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Increase the number of things you can connect to your Mac by getting yourself a Thunderbolt 4 dock. These are AppleInsider's recommendations to achieve expansion nirvana.

An assortment of Thunderbolt docks

One of the problems when buying a MacBook is that you'll feel like there aren't enough ports for all of your hardware. The answer to that is to acquire a dock, which immediately adds a variety of ports to your computing setup.

However, not all docks are created equal. We know, because we've tested about all of them.

Many docks on the market offer USB-C connectivity. This may seem similar to Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4, especially because of the use of a USB-C Type-C connection.

The problem is that, since USB-C connections max out at 10Gb/s, you're limited in terms of how much data can go between your Mac and your peripherals. When you're plugging a USB-C hub into a Thunderbolt 4 port, you're ignoring 75% of the available bandwidth.

The end result is that you may not be able to use fast external drives, multiple displays, and other hardware simultaneously using a USB-C hub because of the limited bandwidth.

By getting a Thunderbolt 4 dock, you'll ensure that all of the 40Gb/s bandwidth is available to your hardware. That 40Gb/s is more than enough for most user's bandwidth needs.

This is especially useful in cases where you have external drives connected to the dock. The last thing you want is slow read and write speeds to the drive because other peripherals are consuming the constrained USB-C bandwidth.

What follows below are AppleInsider's recommendations for docks to use with your Mac hardware, which supports Thunderbolt and USB 4 connections.

Best Thunderbolt 4 dock for port selection - CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 4

The CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 4, or TS4, is a highly regarded Thunderbolt dock at AppleInsider, with it being frequently recommended as one of the best of its kind. In our CalDigit TS4 review, we gave it the highest possible score, because it's seriously that good.

CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 4

There are 18 massive ports around the front and back. The front has a UHS-II SD4 card reader, a UHS-II SD 4 microSD card reader, an audio combination jack, a USB 3.2 port with 7.5W of power output, a USB-C port with 7.5W of power output, and a USB-C port with 20W.

The rear side continues with four USB-A 3.2 ports, a USB-C port, 2 downstream Thunderbolt 4 ports, a DisplayPort 1.4 port, audio input and output ports, and a 2.5Gb Ethernet port.

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Along with the generous power output to the USB-A and USB-C ports, it's also great for connecting to a MacBook Pro for recharging, since it offers 98W of upstream power delivery. That 20W USB-C connection on the front is ideal for recharging your iPhone, either directly or using MagSafe (Apple's MagSafe charger is on sale at Amazon).

Add in the wide port selection with fast data transfer speeds, and the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 4 is one of the most versatile and essential Mac expansion tools on the market.

The CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 4 is priced at $399.99 on Amazon and at B&H Photo.

Best Thunderbolt 4 dock for portability - CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub

If you're looking for a tiny Thunderbolt hub to slip into a bag with your MacBook Pro, the CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub is the way forward.

CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub

Its compact size makes it a no-brainer for workers on the move, with its aluminum enclosure being more than enough to handle the knocks of travel. In the AppleInsider CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub review, our team of testers gave it a 4-star rating out of 5.

Due to its size, it only handles two types of connection. Aside from the host Thunderbolt connection on one end, one side has three Thunderbolt 4 ports, while the other has four USB-A connections.

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For many people, this will be more than enough for port expansion while on the go. Even so, it's possible to use it to drive a single 8K display or two 6K displays at 60Hz, if you need

The CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub is available at B&H for $199.95 and on Amazon for $199.99.

Best Thunderbolt 4 dock for portable power users needing storage - OWC Thunderbolt Hub

Sleek and stylish, the OWC Thunderbolt Dock offers additional ports in a way that's stylish, so it doesn't become a desk eyesore. All in a package that, in our OWC Thunderbolt Hub review, is barely longer than an Apple Watch band.

OWC Thunderbolt Hub

The front of the dock has a 96W Thunderbolt 4 port, a combination audio jack, a USB-A 2.0 port, and an SD 4.0 card reader. At the back are three Thunderbolt 4 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and three USB-A 3.0 ports with data transfer speeds of up to 10Gb per second.

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It's also capable of driving two dual 4K displays or a single 5K, 6K, or 8K display. If you need to connect storage, it also has support for high-speed offerings, such as NVMe-based drives, and other accessories requiring masses of bandwidth.

The OWC Thunderbolt Dock is priced at $229.99 at OWC and on Amazon.

Surprisingly good dock intended for gamers, but great for Mac users - WD Black D50 Game Dock

The name of the WD Black D50 Game Dock won't attract Mac owners, but it is a good choice beyond being used for gaming.

As a Thunderbolt dock, it pulls double duty as it also has built-in NVMe storage. This means you don't need to have a separate NVMe drive on your desktop since it's incorporated into the dock.

WD Black D50 Game Dock

Depending on the drive you use, you can see write and read speeds of up to 2,500MB/s and 3,000MB/s respectively. Even better, you can buy the hubs with NVMe storage already included.

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Connectivity-wise, the D50 has two Thunderbolt ports, one DisplayPort 1.4 connection, two USB-C 10Gbps ports, three USB-A 10Gbps ports, audio in and out, and Gigabit Ethernet. There's also power delivery available at up to 87 watts, so it will handle the MacBook Pro with ease.

The WD Black D50 Game Dock on its own is available for $219.99 on Amazon. However, you can also get it bundled with a 1TB or 2TB NVMe SSD for $239.99 or $335.99, which would be better picks.

Best Thunderbolt 4 dock without a power brick - OWC Thunderbolt Go

Sure, a dock can be small, but sometimes that's accompanied by a large unsightly power brick. The OWC Thunderbolt Go, as reviewed by AppleInsider, eliminates the extra element by incorporating it into its enclosure.

OWC Thunderbolt Go

While not as small as some of the others, the OWC Thunderbolt Go has an aluminum enclosure to dissipate heat, and runs quiet without a fan.

At the end of the dock is a Thunderbolt 4 port for connecting to the Mac, which also has 90W of power delivery. At the front are a USB-C 3.2 port, a USB 2.0 port for peripherals, a combination audio port, and a memory card reader.

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At the back are two more Thunderbolt ports, two USB-A 3.2 10Gbps ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port. For video, it can allow you to connect an 8K display or two 4K displays.

The OWC Thunderbolt Go dock is available directly from OWC, priced at $299.99.

Best Thunderbolt 4 dock for storage - Sonnet Echo Dual NVMe Dock

We have covered docks with storage earlier, but this is the one to get if capacity is important. As the name indicates, the Sonnet Echo Dual NVMe Dock can hold two single or double-sided M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe SSDs, up to a maximum capacity of 16TB.

What's more, these drives can be accessed as a single SSD at up to 1,500MB/s, but also as a RAID 0 set. Doing it this way, you can achieve transfer speeds of up to 3,000MB/s.

Sonnet Echo Dual NVMe Dock

As discovered in the AppleInsider review, these drives can be easily accessed by removing seven Philips-head screws. Those drives can also be fitted with heatsinks, to help keep them cool and maintain speed under load.

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Alongside the storage-centric features, there is still a selection of ports available to use. Along with the Thunderbolt port to connect to the host, it has a second Thunderbolt port, two USB-C ports, and a pair of USB-A connections.

The Sonnet Echo Dual NVMe Dock is available for $249.99 from Amazon.

Best Thunderbolt 4 dock for basic portability - Hyper Thunderbolt 4 Power Hub

Another compact example of a dock, the Hyper Thunderbolt 4 Power Hub is fairly simple in its execution. For a start, it is a compact hub thanks to using an integrated Gallium Nitride power source, which also eliminates the power brick.

Our review found it to be impressively small, measuring 4.9 inches square and 1.2 inches tall. That's easily small enough to fit into a spare pocket in a bag.

Hyper Thunderbolt 4 Power Hub

The hub has a total of four Thunderbolt 4 ports, with one used for the host and the others for downstream connections. Each connection can work at up to 40Gbps.

Buy at Amazon

Each port also has up to 15W of power that can be used to charge peripherals, though the host also benefits from up to 96W of power delivery. There's even support for an 8K 30Hz display or two 4K 60Hz screens.

The Hyper Thunderbolt 4 Power Hub can be acquired from Amazon, priced at $209.99, as well as from Hyper directly.



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Apple has made a big deal out of paying for the data used to train its Apple Intelligence, but one firm it used is accused of allegedly ripping off YouTube videos.

Apple Intelligence may have been trained less legally and ethically than Apple believed

All generative AI works by amassing enormous datasets called Large Language Models (LLMs), and very often, the source of that data is controversial. So much so that Apple has repeatedly claimed that its sources are ethical, and it's known to have paid millions to publishers, and licensed images from photo library firms.

According to Wired, however, one firm whose data Apple has used, appears to have been less scrupulous about its sources. EleutherAI reportedly created a dataset it calls the Pile, which Apple has reported using for its LLM training.

Part of the Pile, though, is called YouTube Subtitles, which consist of subtitles downloaded from YouTube videos without permission. It's apparently also a breach of YouTube terms and conditions, but that may be a more gray area than it should be.

Alongside Apple, firms who have used the Pile include Anthropic, whose spokesperson claimed that there is a difference between using YouTube subtitles and using the videos.

"The Pile includes a very small subset of YouTube subtitles," said Jennifer Martinez. "YouTube's terms cover direct use of its platform, which is distinct from use of the Pile dataset."

"On the point about potential violations of YouTube's terms of service," she continued, "we'd have to refer you to the Pile authors."

Salesforce also confirmed that it had used the Pile in its building of an AI model for "academic and research purposes." Salesforce's vice president of AI research stressed that the Pile's dataset is "publicly available."

Reportedly, developers at Salesforce also found that the Pile dataset includes profanity, plus "biases against gender and certain religious groups."

Salesforce and Anthropic are so far the only firms that have commented on their use of the Pile. Apple, Nvidia, Bloomberg, and Databricks are known to have used it, but they have not responded.

Apple Intelligence is Apple's version of AI

The organization Proof News claims to have found that subtitles from 173,536 YouTube videos from over 48,000 channels were used in the Pile. The videos used include seven by Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) and 337 from PewDiePie.

Proof News has produced an online tool to help YouTubers see whether their work has been used.

However, it's not only YouTube subtitles that have been gathered without permission. It's claimed that Wikipedia has been used, as has documentation from the European Parliament.

Academics and even mathematicians have previously used thousands of Enron staff emails for statistical analysis. Now, it's claimed that the Pile used the text of those emails for its training.

It's previously been argued that Apple's generative AI might be the sole one that was trained legally and ethically. But despite Apple's intentions, Apple Intelligence has seemingly been trained on YouTube subtitles it had no right to.



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Eton College is responsible for some of Britain's most famous politicians, and now it wants to make sure future UK technology leaders are denied iPhones.

Eton College (Source: Kazimierz Mendlik, Wiki Commons)

During its 14 years in power, the UK's Conservative Party had such a strong grip on technology that it demanded Apple add security features it already had. When he was Prime Minister, Boris Johnson claimed that no country in the world had got Apple and Google's COVID app to work, while the rest of Europe carried on with their successful ones.

Johnson was educated at Eton, as were 19 other former UK prime ministers. It's a boarding school for boys -- never girls -- aged 13 and up, and currently costs around $21,330 per term, or $63,990 per year to attend.

Fortunately, while it might dent just how entitled an Eton graduate tends to become, their families can now save a little money. According to CBS News, first-year pupils are no longer allowed iPhones.

Strictly speaking, they aren't allowed any smartphones. But these kids are not making informed choices about whether iPhone or Android appeals to them most, they're used to just getting the most expensive available.

And now that doesn't matter, because when they arrive at Eton, the SIM cards in their iPhones will be transferred to basic Nokia phones provided by the school. UK iPhones have not yet switched to eSIMs as US ones have.

"Eton routinely reviews our mobile phone and devices policy to balance the benefits and challenges that technology brings to schools," a spokesperson said. "[Pupils] will receive a 'brick' phone for use outside the school day, as well as a school-issued iPad to support academic study."

If Eton is the stereotypical image of posh England, this policy is as British as it gets. You can't have an iPhone, it says, but we'll give you an iPad.

Hopefully those iPads are in some way locked down, but on past record, Eton could just be hoping that its students are technologically inept. Boris Johnson, for instance, famously told an inquiry he couldn't hand over crucial messages because he'd forgotten his phone's passcode.



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The iPhone 15 Pro was rumored to feature haptic buttons with an all-new design, but Apple's project never saw the light of day -- until now. Here's what those buttons looked like, and what Apple scrapped along the way to a finished product.

The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max originally featured haptic buttons as part of Project Bongo

Early development prototypes of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max had haptic volume and power buttons, developed under the codename Project Bongo. While these mysterious haptic buttons were widely rumored to exist, they have previously never been seen on actual hardware.

Speaking to a collector of Apple prototypes, AppleInsider has obtained exclusive imagery of a prototype iPhone 15 Pro Max, equipped with the elusive Project Bongo. We have also received numerous details about the buttons themselves, and the user experience relative to standard mechanical buttons.

The device in question is an EVT-stage prototype of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, known during its development period by the device identifier D84 and project codename "Veyron." EVT prototypes of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max were the last to include Apple's haptic buttons, as the feature was abruptly scrapped in early April of 2023.

In terms of software, the EVT prototype runs an InternalUI build of iOS 17. This means the device contains a specialized variant of the iPhone operating system used internally by Apple engineers for development and testing purposes.

With the later CRB and DVT prototype stages, Apple changed the iPhone 15 Pro and replaced its new haptic buttons with standard mechanical ones. This means that CRB, DVT-stage, and later prototypes of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max do not contain any exterior differences compared to their mass-production counterparts, making them less interesting to collectors as a result.

The Action button, the multi-purpose, user-configurable mechanical button located above the volume button, also changed during development, but to a much smaller extent. While the haptic volume and power buttons were completely phased out, the Action button only received minor changes affecting the overall shape, making it more round and wide.

Though it was developed alongside the haptic volume and power buttons, the Action button itself was always a mechanical button, which explains why it was left more or less unchanged. According to the prototype collector interviewed by AppleInsider, the Action button behaves differently from the unified volume button on the EVT prototype discussed earlier.

How Apple's canceled haptic buttons behave versus traditional mechanical buttons

The haptic buttons initially planned for the iPhone 15 Pro are somewhat similar to traditional mechanical buttons because they both apparently move when pressed. If the device is on, the haptic volume and power buttons generate feedback along with a clicking sound whenever they are pressed.

During the EVT stage, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max featured a unified volume button

was told that the unreleased buttons generate haptic feedback when pressure is applied, and immediately after the button is released. In doing so, Apple likely tried to mimic the overall feedback and noise mechanical buttons typically produce, essentially the same way that the Magic Trackpad works.

Although the project was canceled, and the final mass production units do not feature Apple's Project Bongo, the EVT device referenced throughout this article paints a pretty good picture of what could have been. We were told that the device accurately replicates the tactile sensation and feedback created by ordinary mechanical buttons.

If the device is off, and cannot display the usual charge indicator due to a completely drained battery, the buttons will still move but will not provide haptic feedback to the user. In short, no power, no click.

The iPhone 7, for instance, featured a solid-state home button that used Apple's Taptic Engine to provide vibration feedback similar to the press of a physical button. The button itself never actually moved, though, unlike the Bongo buttons the company initially developed for the iPhone 15 Pro.

When an iPhone 7 was powered down, its solid-state home button never provided any vibration feedback or moved. The haptic buttons on the iPhone 15 Pro Max EVT both move and generate haptic feedback, even when powered down, as long as the device has at least enough power to display the charging indicator.

According to people familiar with the matter, the Bongo-type buttons used dedicated firmware, containing references to a "deep sleep" mode. It's possible this deep sleep mode was activated once the device was powered off or inactive for large periods of time.

Interestingly, the collector we spoke to also told us that the buttons responded to pressure even when touched with a gloved finger, or when used inside of a pocket. This means that the buttons are capable of detecting changes in pressure without direct skin contact.

The key hardware components of Apple's Bongo Project, and how it worked

Apple's Project Bongo accomplishes this through carefully designed hardware. The button detects pressure through flexures and strain gauges, which then cause a change in resistance within an electrical circuit.

This change in resistance is measured, and a signal is sent to the main logic board (MLB), indicating the button was pressed.

EVT-stage prototypes of the iPhone 15 Pro featured a haptic power button slightly smaller than the one on mass-production units.

Flexures and strain gauges were used to detect changes in pressure, in specific areas of the unified volume button. This means that even though the volume button was a singular button, the iPhone would still be able to tell if the user wanted to decrease or increase their current volume based on where the strain from the touch was sensed.

After touch and location interpretation, the main logic board provides power to the components that generate haptic feedback. In the case of the Bongo Project, Apple created an electromagnetically driven reluctance motor known as the "Bongo Haptic Engine."

The Bongo Haptic Engine was an electromagnetic reluctance motor, consisting of a ferromagnetic core and copper coil, that together constitute a solenoid. It generated haptic feedback the same way the regular Taptic Engine does, by oscillating in relation to an attraction plate located underneath.

The Bongo Haptic Engine was a significant change, but it was ultimately in line with Apple's previous hardware upgrades. The iPhone 4s received a Linear resonant actuator (LRA), which ultimately led to a reduction in noise and an improved response time. With the iPhone 6s, Apple introduced a haptic LRA via the Taptic Engine, which can be found in every iPhone iteration since then.

The earliest known designs for the Bongo project date back to 2021, two years before the release of the iPhone 15 Pro. The goal of the project was to replace the iPhone's traditional mechanical buttons with an updated design featuring improved haptic technology.

At the same time, Apple may have wanted to reduce the inherent hardware failure rate of mechanical buttons by implementing new technology.

The home button on the iPhone 7 allowed for improved water and dust resistance because no moving parts were involved. But, the same cannot be said for the Bongo buttons, indicating that this was likely not a goal or priority in development.

Was Apple's unified volume button an intentional nod to earlier iPhone designs?

The Bongo module design merged the two separate volume buttons into a unified pill-shaped volume button, with an indentation in the middle to indicate the volume up and volume down position. This means that early prototypes of the iPhone 15 Pro had a volume arguably button similar to those found on the original iPhone.

The haptic buttons initially planned for the iPhone 15 Pro were abruptly canceled in early April of 2023, during the EVT stage of development

The first-generation iPhone, the iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3Gs all featured a singular volume rocker on the left side of the device. Apple only changed this with the iPhone 4, which received a dedicated volume up and volume down button.

Apple often tries to make visually defining changes to its latest iPhones to make them stand out. This is done to make them different enough from the previous generation, but still keep the overall visual identity and recognizable look of the iPhone. The iPhone 15 Pro introduced titanium as the housing material, and was supposed to feature a new look for its buttons.

While the design of the iPhone has changed through the years and various different generations Apple produced, every model up to the iPhone 15 Pro featured separate volume buttons. The company apparently sought to change this with its 2023 flagship as a way of differentiating it, but ended up scrapping the idea.

Who worked on the Bongo project, and how did its cancellation influence iPhone 16?

Through people familiar with the matter, AppleInsider has learned that Robert Rivers Ingersoll was among those who worked on the haptic buttons for the iPhone 15 Pro. According to his publicly available LinkedIn page and personal website, Ingersoll is an engineer with a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.

Apple's haptic button module generated feedback through the Bongo Haptic Engine

Ingersoll was the tech lead for the Haptic Engine in the iPhone and Apple Watch. Prior to his work at Apple, he studied and analyzed the flight and hovering of hummingbirds and bats.

While the exact reasons for the cancellation of the Bongo Project remain unclear, it was allegedly scrapped because of unresolved technical issues and unsatisfactory test results. Prior to cancellation, the Bongo-style haptic buttons were supposed to appear on the entire iPhone 16 lineup as well.

As the Bongo design was eventually phased out, more recent prototypes of the iPhone 16 instead feature an all-new capacitive Capture Button. People familiar with the matter have told AppleInsider that the button has been developed under the codename "Project Nova."

The capacitive button is expected to appear on the same side as the power button, only lower. This suggests that it is likely a camera-related button.

First revealed in September 2023, the Capture Button features pressure-sensing technology and is capacitive in nature. According to a report from January 2024, the button will be able to recognize gestures -- meaning that users will be able to swipe left or right to zoom in or out.

The Capture Button is only one of many upgrades Apple has in store for its iPhone 16 lineup. Scheduled to debut in September of 2024, the iPhone 16 range is expected to feature a new A18 chip with a greatly improved neural engine. The base model iPhone 16 is expected to receive a vertical camera arrangement.



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Apple Maps in iOS 18 has been significantly upgraded, offering hikers and outdoor enthusiasts new ways to plan adventures. Here's how to prepare for a hike in Apple Maps.

Apple Maps offers hiking routes in iOS 18

The updates to iOS 18's Maps app make it an invaluable tool for planning hikes and outdoor activities. With detailed mapping, real-time data, and a wealth of user-generated content, Maps provides a comprehensive solution for outdoor enthusiasts.

Whether you're a seasoned hiker or a beginner, iOS 18 Maps ensures that your next adventure is well-planned and enjoyable. And since Apple added the ability to download maps offline with iOS 17, hikers can feel safe without an internet connection.

How to plan a hike for popular trailheads

You can create custom topographic hiking trail maps on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac and access them on both your iPhone and Apple Watch.

Popular trailheads are accessible in Apple Maps

1. Open Apple Maps on iPhone, iPad, or Mac.


2. Search for a trail or national park. Select the Trailheads/Trail button and choose a trail.


3. Tap the Plan a Hike button, then tap on the map to set your route.


4. View distance and elevation, then choose options like Reverse, Out & Back, or Close Loop.


5. Save and name the route, then tap Done.

However, you might find that certain parks or hiking trails don't have the "Trailheads" button, or you want to create a walking route through a city. In that case, you can start a custom route.

How to plan a custom route in Apple Maps

1. In the default view in Apple Maps, find the Library section and tap underneath to choose Places, Guides, and Routes.


2. After selecting Routes, Create Route, you can tap the map to add a starting point, then tap other locations to visit.


3. You'll see the same options for Reverse, Out & Back, or Close Loop.


4. Finally, tap Save or Go and start the route when ready.

How to plan a custom route in Apple Maps

Apple Maps in iOS 18 enhances the hiking and outdoor planning experience with detailed topographical maps, real-time data, and user-generated content. These features ensure that both seasoned hikers and beginners can plan their adventures effectively and safely, even offline. Whether following popular trails or creating custom routes, iOS 18 Maps offers tools for a fun outing.



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