Belkin reveals new 12-port Connect Pro Thunderbolt 4 Dock

AppleInsider · February 4, 2022 4:41PM

The new Belkin Connect Pro Thunderbolt 4 Dock has a multitude of port types and can be daisy-chained with other Thunderbolt accessories.

Belkin Connect Pro Thunderbolt 4 Dock

Users can connect multiple devices, 4K displays, Ethernet, and use an SD card with the Belkin Connect Pro Thunderbolt 4 Dock. It has 90W of Power Delivery for the attached computer and accessories.

The dock supports up to one 8K monitor or two 4K monitors. And thanks to Thunderbolt 4, it has 40Gbps of data transfer bandwidth.

It has the following ports:

SD Card Reader
Aux headphone jack
USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port with Fast Charging PD 3.0
Thunderbolt 4 port to Computer
Power in
One Thunderbolt 4 port to accessories
Gigabit Ethernet
Two USB-A 3.1 ports
Two USB-A 2.0 ports

Customers can purchase the Belkin Connect Pro Thunderbolt 4 Dock directly from the Belkin website. It is priced at $399.99 and includes a 0.8m Thunderbolt 4 cable and 120W power supply.

Read on AppleInsider

randywalker · February 4, 2022 4:58PM

That’s over $100 more expensive than the more flexible OWC Dock that has the just one less USB-C 3.2 port. (+2 TB4, +1 USB3, -2 HDMI, -1 USB2, -1 USB3C). I don’t think that one port is worth the premium.

netrox · February 4, 2022 5:01PM

I am amazed there's no USB-C hub. I don't want USB-A, I don't want HDMI, I just want all USB-C ports. All modern devices use USB-C. Why are there no USB-C hub?

hobesounddarryl · February 4, 2022 5:22PM

Where are these "all" (modern devices using USB-C ports) beyond Apple-branded tech?

"All" much better applies to USB-A with only some, relatively select devices (not from Apple) having a USB-C connection. If manufacturers go exclusively USB-C, many of their buyers won't have a computer to use them (unless it's a very new computer). However, if they offer USB-A, pretty much any computer from the last 2 decades will be able to directly connect. The world beyond our relatively tiny Mac bubble is enormous.

If the makers of such things believed there was a market, there would be many such hubs already available. Instead, there are hubs to connect to the computer with USB-C but then, like this one, the jacks for connecting things to the hub go with the much more "universal" type A port.

I fully appreciate the sentiment and can appreciate the ideal world of "one port to rule them all" but it seems we are still far from that ideal. Maybe in 10-15 years when pretty much everyone has turned over their computers a few more times.

edited February 2022

john-useless · February 4, 2022 6:48PM

netrox said:

I am amazed there's no USB-C hub. I don't want USB-A, I don't want HDMI, I just want all USB-C ports. All modern devices use USB-C. Why are there no USB-C hub?

Have you seen the CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub? It's got four Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports and four USB-A ports. I've got one for my M1 Mac mini.

crowley · February 4, 2022 7:10PM

netrox said:

I am amazed there's no USB-C hub. I don't want USB-A, I don't want HDMI, I just want all USB-C ports. All modern devices use USB-C. Why are there no USB-C hub?

https://ezq.com/usb-c-gen-2-hub-adapter-7-ports.html

flydog · February 4, 2022 10:34PM

One USB-C port and four USB-A? mmmkay....

anoylla · February 5, 2022 12:34AM

I don’t get it, why they still use USB-A 2.0 ports?

seanj · February 5, 2022 1:37AM

WTF is wrong with manufacture? Why are they still putting USB-A ports on these things FFS?
Ok, one might be useful for a thumb drive, and another to charge your old iPod click-wheel, maybe…
I’m pretty most peripherals like external hard-drives etc have been shipping with both C and A cables.
If you’ve splashed the cash for a modern Mac and a Thunderbolt 4 hub, I doubt you’re still going to be using 10 year old spinning-rust drives.

edited February 2022

seanj · February 5, 2022 1:39AM

crowley said:

netrox said:

I am amazed there's no USB-C hub. I don't want USB-A, I don't want HDMI, I just want all USB-C ports. All modern devices use USB-C. Why are there no USB-C hub?

https://ezq.com/usb-c-gen-2-hub-adapter-7-ports.html

But that has 3 too many USB-A ports.
Make them all USB-C and you have a buyer!

crowley · February 5, 2022 1:50AM

seanj said:

crowley said:

netrox said:

I am amazed there's no USB-C hub. I don't want USB-A, I don't want HDMI, I just want all USB-C ports. All modern devices use USB-C. Why are there no USB-C hub?

https://ezq.com/usb-c-gen-2-hub-adapter-7-ports.html

But that has 3 too many USB-A ports.
Make them all USB-C and you have a buyer!

You.... want less options?

Ok, https://www.sitecom.com/en/usb-c-hub-4-port/cn-385/p/1879

dnykjprfc6fnbs · February 5, 2022 4:09AM

john-useless said:

netrox said:

I am amazed there's no USB-C hub. I don't want USB-A, I don't want HDMI, I just want all USB-C ports. All modern devices use USB-C. Why are there no USB-C hub?

Have you seen the CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub? It's got four Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports and four USB-A ports. I've got one for my M1 Mac mini.

As well as a my OWC 4 port hub for thunderbolt 4 headphone jack ethernet port some kind of card reader. Moving huge files are just amazing and I’m talking
about 100gb plus in size with hard drives that can
come close to handling the speed. I would really love to switch to all SSD drives but still, for me anyway, out of my price point

lkrupp · February 5, 2022 5:25PM

netrox said:

I am amazed there's no USB-C hub. I don't want USB-A, I don't want HDMI, I just want all USB-C ports. All modern devices use USB-C. Why are there no USB-C hub?

There would be if there were a market for them. Apparently there is not.

basharar · February 5, 2022 6:25PM

So glad I bought the belkin thunderbolt 3 dock on sale, it’s the same freakin thing!! I got one thunderbolt drive connected, a display port that supports 8k and the rest! It’s the same exact thing, a bargain if you find it!

anoylla · February 5, 2022 8:22PM

That's the way!
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-thunderbolt-dock

$279.00

edited February 2022

macxpress · February 5, 2022 8:30PM

anoylla said:

I don’t get it, why they still use USB-A 2.0 ports?

I'm guessing this is a bandwidth issue with their particular design? But yeah I agree...kinda crap for 2022.

edited February 2022

anoylla · February 5, 2022 8:43PM

macxpress said:

anoylla said:

I don’t get it, why they still use USB-A 2.0 ports?

I'm guessing this is a bandwidth issue with their particular design? But yeah I agree...kinda crap for 2022.

Speaking of the market and how a Dock should be, I think anything other than USB-A 3.2 (10Gb/s) is already obsolete and doomed to fail in the market.

basharar · February 5, 2022 9:32PM

anoylla said:

macxpress said:

anoylla said:

I don’t get it, why they still use USB-A 2.0 ports?

I'm guessing this is a bandwidth issue with their particular design? But yeah I agree...kinda crap for 2022.

Speaking of the market and how a Dock should be, I think anything other than USB-A 3.2 (10Gb/s) is already obsolete and doomed to fail in the market.

A lot of people like to run mechanical keyboard, simple mice, audio interfaces, dongles a lot of these usb 2 and 3, if you need to connect multiple usb c monitors and raids this is the wrong interface…

beowulfschmidt · February 7, 2022 1:19PM

seanj said:

WTF is wrong with manufacture? Why are they still putting USB-A ports on these things FFS?
Ok, one might be useful for a thumb drive, and another to charge your old iPod click-wheel, maybe…
I’m pretty most peripherals like external hard-drives etc have been shipping with both C and A cables.
If you’ve splashed the cash for a modern Mac and a Thunderbolt 4 hub, I doubt you’re still going to be using 10 year old spinning-rust drives.

I know, right? I threw away all of my USB-A devices months ago, so why are these companies wasting resources on something I'll never use again?

/s

crowley · February 7, 2022 2:51PM

beowulfschmidt said:

seanj said:

WTF is wrong with manufacture? Why are they still putting USB-A ports on these things FFS?
Ok, one might be useful for a thumb drive, and another to charge your old iPod click-wheel, maybe…
I’m pretty most peripherals like external hard-drives etc have been shipping with both C and A cables.
If you’ve splashed the cash for a modern Mac and a Thunderbolt 4 hub, I doubt you’re still going to be using 10 year old spinning-rust drives.

I know, right? I threw away all of my USB-A devices months ago, so why are these companies wasting resources on something I'll never use again?

/s

I bought USB-C adaptors for ALL my USB-A devices, and now Belkin expect me to NOT use them?

also /s

anoylla · February 7, 2022 5:38PM

basharar said:

anoylla said:

macxpress said:

anoylla said:

I don’t get it, why they still use USB-A 2.0 ports?

I'm guessing this is a bandwidth issue with their particular design? But yeah I agree...kinda crap for 2022.

Speaking of the market and how a Dock should be, I think anything other than USB-A 3.2 (10Gb/s) is already obsolete and doomed to fail in the market.

A lot of people like to run mechanical keyboard, simple mice, audio interfaces, dongles a lot of these usb 2 and 3, if you need to connect multiple usb c monitors and raids this is the wrong interface…

USB-A 3.2 is compatible USB-A 3.1, USB-A 3.0 and USB-A 2.0 .. Actually USB-A 3.2 is compatible with ALL previews USB versions. So, if a modern company of today is creating a Dock, and really wants to be on the cutting edge of technology and meet the needs of consumers in the market, when it includes USB-A ports, these ports must always be state-of-the-art. As long as they are of course compatible with previous generations. Otherwise it is a very expensive obsolete piece of junk and will be doomed to be attacked by many anchors (Ankers) on the walls of their market-castle and will be besieged.

Belkin reveals new 12-port Connect Pro Thunderbolt 4 Dock

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