OWC’s Intros Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock with 10 GbE, USB 3.0, eSATA, Card Readers & More
by Anton Shilov on November 7, 2019 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Docking Stations
- Peripherals
- OWC
- Thunderbolt 3
Having released multiple docking stations for working in studios and offices, OWC this week introduced a new dock designed for digital imaging technicians who need a vast collection of connection options. The 10-in-1 Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock has all the ports necessary to attach devices commonly used by creative professionals, including displays, DAS, and high-speed local networks.
According to OWC, their Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock was designed primarily for digital imaging professionals, so it has a DisplayPort 1.2 connector as well as an additional Thunderbolt 3 port to plug in two 4K monitors (or one 5K display). The docking station also has a CFast 2.0 and a SD 4.0 card reader to extract data from appropriate memory cards speeds at up to 370 MB/s. Furthermore it can connect to an eSATA (with port multiplier support) or TB3 DASes using appropriate headers.
The dock also comes with a 10 GbE port and three USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) connectors to plug in various peripherals like a mouse, a keyboard, and specialized controllers.
Meanwhile the dock comes with an external 150 W PSU, giving it ample power to drive all of the devices connected. This includes the host notebook, where the dock can provide up to 60W – which is plenty for a 13.3-inch machine, but under load will be right on the knife's edge for 15.6-inch laptops, which typically ship with ~80W adapters. Meanwhile, to ensure stable operation under high workloads, the device has a fan, which can be temporarily turned off using a switch to eliminate unwanted noises during filming.
OWC’s Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock is available now directly from the company and from Amazon for an MSRP of $339.99.
Related Reading:
- OWC Announces 14-in-1 Thunderbolt 3 Dock: Now with microSD, 85 W Power Delivery
- OWC Launches 13-Port Thunderbolt 3 Dock: GbE, USB-A, SD Card, mDP, FireWire & More
- OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dock / DAS Combo: TB3, up to 28 TB, USB 3.0, DP, GbE, SD
- AKiTiO Thunderbolt 3 Dock Pro with Aquantia 10 GbE
- StarTech Launches ‘Affordable’ Thunderbolt 3 ‘Mini Docks’: USB-A, GbE, DP or HDMI
- StarTech Launches Thunderbolt 3 USB Hub with 3 USB 3.1 Controllers & Power Delivery
Source: OWC
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
14 Comments
View All Comments
valinor89 - Thursday, November 7, 2019 - link
I have never seen that kind of 12v power connector used externally. The cable and connector might be interesting if they are different than the usual ones used inside modern PC.thomasrm - Thursday, November 7, 2019 - link
It's fairly popular in the development board space to have "!! NOT PCIe POWER !!" 12V power supplies that use this connector. They're also obnoxious to RMA because it's a subcontracted kit component provided by the electronics distributor from the silicon company's outsourced design…abufrejoval - Thursday, November 7, 2019 - link
Well this type of device really shows that TB3/USB4 is becoming the new PCIe slots and expansion external.Actually they are better, because they give you the switching capabilities the current fixed lane allocations are missing--at least up to the 4 lanes they support.
Of course it creates a cabling mess I'd really rather shove into a tower...
Somebody please solve this conflict between flexibility and tidyness at low cost and high quality!
jydurocher - Thursday, November 7, 2019 - link
A bit expensive, would be great at 199$. Still will consider it for ingest in a laptop.chaos215bar2 - Thursday, November 7, 2019 - link
Very interesting, especially with 10 GbE for that price.But why only DisplayPort 1.2? If this was indeed "designed primarily for digital imaging professionals", can we at least get DisplayPort 1.4? And maybe an HDMI connector? Not to mention 100W power, because chances are you're running a computer that can draw more than 60W at full load?
DanNeely - Thursday, November 7, 2019 - link
because TB3 only supports DP1.2?And because OWC's target market is Apple users, and the only time a max spec MBP actually draws >60W is early in the charging process for an almost dead battery while also maxing out the CPU/GPU. Once it gets a bit of a charge in and things start to get hot the charging rate is reduced to maximize the number of available charge cycles.
Adam-James - Thursday, November 7, 2019 - link
Actually, Thunderbolt 3 can now carry a DisplayPort 1.4 signal, assuming your Thunderbolt-equipped machine has a Titan Ridge controller.As a sidenote, it's *really* annoying that Intel improved the capabilities of Thunderbolt 3 that way without issuing any kind of version update to the Thunderbolt standard - at the bare minimum call it "Thunderbolt 3.1". That's the main reason why no one knew about this.
Adam-James - Thursday, November 7, 2019 - link
Also, and I realize this is just anecdotal, but I'm a hardcore Apple user who had to buy a separate Thunderbolt/USB-C to DisplayPort 1.4 cable because the DisplayPort port built into my Elgato Thunderbolt 3 dock was only DisplayPort 1.2.As it's now been almost two years since the release of Titan Ridge, and every new Mac with Thunderbolt and a discrete GPU has the ability to output DisplayPort 1.4, there's absolutely positively no excuse for putting DisplayPort 1.2 on a *brand new* Thunderbolt 3 dock.
AdditionalPylons - Thursday, November 7, 2019 - link
Isn't this just a rebrand of the AKiTiO Thunder3 Dock Pro? It looks identical in every way except the logo. https://www.akitio.com/adapters/thunder3-dock-proYou covered it a year ago. https://www.anandtech.com/show/13491/akitio-thunde...
Anyhow I would love to see more docks with multi-gigabit ethernet. The AKiTiO is $350 so at least this new OWC model is $10 cheaper. =)
edtasdf - Thursday, November 7, 2019 - link
It is a rebadge, it's the same dock just a new name (and OWC bought Akitio).