Hi folks!
I need a dock for my MacBook Pro M1 and do not have any idea how to choose the right one. Is there a difference in how fast they are or how good they work somehow? Or what do you need to know to choose? What I need is USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, and when possible ethernet. It shouldn’t be very expensive, maybe between $50 and $100.
I am considering Anker Powerexpand Direct 7-i-2. It has no ethernet port, I would need a USB-C to ethernet dongle. Or maybe Anker USB C-hubb för MacBook, PowerExpand 9-i-2.
Do you have a recommendation?
Best regards, Per
If you just need a USB hub then this one is pretty good. It’s what I use:
It has all of the ports that you mentioned and can drive a 4K display at 60Hz, something that’s relatively rare.
If you’re looking for a Thunderbolt dock (it doesn’t sound like it, but you did say dock) then you’re looking at much more money.
Edit to add: It does not have a USB-C port that can be used for anything other than charging. I don’t know of any hubs that have that feature, but there are (as previously mentioned, much more expensive) Thunderbolt docks that do.
1 Like
I think OWC Thunderbolt 4 will work great. When Apple introduced M1 processors some older docks were causing issues for M1 computers. So make sure to get a dock that was designed or certified for M1.
1 Like
I have the CalDigit TS3 Plus dock that I use with my M1 MacBook Pro every day:
I know it is expensive, but it is a critical part of having your laptop working smoothly as a desktop when you’re at home or in the office. Believe me, I’ve tried cheaper, crummier docks that will just make your day to day life a nightmare as it flakes out each time you plug in your laptop.
4 Likes
I’m sorry, I have very little knowledge in this area. So please excuse my dumb questions. What would the difference/advantages of a thunderbolt dock be? I will not connect to a 4K monitor or any monitor at all. What I need to connect is a microphone, a projector, ethernet or wired tethering, external hard drives, and power. What would the advantages Satechi hub be you recommend compared to the Anker I mentioned?
To expensive for me😩
I am in Sweden and stuff is expensive here. This one is unfortunately a little bit too expensive.
There are no dumb questions when genuinely looking for advice!
I don’t think that you need a Thunderbolt dock for what you describe, unless you really, really need an extra USB-C port. The USB-C hubs that we’re discussing (the Satechi and Anker) don’t increase the number of available USB-C ports (assuming you want to charge your computer).
There are 2.5 advantages that I can see that the Satechi has over the Anker:
- The Satechi has a built in ethernet port.
- The Satechi can be used with other devices, whereas the Anker is limited to devices that have exactly the space between them that the two USB-C ports have on current MacBooks.
0.5. The style of the Anker makes me nervous in that it seems like it would be relatively easy to cause damage to the Mac’s USB-C port(s) if picked up incorrectly or something similar. This isn’t likely much of an issue, but I’m still kind unsettled about that configuraiton.
The advange that I see in favour of the Anker is that it’s form factor is tidier.
I mentioned the Satechi because I have it and I can vouch for it based on first hand experience, but that should not be taken to imply anything negative about the Anker at all.
Sorry about that, that’s fair. But all docks are in this price range. So probably you might be better off with just a Hub instead of a dock. I see @ACautionaryTale provided some recommendations.
I have this one, and it works well:
Since you can connect a charger to it, you could use the other port on your laptop for an ethernet adapter. I haven’t actually used this one, but have had good experience with Anker devices.
Total for these two items ~US$40
Good points! Thank you! It looks like I am going for the Satechi 
. And thank you everybody.