As with all Thunderbolt hubs and docks, the distribution of power is the critical detail that can make or break a design.

Each Thunderbolt 4.0 port can hand down 15W, and the USB 3.2 Gen 2 7.5W, so there is a potential shortfall here, but that assumes the charging system needs all of the 90 watts it can deliver.

Technically, the shared power situation is slightly worse than the Thunderbolt Hub that had 50 watts to splash around but that could only charge up to 60 watts, making this a superior option for those with a powerful laptop.

What confuses some about Thunderbolt 4 is that it has precisely the same 40Gbit/s throughput as Thunderbolt 3, and therefore peripheral devices won’t have more bandwidth than they would have on previous technology.

That’s true, but what Thunderbolt 4 offers is the ability to be forwards compatible with USB 4.0 when that arrives, 32GB/s data transfers, and the ability to support dual 4K displays or a single 8K display. Thunderbolt 3 only supports a single 4K display at 60Hz and is capped at 16Gb/s for data transfer.

And, you can also establish a Thunderbolt network using this technology that allows 10 Gbps LAN transfers over 2m cables.

While it doesn’t have more bandwidth, it does allow the user to focus the 40Gb/s available more specifically on data transfers or video, whichever is most important to them.

There are likely to be hubs and docks made that tinker with the distribution of bandwidth while trading flexibility. They could include HDMI or DisplayPort outlets or offer inbuilt NVMe storage, but the approach taken by OWC with their docking station allows for maximum flexibility while not excluding most of those alternative possibilities with adapters.

Thunderbolt 5, or whatever those designing it choose to call it, reputedly is to double its bandwidth the 80Gbit/s. But currently, Thunderbolt 4 is the best option available to those that use this technology.

In use

The OWC Thunderbolt Dock is like its Hub brother, incredibly easy to deploy. Thunderbolt 4 cables can’t even be incorrectly orientated, and it’s just a matter of plugging it into most systems.

The only caveats to operation are that any laptop that needs charging must use the front-facing port. And, there is an OWC utility, the OWC Dock Ejector, designed to elegantly disconnect it from a Windows or Mac system without creating issues with connected storage devices.

For those wanting to connect downstream displays, additional Thunderbolt to HDMI or DisplayPort adapters are required. These aren’t very expensive, but if you have multiple screens to connect, budget extra for these items.

The official OWC Thunderbolt 3 dual display adapter costs $109, but for those with a single screen connected by HDMI, there are third-party options widely available that cost a fraction of this amount.

It might not sound very special, but the OWC Thunderbolt Dock packs plenty of useful features and great flexibility for those that have systems with Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 3.

Mark Pickavance