New M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pros and Thunderbolt Docks

[appleguy]

Any Suggestions on a decent thunderbolt dock that has 2 displays that will work with the new MacBook Pros?

 

[fleks]

Hey Appleguy,
I agree with the question. I have ordered the MacBook Pro 14" M1 Max and would need a docking station for stationary work to which I can connect at best even three monitors. Maybe someone has experience with docking stations that support multiple monitors (not mirrored mode)? Furthermore, ports such as network, USB (C), etc. would be useful.

Probably only guesses are possible at the moment, since the devices have not been released yet but maybe there are already experience reports with older MacBook Pros .

Are there any obvious drawbacks to connecting multiple monitors via a single Thunderbolt port on the MacBook?

 

[appleguy]

And I guess if say a USB-C dock like a Targus that uses displaylink will drop performance?

 

[nnauq]

I am looking into what affordable dock to get, likely going for a second-hand Thunderbolt 3 Dock from Startech.

As far as I've been able to understand, for best display performance it needs to be a Thunderbolt dock, that does not rely on MST (unsupported by macOS) or DisplayLink (slight performance hit) for multiple displays.

 

[legaleye3000]

I keep seeing options with an exception saying that dual monitors are not supported on the dock when the computer is a M1 Mac... I'm wondering if the M1 Pro or M1 Max no longer has this limitation, or, whether new docks will come out to get around this limitation, if possible.

 

[beach bum]

I keep seeing options with an exception saying that dual monitors are not supported on the dock when the computer is a M1 Mac... I'm wondering if the M1 Pro or M1 Max no longer has this limitation, or, whether new docks will come out to get around this limitation, if possible.

I believe that the limitations on the M1 Pro and Max have been removed and can now support multiple monitors.

New MacBook Pro Supports Up to Two External Displays With M1 Pro Chip, Up to Four With M1 Max Chip

Apple's newly announced high-end chip for the new MacBook Pro, the M1 Max, can support up to three Pro Display XDRs and a fourth 4K TV display...

www.macrumors.com

 

[legaleye3000]

I believe that the limitations on the M1 Pro and Max have been removed and can now support multiple monitors.

New MacBook Pro Supports Up to Two External Displays With M1 Pro Chip, Up to Four With M1 Max Chip

Apple's newly announced high-end chip for the new MacBook Pro, the M1 Max, can support up to three Pro Display XDRs and a fourth 4K TV display...

www.macrumors.com

So now I'm wondering if the docks that say that M1 only supports 1 display... Will those docks now work with the M1 Pro/Max or do we need to wait for new docks...?

 

[beach bum]

So now I'm wondering if the docks that say that M1 only supports 1 display... Will those docks now work with the M1 Pro/Max or do we need to wait for new docks...?

That, I can’t answer. The only thing that I can suggest is to contact the manufacturers to verify. It may be that the current Thunderbolt 3 docks will work with the new Pro’s since the limitations have been removed, but I cannot say that the will work with certainty.

 

[delta25]

I too am looking to buy a dock that allows me to hook up multiple monitors with my M1 Pro. Have you tested this out?

 

[fleks]

@delta25 this thread will help you: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macbook-pro-with-thunderbolt-dock-a-solid-solution.2319461/

 

[appleguy]

I just got the Kensington SD5700T for my new MacBook Pro (14”) works perfectly https://www.kensington.com/en-nz/p/...erbolt-4-dual-4k-docking-station-with-90w-pd/

 

[nnauq]

I got a (second-hand, luckily, as it is otherwise pricey) StarTech TB3CDK2DPUE Thunderbolt/USB-C dock and it works fine for dual 4K DisplayPort output.

 

[antst]

I got caldigit TB4 hub. It’s not a permanent solution at all. But it is cheapest TB4 solution I could find, so I have time to wait when better options will pop up.
in my case, 2 displays and 10gbe adapter are going to utilize 3 TB ports and USB hub will plugged into usb3.2 port.

 

[ascender]

I've got the Caldigit TS3+ dock connected to my Pro - in my experience Caldigit stuff is by far the most reliable dock you can buy. Its more expensive, but its well engineered and just seems to work with whatever you throw at it.

 

[cognitivefun]

Many say they are not compatible with M1

 

[trodriguez]

I just received the Sonnettech Echo 5 thunderbolt hub which claims to support dual Pro Display HDR's and various combinations of 6k/5k/4k monitors. I have both 5k and 4k LG Ultrafine monitors, but the dock seems to not recognize the 5k properly when both are plugged in to the thunderbolt hub. It thinks it's a 4k - I'm hoping it's just a Monterey issue...

First pic is with both plugged into the hub, second is with one plugged into the laptop.

 

[Big Jobs]

Any Suggestions on a decent thunderbolt dock that has 2 displays that will work with the new MacBook Pros?

I bought the OWC thunderbolt 4 dock and use it with my 14” pro, it is supposed to be able to handle outputting 2 x 4k displays @ 60hz: it runs cool and everything works okish so far…..

 

[matthewadams]

Since the OWC TB4 Hub wasnt available at the time and after some reflection I realised I don't really need it, I went with the Caldigit Elements Hub which so far has done a splendid job while also having a super small footprint:

Thunderbolt 4 | USB4 | Element Hub | CalDigit – CalDigit

www.caldigit.com

 

[lixuelai]

I use a Startech TB3DK2DPPD and it has been flawless so far with 2 external displays. Got it for super cheap on Ebay (~$30).