Best Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) Dock

[james.w.lane]

Just got a new MacBook Pro for work and I am looking for the best dock to use as a paired programming station. Bare minimum I will need it to have Ethernet, run two monitors (HDMI, DVI), and at least two USB ports for two keyboards and mice.

Any help or suggestions would be great.

Thanks in advance

James W. Lane

 

[bartvk]

They all have that. You have to realize that almost all Thunderbolt docks are based on Intel's reference design. All have one or two exclusive ports, or a particular design, but your needs are so common that they all offer that.

So to list what's particularly novel about a dock... Belkin has 2 audio out. Caldigit has 2x eSATA, Kensington has a VESA mounting option, OWC has S/PDIF and FireWire. And then there's Elgato and Plugable don't have anything noteworthy beyond the usual stuff.

Noteworthy IMHO is Mantiz. It has a VGA port and is very, very affordable.
https://mymantiz.com/products/md-01-zeus

 

[Cristim74]

Caldigit TS3+. Best Thunderbolt 3 dock ever.

 

[mroy16]

OWC apparently has some issues. That's the first dock that I got, and it ended up dying. Customer service was unbearably slow, so I returned the dock and got one from Pluggable. I chose these docks for the larger number of USB-A ports. The Mantiz (above) looks like it has the best video output options. If you're not hungry for USB-A ports or an SD reader, Mantiz is probably the best way to go.

 

[pshifrin]

I have the Kensington TB3 dock, With a lg4k utrafine plugged in via the dock. I must say it is incredibly stable, never a problem, unlike some previous experiences with OWC.

 

[celly]

This one came in recommended by MacBook Pro users (who are also staff) at my local Apple Store.

https://bit.ly/2xbCKIl

So far, so good.

 

[fehhkk]

I love my Promise TD-300, and has all the ports I need (USB-C/TB3, SD card, ethernet, HDMI), backwards compatible with TB2 of course, and the price is not too bad at $249: https://www.amazon.com/Promise-Technology-Thunderbolt-TD-300-Ethernet/dp/B077GFRJDM

 

[negativzero]

I'm looking for a TB3 dock/dongle/adapter that will give me more USB-C ports. Are there any out there or is daisy chaining still the only way to multiply the number of ports?

 

[bcbickers]

Caldigit TS3+. Best Thunderbolt 3 dock ever.

This... I am very pleased with my TS3+.

 

[djt01]

I’ve been using OWC’s Thunderbolt 3 Dock since last summer and just purchased the CalDigit TS3 Plus about a month ago.

I haven’t had any issues with either dock and I regularly boot from external SSD’s via USB Type-C enclosures (OWC’s Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini) running MacOS and Windows 10. I’ve also connected to multiple 4K displays using the display ports without any problems.

If I had to choose one I’d probably go for the CalDigit TS3 Plus.