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The Thunderbolt 3 port has enough bandwidth to support external displays, USB peripherals, Gigabit Ethernet and power the machine at the same time. With a Thunderbolt 3 dock, you can plug in a single cable into your laptop that will charge it … and provide all of your I/O. Using a dock, you don’t need five different dongles. That means they are super-high bandwidth and can support displays, data transfer, and power over a single cable. Why does this work? Each of those USB-C ports in your laptop are also Thunderbolt 3 enabled. Here are some of your options for what dock to buy: If your daily routine involves sitting down at a desk and using a laptop, this is the best solution. They are not cheap, but they are so, so, worth it. The upside is, there is a very elegant solution for someone who uses their laptop at a desk, day in and day out. Even if you have three ports to spare, you don’t really want to be buying a dongle or adapter for every possible input device you own. If you are working from home all day, your laptop is going to be plugged in, and if you have a 13-inch MacBook Pro you are essentially working from a one-port machine.Įven if you have a Pro with four ports, the dongle problem quickly becomes annoying. Of course, that means you now have one less accessible port. On the positive side, you have the flexibility to plug in your charger to any of the ports on the machine. Now, this has its blessings and it has its curses.
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On the 15-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro, you get four USB-C ports - two on each side. On lower end 13-inch MacBook Pro models and the 2018 MacBook Air, you get two USB-C ports. Since 2016, Apple has transitioned the MacBook Pro to an all USB-C port chassis. There was a time when Apple’s laptops featured all different I/O, featuring USB ports, SD card slots, HDMI and more. I have been working from home for many years now, and if you have a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, I highly recommend investing in a Thunderbolt 3 dock.
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With more of us working from home than ever in the current climate, that also means more of us than ever are facing the dongle problem.
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