Review on High-performance Aluminum Thunderbolt 3 Dock with HDMI 2.0, 60W Laptop Charging | Certified for Windows PC and MacBook Pro (Excludes USB-C Ports without Thunderbolt Logo) by Adam Boudreau

If you own a MacBook or MacBook Pro and are looking for a durable and reliable docking station, you've come to the right place. This is the one to buy. Resist the temptation of cheaper USB-C docking stations. Everything you buy gives you a headache when you decide to buy one. USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 are two completely different specifications. USB-C is 10 Gbps and Thunderbolt 3 is 40 Gbps. The USB-C dock *works* on MacBooks with Thunderbolt 3 ports, but the experience will be inconsistent and problematic. When trying to drive a 4K display through a USB-C dock, the display sometimes goes black because USB-C cables cannot support the data rate required for a 4K display at 30Hz. You can mitigate this by replacing the USB-C cable with a Thunderbolt 3 cable, which has tighter coils and is capable of transferring data at 10 Gbps. But there are issues with device detection and the slow rate at which the MacBook seems to recognize devices attached to the dock, and this tendency to only recognize devices after a reboot, as was the case with the network adapter on my docking stations. All of these issues went away when I replaced the USB-C dock with a true Thunderbolt 3 dock. Over the past year, Cable Matters has earned my trust as I've seen their products consistently get great reviews on Revain and my experiences out first hand so that cables, dongles and other PC accessories was flawless. This docking station sets new standards with elegant design, perfect port pairing, especially many fully functional USB 3 ports (meaning not only for charging) and reliable performance right out of the box. The dock works cool; the peak temperature is only a few degrees above room temperature. The PSU is slightly warmer than this, but only 5-10 degrees. tied it with a 3 foot cord. But it's an issue that's easily fixed, and after struggling with the USB-C dock for the last year, I'm so glad I no longer have to worry about the dock working day in and day out ; I just plug it in and it works, which is supposed to be plug and play.