Now that Macs are losing ports and are restricted to USB-C only, finding a docking station becomes more important. Apple hasn’t got one yet.
Does anyone know if this Microsoft dock would work for Macs with USB-C ports?
It has:
Charging connectors: USB-C
AV connectors4: HDMI, DisplayPort
System connectors5: DisplayPort over USB-C
USB: 2 x USB 2.0, USB 2.0 high current charging port
That looks like quite a nice, elegant solution.
I wonder if perhaps it has electronics to specifically look for a Lumina, or whether it is simply a “dumb” dock that allows for anything to be connected.
Only way to tell is to either buy one and try it, or just email Microsoft.
Well, there’s always this: https://bizon-tech.com/us/bizonbox2-egpu.html/
Although it comes with a pretty serious caveat.
I’ve seen that before. I’m pretty sure it’s just a hacked thunderbolt PCI enclosure from Akitio or someone else. I want native support… and the Razr one is great as it has USB hub and Gigabit ethernet built in too…
Relevant article about need for a dock rather than multiple dongles:
I presume in 2-3 years MacBooks won’t have any ports at all, so don’t invest too heavily in USB-C.
That’s a bit extremist, but then I expect nothing less from the media. The average punter would get away with a single USB C to USB3 adaptor to use all their old things (which they likely use only one at a time)… or the Multi AV adaptor to do pretty much everything (there is a VGA or HDMI version to choose from so you can get the one you need).
The real missing thing is the SD card reader, but again the average punter is likely taking photo’s with their iPhone anyway 
This little thing looked awesome, but doesn’t seem to have quite made it:
Ane the one that is available looks like a bit of a poor knock off:
Thier mini adaptor looks OK:
The OWC Dock looks the goods, great for your home/office desk but not exactly portable. It does bring true one cable docking to your desk though!
Maybe that coupled with one of the AV adaptors and a USB SD card reader in your bag and you’re good to go for just about any scenario.
The Verge has this one (which is everything the nonda one was supposed to be):
But one of the comments on that article is totally accurate… there is plenty of USB 3 docks out there. A single USB-C to USB3 adpator and one of the USB 3 docks and you’re away for very very little money. Not the most elegant solution, but now that someone has said it… well it feels kinda obvious 
Nice summary article:
I have a demo unit of a Kensington USB-C docking station in the office (which I used with the 12" MacBook when I had one) which is similar to that OWC one but with a DisplayPort (has HDMI too).
Specs say it is ThunderBolt 3 compatible but I haven’t tried it with a new MacBook Pro yet. The USB-C charging is at 60w, so if you’re using a 15" MBP it’ll probably charge it slower than the included wall charger.
Will let you guys know how well it works when my MacBook Pro turns up.
https://www.tryandbyte.com.au/shop/products/Kensington-SD4600P-Universal-USB-C-Docking-Station
Hopefully a far more elegant solution will emerge — as an alternative to all these boxes with lots of cable mess everywhere…
I was part of the Kickstarter campaign. Seems they could not get the PCB to work.
This looks the best - from the Friday morning news:
Speaking of Thunderbolt 3 docks, OWC’s Thunderbolt 3 Dock2 has a glorious 13 ports. There’s five USB-A ports, optical audio, gigabit Ethernet, mini DisplayPort, and even a FireWire 800 port if you still have FireWire devices. Although it’s not shipping just yet, pre-orders of OWC’s Thunderbolt 3 Dock are now being taken for US $279.
According to the Ts and Cs: To use the accessory, you need a Windows 10 Microsoft Lumia phone with Continuum and a USB-C™ connector supporting DisplayPort video output. You also need a display with a DisplayPort or HDMI connector or a compatible adapter. The accessory supports USB 2.0 compatible mice, keyboards, and mass storage devices (depending on the phone operating system).
Their Product for the MacBook doesn’t review too well on Amazon.
I have been looking into this a fair bit since the announcement as for me im in a different boat that most docks don’t cover.
For my daily usage i need.
1x HDMI for external monitor.
2x USB 2.0 for other devices and back up HD
and the big one.
1x CF Card reader (USB 3.1).
No dongles are offering this but i have been able to find a pair that are not going to break the bank and will allow me to have the best of both worlds with minimal clutter.
Seems elegant enough to allow most of the things that i need at a cheap enough price point and i can either use one of the other USB-C ports for power if using it or have it as the passthrough. And it is colour coded to the Macbooks too.
As for CF Card reader.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1276973-REG/transcend_ts_rdc8k_type_c_usb_port.html
Cheap and easy, wont break the bank at just under $20 and does not need to be plugged in all the time so small enough to pack away or take with me on jobs.
Not as elegant as using a single docking station but seems small enough that for on the go solutions you don’t need a billion cables to make the new MacBooks work.
Excuse me for jumping back in to the forums, I’ve been out of here for a while now. I’m looking to connect 3 HDMI/Displayport monitors to a new 15" Pro but can’t seem to find anything suitable that doesn’t require using 3 individual adaptors.
Does anything like that exist yet or am I still forced to use adapters? If that’s the case would I run into any issues connecting the adaptors to the additional USB-C ports on a dock such as the OWC one?
I’ve preordered one of these:
https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/owc-thunderbolt-3-dock/
Who knows when it’ll arrive (was estimated March). By guess though is you’d still need 3 adapters, but you’d get to keep all the other ports. I’ve ordered it mainly because I haven’t been able to find any other way to drive a dual link dvi 30-inch display.
Same here, preordered months ago - still waiting. 
Anyone have their’s yet. I was looking at ordering one). Apparently they are due this month?