That’s 7.2 Gbit/s. That’s pretty darn close to a USB 3.1 gen2’s maximum speed (10 Gbit/s), given that you are still going to have the overhead of the USB protocols to contend with.
I’m nearly certain that Apple’s USB-C ports do not support “gen 2 2x2” (20 Gbit/s USB). Apple’s tech specs (for the mini, and I think the other M1 models are the same) says:
Which tells me that you’re not going to get more than 10 Gbit/s unless you use a USB 4 or a Thunderbolt device on that port. If they had support for 3.2 2x2, I’m sure they would have mentioned it on the product page.
It’s expensive too. Sonnet has the exact same dock, introductory price is $50 less, but they aren’t shipping yet either. Wake me when somebody can actually deliver.
It has that same silly USB 2.0 charging port at the front. And it also has the uplink TB4 at the front. Ugh.
And it also has zero video output. The more I think about it, I really don’t get these types of TB4 docks. They advertise over TB3 docks that they have 3 downstream TB ports instead of just one. But TB3 docks came with at least one if not two DP/HDMI outputs. So if you actually use those video outputs, you’ll be sacrificing these two new downstream TB4 ports for video dongles and in the end you’ll be left with a single downstream TB port as you were on the old TB3 dock. And that after 3+ years of R&D time. Sigh. At least TB3 docks can be expected to become cheaper now I guess.
That’s exactly right. Even Apple’s latest M1 Macs don’t do USB 3.2 Gen 2, only 3.1 Gen 1. So they are limited to 10 Gbps. That’s raw b/w, so with conversion and all the overhead that becomes almost exactly the 900 MB/s @blog101 measured. Right now in Mac land, if anybody needs more than that they need to go Thunderbolt.
A COTS NVMe-based SSD (no RAID involved) on a Mac’s TB3 port will push real-world around 2 GB/s (like this one, ignore the 2.8 GB/s claim as typical BS from marketing), but it won’t do so for long if it’s not actively cooled (which COTS units often are not). Fans or 3rd-party cases with fans are cheap though.
11.2.1 broke being able to use Siri with my Homepods when they were acting as remote speakers for my Mac. I needed to use either volume controls on the Mac, or, if using the Music app, the Remote app on a mobile device to control their volume. When operating independently or as speakers for a mobile device, it worked fine.
After applying 11.2.2, I can now control them again using my voice when the Mac is their master.
FWIW I have two of the TS3+ on my desk plus the OWC Hub - I think they are great boxes. I have OWC TB2 & TB3 boxes which are ok but the TS3+ is nice if the ports match your needs.
I do have a Minix USB-C dongle from when I got my MacBook12” back in 2015 but only use that when presenting. We use the Asus Zen 15” screens a lot and finding USB-C cables for them has been painful, better now but a year ago we could only source in the USA and finding spares for colleagues in Germany meant UPS from the US. I learnt way to0 much about the different kinds of video on different USB-C cables, including when it says it wants USB-C it means that and not TB3.
Of course the $30 dongle is a third of the cost I paid 5 years ago and is probably smaller, better & faster so I will probably grab one when the in person conference season opens again.
What I find interesting about that is that it’s quite unlikely that Apple made a change in the code there—there weren’t even any “general reliability improvements” comments in the release notes. That would suggest, then, that the act of installing might have been sufficient to fix the problem. (Or that Apple did more than expressed in the release notes.)
déjà vu!
In 2014 I contributed to an Apple Discussion about the issues with Thunderbolt docks. I created a web page settings out the features of docks at that time: http://mpainesyd.com/MikeP/Thunderbolt_Docks.html
(the original discussion seems to have vanished from the Apple website)
Most of us were hanging out for the promised Sunix dock but it was never released.
Fortunately I am not a power user and no longer have a need for a high-end dock.
Which tells me that you’re not going to get more than 10 Gbit/s unless you use a USB 4 or a Thunderbolt device on that port. If they had support for 3.2 2x2, I’m sure they would have mentioned it on the product page.
I wasn’t expecting any more than 10 Gbit/s. I was simply stating the performance of the M1 ports with the devices I’m using.
Probably because these TB docks are primarily used by laptop users like me who want the port of the front.
So if you actually use those video outputs, you’ll be sacrificing these two new downstream TB4 ports for video dongles
I prefer to replace the video cable instead of using a dongle. But I’m guessing the design is geared towards USB-C and Thunderbolt monitors with USB-C ports. If they added video ports, I’d prefer a USB-C DP port or two.
Sonnet has the exact same dock, introductory price is $50 less, but they aren’t shipping yet either. Wake me when somebody can actually deliver.
The OWC TB4 already shipped but it sold out; the one I received was defective. The Sonnet dock is $50 cheaper if you sign up for the coupon but after that it will be the same price. These are really the same dock and there are a few others that have the exact same port layout. I’m guessing they are all the same tech with minor modifications and company branding.
I use my docks with MacBooks too. I still don’t get why you’d want a port on the front.
That’s not the point. Regardless of cable or dongle, if you use two monitors with that dock it doesn’t give you a single TB port more over an old TB3 dock.
Perhaps it’s the next one I’ll try, if the CalDigit annoys me like it annoyed you! I should know quite soon: it’s supposed to arrive today.
Did you have any luck with this OWC TB4 Dock. My dock worked fine except for the fact that the USB speeds were dismal with my M1 Mac. My SSDs got 900+ MB/s directly attached to the M1 but only 150-200 MB/s through the dock and they are USB-C 3.1 and 3.2 (2x2). So maybe it’s the SSD’s right? No, I later attached the OWC TB4 Dock to my 2013 MBP 15" over TB1 and I got up to 600 MB/s and I was able to get similar or faster speeds with an Akitio (OWC) TB3 dock and the CalDigit TS3, which came in at around 700-800 MB/s.
Some people (yourself, I assume), leave the cable attached to the dock, leaving the other end near where you put the laptop. So as long as the cable is long enough to reach that location, it will look best if you can keep the other end hidden - with the connector on the back of the dock.
There are others (e.g. those that travel a lot) who carry the cable with the laptop and plug it in to docks or power bricks at various locations. For these people, keeping the dock’s connector easily accessible (meaning on the front) makes it easier to use.
I would assume that these people, when in locations without docks, would prefer to see power plugs/strips on the top of a desk, in order to avoid having to reach down under the desk in order to plug in their own power adapters.
I got an update on this and it appears to be Apple USB driver issue that began with Big Sur 11.2.x that only affects M1 Macs, which should be fixed in 11.3.x. Other than USB speeds I’ve had zero issues with the dock and my monitor wakes from sleep with no issues.
I was able to install macOS 11.2.2 update on my new Mac Mini M1 since I didn’t have any hub attached to it few days ago. Today I added a Belkin hub (a green square usb 2.0) it works fine but it won’t charge my iPad as it need more power. I was not able to update my iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) from 11.2.1 to 11.2.2 as it keep failing to update after download. but your article make me glad that it is not needed for this iMac. This is the iMac that does have hubs connected, I did disconnect them before updating, no go but Disk Utility revealed that I need to fix the internal disk although I have enough space needed to perform this update (they suggested at least 35GB and I have at least 75GB. Hopefully the 11.3 will let my iMac install the update after all.
We have several VAVA USB-C hubs, 7-1 and 9-1 on various Macs in the house. I’ve found that performance is erratic.
On my iMac, so non-powered, mine doesn’t see an SD card inserted perhaps 50% of the time. There’s two SSD externals attached which are only seen if the cable from hub to iMac is inserted a particular orientation.
On my wife’s MacBook Air, 2019, she has a pretty full use, a few external WD portable drives, a HD monitor using HDMI, a USB memory stick or two. The MB Air won’t charge through it unless we give her my MB Pro larger charger. The Air’s 65W won’t cut it.
11.2.2 self-installed on my MBP overnight. Whatever it does for powered USB hubs/docks, it disabled Messenger, which goes unresponsive as soon as I launch it.
That doesn’t really make any sense. When you travel, you’re likely bringing a power brick along and with that obviously a cable. But that’s besides the point because said cable is for price reasons alone USB-C, not TB. Plugging in a USB-C PD cable into a TB dock is asking for trouble. If you indeed have a TB cable, you don’t waste it on a PD brick, just plug it into the dock. It simply makes no sense to buy a $200 TB dock and not attach a cable to it. In fact, any decent TB dock will ship with cable. Just as Apple’s MacBooks come with both power brick and charging cable. So this whole idea that you could be strapped for cables and forced to all the time carry the one scarce cable you have on you is just silly.
I installed 11.2.2 on my MacBook Pro 15 in. Retina Early 2015, and then it started restarting about 4 or 5 times a day. Each time the error was linked to a usb type resource (I can’t remember it exactly). After reading this I unplugged my powered Plugable hub and the restarts went away.
Now I need to find a new hub. I use it mainly for external HDs so I don’t need much… Any ideas as to what will work?
I’m thinking more along the lines of an office environment where “hotelling” is used. In this environment, all workspaces are shared - to personal desks.
At each desk, there is a standard set of equipment - typically a monitor, keybaord, mouse and docking station. An employee selects a desk, docks his computer, and works there.
I’ve usually seen this with PCs that have proprietary docking connectors and corresponding docking stations - which clearly only works if everybody uses the same model computer.
Applying the same concept to a Thunderbolt interface allows a variety of different kinds of computers (including Macs) to dock. You may not want to leave the Thunderbolt cables attached, however, because they may get lost, stolen or damaged. It would make sense for each user to have his own cable and plug into the dock that’s attached to his assigned desk for the day.
