This sort of setup is EXACTLY what I want to do once it's time for me to finally buy a MacBook Pro. One TB3 cable, and poof, Mac-based gaming rig.
Now if only that box put out enough juice for a real graphics card.
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Review: OWC's Updated Thunderbolt 3 Dock Adds 85W Charging, 10 Gbps USB-C Port, and microSD Slot
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This sort of setup is EXACTLY what I want to do once it's time for me to finally buy a MacBook Pro. One TB3 cable, and poof, Mac-based gaming rig.
Now if only that box put out enough juice for a real graphics card.
I don't carry any dongles on the go. Most people don't plug in a ton of cables when they're on the go. For the average user, they very rarely plug anything but a power cable into their laptop when on the go. A very small group of people might do otherwise but they're certainly in the minority.
These are the same cries we heard when Apple went USB with the original iMac. The world didn't end and people realized that it was a better solution to utilize the same connector for everything ratter than one for the mouse, another for the keyboard, another for the scanner, another for the hard drive, a different one for the.....
Dumb (?) question. This has 3 USB-C connectors...so if I plugged 3 MacBook Pros into it, would they all charge? How about the USB ports? Would they charge several iPhones?
It's possible to get that kind of docking ability without sacrificing ports. My work Dell XPS 15 accomplishes that offering one Thunderbolt 3 port, and then offering 2 USB 3.1 ports, a HDMI port, a headphone jack, and an SD card port. No dongles needed.
You mean... people who are using their laptops anywhere but at a desk next to an AC outlet are "doing it wrong"? OK, sure.
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I guess we're on opposite sides of the spectrum on dongles. I travel a lot and work in federal buildings, and you never know what you're going to need. I have to carry a ton of cables and adapters which I didn't need to before. I do appreciate the slimness of the new design and the benefits of TB3, but for me there are a lot more dongles.
My 'dock' has multiple TB3 & USB plus ethernet, headphone jack, SD card reader, built in SSD, wifi and even a monitor. Just plug in one cable at the AC outlet and you are ready to go.
Search for 'iMac'.
Search for 'iMac'.
I did not mean it. I meant to plug several Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps) devices at the same time to Mac. Obviously, the total bandwidth (40 Gbps) will be shared if devices are on and working at the same time. Imagine a Mac with one Thunderbolt 3 port. You can attach only one Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps) device.
And with current docks having only two Thunderbolt 3 ports, one is used to connect to Mac and the other to the Thunderbolt 3 device, so you end up with the same number of Thunderbolt 3 ports to connect devices to Mac. You do not gain any Thunderbolt 3 port, even if daisy chaining Thunderbolt 3 docks. And most Thunderbolt 3 devices like external SSD only have one Thunderbolt 3 port, so you cannot daisy-chain them.
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Gonna depend on the federal building. When I've visited all those fun 3-letter agencies, they're most certainly not letting outsiders plug anything in, even if it's just to a projector. Good news is FBI got MBPs for lots of their agents in the forensic side so they have TB3 plugs all around.
That's precisely the scenario for which these small, relatively cheap USB-C hubs like this one are made.
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No need to wait, just buy the Akitio Thunder 3 Dock Pro which has more variety with socket types and includes the 10Gb ethernet you seek:
You can daisy chain with most dock since they have a second port, but as you said most normal peripherals have only one port.
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MacBook Pro is lighter, faster and also Thunderbolt 3 is faster. SO?
NO. You do not get it. You end up with a single port all the time. In a Mac with a single Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps) port, you cannot increase such number of Thunderbolt 3 ports. It does not matter if you connect zero, one or more docks. My question above was (and still remains):
Is there any Thunderbolt 3 dock (or duplicator/splitter) with more than two Thunderbolt 3 ports? I mean, to increase the total number of functional Thunderbolt 3 ports on Mac. Much as can be done with USB ports. Any technical problem with that? Intel limitation? Thanks.
Marx, I fear that you have missed the answer. In simple terms the number of TB ports is driven by the host computer. The TB controller needs to have direct access to the CPU (pcie lanes) and physically located near the port. More ports requires more physical infrastructure at the host PC. These physical limitations cannot be replicated as they can only exist at the PC. Anything downstream of the PC is no longer Pure TB, only daisy-chaining or providing shared bandwidth for other non-TB connections.
Thanks for the reply. I thought that it should be possible to build a Thunderbolt 3 dock (or duplicator/splitter), much as has already been done with USB for years. In fact, I have been told by manufacturers (NDA) that it is technically possible, but Intel forbids it. I just wanted to know if other expert around here had other information.
NDA or not, the PCIe lanes cannot come from nowhere. Even USB port multipliers could not manufacture additional bandwidth.
TB3 is still a step forward with effective daisychaining. You can still multiply the TB3 connection but the other end will be 'just' USB-C with up to 10Gbps.
TB3 is still a step forward with effective daisychaining. You can still multiply the TB3 connection but the other end will be 'just' USB-C with up to 10Gbps.
Thunberbolt 3 p
Thanks for the information. But I did not mean to manufacture additional bandwidth (see my previous post, above). I just meant to increase the number of Thunberbolt 3 ports, as can be done with USB. So, I understand that it is not technically possible to increase the number of Thunberbolt 3 ports.
For instance, if you have a Mac with a single Thunberbolt 3 port, you can only attach one and only one external Thunberbolt 3 SSD (which also has a single Thunberbolt 3 port and cannot be connected to USB-C; it does not work that way; it requires Thunberbolt 3 port to work). You cannot increase such number of Thunberbolt 3 ports with any Thunberbolt 3 dock (or duplicator/splitter) because eventually you only have one and only one Thunberbolt 3 port to attach external Thunberbolt 3 SSD. Right?
Thanks for the information. But I did not mean to manufacture additional bandwidth (see my previous post, above). I just meant to increase the number of Thunberbolt 3 ports, as can be done with USB. So, I understand that it is not technically possible to increase the number of Thunberbolt 3 ports.
For instance, if you have a Mac with a single Thunberbolt 3 port, you can only attach one and only one external Thunberbolt 3 SSD (which also has a single Thunberbolt 3 port and cannot be connected to USB-C; it does not work that way; it requires Thunberbolt 3 port to work). You cannot increase such number of Thunberbolt 3 ports with any Thunberbolt 3 dock (or duplicator/splitter) because eventually you only have one and only one Thunberbolt 3 port to attach external Thunberbolt 3 SSD. Right?
Is there a Mac out there with just a single TB3 port? Even my base model 2018 13" MBP has 4 of them and my desktop Mac also has 4 x TB3, plus 4 x USB3.1, plus 10Gb Ethernet. Not exactly constraining.
There are external drives with full TB3 daisy-chaining capability and if you have a client device with just a single TB3 port you make sure it goes on the end of the chain.
I think you are looking for problems. To run into an issue you have to own a host PC with just a single TB3 yet need to simultaneously connect to two TB3-only devices and where neither of them support daisy-chaining.
I did not mean that. The one port was an example, just for the sake of the discussion. There are Macs with just two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports like MacBook Pro 13.3-inch
https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs
Anyway, I need to connect at the same time more Thunderbolt 3 external SSD devices to Mac than ports has the Mac. Those SSD cannot be daisy-chained because they have a single Thunderbolt 3 port, and cannot be connected to USB because they do not work that way. They only work with Thunderbolt 3.
I am not looking for problems. I am looking for a solution for such situation. Much as can be done with USB using docks (or duplicators/splitters), which increment the available USB ports to connect devices to Mac.
I wonder if there is any technical limitation preventing creating also such docks (or duplicators/splitters) but with Thunderbolt 3 (to increase the number of Thunderbolt 3 ports, of course), or if it is just Intel (owner of Thunderbolt 3 technology) who is blocking such development, as I have been told by some manufacturers. That was my question.
https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs
Anyway, I need to connect at the same time more Thunderbolt 3 external SSD devices to Mac than ports has the Mac. Those SSD cannot be daisy-chained because they have a single Thunderbolt 3 port, and cannot be connected to USB because they do not work that way. They only work with Thunderbolt 3.
I am not looking for problems. I am looking for a solution for such situation. Much as can be done with USB using docks (or duplicators/splitters), which increment the available USB ports to connect devices to Mac.
I wonder if there is any technical limitation preventing creating also such docks (or duplicators/splitters) but with Thunderbolt 3 (to increase the number of Thunderbolt 3 ports, of course), or if it is just Intel (owner of Thunderbolt 3 technology) who is blocking such development, as I have been told by some manufacturers. That was my question.
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Ahh, I suppose you are right, it's USB-C, not thunderbolt. Still, I suspect for many (including myself) that speed would be more than adequate for docking into a display, speakers, and some external hard drives (disks, not ssd).
Ok, quite a fringe case - you have acquired more TB3-only SSDs than you have ports and none of the SSDs have daisy-chain capability and you have a usage case where they all need to be connected at once to the same host.
I think you need to work on your Google Fu before purchasing such a collection. It took a while for your problem to be articulated and yet we are still unclear as to what equipment you are using or even how many TB3 ports the host has.
This has not been easy. Hope you find a solution.
With all due respect, I think that you are a bit thick and still do not get it. I do not have purchased any SSD. I am just asking some questions, which were plain clear in my very first post above. I do not need to explain why do I ask, because that is irrelevant here. If you do not know the answer, please, please, please, do not answer (your above posts do not add any relevant information and are noise here). I am just asking these plain an clear questions in case some expert can share information:
Is there any Thunderbolt 3 dock (or duplicator/splitter) with more than two Thunderbolt 3 ports? I mean, to increase the total number of functional Thunderbolt 3 ports on Mac. Much as can be done with USB ports. Any technical problem with that? Intel limitation? Thanks.
Is there any Thunderbolt 3 dock (or duplicator/splitter) with more than two Thunderbolt 3 ports? I mean, to increase the total number of functional Thunderbolt 3 ports on Mac. Much as can be done with USB ports. Any technical problem with that? Intel limitation? Thanks.
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FWIW, it did used to take me about 5 minutes for a setup/tear down of my laptop set up: On average I plug 7 things into it every time, but the bulk of that time is taking my laptop in and out of my backpack along with the cables and turning on all my peripheral devices, ejecting hard drives, etc. So while a dock would help some, I doubt I'd just leave all my peripherals on all the time, and I always have to eject all the hard drives...
That said, I find it's worth it for the portability you get out of laptops. But to give an idea of how bad the dongle situation is - for several years I found it was just easier to carry around my 2010 17" Macbook Pro rather than a backpack full of dongles. And almost every meeting without fail I forget to bring SOME dongle with me. You guys remember the old Apple ads in a business meeting where the presenter gets a blue screen and people start calling out ideas about DLLs to install and stuff? Well, I could be in a business commercial called "forgot my dongle!"
When you bifurcate the market, you end up with much more limited laptops and far more expensive pro models that may become untenable to support. If instead, as Apple used to do, you just make ALL the models powerful, then it's only a little more expensive on the low end, and everyone benefits from lower prices due to volume. Despite many knee jerk negative reactions from MacRumor readers, I have NEVER had any issue with having a port I didn't use - on the contrary, it's inspiring. For example, I almost moved into optical audio just because it was there - before Apple "pulled the plug".
So while a dock would help some, I doubt I'd just leave all my peripherals on all the time, and I always have to eject all the hard drives...That said, I find it's worth it for the portability you get out of laptops. But to give an idea of how bad the dongle situation is - for several years I found it was just easier to carry around my 2010 17" Macbook Pro rather than a backpack full of dongles. And almost every meeting without fail I forget to bring SOME dongle with me. You guys remember the old Apple ads in a business meeting where the presenter gets a blue screen and people start calling out ideas about DLLs to install and stuff? Well, I could be in a business commercial called "forgot my dongle!"
When you bifurcate the market, you end up with much more limited laptops and far more expensive pro models that may become untenable to support. If instead, as Apple used to do, you just make ALL the models powerful, then it's only a little more expensive on the low end, and everyone benefits from lower prices due to volume. Despite many knee jerk negative reactions from MacRumor readers, I have NEVER had any issue with having a port I didn't use - on the contrary, it's inspiring. For example, I almost moved into optical audio just because it was there - before Apple "pulled the plug".