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This guide to the top MacBook docking stations for your Apple laptop will help you find the desktop peripheral setup that's right for you. (For a higher-level overview of docking-station options, check out our guide to how to pick a laptop docking station. If you don't want to rely on a whole host of USB-C adapters or dongles back at your desk, a docking station can be your best solution short of buying a desktop Mac. At certain times, you want to work on a single laptop screen in the living room, and at others, you buckle down at a desk with a more elaborate multi-screen setup and desktop peripherals. And in these fraught days, with most business travel reduced to wearing a path in the carpet between your home office and the kitchen, flexibility matters. For the 'Mid-2012' and subsequent pre-Retina MacBook Air models - which have USB 3.0 ports - Apple offered an optional Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter for. For the 'Late 2010' models and 'Mid-2011' models, Apple again provided it as a US29 option. But many offices around the globe still rely on legacy ports such as HDMI and USB 3.0, not to mention SD card readers and Ethernet for wired connections. For the 'Mid-2009' models, Apple provided the external Ethernet adapter free of charge. Thunderbolt and wireless connectivity are perfectly serviceable for most mobile professionals while they're out and about. You can use either Thunderbolt or USB cables with Thunderbolt devices. If you use the wrong cable, the device won’t work even though the cable’s connectors fit your device and your Mac. Check out our primers on Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 to learn what makes Thunderbolt different from USB-C. Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C), Thunderbolt / USB 4, and Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C): Use only USB cables with USB devices. Like Henry Ford's Model T, which gave you a choice of colors (so long as you chose black), modern MacBooks give you your choice of ports, so long as they are Thunderbolt ports.Īpple uses Thunderbolt 3 on laptops with Intel processors, and Thunderbolt 4 on laptops with Apple's own M1 processor.
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Our best monitors for Mac mini and best mice guides might come in handy if not. Mac mini vs MacBook Air: software/ compatibility.