I recently spent over $1200 looking for the best possible Dock for my new MacBook Pro M1 Max. These new MacBooks are so powerful that they can easily be used as your desktop computer. Unfortunately, they are still pretty limited when it comes to the amount of points you’re offered and if you intend to utilize one or more desktop monitors as well, those ports are used up pretty quickly. Because of this, I prefer to use a dock to give me more ports and more expandability in my desktop setup. To figure out which dock is best, I went on Amazon and purchased 5 USB-C and Thunderbolt compatible docks to test and review. I’ll discuss my findings on each of these docks in this article. I’ll also link to every dock so you can check them out as well.
What’s Important in a Dock?
Before I dive into the specifics, let’s quickly discuss what is important when it comes to the dock you choose. The first thing I opted for when choosing which docks to test was two-display compatibility. Right now I currently use one display for my work, but it’s important for me to have expandability in case I decide to add a second display in the future. I tested both single and dual display setups with each of these docks. Another thing that was very important was having fast read and write speeds. I do a lot of video editing and photography where the files are stored on external drives. Because of this, I need to have a dock that can communicate very quickly between the drives and my laptop. Essentially, I wanted a dock that wouldn’t get in the way of the performance of my Mac.
Mokin Dual USB-C Dock
Let’s get started with reviewing these docks. We’ll start with the inexpensive options and work our way up to the higher end options. The first dock we’ll discuss is the Mokin USB-C Docking station. This is, by far, the smallest and most mobile station. The Mokin USB-C dock is a double USB-C port, which means it will take two of the USB-C ports on your Mac. It comes with USB-C pass through charging capabilities, two HDMI out ports, two USB-A 3.0 ports, an SD and Micro SD card reader, and two USB-A 2.0 ports. On the end of port there’s a VGA port and an ethernet port.
When I tested this dock I was pleasantly surprised to find that it can support two HDMI displays while the MacBook display is also running. I also appreciate the fact that it has SD and Micro SD card readers. As a photographer, this is massively convenient for me.
There are some serious downsides to this dock that will most likely prevent me from using this dock in my main desktop setup. The first con is that the read and write speeds when I plugged an SSD into it were virtually unusable. Essentially, this won’t work for editing video from an external drive.
I also don’t love how short the cord is because it makes organizing my desk much more difficult. For a desktop setup, this is not my choice. For a more mobile setup though, this may be a great option. If you’re interested in learning more about this dock, you can check it out here: https://jerad.link/mokinusbcdock
Humancentric USB-C Docking Station
The Humancentric dock is next on our list. This is also a dual USB-C dock, but its form is much different than the Mokin dock. This dock is built to stand up sturdier and comes with a laptop holder as well.
This is a very cool added feature that helps me organize my desk. On the back of the device there are dual HDMI ports, an ethernet port, and a USB-C input port for charging. On the front of the dock there are SD and micro SD card readers, two USB-A 3.0 ports, one USB A 2.0 port, and a headphone jack.
The Humancentric dock is built to have everything I would want for a great desktop setup. Unfortunately, like the Mokin dock, it also has slow read and write speeds. I plugged a solid state drive into this dock as well and found that, while it is faster than the Mokin dock, it is still too slow for effective video editing.
Again, the goal for the dock I choose is to not hinder the performance of my MacBook. Both of these docks throttle its speed quite a bit, which is a huge con for me. Check out the Humancentric dock here: https://jerad.link/humancentricusbdock
Tobenone USB-C Dock
The first thing I noticed about the Tobenone USB-C dock is its unique shape. Most of the docks I tested were long, thin, and short. This dock is built more like a brick. It’s thick and stands up vertically. The nice thing is that this takes up much less space on my desk laying vertically than the other docks do laying horizontally.
This dock is dual USB-C as well. The front of the dock has a headphone jack, two USB A 3.0 ports, and a USB-C port. The back of the dock has a lot of ports. It has SD and micro SD card readers, two USB A 2.0 ports, two USB A 3.0 ports, two HDMI out ports for external displays, an ethernet port, and a USB-C charging port. Of the three so far, this dock is my favorite. The read and write speeds are significantly faster, which is great, and the amount of ports adds a lot of expandability to my desk.
There are some cons. The biggest thing that bothers me is how many of the ports are on the back of the device instead of the front, especially the SD card readers. This makes plugging things in or using the card readers very inconvenient to try and reach around to turn the device around to plug things in. I see this as a bit of a design flaw. Overall though, this is not a bad device. You can check it out here: https://jerad.link/tobenoneusbcdock
Anker Thunderbolt 4 Dock
Up next is a powered dock by Anker. I enjoy the design quite a bit. It’s got some heft to it and you can tell just by holding it that it’s going to be very stable on your desk.
On the back of the dock there’s a power input for its own separate power brick. Unlike the other docks, this one is self powered with its own brick. The back also has two HDMI out ports, a thunderbolt port, an ethernet port, two USB A 3.0 ports, and two USB A 2.0 ports. The front of the dock has an SD card reader, a headphone jack, a USB-C in and out port, the thunderbolt port to plug your computer into, and a power on/off button. The biggest design flaw of this dock is that you have to plug your computer into the very middle of the front of it. I’m not sure why anyone would want to run a cord from the back of their MacBook to the front-middle of this dock. It made my desk look more cluttered and less organized. Not a fan of the decisions that the designers of this dock made.
I really wanted to love this dock because the read and write speeds were amazing.
Unfortunately, the way it’s designed is enough for it to be a no from me. You can check out the Anker dock here: https://jerad.link/ankerthunderbolt4dock
Caldigit Thunderbolt 3 Dock
The next dock on our list is the Caldigit Thunderbolt 3 Dock. This ended up as my dock of choice after testing all five docks. Everything about it is fast, great, and well thought out.
The back of the dock has an ethernet port, two USB A 3.2 ports, a thunderbolt port, two HDMI out ports, and a power port for its own separate power brick. The front of the dock has a USB A 3.2 port, a USB-C port, and SD card reader, and a headphone jack. The only thing this dock is missing is a micro SD card reader. Other than that one small thing, I have no complaints about this one. More ports would be great, of course, but for me, this dock has everything I need for a great desktop setup. The Caldigit dock also has the best read and write speeds out of all the docks we’ve tested so far.
Even though this dock has a single USB-C connection port as opposed to the dual USB-C the other docks had, it is still somehow the fastest performing dock, which is fantastic. You can check out this dock here: https://jerad.link/caldigitthunderbolt3dock
Razer Chroma Thunderbolt 4 Dock
One honorable mention is the Chroma dock from Razer. This dock is different in the sense that it doesn’t have any HDMI ports. So, if you’re looking for a dock that just offers more ports and not extra displays, this might be a good option for you. It also lights up, which is fun. Check it out here: https://jerad.link/razerchromadock
Final Thoughts
All of these docks will work on any M1 MacBook. They may work on older versions of MacBooks as well, given the USB-C ports are spaced correctly on your laptop to plug in the dual USB-C options. I hope these tests and reviews help you decide which port is best for you. If you’re interested in more computer related content, check out these videos on the State of Tech YouTube channel:
