Plugable Thunderbolt 4 Dock with 100W Charging, Thunderbolt Certified, Laptop Docking Station Dual Monitor Single 8K or Dual 4K HDMI for Windows and Mac, 4X USB, Gigabit Ethernet (TBT4-UD5)

Review of Plugable Thunderbolt 4 Dock (TBT4-UD5) I bought this dock to replace a simple USB-C hub for my MacBook Pro — and the upgrade has been a game-changer. Before researching, I honestly didn’t know the difference between a USB-C hub and a Thunderbolt dock. I just thought both gave me extra ports. Now I understand why Thunderbolt docks cost more: they deliver full Thunderbolt speed, power delivery, and rock-solid reliability. Here’s what I’ve noticed since switching: Blazing-fast storage: My external Lexar SSD now runs at full Thunderbolt speed (with the right cable). File transfers are noticeably faster. Instant display wake-up: With my old hub, I had to mash the Return key and wait for my monitor to wake. With this dock, my external display wakes instantly. Future-proof video outputs: It supports dual 4K monitors or a single 8K monitor. I don’t own one yet, but it’s nice to know I’m ready for the future. Reliable Ethernet: The built-in 1 Gbps Ethernet port keeps my internet connection fast and stable. Plenty of ports: I get 4 USB-A ports (2x 5 Gbps + 2x 10 Gbps), a 10 Gbps USB-C port, and another Thunderbolt 4 port (40 Gbps). I can plug in all my external SSDs and hard drives — they mount instantly with no lag. Strong power delivery: The dock charges my MacBook Pro at 95 W and keeps it near 100% even under load. Extra convenience: The audio in/out jack works perfectly for my monitor speakers or a headset mic for voiceovers. The built-in microSD/SD reader let me ditch my old card reader and free up desk space. Overall, this dock feels solid, performs flawlessly, and keeps my MacBook and peripherals running fast and reliably. It’s not cheap, but the stability, speed, and convenience make it worth every penny.

I use this Plugable dock for my MacBook Pro M4 Pro. It sits between my MacBook and an HDMI KVM switch that serves my single monitor, keyboard, mouse setup. It works flawlessly when I use the KVM to switch between monitor sources, avoiding the need to unplug and replug the USBC ThunderBolt cable at my laptop, a circumstance I often faced when using another top-notch dock with this MacBook. I also use this Plugable dock to connect the MacBook to two backup hard drives. Since these two backup drives use USBA-to-USBB cables, and since I had already used one of the Plugable's two USBA connectors for my KVM's keyboard/mouse connection, I had to obtain a USBA-to-USBC adapter to get these three USBA cables plugged in to the Plugable's rear-panel two-USBA-one-USBC connector configuration. That said, the Plugable also has the same two-USBA-one-USBC configuration on the front panel, so there are still plenty of connectors available, but I like to keep the connectors on the front panel free for desk front and temporary connections. The TB4 USBC cable that connects the dock to the MacBook is an ample 3-foot length, conveniently longer than those I've used on other TB4 docks, and it disconnects on both ends versus some I've seen with a permanent connection at the dock. Although not a deal-breaker either way, the Plugable's plug-vs-permanent TB4 connection at the dock indeed offers the additional flexibility of changing the cable length to suit your needs. Another dock I've used offers a nice compromise via an optional USBC screw locking connector on the dock side. Additionally, regarding the TB4 cable, the dock's TB4 USBC connector is on the front of the dock, a departure from other docks I've used that place this connector on the rear. Although a rear location suits the position of my laptop stand-up racks a little better, I can see that the front-located connector would be more convenient for those who have their laptops open on their desks, which may be most users. Finally, I love that the Plugable has both mini and micro SD slots (both on the front of the dock). This is a convenient feature that prevents me from having to scramble for my mini-to-micro adapter when I transfer files from my micro SD card. Note that the Plugable's rear panel also sports an Ethernet connector and a second HDMI connector of which I use neither, so I cannot comment on internet performance or dual-monitor configurations. All in all, this is a connector-packed, low profile TB4 dock whose performance and panel configuration serves me quite nicely - 5 stars.

Executive summary: I am a happy customer and I think this is a good product. Update to review: After I left the below review, Plugable's support team reached out to me. We were in the process of doing some troubleshooting and my next task was to install and run a diagnostic tool. There is a sensitive data concern (work laptop) so I am hesitant to download the tool. The hub seemed to reset earlier this week (not sure if it was something the hub did or if Windows might have done an update that impacted it). Since then it has been working perfectly. Plugable's support team was good to work with. I have never been certain whether this was a problem with the hub or the laptop. But since it is working now and I am confident in their support team, I am changing this to five stars. Original review: I am using this hub to run two monitors (while also using laptop display, so total of three screens) and a USB camera. Initially I was impressed - setup was easy and it somehow guessed the position of my monitors (one portrait and one landscape) so well that the mouse moved flawlessly from screen to screen. Since then...not so much. Every day it's a gamble. It inconsistently assigns the ID, so most days I have to go into Display Settings, swap the positioning, redo the portrait/landscape settings, and adjust the layout. Today my USB camera won't work. I have downloaded current drivers for the monitors and removed all old monitor settings, but cannot get the hub to consistently assign the monitor IDs. Sometimes I can cycle the power on it a couple times until it guesses the monitor assignments correctly. Sometimes after a sleep/wake on the laptop, the hub will only recognize one monitor. Rebooting the laptop solves that one. While I realize this could be a problem on the laptop end, it is a brand new Lenovo ThinkPad and I've had no other trouble with it. Two stars, since once the daily irritation is passed, it does work well for the rest of the day.

Update: the HDMI ports have both stopped working after less than three months. I have confirmed this with a second laptop. This is now an expensive USB hub. This works perfectly in my setup, although I discovered after I bought this that my laptop doesn't support Thunderbolt so I can't run both of my external monitors through this dock. Not the dock's fault of course. The dock doesn't seem to get notably hot in use though I'm not stressing it particularly with just one monitor that's not even 4K. My biggest gripe is that the uplink port - to connect the dock to the laptop - is on the *front*. This is stupid design. The front ports should only be for things that need to be plugged/unplugged frequently, so as to minimize cable clutter. In Plugable's defense this is very common among smaller, more portable docking stations, but there's enough room on the back for the uplink, so I'm taking away a star for this. Speaking of portability, the dock itself is reasonably compact but the power brick is bulky and heavy. I wouldn't really consider this a good option for a mobile setup.

I am running running 2 4k monitors @ 30 Hz from a Surface Pro 8 along with a keyboard and mouse connected to the dock and everything works well! I wasn't able to get both monitors working at 60 Hz but that might be due to other factors like my HDMI cables. A lot of cheaper docks that advertise dual 4k don't work so I was pretty happy to get that working on its own.

About this dock, I find it a good value. No external dongles needed for HDMI connectivity. 96/100w charging. Ethernet. Long story for those fighting with docks... So I'm up to 3 Docks I tried, and until this morning, none of them worked correctly. My the laptop maker tech support said, yup need to use the TB4 port for it to work. If not working, call the makers of the dock. I sent back the first one (from another company), factory tech support said, either not compatible, or broken, we aren't sure. only 1 monitor, ethernet would constantly disconnect. No charging. So back it went. Others had the same complaints, so figure, get a refund and move on. So bought the TBT4-UD5 from Plugable from amazon. My laptop "maker" sent me the graphics of where the TB4 port was/which one, and no it didn't work correctly. Only 1 monitor, but ethernet did, charging didn't. Updating drivers, new cable, nothing worked. After sitting back, I finally tried the USB-C 3.2 port that is not s/b to work (according to my laptop "maker"). But it did. Called my Laptop "maker", and finally the one tech support worker sent me the motherboard manual, and my laptop "maker's" info of what port is which and what did what was WRONG! What they called TB4 port, was really the USB-C 3.2 for power and for 1 display.port. Which did gave me ethernet and 1 monitor via the dock. Plugged the TBT4-UD5 into the real TB4 port, what the laptop maker called the USB-C 3.2 for data use, no power... gave me the 2 displays the dock promised, ethernet and charging !.. I was happy about the 2 displays and ethernet... charging too was a bonus. (I was originally told by my maker, ok, so it's not, to be expected with powerful laptops.) In the middle of banging my head against the desk, I bought a "lesser" model from plugable from amazon, USB4-HUB3A , it now works too. Plugable tried to help me, no one questioned the port, I shared the laptop company's port designation. So not their fault. Plugable tried a few things, one reason I bought the lower cost dock of there, get another one of their OEM TB4 cables which was suspect. So lesson is, if its not working, really have to dive deep into the ports and what they do, and which one is which.

I'm using this dock with my MacBook Pro to connect and conveniently interface with a variety of peripherals. I'm pleased that the audio port works well with my Apple EarPods as a headset (headphones, microphone, and music playback controls). I've also leave an Archgon Blu-Ray optical drive plugged into through the rear USB-C port. My home network is hardwired to the ethernet port. I don't have any monitors plugged in right now but I like that this doesn't have DisplayLink so if I do attach monitors in the future, it shouldn't pose issues with DRM when playing back DVDs. So far, everything is working quite well and this seems to be the ideal dock for my use case.

I've been searching and finally found the thing that actually works. I have two external monitors and occasionally also like to use my laptop as a third screen. I have an upgraded M4 Pro MacBook Pro with the following specifications: 14-core CPU 20-core GPU 96W power adapter 48GB memory 2TB SSD Many docks advertise they work with the M4 Pro chip macbooks. I buy them. I try them, and inevitably I get power consumption problems even though they're rated for 96W power delivery. What I would experience with other docks would be intermittent drops in video to one of the monitors. I finally have no drops in connection. I'm so happy. This is the only Thunderbolt 4 dock I've found in this price range that truly does it all. I get my two screens and can use my laptop as a third if I insist on it. I get hardwired ethernet, I get my charge, and there are plenty of ports. And I can do it all with one thunderbolt 4 cable rather than a lot of solutions trying the dual connector cable strategies that still leave you wanting more. It shouldn't be necessary. With this dock, it isn't. The one thunderbolt 4 cable and the dock design just works. It just works, folks. That's all you want out of a dock. It works.