The best dock for MacBook Pro in September 2023

The best dock for MacBook Pro is the perfect way to upgrade your digital workspace for a little more versatility. At heart, a dock for a MacBook Pro is a simple thing – it's a device with a selection of ports that you can plug into your MacBook, expanding the number of things you can connect your laptop to, enabling faster data transfers and a generally improved workflow.

While the MacBook Pro itself has its own ports, the number is limited, as is the transfer speed on some. You may find yourself wanting more room to juggle more things at once. With a good dock, you can plug in an external monitor to edit video, while also downloading data off a plugged-in hard drive using a fast-transfer port like a Thunderbolt 4 (TB 4), while also listening to headphones through a 3.5 audio jack, as well as charging up your phone, iPad and Kindle on their own spare ports. And more besides!

Most docks will offer USB-A and USB-C ports as standard, while the higher-grade ones will have the aforementioned super-fast Thunderbolt 3 or 4 ports, which are especially useful if you want to plug in one of the best 4K monitors, or transfer large video files on or off a hard drive.

We've put together a selection of the best docks for MacBook Pro available right now, with a range of options and at various price points. We've assessed them in terms of connectivity, performance and price, as well as checking out online reviews to ensure that they do the business. And when you've found your dock, you'll want to check out our list of the best MacBook Pro accessories to further kit out your powerful Apple laptop. 

Quick list

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The best dock for MacBook Pro overall

We've selected the Kensington SD5700T Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station as our best dock for a MacBook Pro. It's well-equipped with ports, including four Thunderbolt 4 ports, four fast USB-A ports (including one for charging), an SD card reading slot, a Gigabit Ethernet port and an audio jack, it's absolutely stacked with features and can turn your working space into a digital powerhouse. You also get a 180W power supply, allowing you to charge multiple devices at once. 

The Kensington SD5700T Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station comes with a three-year warranty, giving you some peace of mind – which is an especially nice thing to have considering this one of the more expensive docks on our list. We also particularly like the fact that if you don't want the dock on your desk, it's easy to mount it using the Vesa mounting holes. 

Sure, it's a pricey dock – and that price is going to stick a little more when you've just thrown down the cash for a MacBook Pro. But if it's within your budget, the Kensington SD5700T Thunderbolt 4 Docking Station really is the best dock for a MacBook Pro. 

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The best Thunderbolt 4 dock

We were delighted to see the arrival of the Corsair TBT200 Thunderbolt 4 Dock, replacing the TBT100 and its slightly ageing Thunderbolt 3 connection. This is an absolutely outstanding dock for any MacBook Pro user, putting a formidable array of ports at your disposal. Having four Thunderbolt 4 connectors is realistically going to take care of any and all data-transfer needs, and as our review tells you, the TBT200 is incredibly easy to set up. 

There is software bundled in should you need it, but if you want to just plug it straight in, whether it's Mac or PC, you'll be good to go. Indeed, our own Tech Reviews Editor got himself one of those to use with his frequently changing, and Windows-dominated, desk setup.

Elsewhere, you've got USB-A, USB-C, an SD card reader and a headphone jack. The one-piece aluminium construction of the TBT200 goes a long way to making it feel like a premium product, and keeps it relatively light – though be aware that the power supply that comes with a dock is an absolute lump of a thing. Other than that, the only real strike against the Corsair TBT200 is the cost. At around £289 / $319, it's one of the pricier docks, and as it's still relatively fresh on the market, we're not seeing big discounts yet. 

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The best USB-C dock

Fans of CalDigit's comprehensive TS3 dock, which you'll find further down this list, will be immensely pleased by the TS4, which is the best-specced dock a MacBook Pro owner can get right now (and comes at a price reflecting that fact). Its 18 ports give you all sorts of options, and allow you to charge multiple devices at once even when the laptop isn't connected. 

The Thunderbolt 4 connections ensure that all transfers are speedy and efficient, and being able to output to as many as two 6K 60Hz displays, or a single 1440p 240Hz display, gives you real flexibility when it comes to display options – check out our guide to the best monitors for MacBook Pro if you need some pointers on which to pick.

The CalDigit TS4 is an expensive dock, so if you don't need all of its many ports and options, a cheaper alternative may suit. Also, like many electronics in recent times, it has been hit by stock issues, and can be hard to get hold of. If you're after one, and you see it available, snap it up. 

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The best affordable dock

While it's not a visual match with your MacBook Pro, what with it being a stark black colour with the distinctive silver HP branding emblazoned across the top, this USB-C-laden dock has exactly what your Apple laptop needs: ports, lots of ports. 

With both HDMI and DisplayPort connections, it can connect up to two monitors to your MacBook Pro, for that valuable extra screen real estate if you're working on a demanding visual project, be it 3D modelling, graphic design or video editing. It has fast-charge ports to charge your phone while you work, links up fuss-free with a cable attached to the front, and its neat dimensions will tuck nicely in on even a compact desk (or underneath a laptop stand).

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The best mountable dock

Another dock from Kensington, this is a suitable dock for older MacBook Pros, as it sports a Thunderbolt 3 connection rather than the newer, faster Thunderbolt 4. The SD5200T Dual 4K docking station will still work with Thunderbolt 4 connections, as they're backwards compatible, you just won't get the extra speed. 

You may be wondering what exactly "Dual 4K" means – this refers to the fact that the dock allows for the attaching of two 4K monitors, both of which can be running at 60 Hz, via the Thunderbolt 3 port and DisplayPort. A mounting plate can be bought separately to mount it to the back of a VESA-compatible monitor.

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The best dock for MacBook Pro M1

Want ThunderBolt 4 but not convinced by the price of the Kensington dock at number one on our list? Then the Anker PowerExpand 5-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Mini Dock is a good option at a more economical price, although that does mean sacrificing some features.

What we perhaps love the most is that it has a premium, very compact design that takes up little room on a desk, and it offers 85W power delivery and support for a single 8K monitor or dual 4K. The downside is that there's only one USB-A port and no SD card reader or HDMI. Still, it's a worthwhile companion to give the M1 MacBook Pro the extra ports you need, high transfer speeds, charging and the ability to connect external monitors with just one port.

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The best compact and portable

For a highly portable dock for your MacBook Pro, Belkin has the perfect option in the form of the Thunderbolt 3 Dock Core. This dinky piece of kit delivers 40W of charging power and it doesn't skimp on connectivity despite its compact size. 

With its assorted ports you can attach up to two 4K monitors at 60Hz via DisplayPort and HDMI 2.0, and for other devices, there's a pair of USB-A ports and a Thunderbolt 3/USB-C port for fast data speeds. We're not so keen on the tethered Thunderbolt 3-cable – if that breaks then that's your dock ruined – but apart from that this is a great little dock.

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The best bus-powered dock

The CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock is a neat, compact MacBook Pro dock that's similar in appearance to the Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Dock Core mentioned earlier (even down to the tethered Thunderbolt 3 cable, which you'll really want to ensure doesn't get damaged).

This dock offers another lightweight and portable solution to get more ports out of your MacBook Pro, giving you a USB-3.0 and USB-2.0 port and Gigabit Ethernet as well as a pair of video ports – you can choose between HDMI and DisplayPort. It's bus-powered so it won't charge your MacBook Pro, but it's ideal for attaching a pair of 4K displays and gaining some extra connectivity while you're at it.

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The best for wireless charging

The reality of having one of the best docks for MacBook Pro will be that you end up using it to charge most of your portable devices. But why plug them in if you can charge them wirelessly? The Moshi Symbus Q has a Qi-EPP-certified wireless charging pad built into it, so if you want to keep your iPhone or AirPods Pro charged without running cables all over your desk, you can simply pop them on top of it. That keeps things a lot neater, and the Symbus Q will also charge your MacBook Pro at 40W. It features a pair of USB-A ports, Gigabit Ethernet and an HDMI port that supports 4K HDR too.

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The best for USB-A

The sleek Plugable Thunderbolt 3 Dock isn't quite as chock full of ports as some of the other docks on this list, but it still offers impressive connectivity with five standard USB 3.0 ports and a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports, which should allow you to connect pretty much everything you might want to. With a DisplayPort output thrown in for good measure, you'll be able to expand your desktop with a pair of 4K monitors (there's a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter included too), and it'll charge your MacBook Pro with a steady 60W of power.

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The best for MacBook Pro 16-inch

If you're the proud owner of a shiny new 16-inch MacBook Pro and want to plug literally everything into it, the monster CalDigit TS3 Plus is a great choice. The predecessor to the 18-port Caldigit TS4 featured further up the list, this dock comes with 15 ports in total, seven of which are USB, which means that you ought to be able to attach everything your design studio needs. Dual 4K monitors? A stack of USB hard drives? Graphics tablet? Digital audio devices? A load of files on an SD card? It'll take all of that with room to spare too, and it'll keep your MacBook Pro topped up with 87W of power in the process.

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FAQs

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