Both Kensington and Plugable just introduced Thunderbolt 5 docks for professionals who need to add multiple high-resolution displays as well as a range of other high-speed ports.
Both the Kensington SD5010T5 EQ Thunderbolt 5 Triple 4K Docking Station and the Plugable TBT-UDH2 offer 80Gbps/120Gbps of data bandwidth. This is the kind of connectivity that consumers don’t really need but pros must have.
Thunderbolt 5 docks bring speed advantages
For creative professionals, time is money. Consumers can get by with slower data transfers, but pros need the fastest gear they can get. That’s why Thunderbolt 5 doubles the speed of its predecessor, with a theoretical max of 10,000 MBps.
With far higher bandwidth than previous generations, Thunderbolt 5 docks can support multiple high-resolution monitors, ultra-fast external SSDs, wired networking and a wide range of USB accessories all at the same time without slowing down performance.
Kensington SD5010T5 EQ Thunderbolt 5 Triple 4K Docking Station
With Kensington’s latest, a single Thunderbolt 5 cable expands a laptop’s connectivity options to add a pair of Thunderbolt 5 ports, two HDMI ports, two USB-C 10Gbps ports, one USB-A 10Gbps port, two USB-A 5Gbps ports, an audio combo jack, two SD/microSD 4.0 slots, and a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port.
Among all those port options, the Kensington SD5010T5 EQ puts a focus on multiple displays. When paired with Apple’s latest M5 Pro or M5 Max chips, the dock is capable of supporting up to three external displays. For MacBook models with M4/M5 base chips or M-Series Pro and Max chipsets, the dock supports two 4K displays at 60Hz via two HDMI ports, or one 4K display at 60Hz and one display up to 6K via the Thunderbolt 5 port.
Plugable TBT-UDH2
Photo: Plugable
Plugable has its own new Thunderbolt 5 dock, the TBT-UDH2. It offers 16 ports.
The front offers quick access to power and data with two 30W charging ports — one 10Gbps USB-C and one Thunderbolt 5 — an additional 10Gbps USB-C port, a 10Gbps USB-A port, a 3.5mm headset jack plus both full-size SD and microSD 4.0 card readers. On the back of the dock are two HDMI 2.1 ports, three additional USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, 2.5 gigabit Ethernet, and a Thunderbolt host connection that provides 140W charging.
Like Kensington’s rival dock, Plugable’s emphasizes external monitors. Each of its dual HDMI 2.1 ports supports up to 8K 60Hz, or 4K 144Hz.
Pricing and availability
The Kensington SD5010T5 EQ Thunderbolt 5 Triple 4K Docking Station
costs $299.99.
The Plugable TBT-UDH2 regularly costs $349, but a limited-time launch deal drops the price to $279.
The TBT-UDH2 laptop docking station is a 16-in-1 productivity powerhouse with 140W laptop charging, 6x USB-C ports including 2x front-facing 30W charging ports (1x Thunderbolt 5, 1x USB-C), Dual HDMI 2.1 (no adapters needed), 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and UHS-II readers, all in a TAA-compliant, driverless dock built for modern IT and hybrid work setups.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.
That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)
Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
