Unlike the Satechi, this dock does have a card reader-indeed it has two: SD and MicroSD, both at top 312MBps UHS-II-allowing you to add inexpensive portable storage to your laptop setup. As you’ll need to buy video cables anyway, this doesn’t matter as prices for straight cable and adapter cable are close enough. If any of your monitors lacks DisplayLink but had HDMI, you’ll need to add an adapter between dock and display. The DX3 has fewer video ports than the Satechi dock but all are top-notch DisplayPort 1.4. The DisplayLink download link is clearly shown in the user manual, and instructions make sense-although you need a magnifying glass to read them! It can power the connected laptop at 100W and has a decent 135W external power supply so doesn’t require an extra USB-C charger. This Alogic DisplayLink docking station is similar to the Satechi Triple 4K Display Dock (reviewed below) in that it supports up to three external 4K displays at an impressive 60Hz refresh rate and has an array of useful non-display ports. While you may have to buy an adapter cable, 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4’s port flexibility and backward compatibility are recommended for users of modern Macs such as the M1 and M2 MacBooks. Thunderbolt 4 docks or hubs often have no dedicated display port but three available TB4 ports that can be used to connect directly to a USB-C display or via adapters to HDMI or DisplayPort monitors. Look for a dock with two or more display ports, preferably ones that can connect to your preferred displays without the need for an adapter. Learn more about the best Thunderbolt docking stations for more details, or you can connect via a simpler USB-C hub. These can include new display ports, such as HDMI, as well as Gigabit Ethernet for wired Internet access, USB-C/Thunderbolt/USB-A ports at varying speeds, audio plugs, and card readers. It then offers multiple ports that your laptop now has access to. Which dock is best?Ī docking station connects to your MacBook via Thunderbolt or USB-C. For Mac compatibility, it has validated both Apple and Intel platforms running at least macOS 11. However, after some recent testing and improvements Plugable, for example, has updated its compatibility to officially support that configuration. Older versions did not support laptops’ closed-display/Clamshell mode, but 1.8.1 does support Clamshell mode if the MacBook is Intel-based running macOS 12 or if the MacBook is M1-based running macOS 11 or later. You may need to quit and restart DisplayLink Manager afterward. This can be found in System Preferences under Privacy in Security & Privacy navigate to Screen Recording in the list on the left, then tick the Screen Recording permission for DisplayLink Manager after unlocking the padlock using your admin password. The macOS requires the user to permit “Screen Recording” in order for DisplayLink devices to work properly. It can be managed via the DisplayLink icon in the Apple Menu bar. 1.8.1 is compatible with macOS Big Sur 11, Monterey 12 and Ventura 13. As stated above, some docks, do this for you but it’s always best to use the latest version.ĭisplayLink Manager Graphics Connectivity App v. First, download the latest Mac DisplayLink driver. Plugable docking station and three external displays via DisplayLink.ġ. The app is available as a standalone installer rather than through the mac App Store. The DisplayLink macOS app or DisplayLink Manager app are ways of enabling DisplayLink technology on macOS. Some of the docks we review below offer the DisplayLink software when you first connect the dock to your Mac. But, in general, setup is straightforward. There are different versions of the DisplayLink driver, and some bring their own compromises to the party. Note that DisplayLink requires a third-party driver to be installed on the Mac. This combination serves as a workaround to the M1/M2 platform supporting only a single external display via USB-C. Many multi-display docks use a combination of native USB-C Alternate Mode (native “Alt Mode” video output) and DisplayLink technology. You’ll need to download the appropriate DisplayLink software from the dock manufacturer-full instructions later on. DisplayLink USB-C docks or just USB-C docks require software drivers to enable data compression that make them almost as powerful as a Thunderbolt dock. A whole new category of docks-many reviewed below-has appeared to solve the M1/M2 Mac one-screen problem.
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