I’ve covered the Thunderbolt 3 dock a lot in recent months, but there’s another upcoming model that’s worth taking a look at. The TBT3-UDV is Plugable’s upcoming flagship Thunderbolt 3 dock, featuring five USB 3.0 Type-A ports, Gigabit Ethernet, DisplayPort, stereo in/out, and a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports. The dock isn’t available for purchase yet, as the pluggable is still awaiting Thunderbolt certification, but the company tells me it’s aiming for an early October launch assuming certification comes through in a timely fashion.
In the box, you’ll find the usual components, including the dock itself, an external power brick, and a 0.5-meter Thunderbolt 3 cable. A nice touch I haven’t seen with other docks is an included DisplayPort to HDMI 2.0 active adapter, usually sold separately for $19, which makes it easy to connect a wide array of displays, televisions, and projectors to the dock.
Notably, the TBT3-UDV can be oriented either horizontally like other Thunderbolt 3 docks or vertically using an included stand. It’s a nice feature the dock has in common with Caldigit’s TS3, but their design differences mean the pluggable dock is taller and narrower in vertical orientation than the TS3’s block-like design.
Design
While it may have an intimidating name, the TBT3-UDV’s design stands out on a desk especially in vertical orientation. The enclosure is made of a matte aluminum that’s fairly close to Apple’s space gray color and has a few deep grooves on each side to add some style. The front curved edge of the dock is made of a glossy black plastic, as is the rear port panel.
There’s a slightly prominent white Pluggable logo on each side, as well as some model and regulatory information near the bottom of one of the sides. A slightly cleaner look would have been nicer, especially considering the eye-catching hardware design, but it’s not terrible. A pair of status lights, green for power and blue for data connection to the computer, are hidden under black plastic on the front edge of the dock.
USB port
One of the key features of the TBT3-UDV is its five USB Type-A ports, four on the back and one on the front. This array of USB ports is matched only by OWC’s Thunderbolt 3 dock, with nearly every dock on the market offering just three ports.
All five ports are 5 Gbps USB 3.0/3.1 Gen 1, so you’ll get solid transfer speeds of 325 MB/s writes and 350 MB/s reads I’ve seen with a fast external SSD, typical for these types of docks. If you want even more speed, you’ll need to use the available Thunderbolt 3/USB-C port on the back for 10 Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2 support, rated at 470 MB/s write and 495 MB/s read. External SSD.
Unfortunately, the four USB ports on the back of the dock are clustered too closely together. This helps keep the overall dock footprint compact, but it also means that if you have bulky USB peripherals like card readers or certain flash drives, they’ll likely block access to other USB ports.
I have a fairly wide flash drive that won’t even plug into the front USB port due to the recessed design. It also doesn’t fit between the two rear USB ports closest to the edge of the dock, although I can insert it far enough to connect. This might not be a deal breaker if you mostly connect USB cables and skinny sticks, but it’s something to be aware of.
shows
Like other Thunderbolt 3 docks, the TBT3-UDV can support a single 5K display or up to two 4K displays on Thunderbolt 3 using the Thunderbolt 3/USB-C port and DisplayPort port (possible with adapters to convert to other standards). Plugging an LG Ultrafine 5K display into the downstream Thunderbolt 3 port worked well, with the display running at 60 Hz and experiencing no lag or other hiccups.
In addition to the DisplayPort to HDMI 2.0 cable included in the box with the dock, Pluggable sent me two of the company’s USB-C cables: USB-C to DisplayPort and USB-C to HDMI 2.0 cables that have proven popular with customers for their quality and value on Amazon (currently $21.95 each).
The cables, which are important to emphasize are sold separately and not included with the TBT3-UDV dock, expand the number of display options for use with the dock and can be used on a standalone basis with USB-C Macs to connect external displays that connect directly to USB -C is not supported.
I tested hooking up to an LG 27UD88 Ultra HD display in various configurations, including a direct DisplayPort to DisplayPort connection from the dock, DisplayPort to HDMI via the dock using the included adapter, and both USB-C to DisplayPort and HDMI from the dock, and directly from the MacBook Pro via pluggable. Using the supplied spare cable.
All connections to the DisplayPort port on the 27UD88 worked perfectly, running at 60 Hz without issue. HDMI connections, however, only run at 30 Hz by default, even though everything in the chain should support HDMI 2.0 at 60 Hz.
Plugable was very helpful and responsive in troubleshooting, but in the end the only way to get 60 Hz over HDMI was to force the refresh rate using SwitchResX, and even then it only worked with one of the two HDMI ports on the LG display. Testing with an Anker USB-C to HDMI adapter also reached 60 Hz using SwitchResX, so it seems my refresh rate issues are more related to the LG display than any of Pluggable’s products, and Pluggable is communicating with LG to try to diagnose the problem. .
charging
An important area of difference between the various Thunderbolt 3 docks is the amount of charging power they are capable of outputting over Thunderbolt 3/USB-C to power an attached computer. Some are as low as 15 watts, which wouldn’t be nearly enough to power a MacBook Pro. Others are capable of pushing 60 or 85 watts, and Pluggable’s TBT3-UDV comes in at just under 60-watts. That’s enough to fully power a 13-inch MacBook Pro, but it won’t be able to max out the charging of the larger 15-inch model.
If you own a 15-inch MacBook Pro, whether the pluggable dock will be able to provide enough power depends on your usage. In my tests, the 60-watt charging power was able to keep my MacBook Pro battery at 100 percent for an entire work day, but I wasn’t doing highly demanding tasks like video processing.
Users who put heavy workloads on their 15-inch MacBook Pro models are likely draining the battery even when plugged in, albeit at a much slower rate than if you were using the battery alone. If the work you do is less demanding, 60 watts may be enough to keep your battery going. However, unless your battery is already at full capacity, charging from the dock will be slower than with the MacBook Pro’s own 87-watt adapter.
finish
As I mentioned above, the TBT3-UDV isn’t available for purchase yet, but Pluggable says the pre-release unit I received for review should be identical to the shipping version unless something goes wrong during the final Thunderbolt certification process. Pluggable is targeting an early October launch with a DisplayPort to HDMI 2.0 active adapter priced at $249.95. That’s a competitive price point for a full-featured dock that really only lacks full 85-watt charging power compared to other top-tier docks, most of which are priced in the $300–$350 range.
Along with the relatively good price, the five USB ports provide great flexibility for connecting multiple peripherals like iPhone or Apple Watch charging docks, card readers, external drives, and more, though a little more spacing between the ports would have been a good idea, and one like the OWC Dock A built-in SD card slot would have been a nice bonus.
The option of vertical or horizontal orientation of the dock is a nice feature to suit different desk setups and I like the slim vertical design with separate stand to keep it stable. As a result, the TBT3-UDV looks like it would be a great option for those considering a Thunderbolt 3 dock, as long as 60 watts of charging is more than enough for your needs.
Note: Pluggable TBT3-UDV and USB-C cables were provided to MacRumors free of charge for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and may earn a commission on purchases made through links in this article.
