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

Which TB3 dock for your 15MBP?

This is one of my main gripes about Apple going all in on USB-C/TB3..

Lack of peripherals.

I really really really wish they would make their own first party dock (or a couple different variants) or, hopefully, at some point that Apple Pro monitor will be back and be a docking station of it's own, Ala the Thunderbolt Display of the past.

But therein lies the rub - I wish they'd have launched more of these things first party alongside the new MacBook Pro's so we wouldn't have to scour the corners of the internet hoping something or someone can solve the "removal of ports" that is now an issue for some.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mdbradigan, Saturn1217 and munna78
The Mantiz Venus is a great all-in-one Thunderbolt 3 docking station with eGPU support. Everything is ready to go pending Intel's certification. The last update I heard is early June 2017. The 100 orders from the Mantiz Venus group-buy will be fulfilled first.

Our team at eGPU.io has been testing and providing feedback to Mantiz. The Venus enclosures were to come with a 450W 80 Plus Bronze SFX PSU which would provide 300W to the GPU and 60W power delivery. I tortured one of the preproduction units with my late-2016 15" MacBook Pro using a R9 Fury X (rated for 400W TDP). I blew the PSU while playing Tomb Raider.

Based on the eGPU community feedback, Mantiz upped the power delivery to 87W to accommodate late 2016 15" MacBook Pro owners. This was accomplished by switching to a 550W 80 Plus Gold SFX PSU. The GPU also gets upto 375W with a more powerful power supply.

Here's the near production unit paired with GTX 1080 Ti running Unigine Valley in macOS.

 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: appleish19, mdbradigan and killawat
minton said:
Did he just unplug his dock with all devices still attached? Elgato has a Dock Utility for ejecting all devices, but you still have to click it first.
Click to expand...

Looks like it. Not sure if OWC docks come with utilities, but Caldigit ones do.

Edit: Just got an order update from Caldigit:

Due to overwhelming demand and a smaller than expected initial quantity, our first preorder shipment has completely sold out. Preorders placed prior to February 28th, 2017 are expected to ship between May 31st to June 9th. Orders placed after the cut-off date will ship from the second shipment, which is estimated to ship early July 2017.
Click to expand...

I preordered in January, so I'm pretty excited there's a specific release window. Fingers crossed that they make it.
 
Last edited:
$300!??
Wow - This "future" sure is expensive, especially since they keep removing ports while simultaneously raising the price of the machine to begin with.
 
I'm glad to see these docks are finally making it out. I'm still planning on holding out for Henge's tethered dock as I think that has everything I want. I just hope they get around to it coming soon. They let you pre-order the USB-C dock, but the TB3 version doesn't let you do that yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: xsdogs72
fokmik said:
what the hell? that dock is top of the line with premium build with a lot of ports,everything you need..you will can buy docks that are less pricy
Click to expand...

I still think it's expensive.
I agree it seems like the nicest of the bunch, but it's just amazing how much they want for what it does.

I really believe we are all conditioned here to simply accept high prices for these due to the lack of any really good ones in the marketplace.
 
turbineseaplane said:
I still think it's expensive.
I agree it seems like the nicest of the bunch, but it's just amazing how much they want for what it does.

I really believe we are all conditioned here to simply accept high prices for these due to the lack of any really good ones in the marketplace.
Click to expand...

I think I'm also conditioned to it because I've spent $200-$250 for docks for my Lenovo work machines and those docks tend to only be good for that specific laptop. I'll be happy with a TB3 dock that I can use for other laptops as well.

Speaking of Lenovo, it looks like their TB3 dock is now shipping. At least this page says ships in 1-3 days. http://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/access...le-docks-usb/Thunderbolt-Dock-US/p/40AC0135US
I recall originally when this dock was mentioned in articles, they said it would work with Mac, but I don't see any info on their pages to verify that.
 
Last edited:
Why do we never see a TB3 dock with at least one TB2 peripheral port on it (or, for that matter, a cable that goes from TB3 to TB2 without using a separate adapter)? It seems like the only way to get from TB3 to TB2 is a dedicated adapter... I have an expensive QNAP TB2 NAS/sort of DAS hybrid RAID (has both Ethernet and Thunderbolt, uses Thunderbolt networking)... I suspect it'll work with a TB3 computer by using Apple's TB3/TB2 adapter, although I don't have a 2016 MBP (I may upgrade to a 2017 with 32 GB), so I haven't checked. I'd love to see a dock with that adapter effectively built in, so I wasn't using a dongle to connect a 30 pound RAID that's permanently attached to the dock anyway. I suspect a lot of people have expensive TB2 storage of various kinds, and would rather use a dock port or a TB3 to TB2 cable (I don't care which, but neither one seems to exist), rather than an extra adapter. The adapter adds an extra connection to get knocked or otherwise go wrong, plus it puts one more (cheap, low-quality) component into the highest speed signal chain on my computer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: turbineseaplane
Dotwood said:
The Elgato thunderbolt 3 dock seems to launch on June 12th according to our always reliable friends at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.de/Elgato-Thunde...481&sr=8-1&keywords=elgato+thunderbolt+3+dock

Also the price is €50,- less than the one from Belkin. Don't know about $.
Click to expand...
Take it with a pinch of salt... in April it was listed as released on May 1. When that date came, it changed to "temporarily out of stock". Then last week it said "normally ships in 1 to 4 weeks". And now it says June 12.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Brookzy said:
Take it with a pinch of salt... in April it was listed as released on May 1. When that date came, it changed to "temporarily out of stock". Then last week it said "normally ships in 1 to 4 weeks". And now it says June 12.
Click to expand...

I know , I know.. :(

But with the Belkin coming somewhere in June it's nice to finally have some options for a one cable solution. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: xsdogs72
danwells said:
Why do we never see a TB3 dock with at least one TB2 peripheral port on it (or, for that matter, a cable that goes from TB3 to TB2 without using a separate adapter)?
Click to expand...
Because you'd either have to use a Thunderbolt 2 controller or lose the secondary Thunderbolt 3 port. Neither of which is an option because the first makes the device more expensive and the second makes the devices less useful. It also wouldn't make any sense to trade a Thunderbolt 3 port in for a Thunderbolt 2 version since you can use an adapter for that.
 
The delay on production of all these Thunderbolt 3 docks seems pretty ridiculous....
 
Will any of these be able to do 4K @ 60hz over HMDI? Or is it simplay the same answer as without a dock - "only with the right HDMI 2.0 adapter"?
 
BigTomCallaghan said:
Will any of these be able to do 4K @ 60hz over HMDI? Or is it simplay the same answer as without a dock - "only with the right HDMI 2.0 adapter"?
Click to expand...

All TB3 docks will support this, 1 USB-C to HDMI 2.0, one DisplayPort to HDMI 2.0.

You can also do 2x 4K using the above combo as long as your mac does.
 
killawat said:
All TB3 docks will support this, 1 USB-C to HDMI 2.0, one DisplayPort to HDMI 2.0.

You can also do 2x 4K using the above combo as long as your mac does.
Click to expand...
Thank you sir but I was referring to the USB C only docks not the TB3 ones. Appears I may have been in the incorrect thread.
 
Screenshot 2017-06-07 18.08.42.JPG
IT'S HAPPENING!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: unashamedgeek, killawat and Brookzy
killawat said:
yasssssssssss

So absolutely disgusted at the price , but you earned it. $200. Damn son.
Click to expand...

And I still hesitated at $200. Damn glad I pulled the trigger.

If it's any comfort, I would not be surprised if it drops in price once Intel stops charging licensing fees.
 
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