Elgato releases Thunderbolt 3 dock to alleviate MacBook Pro connectivity woes

By Mark Coppock Published January 4, 2017

If you’re using a 2016 MacBook Pro or thinking about buying one, then you may have a bundle of accessories that will need dongles to connect to Apple’s new thin-and-light notebook. That can get expensive and become unsightly, and it can be a pain to connect and disconnect so many dongles.

That’s why external docking stations are becoming even more significant than in the past, with a number of companies leveraging the MacBook Pro’s Thunderbolt 3 ports to make it easier to keep your machine plugged in yet easy to grab and go. Elgato is joining in with itsown Thunderbolt 3 dock, which it has announced in conjunction with CES 2017, as Macworld reports.

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Elgato’s dock aims to connect every kind of accessory an enterprising MacBook Pro owner likely possesses. There’s connectivity for external storage, displays, Ethernet, and audio, via two USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 3, three USB 3.0 ports, a Gigabit ethernet connection, and audio.

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elgato announces thunderbolt 3 dock for macbook pro at ces 2017 back — Image used with permission by copyright holder

elgato announces thunderbolt 3 dock for macbook pro at ces 2017 front — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Elgato Thunderbolt 3 dock can pass charging through to the connected MacBook Pro, and can also charge external devices with its 15-watt output. External monitors are supported at up to 4K resolution, via the DisplayPort connection. If you connect a monitor through a Thunderbolt 3 port, you can drive a monitor at up to 5K resolution.

Elgato hopes to ship the Thunderbolt 3 dock sometime in the third quarter of 2017. The dock will be priced at $300, which, depending on the number of dongles that would be required to support the same accessories, could make the dock a bargain in addition to a major convenience.

Former Computing Writer

Mark Coppock is a Freelance Writer at Digital Trends covering primarily laptop and other computing technologies. He has…

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