Plugable has launched its first Thunderbolt 4 dock and more today at CES. The new device features 2.5 Gb Ethernet, UHS-II SD slots, 100W passthrough charging, and a lot of love for those still using USB-A devices.
Plugable says the new Thunderbolt 4 Quad Dock leverages Intel’s Goshen Ridge chipset to offer its plethora of I/O. The dock features an upstream Thunderbolt 4 port that includes 100W charging, dual HDMI ports, dual DisplayPorts, 2.5Gb Ethernet, plus UHS-II SD card slots.
However, this dock is made for creative pros who are still using lots of legacy devices with 6x USB-A ports (up to 10Gbps speeds). There’s one USB-C port on the back with 10Gbps performance and power delivery.
Here’s a look at all the I/O on the 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 dock:
While the Quad Dock supports output to four external monitors with PCs via HDMI/DisplayPort, that will be limited to two external screens for M1 Pro/Max Macs.
The Plugable Thunderbolt 4 Quad Dock is priced at $299.99 and is available now for preorder on Amazon with the first deliveries starting from January 19.
9to5Mac’s Take
Top comment by Horst Bockman
Two years ago, I bought a Thunderbolt 3-to-2.5GbE adapter for about $40. Docks should be including 10GbE ports by now.
It appears with all the focus on USB-A for this dock, there wasn’t bandwidth left for downstream Thunderbolt 4 ports. That feels a bit odd in 2023 but I guess Plugable was clear on its goal to create a modern dock for Mac and PC that offers lots of USB-A ports.
For those who are still working with a majority of legacy drives and peripherals, this may be a very welcome release. And if a Thunderbolt dock without downstream Thunderbolt ports is a deal breaker, Kensington and CalDigit offer some great options with the SD5700T and TS4.
More from Plugable
Plugable also announced three more products:
- Thunderbolt 4 240W EPR Cable – preorder now for $29.95 with a $2 instant coupon
- USB4 240W EPR Cable – preorder now for $25.95 with a $2 instant coupon
- USB-C 11-in-1 Hub – available now for $79 with a $5 instant coupon
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