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FitzSitzQuitz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 11, 2022
26
50
I recently received my 16" MBP M3 Max and am stuck in analysis paralysis trying to find the right dock. I've looked at a ton of them, but I wanted to know if anyone can recommend one for the following use cases:

1. Strongly preferring PD 3.1 so that the MBP can continue to fast charge at 140W
2. Two monitors via HDMI (2.1 preferred but not a hard requirement) or via 1 DP and 1 HDMI; must also run at least 120Hz for both 2k displays.
3. At least 3 USB-A ports
4. Must be Thunderbolt 4 - I'm saving up to buy two Studio displays but that won't happen till mid/late 2024.
5. Would prefer to stay under $400 USD.

Thank you in advance for your recommendations.
 

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,475
20,538
Well, I can tell you what not to buy. Anker: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087219P5J/

What's funny is I've written this message twice, and MacRumors didn't have the usual auto save. It literally crashed my computer while in the middle of telling you it crashes my computer. What makes that more ironic, though, is the fact that it only happens about every two weeks. So the fact that it happened at this specific moment is hilarious.

I've been using it since I bought it with gift cards after Christmas in early January. Overall the performance is great, the design is great, it feels premium. The reason I think it's behind my random crashes is that they only started after I bought it (although they seemed more infrequent back then and it took me some time to put it together), and I had just reinstalled the entire OS from scratch before buying this. Also because sometimes when I wake my computer from sleep, again rarely, the displays will be mirroring each other on either side of my iMac, and also kinda scrambled or flickering, and then once it clears up my iMac has the same type of crash.

I will be testing it soon with the 14" M3 Max. Maybe it's only an Intel bug, who knows. Will know by later in December if it happens again. You know, I should probably contact Anker about this. Their customer support is usually pretty good. IDK why I have. It has been a crazy fast year.
 

FitzSitzQuitz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 11, 2022
26
50
Well, I can tell you what not to buy. Anker: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087219P5J/

What's funny is I've written this message twice, and MacRumors didn't have the usual auto save. It literally crashed my computer while in the middle of telling you it crashes my computer. What makes that more ironic, though, is the fact that it only happens about every two weeks. So the fact that it happened at this specific moment is hilarious.

I've been using it since I bought it with gift cards after Christmas in early January. Overall the performance is great, the design is great, it feels premium. The reason I think it's behind my random crashes is that they only started after I bought it (although they seemed more infrequent back then and it took me some time to put it together), and I had just reinstalled the entire OS from scratch before buying this. Also because sometimes when I wake my computer from sleep, again rarely, the displays will be mirroring each other on either side of my iMac, and also kinda scrambled or flickering, and then once it clears up my iMac has the same type of crash.

I will be testing it soon with the 14" M3 Max. Maybe it's only an Intel bug, who knows. Will know by later in December if it happens again. You know, I should probably contact Anker about this. Their customer support is usually pretty good. IDK why I have. It has been a crazy fast year.

It's funny you say that - I have a similar issue (display flickering and strange system freezing behaviors) with my MacBook Air that I use for work - also with an Anker dock. Didn't think it was the dock, but now that I'm hearing it from someone else I guess I'll need to get two docks instead of just one. Thank you.
 

dalen3

macrumors member
Sep 14, 2007
33
11
I have bad experience with OWC as well. Constant freezes and crashes. Actually any dock you check on amazon you will see some bad reviews about connections issues and so on. Not sure how they did not figure out these things yet. I think the one with the least negative reviews was caldigit. Logically I think probably any that apple sells in their stores should be ok at least.

What works great though is studio display ports. If you need USB-A or some other ports, I would recomend a simple usb-c hub, with those I never had issues.
 

flybass

macrumors regular
May 1, 2015
164
268
I’ve also struggled with the choice of dock and never pulled the trigger. I’m waiting for a dock which also holds the machine elegantly (so you don’t have a zillion wires all over the place). The few options where the macbook plugs in either have build quality issues or don’t support higher refresh rates.
 

FitzSitzQuitz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 11, 2022
26
50
I’ve also struggled with the choice of dock and never pulled the trigger. I’m waiting for a dock which also holds the machine elegantly (so you don’t have a zillion wires all over the place). The few options where the macbook plugs in either have build quality issues or don’t support higher refresh rates.
The refresh rates are one of my concerns as well. I run two 27" 2k 144Hz monitors side by side and it's been a struggle to find any kind of dock that reliably supports refresh rates above 60Hz.
 

flybass

macrumors regular
May 1, 2015
164
268
The refresh rates are one of my concerns as well. I run two 27" 2k 144Hz monitors side by side and it's been a struggle to find any kind of dock that reliably supports refresh rates above 60Hz.
There were some good videos on YouTube for dock reviews. You’ll want to check for signal drops. Quite a few docks seem to sporadically disconnect/reconnect to the monitors. Quite a crapshoot…
 
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