Plugable is adding some new products to its lineup of docking stations and hubs, including the TBT4-UDZ, its first full Thunderbolt 4 docking station. This is the successor to the TBT3-UDZ, the somewhat popular Thunderbolt 3 dock, but with some big upgrades, including support for more displays. There’s also a new USB-C hub in the company’s lineup, as well as a couple of new cables.
Thunderbolt 4 Pluggable Docking Station (TBT4-UDZ)
The highlight of these announcements is the new TBT4-UDZ Thunderbolt 4 docking station, which boasts a whopping 16 ports. At first, this may seem like a small upgrade over its predecessor, but there’s more to it. One of the biggest upgrades is that this new model supports up to four 4K displays at the same time, even though it has the same number of ports. The previous model had four ports, but they were paired so that only two of them could be used at the same time. Now, they can all be connected to a 4K monitor.
Continuing at the back, there are still five USB ports, but one of them is now USB-C and supports Power Delivery, so you can charge a phone or other device. In addition, the USB-C port as well as the two USB Type-A ports support 10Gbps speeds, while the other two keep the same 5Gbps speed as before. The Ethernet port has also been upgraded, with support for speeds of 2.5Gbps instead of just 1Gbps.
Up front, Plugable has added a USB 2.0 port for charging, freeing up a USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) port for data so you can connect faster storage devices. The host connection has also been moved to the front, and there’s now a power button on the dock, allowing you to turn it off more easily when you’re not using it. And yes, just like before, the host connection supports 100W of Power Delivery for charging your laptop.
The TBT4-UDZ Thunderbolt 4 Pluggable Docking Station is available for Pre-order on Amazon For $299, it will start shipping January 17th.
Plugable 11-in-1 USB-C Hub (USBC-11N1E)
If you don’t need all that, there’s also a new USB-C hub from Plugable, which still has a lot of potential. There are a total of 11 ports on the hub, including microSD and full-size SD card readers on the front, along with a USB Type-C port and a headphone jack. On the back are three USB Type-A ports, two HDMI ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and a USB-C charging port that supports up to 100W passthrough charging.
The hub features a slim and sleek design, and has a built-in cable for host connection. The 11-in-1 USB-C hub is Available now for $79 at Amazonalthough you can use a coupon to save $5 off it.
240W USB-C and Thunderbolt cable
Finishing off the announcements, Plugable is also introducing two new cables that support 240W charging speeds, part of the latest version of the USB Power Delivery specification. There are two versions of this cable, one with Thunderbolt 4 certification and the other without. The non-Thunderbolt model still supports USB 4 at 40Gbps, and as far as performance goes, it should be about the same as the Thunderbolt 4 model.
Both models are available for pre-order now Thunderbolt 4 variant costs $29.95while the USB4 model costs $25.95. Shipping will start on January 11th.
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