We’ve included a couple of “hubs” here because they’re often cheaper but just as capable as docks. If you don’t want a full docking station, just a handy USB-C adapter or dongle, check out our Best USB-C hub roundup. Such laptops can use USB-C docks, but Thunderbolt’s higher bandwidth (40Gbps vs USB-C’s 5Gbps or 10Gbps) will be lost if not using a dedicated T3 dock.Īnd many docking stations are compatible with Apple’s iPad Pro and iPad Air (4th Gen), and USB-C Windows tablets.
Some laptops – notably Apple’s MacBook range – include a faster variant of USB-C called Thunderbolt 3 (TB3) or Thunderbolt 4 (TB4). In this review roundup, we’ll look at the best docks for USB-C laptops and tablets. Just connect your laptop or tablet to the dock, and it instantly has access to all the dock’s ports as if they were on the laptop itself – except to have that many ports, in reality, would make your laptop as thick as a brick. The solution is a dock or docking station that includes all these ports, and lets you connect your laptop or tablet to it with one cable.
The perfect setup would be a laptop for flexibility, plus one or more larger external displays, some USB ports for adding hard drives or a printer, and an Ethernet port so you can enjoy wired Internet access rather than flaky Wi-Fi.
