This could be a problem if you’re docking only here and there and you expect your computer to be fully charged when you pick it up, or if you’re running intensive apps that tear through your battery faster than the dock can charge it. I haven’t tried to transfer images yet via an SD card, in part, because my max already has a reader.

He is an avid PC gamer and multi-platform user, and spends most of his time either tinkering with or writing about tech. A Kensington lock slot is great for use in an office if you want to secure the device to a desk for added safety.If you want to connect several peripherals to your Thunderbolt computer—displays, drives, printers, and such—a Thunderbolt dock lets you attach them all with a single cable. We didn’t experience these problems in our testing, but we have seen issues with several Thunderbolt docks when connecting two displays directly to the dock. In our tests, the Thunderbolt ports were able to support two 4K monitors at 60 Hz when we connected them using USB-C–to–DisplayPort cables. USB-A, USB-C, Thunderbolt 3 or 4: The “standard” USB-A port is still the most common input for peripherals—including external drives, wired keyboards, and more—and most Thunderbolt docks have several of them.

Likewise, the minimum power requirements for Thunderbolt 4 are double those of USB 4 at 15W versus 7. OWC’s Thunderbolt Dock is the model you should choose if you want to take advantage of this kind of flexibility, as it has three Thunderbolt 3 passthrough ports in place of some of the single-use ports that our top pick, the CalDigit TS3 Plus, offers. When the latest Thunderbolt appeared on Macs and PCs, it used a USB-C connector to deliver data transfer, video output, and charging power through the same cable. In the past, to daisy chain external storage you had to place your drive as close as possible to the front of the chain for fast and reliable performance.Its footprint is relatively small next to that of the other docks we tested, which tend to be a bit wider, but unlike the TS3 Plus, it’s not made to stand on its end. Now you can work with full confidence your OWC flash memory product will deliver the reliability you can trust. In my Kensington SD5700T review, I note that the two lock slots and bracket mounting option make it ideal for a public office where tons of desk space isn't always provided. I've been using the dock regularly since my CalDigit TS4 review, and I can still say it's the pinnacle of modern docking.