Apple has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to deprecating legacy technologies, starting with the noteworthy absence of the head-turning Bondi Blue iMac G3 in 1998, under the direction of Sir Jonathan Ive. Since then, Ive’s minimalist influences have led to design decisions–most controversially, moving exclusively to USB-C on MacBooks–which have frustrated enterprise users who rely on a heterogenous array of ports, forcing people to live the #DongleLife.
Luckily, the extensibility of Thunderbolt 3 via USB-C, and the practical engineering of Other World Computing (OWC)–a company with decades of experience in bridging the gap for Apple ecosystem adherents–has produced the OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock, which allows users to connect peripherals and power their MacBooks by plugging in just one cable.
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The 14-port Thunderbolt 3 dock, released this week, provides 85W of power for charging, and includes one mini DisplayPort (mDP) connector, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a gigabit Ethernet adapter, optical audio (S/PDIF) connector, and four Type-A (full size) USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports on the back of the dock for connecting monitors, disks, and other peripherals intended to live on your desk. The front of the dock includes one Type-A USB 3.1 Gen 1 port and one USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port each, plus a 3.5mm analog audio jack (with headset support) and dedicated SD and microSD Card slots, which support SD Express, for a maximum transfer speed of 985 MB/s.
Of note, two of the five total Type-A USB ports deliver 7.5W each for high-power charging, while the front-facing USB-C port supports USB-PD (Power Delivery) at 15W maximum. The dock can support dual 4K displays, or one 5K display.
The dock is available immediately from OWC via MacSales.com at $299.99 MSRP, and is available in Space Gray and Silver.
The big takeaways for tech leaders:
- The OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock allows users to connect peripherals and charge by connecting one cable.
- It features dedicated SD and microSD Card slots, both of which support SD Express, for a maximum transfer speed of 985 MB/s.
