Apple and Intel’s Thunderbolt 2 standard has given Mac users — particularly professional Mac users — a premium, high-speed connector option for situations where bandwidth and speed are necessary: hooking up big, fast hard drives, high-resolution monitors, or even external graphics cards. The latest iMacs, Mac Pros, MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs all feature at least one Thunderbolt 2 port, a boon for expandability. This year, have really taken off. Long-time Mac accessory makers have come up with a few different riffs on the same basic idea, leveraging a single cable to connect a bunch of Thunderbolt, USB, and audio/video accessories all at once to a Mac. This enables MacBook users to return home and make one connection to everything from an external monitor and speakers to external hard drives and card readers; it can also allow iMac, Mac Pro, and Mac mini users to connect devices built with connectors not found on their machines. Here are the best Thunderbolt 2 dock options out there — and my suggestions as to which of them are best-suited to various usage scenarios Akitio’s Thunder2 Dock () is impressively thin, portable, and made completely from Mac-matching metal. Measuring only 6.2″ by 3.8″ by 0.65″ — around the size of a typical portable hard drive — it’s volumetrically the smallest Thunderbolt 2 dock I’ve tested, and the easiest to throw in a bag. In addition to a rarity — a FireWire 800 port — its edges contain one power port, two USB 3.0 ports, two 6GB eSATA ports, and two Thunderbolt 2 ports, allowing you to connect everything from a 4K monitor to pretty much any hard drive from the past 10 years. What Makes A Hard Drive Dock Unique. There are a total of nine internal hard drive sizes, but the only two that are currently active are the 2.5 and 3.5-inch ones. Metadata viewer for mac. Some hard drive docks have the ability to read both of these sizes. Many hard drive docks even have readers for SD cards and XD cards, making them useful for almost any computer task from gaming to photo-viewing. ![]() But to achieve its small size, it omits Ethernet, HDMI, and audio ports, making this a better option for connecting peripherals than a TV or speakers. Belkin’s Thunderbolt 2 Express HD Dock () was the first Thunderbolt 2 dock to be announced, and remains (without justification) the most expensive option on the market. Cosmetically similar and functionally nearly identical to Elgato’s Thunderbolt 2 Dock below, Belkin includes three USB 3.0 ports, two Thunderbolt 2 ports, an Ethernet port, HDMI (4K) port, and two audio ports. The nice aluminum and plastic design started with the company’s long-delayed prior-generation Thunderbolt Express Dock, and defined the look of many rival options, but the same general port array is available in several competing products. CalDigit’s Thunderbolt Station 2 () is the Sherman tank of the Thunderbolt dock category. It doesn’t exactly match most Macs, but is made entirely from brushed metal, and feels incredibly solid. Designed to be used either upright or on its side — a space-saving measure not seen in any other Thunderbolt dock — Thunderbolt Station 2 is loaded with ports: three USB 3.0, two Thunderbolt 2, Ethernet, HDMI (4K), two audio ports, twin 6Gbps eSATA, and power. The eSATA ports are useful for owners of fast hard drives, and less common on Thunderbolt 2 docks than the other options. It notably ships without a Thunderbolt 2 cable, but one can be. Elgato’s Thunderbolt 2 Dock () is one of the earlier Thunderbolt docks to hit the market, and like Belkin’s model, helped to establish the features that would later be recognized as common across models: three USB 3.0 ports, two Thunderbolt 2 ports, a 3.5mm microphone input port, a USB-to-analog 3.5mm audio out port, a 10/100/1000 Ethernet port, and an HDMI 1.4b (4K-supported) port. Unlike Akitio’s design (but like most other models), it’s not designed to be portable, but the included audio, video, and data ports make it an ideal way to hook up everything from USB and Thunderbolt peripherals to speakers and an external monitor. It includes a Thunderbolt cable. Kanex’s Thunderbolt 2 Express Dock () arrived after Belkin’s and Elgato’s highly similar versions, featuring two Thunderbolt 2 ports, one 4K-ready HDMI port, one Gigabit Ethernet port, one 3.5mm microphone and headset port, a power-in port, and three USB 3.0 ports. That’s one fewer audio port than Belkin’s and Elgato’s designs, but unlike Belkin, Kanex supplies continual 1.5A power to its front-mounted USB port to guarantee it’s able to recharge your iPhone or iPad even if a computer’s not connected. Unlike some docks, it comes packaged with a Thunderbolt 2 cable, making its $200 price more attractive. Other World Computing (OWC)’s Thunderbolt 2 Dock () is in the middle of the pack price-wise, but one-ups its competitors with a gigantic collection of ports: a whopping five USB 3.0 ports (two of which are 1.5A-powered), two Thunderbolt 2 ports, one HDMI 1.4b (4K) port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a FireWire 800 port, and separate audio-in/audio-out ports. Because of those ports, it’s the largest Thunderbolt dock I’ve seen — 9″ wide by 3.5″ deep by 1.1″ tall, not including its big external power supply — and it’s made with glossy black plastic ringed with silver aluminum, matching iMacs to a respectable extent.
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