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Video: Testing OWC's Thunderbolt 4 Dock With Built-In Power Supply

erikkfi said:
Remember when your MacBook came with pretty much all the ports you needed?
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A better question would be why has many if not all monitor, tv and projector manufacturers incorporated USB-C to power and connect for video input for computers instead of these docks still existing.

I would like to also see soundbars incorporate USB-C for audio/video passthrough instead spending on eARC, maybe include both while this transition finalizes.
 
sirozha said:
Not enough bandwidth.
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This dock has three Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB-C port, three USB-A ports, an HDMI port, an Ethernet port, an SD card reader, and an audio jack.

But one of the USB-A port has to be 2.0 because there's not enough bandwidth? That seems like a weird decision.

Alright... so why is the slower USB-A 2.0 port on the front of the dock?

That also seems weird.

:p
 
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Michael Scrip said:
Haha... exactly!

And yet... we've finally gotten to a place where one port can pretty much do anything... some would even call it a "universal" port...

But we still need to turn that port into a dozen other ports.

Oh well...

🤣
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I had wished that logic worked when usb-c arrived but it doesn’t. Soon as I connect an external drive and charge cable to my m1 mba I have no more room to add anything unless I use a hub. So I don’t understand your comment.
 
Michael Scrip said:
...

Alright... so why is the slower USB-A 2.0 port on the front of the dock?

That also seems weird.

:p
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USB3 ports frequently (nearly always) emit radio interference in and around the 2.4GHz range used by virtually all wireless dongles that are used for keyboards and mice. The dongles are more reliable when connected to a USB2 port or to an extension cable connected to a USB3 port. Putting this port on the front also helps the radio connection since the signal isn't blocked by the metal case and electronics in the hub.
 
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Tozovac said:
I had wished that logic worked when usb-c arrived but it doesn’t. Soon as I connect an external drive and charge cable to my m1 mba I have no more room to add anything unless I use a hub. So I don’t understand your comment.
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Ah yeah... I was talking about ports that can be any port... a power port, a video output port, an external hard drive port, etc. They're "universal" in that sense.

You're talking about having enough ports. I feel ya with that as I also have an M1 Macbook Air.

:p
 
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Michael Scrip said:
My question is from the manufacturing and engineering side.

If you're putting three USB-shaped holes in the dock... why not make them do all the same things?

Why make one port the "slow" port?

I see what you're saying... why waste a "good" port on a floppy drive.

Here's the thing though... USB is backwards compatible. USB 3.0 ports can become USB 2.0 ports.

But USB 2.0 ports can never be USB 3.0 ports.

That's why I'm questioning why they would put different ports with different capabilities. Why not make them all "good" ports?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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You're presenting the situation as if instead of 2 x USB 3.0 Type A ports + 1 x USB 2.0 Type A port they could have provided 3 x USB 3.0 Type A ports. But the alternative to 2 x USB 3.0 Type A ports + 1 x USB 2.0 Type A port would most likely be offering only 2 x USB 3.0 Type A ports and no third USB-A port of any speed.

As many Thunderbolt 4 docks do, the OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock is most likely routing the Thunderbolt 4 controller's single 10 Gb/s USB 3.2 Gen 2 port to a Fresco Logic FL5500 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Hub Controller which provides 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports used to power the 1 x Type C port, 2 x Type A ports, and the SD Card Reader and 2 x USB 2.0 ports used for 1 x Type A port and the audio controller. Other common USB 3.2 Gen 2 Hub Controllers like the Via Labs VL822 only offer 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports total so would result in even fewer ports or you'd need to connect a second VL822 downstream of the first VL822 to provide 7 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports total, but that increases cost and doesn't increase overall bandwidth.
 
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banjo_1928 said:
Probably for convenience when using a thumb drive. Somebody will be unhappy whether it is on the front or the back.
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But for a thumb drive... I'd want the front port to be one of the "fast" ports.

USB 2.0 sucks for large file transfers!

I'd say put the slower USB 2.0 port on the back of the dock to leave your mouse dongle plugged in. It can stay there.

:p
 
sjoerger said:
I suspect this is built into which ever chipset they are using along with the audio chip. For the minimal cost of the usb physical port and a few traces on the circuit board you get one more port to pad the port count. Give the industry more time and I think you'll stop seeing dedicated USB 2 ports.
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This is correct. The single USB 2.0 port is great for USB-HID devices, that can be chatty and add latency. It's much better to keep all USB 3.X devices on a USB 3 root leaf.

It might seems like USB 3.2 is just faster, but in reality USB 2.x and 1.x is dealt with in a very complex way once you get to USB 3.2 or above root. It's essentially virtualizing the USB2.0 bus.
 
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Michael Scrip said:
My question is from the manufacturing and engineering side.

If you're putting three USB-shaped holes in the dock... why not make them do all the same things?

Why make one port the "slow" port?

I see what you're saying... why waste a "good" port on a floppy drive.

Here's the thing though... USB is backwards compatible. USB 3.0 ports can become USB 2.0 ports.

But USB 2.0 ports can never be USB 3.0 ports.

That's why I'm questioning why they would put different ports with different capabilities. Why not make them all "good" ports?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Click to expand...
The single USB 2.0 port is great for USB-HID devices, USB to serial adapter etc.. These can very be chatty and add latency. It's much better to keep all USB 3.X devices on a USB 3 root leaf.

It might seems like USB 3.2 is just faster, but in reality USB 2.x and 1.x is dealt with in a very complex way once you get to USB 3.2 or above root. It's essentially virtualizing the USB2.0 bus. So having a single USB2 port really is a value add for me.
 
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If I didn't already have the Caldigit TS4 I would be looking at the OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock for $50 less than the TS4.

I got the TS4 awhile ago and its 18 ports quickly became indispensable. Also, all USB-A ports are 3.2Gen2.

The OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock is about the same size as the TS4 with the power brick next to it, so that seems like a tie for portability but the TS4 takes up less desk space while having 7 more ports.
 
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santa said:
Outstanding! Which hub would allow me to connect my two studio displays into? I have 2OWC hubs, and neither of them will allow me to do so.
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Passing by to confirm that I have a Studio Display connected to one of those compact “OWC Thunderbolt Hub”, the one with 1-to-3 TB Ports + USBA port.

I connect the hub’s “in” computer port to one front TB port of a Mac Studio then connect a Studio Display and two TB SSDs to the Hub’s back port. It does work… I also have connected a wired mouse, SideCar iPad and one more thing that I forget to the Studio Display itself. All of that chained peripherals also work.

The reason for using a front port is when I turn off the computer I wanted to play around with connecting the Studio Display and SSDs to a an iPad Pro with Stage Manager and all that, so a single front cable to drive it (haven’t tried it this way yet fyi)

It is this one, double checking the chart at the bottom it does confirm that it supports Single 5K (M1 including iPad Pro) and Dual 5Ks (M1/M2 Pro, Max):
eshop.macsales.com

OWC Thunderbolt Hub at MacSales.com

TB4HUB5PM OWC Thunderbolt Hub. Triple your Thunderbolt ports plus add USB to any Thunderbolt (USB-C) Mac or Thunderbolt 4 PC.
eshop.macsales.com eshop.macsales.com

Hope it helps
 
santa said:
I want a dock that I can plug a Studio Display in. It may be that they simply can't do that period. As far as I know they simply have to be plugged directly into your mac.
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I have a CalDigit TS4 that I connect with one (the supplied one) TB4 cable to my 14" M1 (Pro) MacBook Pro. To that I have connected my Studio Display and another 27" LG display (4K) and that all works perfectly. I'm usually running in clamshell mode, but have, at times, used the built in display at the same time, too, and it's all handled flawlessly. In addition I have an audio interface, 2-3 ext SSDs, GB ethernet and sometimes other peripherals hanging off it.

The only problem I have had is that when I first set it up I couldn't get full resolution on one of the displays (I don't remember which, I probably doesn't matter). That turned out to be because the cable I was using wasn't up to spec. After replacing the cable I've never had a problem.

... On that machine, at least ...

I also have a 16" M2 Max MacBook Pro that I use for work. That has some AV and Auditing services on like ZScalar and Crowdstrike. I suspect it is a result of that, but I can't get both displays to work via the dock on that machine. But if I connect one directly then it *does* work.

So if you're having issues that's two things to look for, based on my experience: 1. Make sure your cables are good enough (at least TB3) and 2. If you have any corporate monitoring tools they may get in the way.
 
It's kind of hideous and seriously expensive. I'd rather have a GaN Power adapter and one of those 30$ docks that's super slip and sticky-taped to the back of the MacBook screen at all times.
1677834711327.jpeg
 
Xano said:
this docks make sense on old generation MacBooks, with this new generation MacBooks never felt the necessity to use external docks.
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what do you use to use the new generation MacBook in clamshell?
 
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