Satechi launches 16-in-1 Multimedia Pro Dock with Thunderbolt 4

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion

Satechi is back with another accessory for creatives, launching a brand new dock with 16 ports that works with both Mac and Windows.

The front of Satechi's Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro dock
The front of Satechi's Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro dock



The Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro dock is "meticulously crafted with creative professionals and content creators in mind." To that end, the 16-in-1 dock is packed with all sorts of features that anyone working in the creative field will more than likely be able to take advantage of.

The exterior is sleek and won't take up a lot of space, and it's manufactured from aircraft-grade aluminum. It also comes with a rubber stand pad so you can stand the dock up vertically, based on your needs.

The Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro dock is equipped with ports for external displays, SD card slots, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and several different USB options.

Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro dock specs


  • Mac and Windows compatibility

  • 2x DisplayPort 1.4

  • 2x HDMI 2.1

  • 1x Thunderbolt 4 to host

  • 1x USB-C 3.2 with up to 10Gbps

  • 3x USB-A 3.2 with up to 10Gbps

  • 2x USB-A 3.3 with up to 5Gbps

  • 1x USB 2.0 for charging up to 7.5W

  • Micro SD and SD card slots with speeds up to 312MBs

  • Kensington Lock

  • 3.5mm audio jack with in/out

  • Ethernet 2.5Gbps

  • DC/20V port with an included 135W power supply



Satechi notes that Mac only supports Single Stream Transport (SST) and not Multi-Stream Transport (MST), like Windows 11 does. So this means if you hook up four external monitors, the dock will "output video in extended mode to two screens and mirror the other two."

So many ports in Satechi's Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro dock
So many ports in Satechi's Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro dock



If you're using a Mac with M1 or M2, they only support one external monitor, which means "only one single video group can be used at a time with output to one screen in extended mode and one screen in mirror mode."

Satechi's Thunderbolt 4 Multimedia Pro dock is available now from the company website, priced at $349.99 in the United States. It's also available now in the European Union, and coming later to the United Kingdom and Australia.

For folks on a budget but still want a solid hub to expand port availability, Satechi's Pro Hub Slim might be worth checking out.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    seanjseanj Posts: 318member
    It initially looks good… until you see it’s saddled with all these legacy USB-A ports  :D

    If they’d been USB-C then maybe, there’s there’s only one of these!!!!!
    twokatmew
  • Reply 2 of 10
    anomeanome Posts: 1,533member
    seanj said:
    It initially looks good… until you see it’s saddled with all these legacy USB-A ports  :D

    If they’d been USB-C then maybe, there’s there’s only one of these!!!!!
    USB-A is going to take ages to die. Too much legacy. Still, should be more USB-C ports, and fewer USB-A,
    BiCFileMakerFellerbestkeptsecrettwokatmewwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 10
    oadbyladoadbylad Posts: 6member
    Needs 3  Thunderbolt ports for us Mac users. The new Sonnet Echo 20 with a built in SSD slot is far superior solution.
    twokatmewforgot usernamewatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 10
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,428member
    seanj said:
    It initially looks good… until you see it’s saddled with all these legacy USB-A ports  :D

    If they’d been USB-C then maybe, there’s there’s only one of these!!!!!
    From what I recall,  USB-C 3.2 doesn't support a USB-C hub for multiple usb-c ports. TB/USB4 supports it. That's why we're starting to see hubs with several USB-C ports - they require USB4 chipset to be able to support the hub for USB-C ports. 






    dewmemuthuk_vanalingamtwokatmewforgot usernamewatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 10
    chutzpahchutzpah Posts: 392member
    BiC said:
    Wasn't the entire purpose of Universal Serial Bus to be easy.  What seriously happened.  And agree - USB-A ain't going anywhere - and it's fast.  I don't no why they wouldn't just hop to HDMI and end this.  HDMI is universal and you can't get faster.  Name me a cable.
    What do you mean, "hop to HDMI"?  The dock already has two HDMI ports.  

    You can definitely get faster than HDMI, USB4/TB4 alternate mode is faster, as is DisplayPort from 2.0.
    forgot usernamewatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 10
    commentzillacommentzilla Posts: 727member
    The new Sonnet dock has a much better balance of ports and it's $50 cheaper: 4x USB-C 3.2, 4x USB-A 3.2, 3x Thunderbolt, 1x HDMI, x2 Audio/Mic ports, 1x RCA audio (L,R), 2.5Gbps Ethernet, NVEs storage slot, SD 4.0 slot and 100W Power Delivery. Support up to x2 6k monitors or x1 8k monitor (also over HDMI). It's easy enough to buy native USB-C (Thunderbolt) to HDMI or DisplayPort cables if you need two HDMI or DisplayPort connections; these are not adapters since HDMI and DisplayPort work natively over USB-C (Thunderbolt), as do most protocols, even ethernet.

    Personally, I don't bother with USB-A unless I have a legacy devices with that type of cable. I mostly just use them for charging other devices.

    The Satechi dock is beat by this new Sonnet dock in every way for less money.

    Sonnet Echo 20 Thunderbolt 4 SuperDock 

    https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/06/28/sonnet-echo-20-thunderbolt-4-superdock-review-a-new-dock-champion

    https://www.sonnettech.com/product/echo20-thunderbolt4-superdock/overview.html






    forgot usernamewatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 10
    seanjseanj Posts: 318member
    BiC said:
    Wasn't the entire purpose of Universal Serial Bus to be easy.  What seriously happened.  And agree - USB-A ain't going anywhere - and it's fast.  I don't no why they wouldn't just hop to HDMI and end this.  HDMI is universal and you can't get faster.  Name me a cable.
    It’s up to 4 times SLOWER than USB-C…

    USB-A is only fast compared to USB-2 speeds.

    HDMI is crippled with DRM, DisplayPort is superior.
    dewmewatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 10
    seanjseanj Posts: 318member
    anome said:
    USB-A is going to take ages to die. Too much legacy. Still, should be more USB-C ports, and fewer USB-A,
    Only if you hang onto your computer tech for decades. USB-C was introduced in 2014, and Apple started switching to USB-C in 2016.
    Buy an SSD today, and it’ll have a USB-C port with a USB-A adapter.

    The only place USB-A still stubbornly persists is on thumb drives. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 10
    chutzpahchutzpah Posts: 392member
    seanj said:
    BiC said:
    Wasn't the entire purpose of Universal Serial Bus to be easy.  What seriously happened.  And agree - USB-A ain't going anywhere - and it's fast.  I don't no why they wouldn't just hop to HDMI and end this.  HDMI is universal and you can't get faster.  Name me a cable.
    It’s up to 4 times SLOWER than USB-C…

    USB-A is only fast compared to USB-2 speeds.

    HDMI is crippled with DRM, DisplayPort is superior.
    Please stop confusing the connector with the protocol.

    USB-A and C are not fast or slow, they are connectors.
    muthuk_vanalingamdewmeciawatto_cobra
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