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Plugable is adding a few new products to its lineup of docking stations and hubs, including the TBT4-UDZ, its first full-fledged Thunderbolt 4 docking station. This is a successor to the TBT3-UDZ, a fairly popular Thunderbolt 3 dock, but with some big upgrades, including support for more displays. There’s also a new USB-C hub in the company’s lineup, as well as a couple of new cables.
Plugable Thunderbolt 4 docking station (TBT4-UDZ)
The highlight of the announcements is the new TBT4-UDZ Thunderbolt 4 docking station, which features a whopping 16 ports. at first, that might seem like a small upgrade from its predecessor, but there’s a bit more to it. One of the biggest upgrades is that this new model supports up to four 4K displays at the same time, even though it has the same number of ports. The previous model had four ports, but they were paired up so that only two of them could be used at the same time. Now, all of them can be connected to a 4K display.
Continuing on the back, there are still five USB ports, but one of them is now USB-C and supports power delivery, so you can charge a phone or other device. Additionally, the USB-C port plus two of the USB Type-A ports now support 10Gbps speeds, while the other two maintain the same 5Gbps as before. The Ethernet port has been upgraded, too, with support for 2.5Gbps speeds instead of only 1Gbps.
On the front, Plugable has added a USB 2.0 port for charging, freeing up the USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) port for data so you can plug in faster storage devices. The host connection has also been moved to the front, and there’s now a power button on the dock, allowing you to turn it off more easily when you’re not using it. And yes, just like before, the host connection supports 100W of power delivery to charge your laptop.
The Plugable TBT4-UDZ Thunderbolt 4 docking station is available for pre-order at Amazon for $299, and it will begin shipping on January 17th.
Plugable 11-in-1 USB-C hub (USBC-11N1E)
If you don’t need all of that, there’s also a new USB-C hub from Plugable, which still has plenty of capabilities. There is a total of 11 ports on the hub, including microSD and full-size SD card readers on the front, along with a USB Type-C port and a headphone jack. On the back, there are three USB Type-A ports, two HDMI ports, gigabit Ethernet, and a USB-C charging port that supports up to 100W passthrough charging.
The hub features a slim and sleek design, and it has a built-in cable for the host connection. The Plugable 11-in-1 USB-C Hub is available now for $79 at Amazon, though you can use a coupon to save $5 off of it.
240W USB-C and Thunderbolt cable
Rounding out the announcements, Plugable is also introducing a couple of new cables supporting 240W charging speeds, part of the latest version of the USB Power Delivery specification. There are two versions of this cable, one featuring Thunderbolt 4 certification, and one without it. The non-Thunderbolt model still supports USB 4 40Gbps, so as far as performance goes, it should be about the same as the Thunderbolt 4 model.
Both models are available for pre-order now, with the Thunderbolt 4 variant costing $29.95, while the USB4 model costs $25.95. Shipping will begin on January 11th.
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