The newest version of Apple’s MacBook Pro, released in 2016, offered some nice updates to the line including the OLED Touch Bar and a thinner, lighter chassis. Along with the welcome enhancements came some less-than-well-received subtractions, including the loss of all the legacy connectivity support and a complete conversion to USB Type-C.
In fact, customer complaints were so significant that Apple had a limited-time discount offer on its own dongles for MacBook Pro buyers who need legacy support. That deal ended weeks ago, and now users are likely looking for other options. Elgato announced a new Thunderbolt 3 Dock to help out, and it now has an official ship date, 9to5Mac reports.
The Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Dock is a color-matched docking solution that connects to a MacBook Pro via a USB Type-C Thunderbolt 3 port and provides for significant connectivity without all of the dangling dongles. The dock provides connectivity for a wide range of external storage, displays, and network connectivity, and also provides for pass-through charging to keep things particularly simple.
The Thunderbolt 3 dock comes with two Thunderbolt 3-enabled USB Type-C ports with the full 40Gb/s bandwidth, PC charging up to 85 watts, USB 3.1 Gen2 speeds of up to 10Gb/s, and DisplayPort support. In addition, the dock offers a dedicated DisplayPort 1.2 connection, a gigabit Ethernet port, and three USB 3.0 Type-A ports for legacy connections. 3.5mm headphone and microphone input jacks round out the options.
Up to 4K external displays are supported via DisplayPort, and users can plug into 5K displays using the Thunderbolt 3 ports. External charging for devices up to 15 watts is also supported.
The Elgato Thunderbolt 3 dock will be available in June from a variety of retailers. Pricing will be set at $300, which is a bit more expensive than purchasing a few dongles but definitely represents a real increase in convenience.
