There are only a few Thunderbolt 5 docks available on the market, and now Anker is joining the party with its first Anker Prime TB5 Docking Station. It can turn a compatible PC into a fully-equipped desk workstation with one cable, complete with multiple monitors and fast charging.
We’ve seen Intel’s Thunderbolt 5 connectivity standard slowly creep into desktops, laptops, and tablets over the past year, including the M4 MacBook Pro, 2024 Razer Blade 18, and M4 Mac Mini. It supports bidirectional bandwidth at up to 80 Gbps, one-way traffic of 120 Gbps, fast charging at up to 240W, video output up to 8K resolution or 480 Hz, and daisy-chaining up to five devices. You can plug in one cable and get ultra high-speed drive access, multiple high-DPI monitors, and much more—all using the same Type-C port as Thunderbolt 3, 4, and USB4.
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There still aren’t many PCs available with Thunderbolt 5, and all of them are backwards-compatible with less-expensive Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 devices, so the market for TB5 accessories is still limited. Anker’s new Prime TB5 Docking Station looks like a great option, though.
The Anker Prime TB5
Like most other Thunderbolt and USB docking stations, this dock is intended to turn a laptop into a full desk PC setup through one cable. It has two downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports, two 10Gbps USB Type-C connections, three 10Gbps USB Type-A ports, SD and TF card readers, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, an audio jack, HDMI 2.1, and DisplayPort 2.1. You could connect more Thunderbolt devices on those downstream ports, or you just use them as regular USB Type-C ports.
Anker says the dock can handle “one HDMI or DisplayPort and two Thunderbolt 5 downstream video outputs,” maxing out at 8K 60Hz for one display, or dual 8K 60Hz screens with Windows laptops. The exact combination of displays and resolutions depends on the computer’s software and hardware support—for example, Mac computers with base M1, M2, and M3 chips are limited to one external screen.
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Anker is perhaps best known for its wall chargers and portable batteries, so it’s no surprise that charging is a priority for the Prime dock. The two front-facing USB Type-C ports have a total output of 45W, while the upstream port can charge the connected computer at up to 140W. Anker says that’s fast enough to charge a 16-inch MacBook Pro to 50% in 26 minutes and fully charge the computer in about an hour and a half. Some high-end laptops require more than 140W of power, especially gaming laptops, but you can just plug in a separate power connection in those cases.
The Anker Prime TB5 is a bit bulkier than some of the other Thunderbolt 5 docks we’ve seen, like the CalDigit Element 5 Hub and UGREEN Revodok Max 2131. It does have the advantage of a built-in power supply, though, so you won’t have an additional power brick hanging somewhere behind your desk.
Pricing & Availability
You can buy the docking station on Amazon for $399.99, or you can get it from Anker’s online store for the same price. There’s one 3.3 ft Thunderbolt 5 cable included in the box for the upstream connection to the computer.
Via: The Verge
