OWC's 14 Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock Now Available for Purchase

[MacRumors]

OWC's latest dock, which offers a total of 14 ports and works with Thunderbolt 3-enabled Macs and PCs, is now available for purchase.

The dock, which we reviewed back in October, is one of the best Thunderbolt 3 docks available on the market thanks to its price point, wide port availability, and the fact that it supports up to 85W, which is enough juice to power the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

There are two Thunderbolt 3 ports, five 5Gb/s USB-A ports, an 8Gb/s USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port, a microSD card slot, an SD card slot, a digital audio output port, a Mini DisplayPort Port, S/PDIF output and combo 3.5 mm audio ports, and a Gigabit Ethernet port.

It is OWC's most powerful dock with the highest number of available ports for attaching everything from 4K and 5K displays to your Mac to SSDs, cameras, mice, keyboards, and other accessories. It can also charge your iPhones, iPads, and other devices.

You can buy OWC's 14 port Thunderbolt 3 dock from the MacSales website for $299.

MacRumors is an affiliate partner with MacSales and may earn commissions on purchases made through links in this article.

Article Link: OWC's 14 Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock Now Available for Purchase

 

[tekboi]

I've been looking around for T3 docks. Glad I waited.

 

[radio893fm]

OWC, if you are reading... please less markings on your products and you will sell a lot more... trust me. The OCD kills me!

 

[satinsilverem2]

8Gb/s USB C? I thought Gen 2 was 10Gb/s

 

[PickUrPoison]

8Gb/s USB C? I thought Gen 2 was 10Gb/s

It is, but the front panel USB-C port on this dock has a max speed of 8 Gbps per OWC website.

 

[Crunch]

It is, but the front panel USB-C port on this dock has a max speed of 8 Gbps per OWC website.

Looks great. I could use a TB3 dock. Too bad no HDMI, though.

 

[twistedpixel8]

What makes these so expensive? I’m just curious but it seems that anything TB3 has something a bit like “Apple Tax” applied. I get that it’s very fast, but damn: 10x the price fast?

 

[roland.g]

So far the Henge Docks Stone looks like the best all around dock. Only downside is it only supports a single external screen.

 

[Crunch]

So far the Henge Docks Stone looks like the best all around dock. Only downside is it only supports a single external screen.

Well, that's not a Thunderbolt 3 dock, but rather a USB-C dock. You'll get 10Gbps throughput instead of 40Gbps.

At $199, it is one heck of an expensive USB-C dock, when they mostly go for $100 on the high end and a lot less depending on how many ports you need.

 

[twistedpixel8]

Well, that's not a Thunderbolt 3 dock, but rather a USB-C dock. You'll get 10Gbps throughput instead of 40Gbps.

Exactly, and at $200 you’re paying $150 too much.

 

[JosephAW]

Too bad I can't plug in my thunderbolt 2 MBP and have access to all ports.

 

[az431]

OWC, if you are reading... please less markings on your products and you will sell a lot more... trust me. The OCD kills me!

Why not contact them directly? Do you think vendors really visit forums to seek out feedback?

https://eshop.macsales.com/Service/
[doublepost=1542153370][/doublepost]

What makes these so expensive? I’m just curious but it seems that anything TB3 has something a bit like “Apple Tax” applied. I get that it’s very fast, but damn: 10x the price fast?

Licensing fees to Intel, likely per port x 10 ports. Some of the other connections likely require licensing fees to other parties, and there are probably patent licensing fees for internals.

 

[cube]

Where's eSATA?

Where's 10GbE?

 

[Crunch]

Where's eSATA?

Where's 10GbE?

eSATA, like FireWire is old news.

10GbE, however, would be useful for those who really need it.

 

[cube]

eSATA, like FireWire is old news.

I still have eSATA RAIDs and enclosures.

Sometimes you can only upgrade hard drive firmware with SATA (tricky to do externally).

 

[Crunch]

I still have eSATA RAIDs.

Sometimes you can only upgrade hard drive firmware with SATA (tricky to do externally).

I knew this would be coming hehe...Yes, of course there are plenty of legacy devices out there, but the numbers appear to be small enough to where they can't command the inclusion on a 2018 dock. Hey, even Thunderbolt 2 is way in the rear view mirror now.

 

[cube]

I knew this would be coming hehe...Yes, of course there are plenty of legacy devices out there, but the numbers appear to be small enough to where they can't command the inclusion on a 2018 dock. Hey, even Thunderbolt 2 is way in the rear view mirror now.

I tried many things that I had to update firmware. Finally I succeeded with:

- Sonnet Tempo SATA Pro ExpressCard/34 (3 Gbps)
- eSATA cable + eSATA/SATA PC bracket
- SATA power supply
- Windows (required by the update software) running in Bootcamp

Other cards/docks and enclosures that I had were no good for this.

BTW, a dock would need to have two eSATA ports, not just one.

 

[confusedpurple]

Yet another dock missing the point of tb3.

It should have at least 6 TB3/USB-C ports, not just 1 for power and 1 for a damn screen. How can nobody get this right ffs.

 

[cube]

Yet another dock missing the point of tb3.

It should have at least 6 TB3/USB-C ports, not just 1 for power and 1 for a damn screen. How can nobody get this right ffs.

PCIe cases that have only one TB port are even worse. I would not buy a monitor that only has TB input.

Thunderbolt is supposed to be daisy chained. I don't think there are switch or hub chips.

Maybe you could implement something with PLX (expensive).

 

[unplugme71]

Wish they offered a dual port gigabit or 10Gb network port on this.

 

[washburn]

What monitor model is in the pic?

 

[borgranta]

OWC's latest dock, which offers a total of 14 ports and works with Thunderbolt 3-enabled Macs and PCs, is now available for purchase.

The dock, which we reviewed back in October, is one of the best Thunderbolt 3 docks available on the market thanks to its price point, wide port availability, and the fact that it supports up to 85W, which is enough juice to power the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

There are two Thunderbolt 3 ports, five 5Gb/s USB-A ports, an 8Gb/s USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port, a microSD card slot, an SD card slot, a digital audio output port, a Mini DisplayPort Port, S/PDIF output and combo 3.5 mm audio ports, and a Gigabit Ethernet port.

It is OWC's most powerful dock with the highest number of available ports for attaching everything from 4K and 5K displays to your Mac to SSDs, cameras, mice, keyboards, and other accessories. It can also charge your iPhones, iPads, and other devices.

You can buy OWC's 14 port Thunderbolt 3 dock from the MacSales website for $299.

MacRumors is an affiliate partner with MacSales and may earn commissions on purchases made through links in this article.

Article Link: OWC's 14 Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock Now Available for Purchase

[doublepost=1542157592][/doublepost]This item would be handy for people that stream and post videos online for a living

 

[Emanuel Rodriguez]

Wish they offered a dual port gigabit or 10Gb network port on this.

10Gb is significantly more expensive. I highly doubt most people would pay for the extra performance, especially considering few actually need it.

 

[jimthing]

10Gb is significantly more expensive. I highly doubt most people would pay for the extra performance, especially considering few actually need it.

It's not that expensive, in component price terms, to add a vast amount more to the price.

Furthermore, you don't need 10Gb broadband to enjoy its functionality. Running a decent CPU 10Gb NAS with say Plex, means fast transcodes can be transferred en mass to/from it *over a distance* using cheap ethernet cables.
Long Thunderbolt 3 optical cables have never been released, and don't look to be coming anytime soon unfortunately. And when/if they do, if they're anything like the TB1/2 ones (I have a 10m one), they'll cost 10x as much.

 

[Emanuel Rodriguez]

It's not that expensive, in component price terms, to add a vast amount more to the price.

Furthermore, you don't need 10Gb broadband to enjoy its functionality. Running a decent CPU 10Gb NAS with say Plex, means fast transcodes can be transferred en mass to/from it *over a distance* using cheap ethernet cables.
Long Thunderbolt 3 optical cables have never been released, and don't look to be coming anytime soon unfortunately. And when/if they do, if they're anything like the TB1/2 ones (I have a 10m one), they'll cost 10x as much.

I am aware of far more use cases than that, yet it still doesn't change the fact that 99% of users will not do any of these things. It wouldn't make sense to include 10Gb networking in a product meant for the mass market, yet.

Also, CAT 6a cabling is on the more expensive side of the passive cabling world. Not quite STP levels, and certainly can't hold a candle to fiber, but the additional cost definitely adds up after awhile. If you don't need it, don't pay for it. A good motto for life.