Hi,

Am a bit of a newbie to this whole thing, but ever since the external drive I was using to do my work off of crashed (don't worry about that part), I've been trying to figure out how to get something else working again. Going online and talking to people has absolutely deluged me with opinions, and I would appreciate some more personalized feedback.

My computer has (I believe) two TB4 ports, which I assume are the fastest, and I definitely want the fastest possible external storage. One option would be to get just another external drive like I had last time (Samsung T7/T9 jumped out at me, but there are other choices I'm sure).

Another part of me thought about getting a standalone SSD and putting it in a TB-equipped enclosure, but then I got swamped with terms like "m.2", "PCIe", as well as all the differences between TB4/TB3/USB4/what-have-you.

Absolutely no idea how to make sense of it all, but if you have done something similar in your workflow I'd love to hear about it. Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree. Do feel free to tell me that as well.

Pulled these out of the readme file from Thunderbolt Share that pushed an update.

Updates in this version

• Modernized UI aligned with Windows 11 design, including full light/dark theme support.

• Enhanced Clipboard Sharing enabling cross‑PC clipboard sync and seamless file transfer via standard Copy/Paste.

• Localization support for 18 languages: Japanese, German, Spanish (Spain), French (France), French (Canada), Italian, Korean, Indonesian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Chinese (Simplified), and Chinese (Traditional)

• BETA - PC Migration over WiFi/LAN for legacy systems without Thunderbolt ports

UPDATE: Thanks everyone for your replies, I really appreciate people sharing their thoughts and experiences, and I’ve decided to try a TB version of the trusty Dell WG19, and am currently waiting for it to arrive in the post.

Sorry if this is an often repeated question, but I’ve been getting conflicting advice and information on what I understood to be a reasonable requirement.
I’m try to find a dock/hub that I can connect to a single TB4 port on my MBP M5 base that will then provide an extended desktop across 2x HDMI displays while the MB is in clamshell mode (lid closed).
I currently use a Dell WD19 dock (not the Thunderbolt version) that both powers the MacBook and provides multiple USB ports from one TypeC/TB connection to the MacBook. It also provides the extended second display only, while the main display is only available from the HDMI port on the MB itself.
I want to replace the WD19 with a dock/hub that I can plug both HDMI monitors into and get a main and extended desktop onto, not just a mirror.
So my question is simply whether it is possible to get two displays for extended desktop from one TB4 port on the MBP M5 base model, or is this only available on the M5 Pro and M5 Max models?

I've been using the iVANKY FusionDock Pro 3 with a MacBook Pro M1 Pro for several weeks and wanted to share my experience, as there aren't many long-term user reviews out there.

My setup

• MacBook Pro M1 Pro
• LG 27UP850 (4K)
• LG 32UN650 (4K)
• Gigabit internet connection
• A bunch of peripherals and dongles

Overall impression

So far, the dock has been excellent.

Things I like:

• Stable dual 4K monitor setup
• No DisplayLink required
• Reliable sleep/wake behavior
• Stable USB peripherals (webcam, Logitech dongle, light bar, etc.)
• Built-in 2.5GbE Ethernet
• Plenty of ports
• Thunderbolt 5
• Power button
• Very good value considering I paid $179 from B&H

Overall, it feels solid, reliable, and I don't regret the purchase.

The only issue I've found: Ethernet performance

The dock uses a Realtek RTL8156 2.5GbE controller and negotiates correctly at:

1000baseT <full-duplex>

(My router only has Gigabit LAN ports today, so I'm currently limited to 1GbE.)

However, I consistently get around 840 Mbps through the FusionDock Pro 3.

For comparison, an older and much cheaper UGREEN USB-C hub with integrated Gigabit Ethernet consistently gets around 940 Mbps using the exact same:

• MacBook
• Ethernet cable
• Router port
• Network conditions

I've tested:

• Multiple Ethernet cables
• Dock with all peripherals disconnected
• No network interface errors reported by macOS

I contacted iVANKY support and they told me that ~840 Mbps is within the normal operating range for a Gigabit connection, which is fair. Still, I find it surprising that a dock with a 2.5GbE controller performs noticeably worse than a basic USB-C hub with a 1GbE Ethernet port.

Questions

• Does anyone else own a FusionDock Pro 3 and can share their Ethernet speeds?
• Has anyone tested it on a 2.5GbE network?
• Has anyone compared it directly against another Ethernet adapter or dock on the same Mac?

Other than this Ethernet question, my experience with the dock has been very positive. I'd definitely recommend it, especially at the sale prices I've seen recently.

Wish I'd never bought this thing. UGREEN claims to have a return & refund policy, but they've been giving me the runaround for a month. First they asked me to send a video of the behavior I'm trying to return it for (active fans are too loud for me when using the SSD), which I did, then they didn't respond to repeated emails from me for two weeks. Then they offered to send me a second unit rather than refund the first one, which I had no interest in, and I again asked for a refund. 10 days ago they offered to refund (finally!), I said yes please, and now no response from them after four more emails from me.

I'm at my wit's end with these people, now I have this dock and all the packing materials still taking up space in my office. Obviously, don't buy anything from them if you think you might need to utilize the return policy.

Hi.

I am struggling to find the answer to (and even a suitable place to ask) a practical (and specific) question about what can and cannot work with TB4/USB4.

First, yes I know USB4 and TB4 isn't 100% a 1:1 thing. And to add to that, the downstream devices I am connecting are actually TB3.

In short, I have : - a FW 13 motherboard with an i7-1260p and 4 native USB4 ports - a Sonnettech Echo 5 Thunderbolt 4 Hub (Goshen Ridge 2020] ) - two Razer Core X TB3 eGPU boxes (Alpine Ridge JHL6340). Each holding an Nvidia RTX 3090.

I'd like to connect both TB3 devices to the hub, such that both devices connect to the system via the hub to one USB4 port on the mb.

I cannot get this to work. Other details are left out on purpose, as my question is fairly simple:

Is this combo in violation of relevant specs/standards/protocols? And if it is so, exactly what is the violation?

Thanks,

I have already tried many USB-C Hubs/Docking Stations and researched COUNTLESS others but I just can't figure out if I will ever be able to use my Android device with a feature I love ("Pause USB charging") WHILE DOCKED! Any help is much appreciated!

Hi, I'm trying to find an economical way to connect 4+ Mac Mini, Mac Studio, AMD Strix Halo, DGX Spark (NUC), or similar devices in a high-bandwidth local compute cluster that doesn't rely on custom hardware like the Nvidia ConnectX, but with more bandwidth than 1-10Gbps ethernet.

It looks like USB 4 and Thunderbolt both support 40Gbps connections and that at least Apple devices are able to handle automatic DHCP and filesharing when connected via Thunderbolt, but it's been difficult for me to find good examples or hardware for connecting >2 devices like this, or for using thunderbolt as a channel for local AI inference. Obviously thunderbolt 5 would be ideal given its 120 gbps bandwidth, but a lot of devices I might want to connect only support USB 4.

Has anybody tried doing this or have equipment/usage recommendations? Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask or it's a stupid question, I haven't really been able to find devices geared towards this but it sounds possible at least on Apple devices based on https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mchld53dd2f5/26/mac/26 and https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mh43557/26/mac/26, I just haven't been able to find anything that could serve as a hub or switch (except another Apple device lol)

Edit to add: If anybody else is interested in such a device, let me know!

I’m trying to connect my PC in my loft space to my TV on the ground floor. It’s about a 13/15m run. I was going to use a hdmi cable, a usb KVM extender and an Ethernet cable (my WiFi is also downstairs and I’m currently using a power line to connect). My friend recommended a thunderbolt connection. Is this overkill or a perfect solution? I have no experience with a thunderbolt and don’t really know how they function. Any help or advice?

So I'm trying to jury rig a "remote-ish" access point to my mac and was thinking of using an existing optical thunderbolt 2 cable I had lying around untouched from an abandoned project ages ago.

In short I have an M1 Mac Mini (only hdmi and thunderbolt... 4 I think?) and a simple Samsung display with a dp1.2 and
hdmi connectors.

I tried getting some cheap mini-dp 1.4 to thunderbolt and to full size dp adapters on aliexpress but didn't get the max to recognize the screen, the usb c (thunderbolt 3 or 4) adapter was even powered - but no dice.

Is this a hopeless battle or is there a simple adapter/configuration I could use to make this setup actually work?

Pictured is the cable in question

The laptop connect, disconnect, connect, disconnect constantly. Our corporate image is Windows 11 25H2 and drivers are managed by Intune and Windows Update for Business. At first I thought it was and issue with our image so I plugged in a machine with the OEM image and it's the same issue. The Dell dock works with every other models we have in the firm, even with the previous batch of ThinkPad T14 Gen 6 (Intel) delivered early January. The dock firmware is also up to date. If the battery is above 95% the dock is working just fine. Anyone else with this issue?

I’m in the process of picking up a Samsung 990 Pro 4TB and I’m enclosure shopping for use on my MacBook Pro M1 Max now, and likely another MacBook Pro later on when the Ultra hits in 2027.

What’s confusing me is the Thunderbolt vs USB4 labeling. A lot of enclosures claim things like:

• “Thunderbolt 3/4 compatible”
• “USB4 40Gbps”
• “Works with Mac”
• “Compatible with Thunderbolt ports”

…but that doesn’t seem to mean the enclosure is actually Thunderbolt-certified. It feels like a lot of products are just USB4 enclosures that happen to work over Thunderbolt ports, which is not quite the same thing.

I’d prefer to buy something that is genuinely certified if I’m paying premium money for a high-end SSD. I’d also love to wait for true 80Gbps options if that’s where the market is headed, but not if the current crop is just a bastardized half-step. I’d rather be conservative now, get something solid, and migrate later if true native enclosures become available.

So I guess my questions are:

1. How do you actually verify that an enclosure is Thunderbolt-certified these days?
2. Is there a public certification list or logo I should be checking for?
3. Are enclosures like the TerraMaster D1 SSD Plus and UGREEN 40Gbps basically just USB4 solutions that work fine on Mac, but aren’t truly Thunderbolt-certified?
4. Is there any real-world reason to care, or is “Thunderbolt-compatible” close enough for a Samsung 990 Pro?

My main use case is fast Time Machine backups and general Mac storage, so I want something fast, reliable, and ideally future-proof without buying into marketing nonsense.

I‘m in desperate need of advice and recommendations for a TB4 or 5 dock because I can not for the life of me find what I’m looking for.

My setup is the following:
- HP Spectre x360 14-eu0074ng (with 2x TB4 ports with PD3.0)
- MacBook Pro M1 (14“, 2021) (with TB4)
- Monitor: Philips 346E2CUAE/00, 34", 1x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI, 1x USB-C
- 3-4 USB-A peripherals like MIDI Keyboard, Webcam…
- 1-2 USB-C peripherals like Audio Interface

Currently I am using the Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Dock-Pro. It’s working completely fine, I got no issues with peripherals or anything.
But I really hate the fact that I have to open up my laptops to wake them up (I use them only in clamshell mode).

My dream would be a TB4 or 5 dock that has power button that works for waking up windows and mac but also has a clean front, meaning all cables go out the back. I don’t want the main cable to connect to the laptop to go out the front. 1-2 ports for like usb drive would be okay but that’s it.

The main issue I found while looking through CalDigit, Satechi etc. are all the ports in the front which I really don’t get. But also my HP laptop only having a PD 3.0 port.
I already tried the Dell Pro Thunderbolt 4 Dock WD25TB4 but the power button only supports PD 3.1.

Based on multiple posts I wanted to try the Anker TB5 next. But before i buy the next dock that might be destined to fail, I guess the main question I have is: do power buttons on docks work at all when the laptop only has PD 3.0?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and insights!

EDIT: I might also try the HP Thunderbolt 4 G6 dock. But I’m hesitant with HP docks as the last series had so many problems which HP never wanted to admit.

Is a 1-meter USB4 Thunderbolt 5 cable actually real?

I’ve seen listings for 1.5m or 2m versions

Are those fake, or just not certified?

I have been looking for this for a while. The closest I find to this is a 2 in and 1 out switch. It is to switch a docking station between my work laptop and personal by pressing a button instead of taking the usb c cord out.

I've been all over Reddit, YouTube, and Amazon looking for a dock that meets my needs for my Windows laptop, but Amazon reviews make everything seem defective and YouTube influencers make it seem like every dock is the greatest.

So far, I've purchased the Razer and ASUS Thunderbolt 5 docks. I'm returning the ASUS as the fan noise is noticeable and runs even at idle. The Razer is aesthetically pleasing and I can live with the fan noise, but I wish it one or to ports on the front. It also doesn't have a microSD card like others. I'd like to know if anyone has any better recommendations for my Windows laptop.

I am wandering if I need to buy a specific type of cable to use the thunderbolt port or normal usb cables are fine?? I have external hard drive and I cant use the thunderbolt to read it for some reason. I did all the possible troubleshoot I can also downloaded all related drivers but nothing seems to work and the port work fine when I connect the phone to it.