Malcolm Owen
Accessory producer Elgato is preparing to release its Thunderbolt 3 Dock, one which allows users to connect two 4K displays to a Macbook at the same time, with the accessory shipping out to customers in the United States, Europe, and Australia on June 6.
Revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show in January and originally expected to ship later that month, the Thunderbolt 3 Dock offers users two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a full-size DisplayPort, Gigabit Ethernet, and two USB 3.0 type-A ports on the back. On the front are headphone and microphone jacks, and a single USB 3.0 type-A port.
The two Thunderbolt 3 ports are capable of providing up to 40Gb/s of bandwidth when used for Thunderbolt connectivity, or up to 10Gb/s for USB 3.1 Gen 2 connections. For video, it is possible to use a Thunderbolt 3 output for a 5K resolution picture at 60Hz for one display, though users can opt to connect two 4K displays by any means, limited to 60Hz.
The dock can be used to provide power to charge a 13-inch or 15-inch MacBook Pro through one of its Thunderbolt 3 ports, at up to 85W, with the same ports also able to charge other items at up to 15W. Charging over USB 3.0 is also possible using the accompanying Thunderbolt Dock utility.
The Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Dock is available to pre-order at $299.95, with shipments due on June 6.
Elgato's dock is one of a number of similar products that launched this year, aiming to add more connectivity options for MacBook Pro users. CalDigit shipped its Thunderbolt 3 TS3 Lite dock earlier this year, with similar offerings from Henge, OWC, and others also looking to dominate the market.
William Gallagher
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
12 Comments
What I don't get is why they're not including at least one Thunderbolt 2 port, that seems like a no brainer to me.
Can Thunderbolt 3 devices be "adapted" to work off Thunderbolt 1 or 2 computers?