Superior performance: Thunderbolt 3 ports are much faster and have higher bandwidth than USB-C or Thunderbolt 1 and 2, leading to a better docking station experience.

A full desk experience: Efficiently connect to HDMI 4K and 5K displays, SD cards, USB drives, Gigabit Ethernet, and more, all from one dock.

A few of the high-level benefits include:

On a 2016 to 2018 MacBook Pro, these ports support Thunderbolt 3 while also working with the diverse USB-C ecosystem.īy connecting a Thunderbolt 3 dock to a MacBook Pro you can greatly expand your connectivity options and be productive from anywhere. Thunderbolt 3 instead uses the smaller, reversible USB-C port as its physical connector. The first two generations of Thunderbolt technology used Mini DisplayPort as a form factor.

Thunderbolt 3 ports also deliver power to the connected device, simultaneously. Thunderbolt 3 docking stations connect to ports of the same name, which provide data transfer speeds of up to 40 Gbps and support dual 4K display connectivity (or one connection to a single 5K monitor), USB peripherals, and other accessories. MacBook Pro Thunderbolt 3 Docks, Explained With a modern MacBook Pro Thunderbolt 3 dock, you can harness the power of its built-in Thunderbolt 3 connectivity to create a fully portable office.

Whereas the 2012 to 2015 models featured extensive built-in I/O including an HDMI port and an SD Card reader, its successors come outfitted only with Thunderbolt 3 ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack.īut does thinness mean you have to sacrifice a robust selection of ports? Not at all.

Over the years, the MacBook Pro has become much thinner, in large part by streamlining its port selection.

Thunderbolt macbook pro 2012