Elgato's new Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock first to allow for three USB-C connections in one dock

Corsair has taken the wraps off of the new Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock, intended to cover most or all of the connections a Mac owner might want, and for the first time provide three USB-C downstream ports in one dock.

On the rear the dock is equipped with two Thunderbolt 3 connections, Gigabit Ethernet, DisplayPort, a 3.5mm audio jack, and two USB 3.1 type C ports running at 10-gigabit Gen 2 speeds. The front is equipped with two 5-gigabit USB 3.0 type A gen 1 ports, plus a headset jack and a UHS-II-capable SD/microSD slot.

The dock can handle twin 4K displays via DisplayPort and Thunderbolt 3, Elgato said. Using just the free Thunderbolt 3 connection, it supports resolutions up to 5,120 by 2,880.

On Macs the accessory has its own menu bar utility, which can eject the dock and all connected storage simultaneously.

The Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock can be preordered from Corsair or Amazon for just under $350. A ship date is unavailable.

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9 Comments

gabberattack 16 Years · 154 comments

About 5 years ago

Normal laptops and desktops should have all these connectors integrated already so who will buy this device for 350+tax? Macbook Air users?

Mike Wuerthele 8 Years · 6907 comments

gabberattack said:

Normal laptops and desktops should have all these connectors integrated already so who will buy this device for 350+tax? Macbook Air users?

It is less for an iMac, say, and more for a single-cable solution for video, power, and all accessories on a desk for a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. For instance, I've got one Thunderbolt 3 cable going to a CalDigit dock, and an eGPU. This gives me 87W power, ethernet, and the Vega in the eGPU enclosure, all on one cable.

This particular dock does seem a bit expensive, though.

wozwoz 13 Years · 263 comments

For that price. I would want 10G ethernet port built-in. Absent that, for my needs, and for half the price, I would prefer the new Monoprice dock featured here yesterday: https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/01/06/monoprice-offers-up-thunderbolt-3-usb-31-type-c-dual-displayport-docking-station

cgWerks 8 Years · 2947 comments

I wonder when they will start making USB-C hubs?

I'd think eventually as people switch over, they will have more than 3 USB-C devices, right? I guess eventually being the key word there.

I don't have a single USB-C device yet.. just a USB-C to USB-A adapter we use with my son's laptop to plug in USB-A thumb drives, mostly. Can you even buy many devices (besides storage devices) in USB-C? I haven't seen anything else yet. Just storage devices and docks.

MplsP 8 Years · 4053 comments

cgWerks said:

I wonder when they will start making USB-C hubs?

I'd think eventually as people switch over, they will have more than 3 USB-C devices, right? I guess eventually being the key word there.

I don't have a single USB-C device yet.. just a USB-C to USB-A adapter we use with my son's laptop to plug in USB-A thumb drives, mostly. Can you even buy many devices (besides storage devices) in USB-C? I haven't seen anything else yet. Just storage devices and docks.

About the only thing I've seen has been a select few Flash Drives and some external hard drives. Everyone was exclaiming how USB C was 'the future' when Apple introduced the USB C only MacBooks, but a year and a half later that future is still yet to arrive. Even the thunderbolt connectivity is problematic - USB C does not mean thunderbolt compatibility, and even if the port is compatible, not all USB C cables are.

We may have the convenience of a single port now, but along with that we get the confusion of not knowing exactly what the port or cable is capable of. I'd rather have the separate USB & Thunderbolt ports and the clarity they give.

As for this dock, it seems quite expensive. I would think it would be best suited as a docking station for when you're working at your desk.