Accessory maker Elgato unveiled its new Thunderbolt 3 Dock at CES, offering a way for users to connect a pair of 4K displays to their new MacBook Pro, in addition to plenty of other legacy connection options.
Costing $299, it promises to stand in for the plethora of dongles you’ll need as the tech world makes the jump to Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C.
It comes with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a single DisplayPort, three USB 3.0 ports, microphone jack, headphone jack, a gigabit Ethernet port and more.
At its price point, this is probably going to be aimed at higher-end “pro” consumers, but it’ll certainly save you the hassle of having to sort through a ton of adapters to get the most out of your new MacBook. There’s sadly no SD card reader, though.
Elgato’s Thunderbolt 3 Dock is set to arrive in Apple retail stores this month.
HomeKit extender
The Thunderbolt 3 Dock isn’t the only nifty Apple-related product Elgato is debuting at CES. Its Eve Extend device also offers a means by which to extend the Bluetooth range of HomeKit devices by connecting to your home Wi-Fi.
That’s particularly useful if you have a big house, or simply want to place HomeKit-compatible devices on the edge of your Wi-Fi network. You can operate multiple Eve Extend devices at the same time — and even use them to control connected devices outside your home, provided that’s not out of range.
No pricing has yet been announced.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
One response to “Thunderbolt 3 Dock helps you get the most out of your MacBook Pro”
Hey…heres an idea. How about add $199 to the cost of the MB Pro, add some thickness, and then include the ports built in to the computer….at some point “thin” becomes impractical…