OWC Thunderbolt Dock
A classy Thunderbolt 4 dock.
Not long ago, we covered the OWC Thunderbolt Hub, an entry-level dock that supported Thunderbolt 4 technology for those lucky enough to have it.
The Hub is an excellent product, and for a modest amount more, the OWC Thunderbolt Dock offers more ports, greater flexibility and is constructed to the same high standards.
Is there anything not to like in this elegant and desirable peripheral?
Design
For those unfamiliar with the concepts behind this type of docking station, it’s primarily meant to provide a single cable connection to a laptop that exchanges both power to charge that device and data.
That’s not to say that this hardware couldn’t be used with a desktop system, and it could be useful with one, but the focus here is that single cable link that can connect a mobile system to local services and peripherals.
Before we dive into what makes the OWC Thunderbolt Dock so desirable for that job, some clarity is needed to place this product in the greater scheme of Thunderbolt devices from OWC.
This product is a notch up from the OWC Thunderbolt Hub and OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock but slightly down from the OWC Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock that offers enhanced 2.5Gbit LAN connectivity.
Perhaps calling it the Thunderbolt 4 Dock might have more accurately defined these relationships. I’m mentioning this because the naming slightly infers that it isn’t as good as the Thunderbolt 3 Dock when it is better specified in most respects.
That specification includes 11 ports that include one Thunderbolt 4 uplink and three downlinks, three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbit/s) ports, a single USB-A 2.0, a single Gigabit Ethernet LAN Port, single 3.5mm Audio Jack and an SD Card reader. All these ports are on the rear or front, with the ends only utilised for security slots.
What’s missing is there are no dedicated video out ports for DisplayPort or HDMI. Instead, you can use adapters (not included) to break out the video standards you need from the Thunderbolt 4 ports, as required.
Logically, the side with the single Thunderbolt port, audio jack and card reader should face the user and their Thunderbolt connected device, with all the other ports facing away.
Hardware
As with all Thunderbolt hubs and docks, the distribution of power is the critical detail that can make or break a design.
With a 135 watt PSU, that’s another 25 watts more than the Thunderbolt Hub, and the amount available to charge a connected laptop is now boosted to 90 watts. That’s much more than the typical 85 watts or 87 watts needed by charging performance laptops, and it allows the extra 45 watts for distribution downstream.