Review: OWC's Thunderbolt 3 Dock Gives Your MacBook Pro 13 More Ports to Work With

[gman36]

The vast majority of the delay has truly been beyond our control. You may or may not notice the plethora of EFI updates rolled in with each of the 10.12.x OS updates over the last 5 months. The good news is it is about making sure all is good and right. It's frustrating for all - and we get close and then we are back waiting... but now that's in the rearview.

While I would agree - we're already later than it should have been, we truly are in the home stretch. I personally flew to oversee final details on the production line and been interfacing with the powers that be to keep hiccups off. I share what I can, when I can...

I sincerely appreciate the patience - the Dock rocks (and we'll reach out on any noise as that's not to be expected, these are quiet) - and the wait is nearly over. I hate that it's taken this long and, again, can't say enough thank you's for the patience.

Thank you.

Larry,

I've been waiting for this dock for awhile, but it is riddled with logos and labels. For a high end product like this, it should be visually appealing and not distracting to look at. I'm now waiting for Belkins offering... although I think their dock is lacking in ports.

Is there a way to remove the logos and labels? I'm more than willing to buy the product if I can get rid of them somehow and not tarnish the anodizing.

Best,
George

 

[burgman]

Bro the sheeple will come after you soon

Guessing you are on fast track to being banned.

 

[MrX8503]

If only we could hang 20 cables off the side of a 2016 MacBook Pro - or, at least, the 6 or so that you could with the previous model. Preferably the USB-A, MiniDisplayPort, HDMI and Magsafe cables that we already have rather than new USB-C ones or dongles. For those of us who want a MacBook Pro as a "desktop replacement" the new Macs have made docks like this a near-essential rather than a convenience. That's not OWC's fault - Apple should have ensured that there was at least one option ready-to-roll when the new machines launched.

USB A should never be on a modern laptop. Apple should have kept the SD card reader though.

 

[JamesPDX]

So, how many of these can you daisy-chain together? Or am I thinking of Thunderbolt 2? Wait, no Thunderbolt 2 port?

 

[mabhatter]

Shouldn't this thing cost $800? That's what Apple would charge. $299 is still ridiculous when you can buy an entire PC for that, but you have to expect to pay through the nose with the Mac. PC Hub? $25. Mac hub. $299. Yeah, ti's Thunderbolt 3. But those ports all used to come with a Mac years ago. PCs still do come with them. So pay $2400 for a 15" Macbook Pro with a lousy 250GB of storage ($3000 for 1TB) and then another $299 to get all those ports the $2000 model used to come with. And the Mac fanatics will EAT IT UP because they enjoy paying through the nose.

I have to agree. $199 is pushing it for an "adapter". $299 is crazy. And on top of waiting 9 months for release, it's not even 85w to power a MacBook Pro which is the main computer owner that need this.

I understand most of this is outside OWC's control. LG couldn't even release a TB3 monitor on the first try. Apple's attempt at TB3 only release is a trainwreck. I'd hate to have spent way too much money and still be waiting for basic accessories... even Apples accessories are just terrible. 90% of the bellyaching could have been avoided with a few regular USB 3.0 ports on these new models for plentiful legacy accessories while people use the new ports for power and video only.

I was in the market for a new MacBook (Pro) this tax season but I'm glad I waited. Sprung for a Ryzen box with 8 cores at a price Apple will never touch. Maybe next year.

 

[deconstruct60]

So, how many of these can you daisy-chain together? Or am I thinking of Thunderbolt 2? Wait, no Thunderbolt 2 port?

The daisy chain limit didn't change with TBv3. You'd need a TBv3-to-v2 adaptor to put a TBv2 device downstream of of this. Everything past the adapter would be at TBv2 speeds though. ( so would loose the 5K monitor on single cable ability and also some of the new power supply updates. )

 

[mabhatter]

USB A should never be on a modern laptop. Apple should have kept the SD card reader though.

USB A Supports 15 years of devices all the way from Logitech keyboard dongles to SSD's at 5GBs. Those devices have no business being daisy chained thru 3 adapters to make them work.. support is baked right into the processor. 90% of the complaints are because the dongles are just terrible products. People are trying to work around something that was easily avoidable. Adding TB3 bastardized the USB-C spec for something that proprietary to only Apple-Intel and they botched the proper USB-C support to boot as MacBook USB-C devices don't properly work either on Pros.

I understand Apple is pushing a "artistic" - "technical" - "political" agenda here but their in business to sell computers people can USE and failed.

 

[deconstruct60]

Hope OWC can ship their first thunderbolt 3 dock soon.
Caldigit already shipped their first Mac and Windows compatible Thunderbolt 3 dock using second generation of chip from Jan this year as they promised. It's only less than 200 dollars but 15W charging. At least, they made it happened on time. Other late comers should catch up soon.

CalDigit has two TBv3 docks. The TS3Lite and the TS3. The TS3Lite is not meant to recharge MacBooks.

"...The TS3 Lite is the ideal solution for users that require port expansion for the 2016 MacBook Pro and already have a way of charging their laptop. ..."
http://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-3-dock/
The recharge limiit is more so for high draw iPad's and the like off the USB ports; not laptops. That is shipping because avoiding the laptop class "high power" certification and complexity. It does less so it costs less.

The TS3 model is the same $299 price point. It does laptop power. It is also has been on this sliding shipping window which is now slid back to Mid-Late May. It has a different mix of ports and does more, so it costs more.


This isn't a "one vendor" problem. The power delivery for TBv3 is a mix of Thunderbolt and USB standards. The first gen TI USB power chips that came out early got superceded ( issues around dead battery power by pass or something along those lines). Apple dropping the MagSafe means that Apple now has to deal with more 3rd party power supplies. That appears to be a catch 22 for Apple in that they don't want "race to the bottom" supplies ( crappy power can screw up electronics over time. ), but also are opening the door (by broadening to wider set of USB vendors and power provisioning devices ).
[doublepost=1493502707][/doublepost]

...Adding TB3 bastardized the USB-C spec for something that proprietary to only Apple-Intel and they botched the proper USB-C support to boot as MacBook USB-C devices don't properly work either on Pros.

When USB type C cables first came out there was a rash of "race to the bottom" options that hit the market that were problematical. Those cables didn't comply with the standards. The USB certification hurdles are not anywhere need as demanding and comprehensive as the Thunderbolt ones have been. Part of the issue here is that this high end power supply stuff is mixed up in USB hardware (e..g, the problematical TI first gen USB power regular that Apple's firmware has balked at for several first gen TBv3 products. )

TBv3 didn't bastardize USB Type-C. Type-C allows for alternative modes. Thunderbolt is just one of those modes. The dual edge sword is that initial handshake and power negotiation protocols are all USB based; not what TB used before. USB devices being in 100% harmonious capability with one another across generational upgrades is a myth. Every iteration forward has had some hiccups among products and implementations. That is usually why it isn't added to core PCH chipsets for systems until the rough edges have been smoothed off.

 

[MrX8503]

USB A Supports 15 years of devices all the way from Logitech keyboard dongles to SSD's at 5GBs. Those devices have no business being daisy chained thru 3 adapters to make them work.. support is baked right into the processor. 90% of the complaints are because the dongles are just terrible products. People are trying to work around something that was easily avoidable. Adding TB3 bastardized the USB-C spec for something that proprietary to only Apple-Intel and they botched the proper USB-C support to boot as MacBook USB-C devices don't properly work either on Pros.

I understand Apple is pushing a "artistic" - "technical" - "political" agenda here but their in business to sell computers people can USE and failed.

What in the world are you babbling about?

USB-C isn't proprietary, it's the standard. I stopped buying USB A peripherals and replaced my cables with USB-C. Simplifying my peripherals and cables has been awesome.

 

[HarryDevlin]

Some people here don't seem to understand the point of a dock. It's more than a really expensive way to get your ports back. It's a..dock. You can connect everything you need with a single cable, including power. I've been wanting something like this for years, before Apple took its ports away.

Not too different from the Caldigit one...was supposed to come out Q1 (end of March), then it was moved to Mid-May, now it's Late May according to their Twitter account. Considering there are no Mac-certified TB3 docks out yet with full power delivery and they are all supposedly coming out at the same time, I blame Apple's certification.

I've always been a big fan of docks. On my older machines, Thinkpad and Latitude, they offered really nice docks with good power supplies. But these docks were not intended to be carried around, and the laptops themselves had a full complement of ports as well. This OWC dock seems to be not so well designed if it can't even charge a laptop.

I was recently in a meeting where someone was trying to hook a new Macbook Pro up to a commercial projector. She didn't realize that the USB-C to Thunderbolt adapter didn't support Mini-Display-Port video (she also had a Mini-Display-Port to VGA adapter). She had three different dongles with her, but not the one she really needed, which Apple does sell (a Belkin USB-C to VGA adapter, https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HJUZ2ZM/A/belkin-usb-c-to-vga-adapter). And she works for Apple! This whole premise of removing ports and than selling dongles and adapters is really annoying. Personally I prefer a slightly thicker laptop that has necessary ports rather than carrying around a bunch of dongles and adapters.

 

[bluespark]

Looks like a great dock, but is it possible to get a version without the white text all over it? Especially in the front, all that text really messes with what otherwise would be a good aesthetic complement to the MBP.

 

[Flash SWT]

The 60W charging limit makes me hesitant. Is it that hard to supply the full 85W that a 15" needs?

 

[richpjr]

Or, god forbid, having an up-to-date desktop machine. Once you're at the point where you need that much I/O, why work with a laptop with miniaturized components optimized for power consumption and portability?

I can only speak for myself, but at work I use every port on my MBPTS and still occasionally have to unplug some peripherals to plug in others. But when I go home at night, I just bring my MB with me. Sure, I could have a desktop with more ports and a laptop and rely on some kind of cloud storage to sync the devices. Or I can just use my MB with a TB3 dock.

 

[sudo1996]

anecdotally, a colleague originally sprang for a USB hub but had quality issues. HDMI was poor, USB connections were finicky, plugging in while the machine was running caused stuff not to work at all. He moved to a Thunderbolt dock, and the issues went away.

HDMI over USB sounds really sketchy.
[doublepost=1493528541][/doublepost]

Shouldn't this thing cost $800? That's what Apple would charge. $299 is still ridiculous when you can buy an entire PC for that, but you have to expect to pay through the nose with the Mac. PC Hub? $25.

Please explain what a "PC hub" is. $25 sounds like the price of a high-end USB hub, which would work on Mac anyway, and the HP/Dell-specific hubs cost a lot more.

FYI, all the peripherals on my Mac are commodity. My USB hub was $4. I'm using a cheap Microsoft webcam and three cheap monitors.

 

[bartvk]

The 60W charging limit makes me hesitant. Is it that hard to supply the full 85W that a 15" needs?

Really, you don't need more unless you've got your laptop fans spinning half of the day.
[doublepost=1493532316][/doublepost]

HDMI over USB sounds really sketchy.

No, this is quite normal functionality for USB-C hubs, not sketchy at all.

 

[carestudio]

60W is good but not perfect. Actually caldigit has been shipping usb-c dock that can do 60W too. I have been using it.
http://crazydiamondstar.blogspot.com/2016/08/usb-c-dock-best-baymax-for-macbook.html

it is only 140 dollars, it's not thunderbolt 3, it's usb-c. I dont know why it is so hard to do 85W Thunderbolt 3 dock.
you may use multiple 15W bus powered devices and then 60W charging might not work. just my 2 cents.

 

[Guy Clark]

Depends if you make money with them... I do... lots and lots. A bad workman and all that!

That may well be the case but what use is a machine with a single USB-C Port.

Apple are completely inflexible these days when it comes to the Mac range.

In days gone past Apple would have provided ports for older hardware such as Firewire 400 and Firewire 800.

The older Retina MacBook Pro Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3 and traditional keyboard is infinitely more productive.

The latest Touchbar, USB-C MacBook Pro is a ladies handbag abomination.

Typed on a Late-2009 iMac

OLDER MACS ARE BETTER.

 

[sudo1996]

No, this is quite normal functionality for USB-C hubs, not sketchy at all.

I don't know if he meant USB-C, but I meant the USB protocol. USB-C is only the connector. If it's in DisplayPort or HDMI mode, fine. If it's actually doing the USB 3.0 or 2.0 protocol, then it's sketchy.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

I have to agree. $199 is pushing it for an "adapter". $299 is crazy. And on top of waiting 9 months for release, it's not even 85w to power a MacBook Pro which is the main computer owner that need this.

I understand most of this is outside OWC's control. LG couldn't even release a TB3 monitor on the first try. Apple's attempt at TB3 only release is a trainwreck. I'd hate to have spent way too much money and still be waiting for basic accessories... even Apples accessories are just terrible. 90% of the bellyaching could have been avoided with a few regular USB 3.0 ports on these new models for plentiful legacy accessories while people use the new ports for power and video only.

And that's exactly what I said when the new Macbook Pro came out. They need time for transitioning. New products don't even know whether they should include the old ports or the new ones. It's a mess and made even worse by the fact Apple insists on using Lightning still on their phones which means yet another dongle just to plug the phone into the new Macbook Pro.

Please explain what a "PC hub" is. $25 sounds like the price of a high-end USB hub, which would work on Mac anyway, and the HP/Dell-specific hubs cost a lot more.

FYI, all the peripherals on my Mac are commodity. My USB hub was $4. I'm using a cheap Microsoft webcam and three cheap monitors.

What I'm saying is that a typical PC notebook has more than just USB-C ports on it. I'm not saying there aren't any models that don't, but you can easily get one with most or all of these ports already on it, thus costing you ZERO to obtain them. You might want some more USB ports (i.e. $25). For the new Macbook Pro models, you can't do a damn thing without an adapter or hub of some kind and a basic USB hub isn't going to cut it. This $299 job illustrates the point. THAT is what I'm saying. When you're stuck with just Apple as the supplier of ALL Mac hardware, you get what they offer and nothing else (unless you go Hackintosh).

 

[theluggage]

I stopped buying USB A peripherals and replaced my cables with USB-C.

Good for you. If you've got a single computer and only a few peripherals that's fine. If you've got multiple computers sharing a bunch of peripherals, some regularly used, some just for an occasional, crucial job, and you bought a powerful laptop so it could "commute" between home and work - so you need two sets of adapters and docks - then, not so much.

USB-A/[Mini]DisplayPort/HDMI are still the ports supported by the majority of currently shipping PCs including the whole of Apple's own desktop line. Apart from a few ultra portables and mobile devices, even computers from other manufacturers with USB-C/TB3 mostly manage to squeeze in a few USB-A or video ports - and often separate power supply ports so that charging via USB-C is an option if you want a dock, and otherwise doesn't "waste" a high-bandwidth I/O port.

The only real technical advantage of USB-C/TB3 is combining lots of different ports into one on mobile devices (even USB 3.1 gen 2 is compatible with the "old" USB3-A ports - plenty of PC motherboards offer this). Full-sized DisplayPorts/HDMI aren't going away in a hurry: show me a PCIe graphics card with USB-C or TB3 video out - TB3 doesn't even support DisplayPort 1.3/1.4 - or any signs that TV equipment is going to move to USB-C. 2-3 years down the line, maybe (but you'll have outgrown the soldered-in SSD on your 2016 MBP by then).

Really, you don't need more [than 60W] unless you've got your laptop fans spinning half of the day.

So, if (e.g.) you chuck a dozen huge video camera files at Handbrake to crunch down to web-friendly form and leave it chewing away overnight, you're liable to wake up to a flat battery? That's about as much use as a chocolate teapot, then. If I didn't need to do something like that from time-to-time I wouldn't be looking at a quad i7 "Pro" laptop and $300 dock.

Again - not OWCs fault if there are problems getting the >60W charging capability certified - just Apple's fault for making their laptops entirely dependent on an immature technology and not working with third parties to get all the necessary peripherals ready for launch day.

I'd give up looking for a meaty "desktop replacement" laptop and go for a light laptop + iMac combo except that the "light" option: the non-TB 13" is even more dependent on a dock on every desk because it has a laughable two ports (or one once you've plugged in the charger) so even plugging in a display and keyboard is a challenge.

 

[kahkityoong]

Would be perfect if it had a thundebolt 2 port

 

[bartvk]

So, if (e.g.) you chuck a dozen huge video camera files at Handbrake to crunch down to web-friendly form and leave it chewing away overnight, you're liable to wake up to a flat battery?

You're on to something, but not in this particular case. I just tried and re-encoded Magellan with Handbrake. With iStat Menus, I put the total power usage in watts in my menubar. It moved between 55 and 60W but not above. I bet that CPU is thermally constrained. I think it would make it through the night. Not sure though.

The discrete GPU wasn't used, though. It could be that if you also peg the GPU, it eats more than 60W. Haven't tested that.

 

[theluggage]

It moved between 55 and 60W but not above. I bet that CPU is thermally constrained. I think it would make it through the night. Not sure though.

...was with the stock 85W PSU + charge cable, so it could have had 85W if it wanted?

So so it could be that 60W is enough to run the computer and 85W is just "headroom" so it can re-charge the battery at the same time? That wouldn't be so bad for a desktop "dock" (but any sort of compromise on this sort of high-end kit is a shame - and, ultimately, Apple wouldn't ship an 85W adapter if a 60W was 'good enough').

Also not clear what the total capacity of the OWC power supply is - could the 60W even be a 'soft' limit imposed on the TB3 port that might be raised after certification, or is it 60W total and you are going to have to watch what other equipment you power from the dock?
[doublepost=1493557272][/doublepost]

However, even in gross bandwidth, it only does USB 3.1 Gen 1 (5 Gb/s), not Gen 2 (10 Gb/s).

According to the OWC specs, the downstream USB-C/TB3 port supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 devices.

You also have to be a bit realistic about how many ultra high-speed devices you plan to daisychain off a single 40Gbps port on your computer - and remember that a 4k+@60Hz display or two will take a big chunk out of the available bandwidth. I'd see a dock like this as mainly to sort out external display(s), power and things like network, keyboard, mouse, printer, USB sticks, non-speed-critical backup drive etc. leaving the other TB3 ports on your laptop free for directly connecting additional high-performance devices (what? plug TWO cables into a laptop?)

 

[dilbert99]

Guessing you are on fast track to being banned.

sheeple sheeple sheeple

Added to separate quote above...

Overpriced and under powered why not have two monitor ports of the same type. If I buy two monitors, it means I have to make sure they have both thunderbolt and display port (or by some dongles)? (i'm not very up on monitor connectors nowadays) I noticed the was no mention at what frequency it drove the two 4k monitors (30/60Hz)?

Wonder what happened to the Dell TB16 dock? Looks like it is also an overpriced $299 can supply 130W to laptops or 60W to thunderbolt peripherals. Read that people are having drop out issues with that one just like the TB15
[doublepost=1493559757][/doublepost]

Really, you don't need more unless you've got your laptop fans spinning half of the day.
[doublepost=1493532316][/doublepost]

No, this is quite normal functionality for USB-C hubs, not sketchy at all.

You would want more so that the laptop charged more quickly.

 

[otternonsense]

An expensive solution to a problem that shouldn't exist.