Skip to main content

Elgato releases Thunderbolt 3 dock to alleviate MacBook Pro connectivity woes

elgato announces thunderbolt 3 dock for macbook pro at ces 2017 egato featured
Image used with permission by copyright holder
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.

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.

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.

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Coppock
Mark has been a geek since MS-DOS gave way to Windows and the PalmPilot was a thing. He’s translated his love for…
Why you should buy a MacBook Air instead of a MacBook Pro
The MacBook Air on a table in front of a window.

The MacBook Air has officially caught up. Now with the M3 on board, the MacBook Air has gained the benefits of the new chip, which was previously available just on the MacBook Pro and iMac.

Choosing between the M3 15-inch MacBook Air and the 14-inch MacBook Pro is tough, and requires an in-depth look at differences in ports, displays, speakers, and more. It's a legitimately hard decision to make.

Read more
The MacBook Air 15 vs. MacBook Pro 14: the easy way to decide
Apple's 15-inch MacBook Air placed on a desk with its lid closed.

Picking out a new MacBook isn't as easy as it used to be.

The hardest choice in the lineup might be between the 15-inch MacBook Air and the 14-inch MacBook Pro. Both are now offered with the same M3 chip, despite there being a $300 difference in the base models. But when similarly configured, there's actually only a $100 difference between these two laptops.

Read more
Why gaming on the M3 MacBook Air has left me impressed
Baldur's Gate 3 being played on the M3 MacBook Air.

Upon getting the new MacBook Air M3 in my possession, I had one major question: Can you play games on it?

That might sound like a silly first thought for a laptop of this type. After all, it's not marketed as a gaming laptop -- it's an incredibly thin, fanless laptop. Not exactly something even meant for any high-performance tasks.

Read more