OWC Debuts $279 Thunderbolt 3 Dock With 13 Ports

[shareef777]

So carry a video adapter and a single USB adapter with you. Moving the dock would be plain stupid for that. Even with the previous retina MBPs, you had to carry display adapters around with you. Hell, even with the MBP machines before that you did too because you had DVI (or mini DVI) and the projector might be VGA or HDMI. It's like everyone here has never actually used a laptop before. This is basically par for the course across ALL brands unless your laptop happens to have the single port type that your projectors/displays all share which to be fair is finally starting to converge on HDMI, but is far from universal.

Same situation for me. Single cable at the desk, and don't need anything for meeting rooms as my company installed AppleTVs for all our conference rooms. But IF I didn't want to deal with the lag of presenting over wireless all I'd need was a single USB-C to HDMI connection. I used to need a TB/DP to VGA adaptor when I first got my 2012 as my company only had VGA connected projectors at the time. But as we know, professionals adapt, and so do companies.

People seem to neglect to realize that the USB-C connector isn't the port for the next 4-5 years. It's thee port for the next few decades (similiar to what USB-A has been). The difference is that this port ISN'T just for accessories and peripherals. This will be extended to monitors/TVs, phones, chargers. This is the be all end all port and I'm glad to have jumped in now.

 

[ashok77]

Would I be able to plug a rMB into this? My wife has a 2016 MacBook and I have a new Macbook Pro. We have a Dell 34" at home along with a couple of external drives and this would be great if we could both connect our laptops when one of us needs the screen, fulling understanding the rMB wouldn't get TB3 speeds.

Got some feedback from OWC..."I am sorry but the Thunderbolt Dock can only be connected to a Thunderbolt computer. It will not connect to a USB-C mac."

That's too bad.

 

[Thunderhawks]

No, the biggest joke is that anybody still wants to plug their iPhone into their MacBook. I haven't plugged my iPhone into my Mac for years. And if I need to, it's a $10 cable from Amazon, or a $4 adapter that I can use on any USB-A plug I might come across.

Neither have I, but I am not typical in that sense. I don't back up my iPhone and I stopped plugging it in when it become "cumbersome" (new Apple word) to synch stuff in iTunes.
Never did what I wanted it to do.
I actually had a disagreement on the phone with an Apple tech person who insisted for me to plug the phone into a Mac to fix something that wasn't working and I kept telling him that it says everywhere no Mac needed (Summary). He had no answer and of course I was just giving him a hard time.
I usually figure out Mac etc. problems myself. I may have called them 3 times in 32 years and one of them was to get a lost DVD replaced for Snow Tiger
[doublepost=1478269655][/doublepost]

Yes seriously. Just buy a USB C -> Lightning cable. For me the joke is that lightning is still around actually and hasnt gotten replaced by USBC! So people will now buy lightning headphones, wich will become obsolete 2017 or 2018 the latest when lightning dies.

But another fun question - will this new dock be compatible with the new macbook, after the latest TB 3 incompatibility rumors?

All well and good and I disagree about anything technical in terms of throughput of signals lasting for decades. Tech moves too fast. Info bits will get larger and larger, so bigger pipes with faster throughput needed.
What about the millions of peripherals out there which are still functioning and will end up in "recycling"
(LOL, one can just hope)

 

[chiefsilverback]

So much hurt from people! I guess the alternative option was for Apple to keep banging out laptops with FW800 and USB A and maybe even a VGA port until the vast majority of folks had only USB-C peripherals. Then they could have charged you a fortune for dongles to connect all those modern devices to your trusty laptop!

 

[Fishrrman]

dwaltwhit asked:
"100% honest non sarcastic question: who is using FW800?"

I use it.
For an Echo AudioFire interface that has Firewire 400 ports.
Still works great.

Just because YOU don't use it, doesn't mean it hasn't valid uses for others.
FireWire is still well-represented in the audio recording and video editing sectors...

 

[SeattleMoose]

Hope they come out with a cheaper "lite" version that just has one USB-C port. It is the legacy I/O that makes this appealing, not more of the same USB-C that are already on the Mac.

And for musicians, how much latency does this device introduce if you are trying to use something like the Apogee Duet G1 that requires a FW800 to FW400 dongle already?

Makes me appreciate my toaster. Still makes great toast after almost 30 years......

 

[BornAgainMac]

No thanks. I'll stick with Wireless technologies and devices that use the new ports.

 

[ShadeDream]

Got some feedback from OWC..."I am sorry but the Thunderbolt Dock can only be connected to a Thunderbolt computer. It will not connect to a USB-C mac."

That's too bad.

Caldigit's (which I prefer so far) will work with USB-C devices as well, so you'd be good with the rMB. You just wouldn't be able able to run two displays off it. I'd really just like to find one with two mini-displayport or displayport connections on it so I have to replace fewer cables.

 

[manu chao]

And people wonder why USB-C isn't catching on to the general public...

USB-C isn't catching on because TB3 docks cost 3x as much as USB-C docks? There must be some logic in there, but I cannot seem to find it.
[doublepost=1478286952][/doublepost]

Does Display Chaining finally works? I bought one of those fancy Dell P2715Q hoping that one day Apple will finally support Display Daisy Chaining.

Apple's TB display supported display chaining, worked with other TB displays as well. Before TB, Apple also supported display chaining via DP.
[doublepost=1478287329][/doublepost]

100% honest non sarcastic question: who is using FW800?

What did you do with all your FW800 external drives? Sold them, trashed them? Or maybe more accurately, what did you do with all your FW800 drive enclosures?
[doublepost=1478287602][/doublepost]

It's not as bad as Apple adding $300 for 2 extra USB ports and a useless touch bar.

You also get a faster CPU/GPU and a TouchID sensor for that extra $300. And I have trouble taking people seriously who can declare with absolute certainty after having seen only a short presentation of a new hardware feature that it be completely useless.
[doublepost=1478287694][/doublepost]

what about this? $80
https://amzn.com/B01FWT7MFE
I don't need firewire or s/pdif

And I don't need Ethernet. What should I do?

 

[shareef777]

USB-C isn't catching on because TB3 docks cost 3x as much as USB-C docks? There must be some logic in there, but I cannot seem to find it.
[doublepost=1478286952][/doublepost]
Apple's TB display supported display chaining, worked with other TB displays as well. Before TB, Apple also supported display chaining via DP.
[doublepost=1478287329][/doublepost]
What did you do with all your FW800 external drives? Sold them, trashed them? Or maybe more accurately, what did you do with all your FW800 drive enclosures?
[doublepost=1478287602][/doublepost]
You also get a faster CPU/GPU and a TouchID sensor for that extra $300. And I have trouble taking people seriously who can declare with absolute certainty after having seen only a short presentation of a new hardware feature that it be completely useless.
[doublepost=1478287694][/doublepost]
And I don't need Ethernet. What should I do?

Don't forget the FASTEST SSD on the planet in a laptop!

 

[chiefsilverback]

Hope they come out with a cheaper "lite" version that just has one USB-C port.

Caldigit's (which I prefer so far) will work with USB-C devices as well, so you'd be good with the rMB.

OWC have a $150 USB-C dock which was has been out for some time to pair with the rMB.

 

[manu chao]

This dock should have included a Lightning port, which would be there to correct Apples oversight of not allowing their iPhone 7 included Lightning EarPods to be used on a new MacBook.

Sometimes I think, Apple should have included also a 3.5 mm audio to Lightning adapter with the iPhone 7. I don't see Lightning go beyond iOS devices and thus we should have adaptors for Lightning and not more Lightning ports.

However, the the reason it's not on the MBP or likely able to be included on the dock is because Apple isn't likely ready to implement Lightning in OS X, which would require support not only for the headphones, but all Lightning devices, adapters and cables. That's why I think we'll see it potentially first appear on the Retina MacBook update in the Spring. Some evidence points to the fact they didn't include a USB-C charger in the iPhone 7 box either -- basically Apple isn't ready to merge the two platforms together yet. And that's not surprising after seeing the significant engineering that went into its first all USB-C Mac. They likely want to introduce that and get all the bugs worked out before they add Lightning issues to the mix.

i wouldn't be surprised to see Pencil support added to the Trackpad in near future as well, further justifying adding Lightning.

In the interim, I would be happy with a USB-C to Lightning headphone adapter.

 

[Carlanga]

...
I'm a professional user, and I use docks.

so? that wasn't my point

 

[manu chao]

I don't have confirmation on this dock, but on the previous generation it had Thunderbolt and HDMI. You had to use either/or. You could do multiple monitors but one of them (or more, all but last on the chain) had to be Thunderbolt and those are still relatively uncommon.

Not at all, you could plug in a standard monitor (mDP or DP, HDMI, DVI, or VGA via an adaptor) into the TB port as well as into the HDMI port.
[doublepost=1478294218][/doublepost]

So all USB-C ports are obviously not TB3 ports, but is the reverse true? All TB3 ports can take USB-C devices?

That would be my assumption, at least I haven't seen any device with a TB3 port that doesn't also support USB-C.

 

[ashok77]

Caldigit's (which I prefer so far) will work with USB-C devices as well, so you'd be good with the rMB. You just wouldn't be able able to run two displays off it. I'd really just like to find one with two mini-displayport or displayport connections on it so I have to replace fewer cables.

The Caldigit looks good but I guess it's ultimately just a USB-C dock. OWC has as USB-C dock as well and what they have now introduced is a Thunderbolt 3 dock.

I guess I didn't realize that you can plug a TB3 device (MBP) into a USB-C dock/dongle but you can't plug a USB-C device (rMB) into a TB3 dock/dongle...I would have hoped you could at reduced speeds/bandwidth. I'd like one dock to rule them all, so to speak, and that one dock to be TB3 but i guess you have to take the lowest common denominator.

 

[cult hero]

Not at all, you could plug in a standard monitor (mDP or DP, HDMI, DVI, or VGA via an adaptor) into the TB port as well as into the HDMI port.

Are you talking about the new TB3 or the TB2 dock? I JUST tried hooking up to HDMI and TB/mDP at the same time on the current TB2 version and only HDMI works when it's alone. I'm pretty sure multi monitor through the dock requires Thunderbolt.

 

[manu chao]

Are you talking about the new TB3 or the TB2 dock? I JUST tried hooking up to HDMI and TB/mDP at the same time on the current TB2 version and only HDMI works when it's alone. I'm pretty sure multi monitor through the dock requires Thunderbolt.

I was talking about the 2012-2015 MBP itself, ie, you can plug in one monitor into the HDMi port and another into one of the TB ports (not sure at the moment whether you could plug in a monitor each into both of the TB ports). That naturally also means you can plug in one monitor into the HDMI port on the MBP and one into a monitor port (mDP or HDMI) on a TB dock connected to one of the TB ports of the MBP.

At least up to TB2, you could only extract one DP (which then could be converted into HDMI) signal per TB controller (and a TB dock would have one TB controller). Two connect two monitors to a single TB port on a computer would thus require two TB controllers. This could be one TB dock plus one TB display (which by definition includes a TB controller), it could be two TB displays, or it could be two TB docks in series. Without two TB controllers, you had to use the HDMI port to connect two monitors to a MBP.

The new MBPs have two TB built-in controllers feeding each two ports on either side. This means you can directly plug in two (m)DP, HDMI or USB-C/TB3 displays with the right cable (and DVI and VGA via an adaptor). In that sense, the TB3 ports on the right side have replaced the HDMI port.

 

[Digital Dude]

Initially, I thought this would be great but the more I look at it, the more I see that it's more than I need. I have the version for the MacBook 12-inch and it works okay but admittedly, I seldom use more than two other devices with it. With the 12-inch MacBook, a device such as this makes more sense. In fact, I'm beginning to see more USB-C devices whereby Apple may not have been entirely off the mark. Displays are becoming available and so are external hard drives.

 

[Pupi]

Love OWC but their TB2 dock has HDMI and this one doesn't? Come on...

 

[bjeadeh]

I don't get this. Why do so many people hate docks? For me this is the best solution available. Come home, plug in just ONE cable and everything is connected to your Mac. At the moment every time I come home I have to plug in the charger, two thunderbolt cables, one USB cable and finally my headphones. Really annoying.

I like the docks, oh so very much. Docks are nice but not in a bus. Not with a laptop or in a car, not on a plane, or even the bar. I do not like docks when I am flyin'. I do not like them Creep89.

 

[Macist]

Imagine a computer with all this stuff built in? That's the future

 

[manu chao]

Imagine a computer with all this stuff built in? That's the future

Imagine a future where every peripheral comes with a cable that has a USB-C type plug at one end (TB devices obviously shipping with an active cable)? Wouldn't that be better than having to own potentially eight different cables (and carry a subset of them around with you)? And wouldn't it be better to have eight ports that each can take any device type than having eight different ports? Wouldn't the former be much more flexible.

 

[gnasher729]

I don't wonder about that at all... I was just at my local Staples store the other day and they had USB-C thumb drives for sale next to the checkout. My Dell XPS 15 has USB-C. Now that Apple is all-in on it, you're going to see an even faster adoption rate (especially since the new MacBook Pros are selling at an all-time-high rate).

At the moment, several companies sell thumb drives with USB-C on one side and USB-A on the other side, so you can transfer data from any computer to any other computer without an adapter.

 

[Sedulous]

So much hurt from people! I guess the alternative option was for Apple to keep banging out laptops with FW800 and USB A and maybe even a VGA port until the vast majority of folks had only USB-C peripherals. Then they could have charged you a fortune for dongles to connect all those modern devices to your trusty laptop!

No, that wasn't the only option for Apple. Apple could have included some of both ports. Perhaps some of the half-speed USB-C ports could have been left off in favor of a few conventional ports. Yeah, USB-C is the port of the future but we aren't in the future yet. Even with only 2 USB-C ports, 12 peripherals could still be connected. It isn't like it is a binary choice as you framed it.

 

[Beer Wig]

Apple Engineer Talks about nMPB & Dongles: