As laptops have seen simplified connectivity choices in recent times, many customers have embraced a wide range of USB-C and/or Thunderbolt hubs and docks to extend their connectivity choices. These equipment have confirmed notably widespread with customers in search of to copy a desktop expertise at dwelling or within the workplace with a number of exterior shows.
Anker lately launched a brand new possibility for energy customers with the 778 Thunderbolt Docking Station, a Thunderbolt 4 dock that gives a wealth of ports for connecting shows, exterior drives, and different equipment, all via a single cable that may additionally cost your laptop computer.
The 778 Thunderbolt Docking Station features a complete of 12 ports: an upstream Thunderbolt 4 port that gives as much as 100W of charging energy on your laptop computer, a downstream Thunderbolt 4 port, two USB-C ports that every assist as much as 10Gbps information speeds and 30W of charging energy, two 5Gbps USB-A ports, two 480 Mbps USB-A ports for peripherals like a wired keyboard and mouse, a Gigabit Ethernet port, an 8K HDMI 2.1 port, and two DisplayPort 1.4 ports.
The 2 USB-C ports, an influence button, and an LED standing gentle are situated on the entrance of the dock for simple entry, whereas the upstream Thunderbolt port is on the left aspect and a Kensington NanoSaver-style lock slot is on the proper aspect. All different ports are on the rear of the dock to maintain the cables organized and out of the way in which.
The general design is fairly easy with a non-obtrusive darkish grey and black look together with delicate Anker branding on the highest of the dock. The primary shell seems to be manufactured from one thing like aluminum, whereas the entrance and rear panels with the vast majority of the ports are manufactured from plastic with vertical grooves at common intervals to offer slightly little bit of visible curiosity. A few rubber-like strips on the underside assist shield surfaces and supply only a bit extra airflow across the dock.
I discovered stable information speeds for exterior SSDs related by way of the dock in my testing, with a USB-C drive delivering round 700 MB/s for learn and write when related to both the downstream USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 port or one of many USB-C ports. Utilizing a quicker Thunderbolt exterior SSD related to the Thunderbolt 4 port, I noticed learn speeds of round 2,500 MB/s and write speeds in extra of 1,800 MB/s. All of these stats have been in keeping with what I see for these drives when related on to my 16-inch M1 Professional MacBook Professional.
There are a few notable limitations for Mac customers with this dock, led by the truth that it doesn’t assist M1 and M2 MacBook fashions, so you want to be utilizing a higher-end mannequin with a Professional, Max, or Extremely chip.
One other limitation for Mac customers is expounded to the connectivity choices for a number of exterior shows. Whereas there are two DisplayPort ports and an HDMI port, connecting two shows to any mixture of these ports will solely let one of many shows lengthen your desktop to an exterior display. The opposite show will solely be capable of mirror both the primary exterior display or your inner Mac show.
Triple-display (two exterior and one inner) setups are nonetheless doable on Macs, however one of many exterior shows have to be related by way of USB-C/Thunderbolt with the intention to totally lengthen throughout all three shows. Setups with three and even 4 exterior shows are doable for Mac customers, however will contain some mirroring, limiting the usefulness.
For Mac customers, the Thunderbolt port can assist as much as a 6K show at 60Hz, whereas the HDMI and DisplayPort ports every assist a most of 4K at 60Hz.
On the charging entrance, I famous that the upstream Thunderbolt port can ship 100 watts to your laptop computer, however there’s some energy sharing that can cut back that relying on what else is drawing energy by way of the dock. With one of many entrance 30W USB-C ports in use, the upstream Thunderbolt will proceed to ship as much as 100W, but when each entrance USB-C ports are in use concurrently, that obtainable Thunderbolt energy drops to 65W.
To drive every thing, the 778 dock comes with a 180-watt exterior energy provide that’s practically as large because the dock itself, however not less than it may be tucked away on the ground or behind different tools. A 0.7-meter Thunderbolt 4 cable can be included, and the dock is roofed by an 18-month guarantee.
A easy Anker Dock Supervisor app can be obtainable to handle firmware updates for the dock, entry the consumer guide, and get in touch with Anker assist.
The 778 Thunderbolt Docking Station is usually priced at $379.99, however Amazon is presently providing a 20% low cost to $303.00, which makes it simpler to advocate as an possibility for customers who’ve heavier connectivity wants.
Customers with easier wants can most likely get away with a less expensive USB-C or Thunderbolt dock, however the 778 delivers excessive bandwidth via a wide range of ports, affords versatile show connectivity, and might push 100 watts of energy to your pocket book, making it a stable docking possibility.
The 30-watt USB-C ports on the entrance are good for charging an iPhone and/or iPad at excessive velocity, although your passthrough pc charging will take a success in case you have too many issues related. The dock additionally doesn’t embody an SD card slot or any devoted audio ports, in order that’s one thing to concentrate on if these options are necessary to you.
Notice: Anker supplied MacRumors with the 778 Thunderbolt Docking Station for the aim of this overview. No different compensation was acquired. MacRumors is an affiliate accomplice with Anker and Amazon. Once you click on a hyperlink and make a purchase order, we could obtain a small fee, which helps us preserve the positioning working.
