thunderbolt 4 plug that provides 40Gb/s transfer speeds and 90W power delivery for keeping even Apple's largest MacBook Pro charged up, plus it includes 3x downstream Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB-C port, three USB-A ports, an Ethernet port, a 3.5mm audio jack, an SD card reader, and a built-in Qi-based wireless charger with included magnets for charging an iPhone at up to 7.5W. It is powered by a 135W power supply that uses DC-in.

Brydge designed the ProDock to be used with the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro models and the 2022 MacBook Air, and it is able to fit any of these machines. Along with a large variety of ports to support anything you might need to connect, the ProDock also offers instant grab and go connectivity so you can slot your MacBook in the dock to get your desktop up and running, and then pull it out when you need a mobile work experience.

At $399, the dock is definitely not cheap, and that's our biggest complaint with it. There are other docks on the market that are more affordable, but the Brydge does have an edge with the design and the number of available ports. What do you think of this dock? Let us know in the comments.

Article Link: Hands-On With the New Thunderbolt 4 Brydge ProDock for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/01/10/brydge-prodock-hands-on/
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Are there any affordable versions of this sort of dock? Not a dongle with a stubby cable, but a proper little hub that I can stick under my desk to handle a display, power, an external drive or two, and maybe ethernet? Is there a reason these all cost upwards of $250?
 
Useful, great design, but very hard to justify the expense unless you really, really need so many options.

Many less expensive, quality docks that will do the job for most people, professional or non-professional users.
 
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chadmonahan said:
This looks really nice. How do you power on?
Click to expand...

You don't, you just plug in.

Disclaimer: I ordered this thing as soon as they announced it, and actually beta-tested their early version for a few months. I love this thing. I've had HengeDock (now Brydge) for 10+ years at this point and they are amazing products. I love a vertical dock.

My only complaint about this thing is that the beta version could only run a single 5K display externally, however that seems to have been resolved with the production version according to their site.

I do love it so much (getting rid of the other high end functional docks that was taking up space on my dock). The MagSafe is really nice as well which, again, frees up space on my desk from the other. I ended up selling my 2x 27" 5K LG Displays for a single 5K Samsung Ultrawide which is... just a better decision all around. Ultrawide FTW.

$400 ain't cheap, but this thing is outstanding and if you have the cash to throw around, do it.

(I wouldn't mind a cheaper 2x TB passthrough dock like the older ones, but it is what it is, the active dock is spectacular).

Chazak said:
Useful, great design, but very hard to justify the expense unless you really, really need so many options.

Many less expensive, quality docks that will do the job for most people, professional or non-professional users.
Click to expand...

I couldn't find one that was VERTICAL was my issue, which is something I needed for my desk space.
 
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britboyj said:
I couldn't find one that was VERTICAL was my issue, which is something I needed for my desk space.
Click to expand...
The vertical aspect is a great feature and you have a need that justifies it.

I would love to have one. Its sleek design, verticality, etc. is very appealing to me. Without a need like yours, it would be way past overkill for me. It's the need versus want fight!
 
I love it, but sad at the same time. I’m running a 16 inch MacBook Pro and debating a 14 inch for when I am on site with work. I’d either have to alter it every time I wanted to switch out or settle which one I was going to use with the dock, because there is no way I am buying two of them, only to have to unplug and plug back in everything into a new dock every time, it would be counter intuitive
 
This is actually a good deal. I have the Satechi Thunderbolt 4 dock, got it for $220 on sale pre-order, I think its going for $300. I have an aluminum stand to stand my MBP upright behind my dual 4k monitors. The Satechi does dual 4k, but only 1 5k. This does dual 5k. It also has a wireless charging mat for your phone. This will clean up A LOT of desk space. I would buy it if I didn't have a dock already. It ticks a lot of boxes (except price and made of metal).

It's a combo of stand, dock, and wireless charger that does dual 5k. Who else does that?
 
If I were using a Macbook instead of a Dell for work, I would absolutely get two of these docks - one for my home office and one for my work office. 90% of the time that I'm using this laptop, it is in either of those places and is never opened - it might as well be a desktop. Having it docked vertically and out of the way with all the cables coming out the back and plugged permanently into my monitors, keyboard, mouse, webcam, etc. would be ideal for me.

As for the price - really I don't think it's that bad. The Dell WD22TB4 docks we've bought for a few of our users aren't much different in price, and they don't hold the laptop up vertically and out of the way like this one.
 
I'm guessing it won't fit, but what are the odds of the 16inch MBP fitting if it has a case on? I use the Moshi (iglaze?) which is pretty thin, but hard to tell from photo/video how much, if any, extra room there is in that sleeve.
 
boss.king said:
Are there any affordable versions of this sort of dock? Not a dongle with a stubby cable, but a proper little hub that I can stick under my desk to handle a display, power, an external drive or two, and maybe ethernet? Is there a reason these all cost upwards of $250?
Click to expand...

Other than the TB downstream ports and wireless charger you can buy all that in a hub for less than $50. I had one from Anker that worked really well, but I ended up returning it because I found I didn't need all those ports since my Pro has 4 TB ports.
 
spinedoc77 said:
Other than the TB downstream ports and wireless charger you can buy all that in a hub for less than $50. I had one from Anker that worked really well, but I ended up returning it because I found I didn't need all those ports since my Pro has 4 TB ports.
Click to expand...
Do you have a link? All I'm seeing are the stubby-cabled portable dongles that I already have.

Nevermind, I just checked the original article and this is a totally different type of device to what was in my head. My mistake.
 
It is powered by a 135W power supply that uses DC-in.
Click to expand...
Seriously, for $400, I'd expect this thing to be powered via USB-C and include a 140w adapter.

I really don't understand why all of these TB4 docks are all about reducing numerous cables/dongles down to a single connection, yet then require you to use their obnoxiously bulky and fixed cable length AC/DC adapter, when they are ALL perfectly capable of being powered via USB-C PD.

USB-C PD ALL THE THINGS!
 
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Apple: designs a gorgeous micro led screen
Some users: pay 400$ to keep it closed (but standing though! Didn’t pay $1500 to not show off the Apple logo)
 
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