Akitio's Thunder3 Dock Pro offers 10-gigabit Ethernet to MacBook Pro, iMac owners

Akitio is now shipping the Thunder3 Dock Pro, a new Thunderbolt 3 dock for Macs promising an array of options, including a rare example of a 10-gigabit Ethernet port.

The dock also includes a second Thunderbolt 3 port, which like the main connection can deliver up to 60 watts of power. If needed it can be used for USB 3.1 Gen 2 and DisplayPort peripherals.

The product also has a dedicated DisplayPort link, however, as well as an eSATA host port, and a USB 3.1 Gen 1 hub with three Type-A ports. Photographers and videographers can make use of a front-facing card reader that handles CFast 2.0 and SD 4.0 up to 370 megabytes per second.

The dock is the first one to offer a 10-Gigabit Ethernet port in conjunction with other ports. The company also has a standalone Thunderbolt 3 10-Gigabit Ethernet "dongle" as well.

To keep heat under control the dock is equipped with its own cooling fan, but Akitio promises that it should run noiselessly in all conditions.

The Thunder3 Dock Pro is available through Amazon for $349.99.

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7 Comments

cmka~+

said about 5 years ago

60 watts of PD is not pro. Almost an amazing dock but useless as a single cable solution for 15” MBP without 87watts.

polymnia

said about 5 years ago

Impressive. Though, as pointed out above, not necessarily ideal for a MBP. I could see one of these on my desk next to the iMac. I'll hold tight until there is another 10Gbe device on my network.

Maybe by then this device will be on Rev B, with the USB-A ports replaced by USB-C.

Mike Wuerthele

said about 5 years ago

cmka~+ said:

60 watts of PD is not pro. Almost an amazing dock but useless as a single cable solution for 15” MBP without 87watts.

60W is sufficient to keep even the i9 topped off and not draining. It's enough to actively charge if you're in clamshell mode.

lordjohnwhorfin

said about 5 years ago

They make really neat TB2 and TB3 accessories. I recently bought a TB2 to dual eSATA (with port multiplier support) and I have 10 SATA drives in an enclosure hooked up to my MacPro for a low cost, high capacity RAID array.

onehunglow

said about 5 years ago

cmka~+ said:

60 watts of PD is not pro. Almost an amazing dock but useless as a single cable solution for 15” MBP without 87watts.

Akitio claim that 87watts is only needed when bus powered thunderbolt peripherals are connected to the laptop. Without those, 60watts is sufficient.
https://www.akitio.com/blog/articles/60w-power-delivery-macbook-pro