The Dell Thunderbolt Dock with v1.0.14.1 update (which includes NVM43 firmware) was certified by Apple through an independent third-party laboratory to work with Apple USB-C hosts. The known functionality provided by the dock when connected to an Apple USB-C host is outlined below. Apple USB Type-C dock functionality. I purchased this docking station to run two 4K displays and a handful of peripherals from a Dell Latitude 7490 laptop with Thunderbolt 3. Best free sound editor for mac. As an experiment I plugged in a 2019 15' MacBook Pro to see if it would also work.
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- Using Dell Docking Station With Mac
USB-C and Thunderbolt would distill our every cable need into a single cord, or so we were told, but it's taken Dell to finally deliver on the promise. The company has revealed a pair of docking stations here at CES 2016, one using a USB 3.0 USB-C connector and the other a Thunderbolt 3 USB-C, targeted not only at Dell's own laptops and tablets, but anything else with the right port.
The Dell Dock is the smaller of the two, a 155 x 110 x 21 mm box that connects to a laptop via a single USB-C 3.0 cable. It may be compact, but it isn't short on ports: there are three USB 3.0, two USB 2.0, HDMI, mini DisplayPort, VGA, a stereo output, combo audio in/out, and gigabit ethernet.
Altogether two displays of up to 1920 x 1200 (60 Hz) can be driven from a single Dell Dock, or one 3840 x 2160 (30 Hz) monitor.
Larger, and more capable, the Dell Thunderbolt Dock comes in at 145 x 145 x 52 mm. It connects via Thunderbolt 3 (which uses the USB-C connector type) and can drive up to three 1080p displays or two 4K displays at 60 Hz.
Like its smaller brethren it has two USB 2.0 ports and three USB 3.0, VGA, mini DisplayPort, and HDMI, but throws in a full-sized DisplayPort and a Thunderbolt 3 port too.
While, unsurprisingly, both docks support a long list of Dell's own laptops and tablets, since they use an industry-standard USB 3.0/Thunderbolt 3 connection they'll also play nicely with similarly-compliant third-party hardware.
That means your 12-inch MacBook should get along fine with the Dell Dock, something likely to give owners of the Apple ultraportable considerable joy.
Meanwhile Dell also has a new USB-C 3.0 dongle, complete with full-sized USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, VGA, and ethernet, together with an external power adapter that has both USB outlets for a smartphone and a port for charging a laptop or tablet, too.
Both the Dell Dock and the Dell Thunderbolt Dock will go on sale January 28, priced at $199 and $299 respectively.
I recently got a new MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt 3 ports. These ports are great because they can carry power, USB and output to an external display simultaneously. Not a lot of accessories are available on the market yet though besides simple adapters from USB-C to things like USB, HDMI, VGA, Thunderbolt 2, or Ethernet. Belkin has announced the Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Express Dock HD, but it seems like it will be priced upwards of $300. Dell's XPS 13 and 15 series however has included Thunderbolt 3 for a year now and Dell makes some nice docking stations for them:
Dell DA200: small portable device with Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3, VGA and HDMI.
Dell Dock For Mac
Dell WD15: stationary device with a size similar to a paperback book, with a 130W or 180W power brick. Over the DA200, it adds mini-DisplayPort, 2x USB2, 2x USB3, Speaker and Headset outputs. It also passes power through to the computer.
Dell TB15: This model appears to have been recalled because it didn't run stable and replaced with the TB16.
Dell TB16: stationary device shaped like a stack of a dozen CD cases, with a 180W or 240W power brick. Over the WD15, it adds DisplayPort. Note that it connects to the computer via Thunderbolt 3 instead of USB-C, which means it can deliver higher screen resolutions (see below).
First of all, the DA200 just works. Adobe premiere pro imovie mac. VGA and HDMI run up to a resolution of 2048×1152 pixels at 60 Hz (even though Dell says it only supports 1920×1080), Ethernet works without installing a driver (it contains the same Realtek chip, PCI ID 0bda:8153, that the official Belkin USB-C adapter uses). HDCP-encrypted HDMI works fine, as confirmed by starting a Netflix video.
Next up, the WD15. I first hooked it up via mini-DisplayPort and was disappointed to find that it only runs up to 2048×1152 pixels. Switching to HDMI alleviated the problem and my screen ran at its native 2560×1440 pixels — though the colors were all messed up because the computer was outputting YCrCb while the screen was interpreting that as RGB, but that is easily fixed by creating an EDID override. HDCP works just fine — even though Dell says the dock doesn't support it. Dell also says that the dock can do 4K resolutions (3840×2160 pixel) only at 30 Hz, so if you want to hook up a 4K display, don't get this dock. The dock has a power button, but it didn't surprise me to find out that it didn't power up the Macbook. The Macbook did, however, automatically turn on when plugging in the USB-C cable, even in clamshell mode. One oddity I found was that the front left USB 3 port would only deliver power, not data, while a device was plugged into the rear USB 3 port — while I did not find this documented anywhere, it seems likely that this is a hardware limitation and not a Mac issue — see below for more information. Audio works fine too (it's a Realtek chip, PCI ID 0bda:4014), but you need to use Audio MIDI Setup and click the 'Configure Speakers' to assign left/right either to the first stream (headphone output on front) or the second stream (audio output on the back):
Finally, the Dell TB16. I didn't have this one for testing because the WD15 suffices for my application. Dell says that you can run two 4K displays or one 5K (5120×2880 pixel) display, all at 60 Hz. I assume everything else will work just as it does with the WD15. For USB purposes however, I believe this dock contains a PCIe-attached USB 3.1 chip as the USB-C Alternate Mode Partner Matrix shows that a superspeed USB signal cannot be carried if high-resolution video is transferred. According to one of my readers, it doesn't work out of the box unfortunately.
Dell Docking Station With Macbook
USB 3 problems
Will Dell Docking Station Work With Mac
It seems like I can't reliably use all USB 3 ports on the WD15 simultaneously. Sometimes they all work, but after the next reboot or unplug/replug cycle, once ceases to work. I had initially believed this to be a hardware limitation, but it appears to be a bug in Apple's USB 3 drivers. sudo dmesg shows messages like these:
Using Dell Docking Station With Mac
So the OS shuts down the USB hub. If you google these messages, you'll find a large number of reports of it occurring with all kinds of USB hubs, but no solutions. So Apple just needs to get their drivers fixed.