What's the best USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 Hub out there for the new M1 iMac's?

[parisi2274]

Hey All.

Hopefully I have this thread in the correct forum, and if not I am sorry about that and hopefully a mod can move it to where it should go.

Anyway, just like the thread topic says, I am looking for a good USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 hub to use with my new iMac, and I have been looking at a few from OWC and Anker and couple of others and they just seem so expensive. Is this standard with hubs like this?

Looking on the net, this one seems to keep jumping out at me, and while the price isn't that bad, it is still a bit high, but something I could work with.

OWC Thunderbolt Hub: More Ports, More Power, More Creativity

Enhance your setup with 3 Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) and 1 USB 3.2 port. Perfect for creatives needing seamless access to storage, displays, and accessories.

eshop.macsales.com

I was also looking at this one, but ultimately it doesn't have enough Thunderbolt 3 ports

OWC 14-Port Thunderbolt Dock for Mac and Windows PC

Through a single cable, the 14-Port Thunderbolt Dock brings an unprecedented combination of ports, convenience, and power to your Thunderbolt Mac or PC.

eshop.macsales.com

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[4sallypat]

Caldigit TB4 hub
https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-4-element-hub/

 

[Ledgem]

Thunderbolt hubs are expensive, especially compared with standard USB hubs. Unfortunately there's no getting around that.

Most Thunderbolt hubs differ in the types of ports that are offered, as well as other connectors (number and types of USB ports, possible audio out, ethernet, etc). Most are also limited in the number of Thunderbolt ports you can have. Generally, they have two ports: one that connects to the computer, and one that can connect for daisy-chaining or another Thunderbolt device.

If you're looking to have more Thunderbolt ports, the Caldigit Thunderbolt 4 Element hub linked above is probably your best option (and the only one, last I had checked a few months ago). It will take one Thunderbolt port on your computer and allow you to connect three Thunderbolt devices, as well as four USB devices. Compared with the Caldigit TS3 (which I have), it lacks things like an SD card reader, audio in/out, ethernet... just be aware that the speed of the Thunderbolt ports is ultimately limited to one port, if you have multiple devices in use at the same time. I'd guess that for most applications it won't be an issue.

 

[hunkim]

Just bought the Anker PowerExpand Elite 13-in-1 Thunderbolt 3 Dock and everything's running great (hopefully won't have any disconnect issues w/ ethernet), but man this thing runs hot.

 

[Ledgem]

Just bought the Anker PowerExpand Elite 13-in-1 Thunderbolt 3 Dock and everything's running great (hopefully won't have any disconnect issues w/ ethernet), but man this thing runs hot.

Neat, I wonder if that's a new product, don't remember seeing it when I was shopping around for docks. I don't think the heat is unique to that product, though - my CalDigit TS3 also has cooling fins/grooves throughout the chassis, and it runs warm even at baseline. The NVME enclosure I chose to buy also has cooling grooves; at baseline (idling) it also runs pretty warm and the temperature can spike up by 5˚C more when it's under sustained load (currently it's running 55˚C based on sensor readouts, just at idle; my internal SSD is around 42˚C). This makes me think that Thunderbolt peripherals just tend to run warm.