Đánh Giá StarTech USB4 Dock: Dual Display Gốc Mà Không Cần Thunderbolt

Macworld At a glance Expert's Rating Pros Driverless dual-display support (M3 and later) 40Gbps USB4 100W PD to laptop More affordable than Thunderbolt Cons Relatively few ports Low device charging from USB ports Our Verdict The ultra-secure StarTech.com 208N will appeal to frugal IT teams deploying high-performance dual-display workstations across different platforms with its networking and simple driverless setup. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Price When Reviewed $143.99 Best Prices Today: StarTech.com Driverless Dual 4K USB4 Docking Station (208N-USB4-DOCK) Retailer Price $143.99 View Deal StarTech.com $143.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket What is it? An entry-level docking station that effortlessly connects up to two external displays without the need to install extra software. Who is it for? MacBook users who want to natively maximize their dock display options without spending big on Thunderbolt, and IT teams who manage offices with multiple fixed monitor setups. Who shouldn’t buy it? Base MacBook M1/M2/Neo users who require DisplayLink docks to use more than one monitor. Most of the docks we recommend to Mac users use Thunderbolt, which offers the fastest speeds and the broadest feature set. USB-C docks are usually much cheaper, making them an attractive alternative, but they come with compromises. They often offer slower data-transfer speeds – typically 10Gbps compared to Thunderbolt’s 40Gbps – and most can’t provide two native extended displays on a Mac. Because macOS doesn’t support DisplayPort Multi-Stream Transport (MST), a basic non-Thunderbolt dock can only mirror a second external display rather than extend it. There are workarounds. DisplayLink docks can support multiple screens, but require drivers and come with their own limitations. Other docks use two upstream USB-C connections, but that ties up two of your MacBook’s valuable ports. Why is this USB4 dock different? StarTech.com has a new solution that affordably gets past the macOS limitation without the need for Thunderbolt or DisplayLink. The StarTech.com 208N uses USB4 to deliver 40Gbps bandwidth and native, driver-free dual extended displays on supported Macs without requiring Thunderbolt, DisplayLink or two upstream connections. The result is a much more affordable dock that overcomes one of the biggest limitations of USB-C docking on the Mac. This is particularly useful for IT teams deploying docks for offices with mixed platforms such as Windows and Chrome as well as Macs. It also keeps the cost of the dock down as Thunderbolt docks almost always cost more due to their tighter Intel certification. The pragmatically but long-windedly named StarTech.com Driverless Dual 4K USB4 Universal Docking Station (or just 208N-USB4-DOCK to its friends) delivers driverless dual-display support on MacBooks without the need for Thunderbolt, DisplayLink or two Mac connectors. Simon Jary What ports do you get? One upstream USB4 port (40Gbps, 100W) Two USB-C ports (10Gbps, 7.5W) Two USB-A ports (10Gbps, 4.5W) One USB-A port (480Mbps, 2.5W) Two DisplayPort Ethernet (2.5Gb) 134W power supply The first spec to shout about is the upstream USB4 connection that mirrors Thunderbolt 3 or 4’s 40Gbps bandwidth. USB4 is not full Thunderbolt but is compatible with it and offers a more affordable high-bandwidth connection to the Mac. As this dock supports DisplayPort video it compares well to Thunderbolt. Only Thunderbolt 5 is faster. The dock can deliver up to 100W of power to the connected laptop, which is enough to fast-charge all but the 16-inch MacBook Pro. With only eight downstream ports, the StarTech.com 208N is a little shy compared to docks with ten or more ports to expand on the MacBook’s own paltry number. There are two extra USB-C ports, both at 10Gbps and one of which can carry a DP Alt-Mode video signal to a…