Thunderbolt docks and bus power

[mikerahl]

Anyone know if any of the currently available Thunderbolt Docks or Thunderbolt 2 docks can be run using purely bus power (powering from the thunderbolt port rather than the AC adapter)?

 

[SkimMilk168]

Anyone know if any of the currently available Thunderbolt Docks or Thunderbolt 2 docks can be run using purely bus power (powering from the thunderbolt port rather than the AC adapter)?

I think if you are running minimum connected devices, you should be able to do it.

But, the nature being a dock for connecting multiple devices, I don't see why you wouldn't need a power supply to power the devices and keep the connection stable?

 

[mikerahl]

It's more for the flexibility. I like having a dock when I'm traveling to mount up a couple of peripherals (say a spare SSD, a storage drive, and a mouse), and the dock looks really practical as it wouldn't tie down my USB ports, not to mention being much better positioned than the USB ports. I was thinking the dock would be ideal for this reason.

 

[yjchua95]

Anyone know if any of the currently available Thunderbolt Docks or Thunderbolt 2 docks can be run using purely bus power (powering from the thunderbolt port rather than the AC adapter)?

The TB2 port itself isn't strong enough to power any dock available.

 

[mikerahl]

Ok, so it's not like a USB3 hub, which can be fully bus powered. Thanks for that, answers my question.

 

[yjchua95]

Ok, so it's not like a USB3 hub, which can be fully bus powered. Thanks for that, answers my question.

Even a USB 3 hub has to be bus-powered once you fill up the entire hub with external drives.

 

[mikerahl]

Surprisingly that hasn't been an issue for me. I load the USB hub up with 1 mouse, 1 external HD, 1 external SSD and a USB3 flash drive (with a full SSD inside) and I have no issues at all with stability.

 

[SkimMilk168]

Surprisingly that hasn't been an issue for me. I load the USB hub up with 1 mouse, 1 external HD, 1 external SSD and a USB3 flash drive (with a full SSD inside) and I have no issues at all with stability.

What hub are you using? The one I have can't support 2 external hdds running on bus only.

 

[chrfr]

Anyone know if any of the currently available Thunderbolt Docks or Thunderbolt 2 docks can be run using purely bus power (powering from the thunderbolt port rather than the AC adapter)?

I haven't seen any TB or TB2 hubs that will do this.

 

[Freyqq]

I don't know why you would want it to be bus powered. It would put a strain on your rmbp, as now it has to supply all that power.

 

[katit]

Any recommendation for TB dock? Ideally it would be something simple, I just need KVM+speakers pretty much. So, couple USB3s, speakers and Display port would be enough.

I understand Apple does not allow charging cables to be manufactured by 3rd party, so they always kind of "in holder".

P.S. This is for 13" MBPr

 

[yjchua95]

Any recommendation for TB dock? Ideally it would be something simple, I just need KVM+speakers pretty much. So, couple USB3s, speakers and Display port would be enough.

I understand Apple does not allow charging cables to be manufactured by 3rd party, so they always kind of "in holder".

P.S. This is for 13" MBPr

I've been using a CalDigit Thunderbolt dock for quite a while now and am very pleased with it.