Czeching out the i-tec Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station

If you’re going to buy a shiny new MacBook Pro you really should have the right supporting kit to go with it. After all, you wouldn’t buy a Ferrari and then never take it out of first gear, would you? Fast toys need to be paired with fast supporting tools! (NB - I would never recommend that anyone buys a Ferrari if they need an estate car, and the same mantra applies for computer peripherals; get the right tool for the job!)

Initially, I had my refurbished 2017 MBP linked up to an old Thunderbolt 1 Belkin Hub. A few weeks later I swapped out the Belkin for my OWC Thunderbolt 2 docking station which was a significant improvement. Since then I’ve been looking lustily at TB 3 docks, but they don’t come cheap.

The top contenders I was checking out were the CalDigit TS3, StarTech TB3, OWC 12 or 14 port docks, Elgato TB3 and the latest Belkin 3 dock. I had some quite specific criteria in mind:

• SD Card slot ⁽¹⁾
• HDMI slot ⁽²⁾
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 3+ USB-A ports
• 2+ TB3 ports
• Less than £250 pounds

⁽¹⁾ I have SD card reader dongles but I wanted this feature built into the dock
⁽²⁾ I only need two screens and the laptop is one of them. 4K and 5K video options are not important to me at present

This whittled out the Belkin and Elgato (no SD slot and too expensive), the CalDigit (DisplayPort rather than HDMI and too expensive), the StarTech (no SD slot or HDMI) and left the OWC docks neither of which met the price point I was looking for. I was resigned to staying with the current OWC TB2 dock and waiting for the prices to drop when I came across a new contender, the i-tec TB3HDMIDOCK.

i-tec is a Czech based company with a range of docking stations and adapters in their catalogue. I bought their USB 3.0 Dual docking station a few years ago when I needed to switch between my MBA and a Windows laptop that I’d been supplied with from a contract I was working on. This was well built and completely reliable and was great value for money compared to the competition.

In fact, i-tec had two TB3 docks listed the TB3HDMIDOCK and the TB3HDMIDOCKPLUS. The only difference was the PLUS model supports 85W charging compared to 60W charging for the standard model. And the PLUS model on Amazon UK was £25 more expensive. In the end, I found the standard version of the dock for less than £200 including delivery from a company called tekshop247. I put the order in on Thursday evening and it arrived by post on Saturday morning!

It took all of 30 minutes to unbox and install the new dock and most of that was clambering around under my desk to swap over the power bricks for the i-tec and OWC docks. Swapping over the attached devices was almost as easy. Ethernet, HDMI, 4TB USB-A hard disk and USB-A hub were straight swaps. My Lacie USB-C 5TB drive is now attached to the dock whereas it used to be connected directly to the MBP. A 1TB Buffalo Thunderbolt disk which I use as an additional Time Machine disk is now connected via the Apple TB2/TB3 adaptor to the MBP.

The rear side view of the i-tec Thunderbolt 3 dock

Strictly speaking, since the MacBook Pro is generally plugged into the mains these days I could use the dock to power the laptop directly, but I’m still using the original power supply with the First2savvv magnetic connector I mentioned previously.

Finally my Harmon-Kardon Soundstick II wired speakers plug into the front 3.5mm headphone jack on the front of the dock. This is the only thing I don’t like. I’d prefer the socket to be at the side or at the back rather than in the front. I can see why it’s positioned where it is for headphone users but it’s an aesthetic anomaly for me. This just leaves two spare front-facing USB-A slots and the SD card slot which was so important for me.

There is no software installation required, and even the ethernet connection worked first time without me having to cajole it into operation as I usually do. I did learn the valuable lesson that in order for externally powered peripherals to work properly, they have to be connected to the mains. I did forget that last step, which explained why the two front LEDs didn’t glow as I expected once all the bits were plugged in. The left hand LED glows green when power is supplied, and the right-hand side glows blue when Thunderbolt devices are connected.

The front view of the dock in situ (yes the monitor stand needs a dusting!)

The overall footprint of the i-tec dock is really quite small, measuring 229mm across, 87mm deep and 27mm tall. It can only be used in a horizontal orientation. I have mine raised off the desktop with a couple of wooden blocks which allows air to circulate and keeps the unit running relatively cool - it isn’t at all uncomfortable to put my hand firmly on the top even though it has been running 24x7 for the last four days!

Apple Harvest HQ 2019

Ironically, of all the docks I've looked at (and this also goes for dongles), all the manufacturers are backwards-looking and supplying USB-A slots rather than USB-C. In some respects, I would have prefered to have a dock with five or more TB3/USB-C slots and bought another bunch of adapters to deal with legacy USB-A devices. No doubt this will change in time, and at least this dock can support up to 5 daisy-chained TB3/USB-C devices.

In hindsight, perhaps I should have paid the extra £20 and bought the higher-rated charging version, but to be honest I'm not really bothered (and I never thought to look on the tekshop247 website!). At home, the laptop spends so little time on the battery that the charging is not an issue, and whilst the dock is quite small, the same cannot be said about the power brick, so it's probably not going to be going far in the future! The other point is that although I'm not bothered about 4K or 5K video at present, this dock does support both so it's relatively future proof should my needs change.

This is a really compact little dock that offers great value for money. The build quality is as good as that on the old OWC. If you're in the market for a budget TB3 dock, look no further.



UPDATE 2022-02-01: I now have both the 60 and 85W models - the higher powered one in Prague with me and the older one is back in the UK. Both continue to perform brilliantly!

Bulk Out Your MacBook Air Storage Without Adding Bulk

The biggest problem with the MacBook Air is the fact that you have to make a commitment to your selected configuration the moment that you order it. Once you've chosen your memory and storage allocations at the time of purchase you are lumbered with them. Especially memory - so the best advice is to max out the memory up front. Although you can't increase the on-board SSD storage you do at least have some other options.

The easiest and most flexible way to add storage to a MacBook Air is plug in an external hard drive. USB 2, USB 3 and Thunderbolt drives are now available in all sorts of sizes and colours, not to mention weights, depending on whether you want portable or desktop models.

There is also an increasing number of wireless drives now hitting the market - generally in much smaller capacities than wired drives, but at least there's one less cable to have to think about.

USB flashdrives and SD cards provide yet another option, again generally in relatively low capacities, but these have the downside of sticking out of the laptop and taking up valuable ports.

Over the years I've tried just about everything. Different options for different scenarios, but I've long wanted a simple, cost effective and permanent solution to increase the maximum 256GB SSD drive space on my 13" 2011 MBA. And now I've found one!

The PNY 128GB StorEDGE Expansion Module (a 64GB version also exists) is specially designed for any MacBook that sports an SD slot. It is a bit smaller than a normal SD card and has a black plastic thumbnail grip to help push and pull it in and out of the machine. Once it is in the slot all that you can see is this 2-3mm edge, so the card is, to all intent and purpose, flush with the laptop. So it can stay there - pretty much permanently - without getting in the way of anything.

StorEDGE 128GB MacBook Expansion Card

Performance is not going to be as fast as other storage media, but I copied a 30Gb iTunes library from the MBA onto the StorEDGE in under 20 minutes. But if it's performance you're after you're missing the point - this is designed as a write rarely, read frequently device. It's ideal for iTunes, iPhotos, and other media files, work archives, and the like.

I couldn't find a UK supplier sadly. It's available from the US Amazon store but they won't ship to the UK. I got mine through eBay - where it cost $149 with $22 P&P. There was an additional $40 to cover import duty, so the total cost was about £130. Having placed the order on Sunday, it arrived 9 days later, much earlier than anticipated.

[UPDATE: I've since found a UK supplier, SCAN, who have the StorEDGE 128GB in stock. They charge £95.50 including next day delivery]

It is quite a lot of money to splash out - if you or someone you know is going to the US it would be worth getting one out there. However, this is a great solution for extending a MacBook without extra wires or another box to put in your laptop bag. And bear in mind that the price difference between a 13" MBA with 128GB of storage and one with 256GB of storage is £180.

Finally, please note that this is a dedicated expansion card, designed for MacBooks and it won't fit in your camera. Do not confuse this with cheaper and lower capacity SD cards which are also available from PNY and many other manufacturers.