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As a beggar version of the MacBook Air user, although I hardly need to use the docking station in my daily use, I still feel that the docking station is one of the indispensable accessories for Mac users and even some Windows thin and light users.
Therefore, although the frequency of use is not high, I still chose a docking station that is more reliable among Apple's cooperative brands as a backup. (There is a reason to explain later)
At present, there are many differences in price, appearance form, interface parameters, transmission protocols, etc. of the docking station on the market, and there are opaque information and play "word games" in the process of publicity.
The article will make a rough introduction to the types of docking stations currently on the market, listing some important information, parameters, etc. that are overlooked in the process of purchasing a docking station, and how to find the right one in the dazzling docking brand and products. (Will not specifically recommend products, contains a lot of dry goods, I hope you see the end)
Why do we need a docking station?
Nowadays, not only Apple's Mac products, many thin and light books in pursuit of thin and light have learned Apple's "bad habits" to delete the interface on laptops.
The most typical can be a 12-inch MacBook (discontinued), although the entire computer to achieve more than 900g of weight, but the whole machine only has a USB-C interface, if the daily plug-in use is bound to occupy this only interface, and if you want to connect to the external monitor, USB-A port U disk and other devices are bound to be indispensable docking station.
Last year, Apple released the 14/16-inch MacBook Pro many common interfaces have returned, but the lack of notch screens and some old interfaces is still a relatively big regret.
Due to the increasing number of external devices, wired connections are inherently more stable, wireless network cable interfaces, video transmission interfaces, and a large number of old USB-A interface devices (Bluetooth adapters, USB sticks, data cables) exist, the docking station is still irreplaceable.
Select the interface protocol parameters that you need to know about the docking station
At present, the interfaces included in the docking station on the market are nothing more than USB-A, USB-C, Micro/SD, HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort, 3.5mm headphone jack, RJ45 network cable interface, etc., and may even have M2 interface to support the expansion of solid-state drives (as will be mentioned later in the article).
In the above-mentioned interfaces, basically each interface has many different rules and protocols, which in turn affects the transmission rate of data, the resolution refresh rate of the external display, the support for the highest network speed, and so on. If you don't pay attention, you may fall into the "pit" dug by the merchant.
Speaking of interface transfer protocols, we have to mention the "USB transfer protocol" applied to USB-A and C interfaces. Its naming is very confusing, for example, at present we can often hear USB3.0, USB3.1 (Gen1), USB3.2 (Gen1) refers to the same protocol, the highest transfer rate is 5Gbps, when choosing the docking station, as far as possible through the transmission speed to judge rather than name.
In the RJ45 network cable interface, although most of the docking stations on the market currently contain 1000Mbps (Gigabit Ethernet port), there are still a small number of products with the highest support of 100Mbps (100 Gigabit Ethernet port), which cannot be ignored when purchasing.
For users with external display requirements, it is also very important to understand the four major video transmission interface protocols (DVI, VGA, HDMI, DisplayPort) and the highest supported resolutions and refresh rates. The first two are currently relatively old interface protocols, DVI-D dual channel maximum support 2K@60Hz / 1080P@120Hz; VGA maximum support 2048 * 1536@60Hz, unless it is an older display, otherwise the current two interface docking stations are not particularly recommended.
At present, the more mainstream and widely used HDMI interface also has several different specifications of the protocol. HDMI1.4 only supports 4K@30Hz at most, and if you want to support 4K@60Hz you need the HDMI2.0 standard; and on the latest HDMI2.1, you can support transmission 8K@60Hz or 4K@144Hz resolution.
The "pit" of current docking vendors is that they rarely tell you about the HDMI standards they support, and there is no special description when marking support for 4K and often only 4K@30Hz.
Another currently more mainstream video transmission interface, DisplayPort (referred to as the DP interface, do not be confused with the charging speed of "PD3.0" and other protocols). The older DP1.2 already supports the video output of 4K@60Hz, and the later DP1.4 began to support HDR, which can support video output such as 8K@60Hz and 4K@120Hz. DP2.0 provides twice the bandwidth (80 Gbps) of DP1.4, supporting specifications such as 8K@120Hz and 4K@144Hz.
It should be noted that the current DP protocol may have other physical interfaces, such as mini DisplayPort, which need to be distinguished when purchasing.
The transfer rate of the SD card slot may also be overlooked, and the protocols supported by the card slot in the current docking station affect the read and write speed of the SD and Micro SD cards.
Sorting of the docking station
At present, the docking stations on the market are USB Type-C interfaces, which can be roughly divided into USB-C protocols and thunderbolt protocols according to the supported transmission protocols; usb-C protocol docking stations can be subdivided into ordinary and USB 4 docking stations, and the thunderbolt protocol has thunderbolt 3 and thunderbolt 4 docking stations.
The vast majority of our current docking stations on the market are ordinary docking stations of USB protocol, and the price is relatively low for the vast majority of ordinary users. The current price of Raiden 3 and a few Raiden 4 docking stations is basically more than one or two thousand yuan, after all, an ordinary Thunderbolt 3/4 data line needs hundreds of pieces.
Depending on the appearance or form or the applicable product, there may be multiple types. Take Satechi's docking station products as an example, the Mac mini has a special dock-mounted docking station, which can fit perfectly with the mac mini in appearance, and there are also models that support the expansion of M2 SSDs.
For iMac all-in-ones, there are also clip-on and base/bracket docking stations that can extend multiple interfaces on the front.
For the MacBook, there is an in-line docking station, the advantage is that there is no wire binding, the disadvantage is that it may occupy two lightning interfaces; the last one is the most common general-purpose docking station with wire on the market.
Although general-purpose docking stations have relatively large advantages in terms of compatibility, those non-general-purpose docking stations often have unique advantages in terms of appearance and functionality. Therefore, it is recommended to prefer this type of non-general-purpose docking station.
In addition, some high-end displays provide a variety of interfaces, similar in function to a docking station.
How to choose the right docking station for you (where to start)
At present, there are three main considerations in the choice of docking station, namely budget, application products, and demand.
The budget actually determines what brands and transport protocols you can buy. As mentioned earlier, if the budget is relatively high (1000 yuan and above), you can consider the docking station of many well-known brands of Raiden 3/4 protocol and USB 4 protocol.
With a budget of more than 400 yuan and less than 1,000 yuan, you can basically buy many ordinary docking stations with good quality and reputation of Apple's cooperative brands, such as Sitchi, Belkin, and CalDigit.
On the contrary, if the budget is below 400 yuan, there are basically only domestic docking brands such as GreenLink, Philips and so on. In addition, because the price is relatively low, there may be compromises in terms of quality control materials, heat dissipation control, signal anti-interference, etc.
The product of the application is actually the previously mentioned choice of general-purpose and non-general-purpose docking stations for different products, if it is expected that the docking station can be used for many different devices, it is recommended to choose a general-purpose type, and vice versa, it is more recommended to choose a docking station with the corresponding appearance for a specific product.
Choosing a docking station based on your needs is actually the hardest but most important one. You can combine the protocols of the different interfaces mentioned earlier and the limit between the transmission rates, and the number of various interfaces of the docking station to start to select.
Of course, what cannot be ignored is that there are actually limitations of the computer and the display itself, such as the C port of some computers may be a non-full-featured Type-C interface, and some computers may not support connecting two monitors (such as M1 MacBook Air/Pro, but some docking stations can support connecting 2 monitors through software or firmware).
The above is the docking station in the selection process need to understand and consider the problem, if you feel that the article is helpful for you to choose the docking station, you may wish to like it. If there are different views and recommended docking stations welcome to comment.