OWC’s new Thunderbolt 5 Dock significantly enhances connectivity for Apple’s M4 Pro and M4 Max Mac lineup, leveraging the extensive bandwidth available.
In November, OWC launched its Thunderbolt 5 Hub, providing users with additional Thunderbolt 5 ports for their M4 Pro and M4 Max Macs. Now, just six months later, they’re introducing another device designed to expand port options utilizing Thunderbolt 5.
The OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dock connects to the host Mac via Thunderbolt 5, but this time offers an even broader array of ports to fully utilize the 80Gbps bandwidth from the connection.
This dock features a total of 11 ports, beginning with a Thunderbolt 5 port for connecting to the Mac. This connection also provides 140W of power delivery, allowing for the charging of a MacBook Pro using the same cable for data transfer.
In addition to the main Thunderbolt port, there are three additional Thunderbolt ports on the device. It also includes three USB 3.2 Type-A ports—two operating at 10Gbps and one at 5Gbps.
Other features include a headphone jack, a 2.5Gbps Ethernet port, and slots for MicroSD and SD cards with UHS-II support.
Encased in a rounded aluminum chassis, the dock supports multiple monitors, including two Thunderbolt 6K displays on a Mac. For Windows PCs, it can handle up to three Thunderbolt 8K HDR monitors at 60Hz with Display Stream Compression (DSC). Macs, however, can only support 8K displays at 30Hz due to the lack of DSC.
The OWC Thunderbolt 5 Dock is available for preorder on the OWC website at a price of $329.99, with shipping expected to begin in early July.
This pricing is competitive when compared to other recently released Thunderbolt 5 docks. The Anker Prime Thunderbolt 5, which offers a similar selection of ports, retails for $399.99, while the Sonnet Echo 13, which includes storage, also starts at $399.99.