OWC's dock will be priced at $299, which is competitive with other high-end Thunderbolt 3 docks, some of which can run up to $350 or more. CalDigit's TS3 Plus has been my go-to dock since its release, but OWC's dock now gives it a run for its money with the array of ports and full 85-watt charging power that put it just about on par. Overall, the new Thunderbolt 3 Dock from OWC is one of my top picks among all of the docks I've tested. That increases the brick's size fairly significantly, but in most cases you'll be able to tuck it away somewhere and not have to worry about it. The power brick included with the new dock is 180 watts, up from 135 watts in the original version.
It's a very welcome improvement, but it does come at the cost of a larger external brick needed to support the increased power. 180-watt power brick for updated model (right) Two of the USB-A ports (one front and one rear) offer 1.5A of power for faster charging of connected devices.ġ35-watt power brick from original version (left) vs. But rest assured, the new version continues to have five USB-A ports running at 5 Gbps, a pair of Thunderbolt ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a Mini DisplayPort port, and S/PDIF output and combo 3.5 mm audio ports. It weighs about 1.2 pounds, although as a desktop dock you're not likely to be moving it around very often so weight shouldn't be much of a factor.īecause OWC's new dock is so similar to the original version, I'm not going to walk through all of the features, and I'll instead focus on the differences. The dock measures in at a hair over 9 inches wide by 3.5 inches deep and an inch tall. The new OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock is exactly the same size and shape as the original, with a horizontal design constructed of an aluminum band (in silver or space gray) wrapping all the way around the sides and glossy black plastic on the top and bottom.Īll ports are clearly labeled in white, and there is an OWC logo and "Thunderbolt 3 Dock" branding printed on the front of the dock.
Users for whom those two concerns are dealbreakers will be glad to hear that OWC is launching an updated version of its Thunderbolt 3 dock in just a few weeks, addressing these issues. While I loved the sheer number of the ports offered on the original version of the dock, there were some shortcomings, including a lack of any 10 Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports and only 60 watts of charging power, which may not be enough for 15-inch MacBook Pro users. Nearly a year and half ago, OWC was one of the first companies to launch a Thunderbolt 3 dock, offering over a dozen ports of various types to support a variety of accessories.
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