Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

OWC's 14-Port Thunderbolt Dock for Mac Hits Record Low $99.99 Price ($180 Off)

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,083
38,825


OWC this week has knocked the price of the popular 14-Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock down to $99.99, from its original price of $279.99. This is a match of the all-time low price on the accessory, which we last tracked way back in April. You'll see this price once you add the accessory to your cart and head to the checkout screen, where an automatic coupon will be applied.

owc-docks-white-logo.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 at this time on OWC, including USB-C hubs, external drives and enclosures, and internal memory upgrade kits for Mac.

Note: You won't see the deal price until checkout.​



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: OWC's 14-Port Thunderbolt Dock for Mac Hits Record Low $99.99 Price ($180 Off)
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/07/15/owcs-14-port-thunderbolt-dock/
  • Wow
Reactions: xbjllb
Cannot say enough bad things about this company and this particular dock. I bought one the last time it was on sale, and had nothing but problems with it. It would constantly eject drives with no information beyond a MacOS alert saying all the drives that were connected were incorrectly removed despite not touching anything. It would happen every hour, every day. Took a peek at the support forums and I discovered (after I bought it) that this is a well-known issue. When I contacted support, they mostly just took the stance that it was my fault (despite the fact that this still happened with other Macs). When I decided to return a clearly defective unit, they wanted to charge me a restocking fee, which is just a ludicrous policy. I will never buy anything from OWC again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PhoenixDown, rsands1, Mahty and 16 others
Anthropogenesis said:
Cannot say enough bad things about this company and this particular dock. I bought one the last time it was on sale, and had nothing but problems with it. It would constantly eject drives with no information beyond a MacOS alert saying all the drives that were connected were incorrectly removed despite not touching anything. It would happen every hour, every day. Took a peek at the support forums and I discovered (after I bought it) that this is a well-known issue. When I contacted support, they mostly just took the stance that it was my fault (despite the fact that this still happened with other Macs). When I decided to return a clearly defective unit, they wanted to charge me a restocking fee, which is just a ludicrous policy. I will never buy anything from OWC again.
Click to expand...
Same here, nothing but problems. All they ever said was “did you install our auto eject software? You need that for it to work.” I did, and it didn’t.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mahty, eifelbube, nt5672 and 5 others
Since this was the one I was (and maybe still am) interested in getting, for everyone who has had issues with it, are there any similar alternatives (for price and features) that – in your experience – perform more reliably?
 
I have used nothing but OWC enclosures and peripherals for many, many years. Great service! But I do hear this dock runs hot. The Caldigit looks like a better solution.

Also, why do companies like OWC keep putting the computer's TB connection port on the front of the dock? Makes absolutely no sense for a desktop solution. [EDIT: I stand corrected. While all the other OWC docks and hubs have the computer port on the front or side, this one actually has it located on the back.]
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: nt5672
Avenged110 said:
Since this was the one I was (and maybe still am) interested in getting, for everyone who has had issues with it, are there any similar alternatives (for price and features) that – in your experience – perform more reliably?
Click to expand...
i got a crazy deal on some sonnet thunderbolt 4 docks that i really like on ebay. keep your eyes out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Avenged110
The Plugable Thunderbolt 4 Hub is a WAY better buy. The price tends to fluctuate wildly (It was $175 3 years ago, $140 today, and $110 like two months ago) and it only offers 3 USB-C ports in the back, 1 USB-C in the front, BUT:

  • Every USB-C port is a first-class citizen. You can plug a USB-C monitor adapter to any of the 3 and a hub into any other one
  • It's a true USB-C hub, insofar as it will work with an M3 Mac, an A12Z iPad Pro, a Steam Deck, or even the iPhone 15, and this includes the monitor connection
  • The front port charges at 60w and the 3 back ports charge at 18w each
I honestly won't ever go back after using this thing.
 
Bought one of these last time it was on sale to make my wife's Mac Studio + Studio Display setup easier and so she can plug in her MBP if needed. It's worked great so far, though we haven't unplugged it from the Studio since day 1...
 
Anthropogenesis said:
Cannot say enough bad things about this company and this particular dock. I bought one the last time it was on sale, and had nothing but problems with it. It would constantly eject drives with no information beyond a MacOS alert saying all the drives that were connected were incorrectly removed despite not touching anything. It would happen every hour, every day. Took a peek at the support forums and I discovered (after I bought it) that this is a well-known issue. When I contacted support, they mostly just took the stance that it was my fault (despite the fact that this still happened with other Macs). When I decided to return a clearly defective unit, they wanted to charge me a restocking fee, which is just a ludicrous policy. I will never buy anything from OWC again.
Click to expand...
Thank you for this information. Good to know. I was contemplating on getting one. But with such a poor customer service and defects in the product, I won't waste my time and money.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Anthropogenesis, Glavin and BrightDarkSky
mukiex said:
The Plugable Thunderbolt 4 Hub is a WAY better buy. The price tends to fluctuate wildly (It was $175 3 years ago, $140 today, and $110 like two months ago) and it only offers 3 USB-C ports in the back, 1 USB-C in the front, BUT:

  • Every USB-C port is a first-class citizen. You can plug a USB-C monitor adapter to any of the 3 and a hub into any other one
  • It's a true USB-C hub, insofar as it will work with an M3 Mac, an A12Z iPad Pro, a Steam Deck, or even the iPhone 15, and this includes the monitor connection
  • The front port charges at 60w and the 3 back ports charge at 18w each
I honestly won't ever go back after using this thing.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this info. I'll look into TB4 hub rather than using this one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mukiex
WarmWinterHat said:
Umm, it's been a while since I've owned anything with mini-displayport thunderbolt. How old is this?
Click to expand...
That's just a MiniDisplayPort. Useful if you've got a non-Thunderbolt displayt. The TB3 connections are USB3.

xgman said:
Only 2 TB ports and 1 lousy USB C port? What year is this?
Click to expand...
The year when the product is so old it is being sold off at 1/3 of its original price.

Multiple downstream Thunderbolt ports is a Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 feature - an older TB3 hub could be the better choice for people still using Intel Macs that don't have TB4, still have plenty of perfectly good USB-A equipment and/or want the Ethernet, SD card etc. ports which not all the TB4 ports have.
 
Anyone aware of how the headphone audio would compare to the really great m1 macbook pro audio out? M1 Pro MacBook sounds way better than my Schiit DAC/headphone amp.
 
JeffPerrin said:
I have used nothing but OWC enclosures and peripherals for many, many years. Great service! But I do hear this dock runs hot. The Caldigit looks like a better solution.

Also, why do companies like OWC keep putting the computer's TB connection port on the front of the dock? Makes absolutely no sense for a desktop solution. 🙃
Click to expand...
ehm, where? the top pic is front, the bottom is rear...
 
Like others here, I bought this unit last time it was on sale.
Like others, I have had problems. The USB-A ports tend to disconnect randomly, making it difficult to use my external DVD drive.
The other ports seem to be solid.

Just my experience. All things said, I can't recommend this to anyone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rsands1
I had absolutely terrible experience with the OWC Thunderbolt Hub. Same customer experience as mentioned above, just install the eject software. Did and it did not improve at which point OWC customer service just quit responding, indicating that it was something I was doing. I can only guess that their customer service folks are foreign or in downtown LA because they just don't care.

Had good luck with memory and drives, but did not have to use their customer service.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rsands1
Anthropogenesis said:
Cannot say enough bad things about this company and this particular dock. I bought one the last time it was on sale, and had nothing but problems with it. It would constantly eject drives with no information beyond a MacOS alert saying all the drives that were connected were incorrectly removed despite not touching anything. It would happen every hour, every day. Took a peek at the support forums and I discovered (after I bought it) that this is a well-known issue. When I contacted support, they mostly just took the stance that it was my fault (despite the fact that this still happened with other Macs). When I decided to return a clearly defective unit, they wanted to charge me a restocking fee, which is just a ludicrous policy. I will never buy anything from OWC again.
Click to expand...
That’s a MacOS problem. It’s been there for years. People may remember the “Disk not ejected properly” discussions.

Apple won’t fix it and all the vendors fob you off because they know Apple wont fix it. They’re stuck the same as us.
 
I currently use the UGREEN Revodok Max 208 Thunderbolt 4 Dock. I like it much better than this dock or many other docks because I only need Thunderbolt and USB-A ports. I don't need SD card readers, HDMI ports, or DP ports.

It has 4 Thunderbolt 4 ports and 3 USB type A 3.2 gen 2 (10 Gbps) ports, which is more than enough for what I need. It also has an 1 Gpbs Ethernet port which I don't use.

Using it since April, and works really well so far.

61nJLRE1-ML.jpg
 
Well, in defense of OWC, I had a 2019 Retina 4k iMac brick, with no solid state drive. Yeah, I'm an idiot, bought it on sale with the regular HD. Well, software updates would take TWO DAYS. That is not an exxageration.

I shipped it to OWC; had them put in a 4 TB SSD and 64 GB of RAM, and boom, new computer. Insanely good comparatively, actually usable. Running Sonoma 14.5 currently. And was that a job involving pulling off the screen. I wasn't about to go there. I have other OWC gear too, although nothing current. All worked fantastic, especially the hard drive enclosures.

I know a lot of time with docks cables are more than critical.

Oh. Major software updates now take less than an hour.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back