OWC Thunderbolt Dock

Give your M1 Mac even more connection options

You’ll find a USB-C port with 90W Power Delivery to keep even a 16in MBP juiced up

£331.99 FROM OWC, owcdigital.com FEATURES 4x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports (1x with 90W PD), 3x USB-A 3.2 ports, 1x USB-A 2.0 port, Gigabit Ethernet, SD 4.0 card reader, 3.5mm audio in/out, Kensington Security Slot, Nano Security Slot; Thunderbolt 4 cable

While the current iMac has enough ports for most of the things you’re likely to want to connect to, the same can’t be said for the rest of Apple’s line-up. The M1 Mac mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air only come with two Thunderbolt/USB-C ports apiece, meaning you’ll either be forever reliant on a dongle or five, or you’ll need an external dock. And that’s where the Thunderbolt Dock from OWC comes in.

Long, low-slung and finished in fetching space grey aluminium with a glossy black top and four rubber feet, the Thunderbolt Dock has been designed to sit permanently on your desk, with mains electricity provided by a chunky off-board power supply that you can stow out of sight.

On the dock’s front, you’ll find a Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) port for connection to your Mac (a Thunderbolt 4 cable is included for this purpose) with 90W Power Delivery to keep even a 16-inch MacBook Pro juiced up. Sitting to its left are an SD 4.0 card reader, a USB 2.0 port for device charging and a 3.5mm audio in/out for a headphone or mic.

On the rear, you’ll find three more Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, plus three USB-A 3.2 (10Gbps) ports, and a Gigabit Ethernet port for fast wired internet connections. On the right-hand end of the Dock are two security slots, so you can anchor the dock to your desk. The Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports can be used to drive two 4K Ultra HD displays at the same time or a single 5K, 6K or 8K monitor. However, since the Thunderbolt Dock lacks DisplayPort, mini DisplayPort or even HDMI connections, you may still need to reach for a dongle or two.

Substantial and reliable

Connect your Mac to the Thunderbolt 4 port on the front and the white illuminated OWC logo on the top will turn blue. You can safely disconnect the Mac and any other peripherals using the free OWC Dock Ejector app, before unplugging them, to help prevent data loss.

As you’d expect, given the £332 price tag, the Thunderbolt Dock feels substantial and high quality, weighing in at 400g and measuring 19.8x2.6x7.4cm. We had no issues connecting or disconnecting devices and data transfers were as quick as if you were connecting peripherals directly to your Mac.

The only slight disappointments, then, are the aforementioned lack of alternative display ports and the absence of a power button, meaning the only way to power down the device when it’s not being used is switch it off at the wall. But the latter is just a minor quibble. Rob Mead-Green