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Dock for M1 MBA

T

TimB21

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 14, 2007
130
204
I'd like to expand my cable options on my M1 MBA to allow me to charge the laptop, send HDMI to a monitor and connect to Ethernet. Any good experiences with this? What products and manufacturers?

Contrary to Meatloaf's lyrics, 2 out of 3 isn't good enough. :)

Thanks!

-=Tim=-
 
S

seangrimes590

macrumors member
Jun 21, 2012
81
101
Villanova, PA
I'm using this: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Thunderbolt-Docking-Station-Delivery/dp/B07V867LW4 and it works well. Previously used it with Intel macs, dell laptop, iPad. Never had a problem outside of occasional external display not waking up from sleep but that's been resolved since I got the M1 MBP. I've never used the HDMI port on it but the DisplayPort ports works fine.

BTW, there's a long and extensive thread on this topic: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mbp-16-compatible-docks-with-96w-100w-power.2211247/ The same information there would apply just fine to M1 machines, just no requirement for 100w charging as on the 16" MBP.
 
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seangrimes590

macrumors member
Jun 21, 2012
81
101
Villanova, PA
bobcomer said:
One question, does it stay pretty warm, even when the laptop is sleeping?
Click to expand...
The dock or the laptop? Neither are particularly warm when running let alone sleeping. Only time the M1 was warm enough to spin the fans audibly was while using at full load and charging the battery from a nearly dead state. Regular full load use doesn't bring about any fan noise, though the bottom gets a bit warm. The dock fan would come on when my old 16" MBP was running full load, probably because it was supplying the rated 90 watts but I haven't heard the fan spin up with the M1 attached. Just touched the dock, cool to the touch except the Thunderbolt module which I would describe as slightly above room temperature. Currently have a 4K monitor over displayport, external thunderbolt SSD, large RAID array, ethernet, a few other USB devices, and the laptop connected.
 
B

bobcomer

macrumors 601
May 18, 2015
4,949
3,699
seangrimes590 said:
The dock or the laptop? Neither are particularly warm when running let alone sleeping. Only time the M1 was warm enough to spin the fans audibly was while using at full load and charging the battery from a nearly dead state. Regular full load use doesn't bring about any fan noise, though the bottom gets a bit warm. The dock fan would come on when my old 16" MBP was running full load, probably because it was supplying the rated 90 watts but I haven't heard the fan spin up with the M1 attached. Just touched the dock, cool to the touch except the Thunderbolt module which I would describe as slightly above room temperature. Currently have a 4K monitor over displayport, external thunderbolt SSD, large RAID array, ethernet, a few other USB devices, and the laptop connected.
Click to expand...
I meant the dock. Everyone I've tried stayed pretty warm.
 
S

seangrimes590

macrumors member
Jun 21, 2012
81
101
Villanova, PA
bobcomer said:
I meant the dock. Everyone I've tried stayed pretty warm.
Click to expand...
The dock has been in use for ~12 consecutive hours, the desk is 74.1 degrees, the main body of the dock is 83.1 degrees, and the Thunderbolt / charging module is 88.4 degrees. This is for the M1 MBP. Almost certainly warmer when charging the 16" or 15" that draw more power.
 
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lostom

macrumors regular
Nov 11, 2010
227
157
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