Which dock for a MacBook Pro with M4 Pro - Cannot use HP USB-C Dock G5

nickbouwhuis wrote:

Has Apple not implemented DP-AltMode for some reason?

Apple has implemented DisplayPort Alt Mode. That is what most

• Displays with USB-C video inputs
• USB-C to (DisplayPort, Mini DisplayPort, HDMI, single-link DVI, dual-link DVI, VGA) adapters
• Plain USB-C hubs and docks

use. All Mac host ports that support Thunderbolt Alt Mode also support DisplayPort Alt Mode, and there are a few old Macs (12" Retina MacBooks) whose USB-C ports support DisplayPort Alt Mode, but not Thunderbolt Alt Mode.

What Apple does not support is using DisplayPort MST daisy-chaining, or its equivalent, with USB-C (DisplayPort Alt Mode). As Mr. Bennet-Alder explained, if you are going to connect two displays to one Mac host port, the Mac wants the immediately-connected device to be a Thunderbolt one (typically a Thunderbolt hub or dock).

Looks like both versions of that dock have Windows only drivers/software , also it doesn’t have a DisplayLink

chip in it… you’d need a windows PC to update the firmware for it… the latest firmware for it is 1.0.22.0 Rev 1 , anyways you’d need a Windows PC to do that. Luckily there are loads of other makers of USB-C ( Thunderbolt 3 ) powered docks … go to macsales to see some of them. mac sales ( owc) is a trusted vendor of Mac stuff… CalDigit is another name, i’m sure there are others that are more “Mac friendly”/mac compatible/plays nice with Mac and PC out there

good luck

John B

Ahh. Thanks, nickbouwhuis, didn’t know you were from the Netherlands, that would have been helpful and nice to know beforehand—oh well, disregard half of what I said about OWC ( macsales.com) .., if you were to order and buy/ship from macsales, it’d cost you a whole lot… item(s) + shipping+ taxes+ customs fees from USA to the Netherlands, what you want is a trusted/reputable general Mac-specialist /dealer/vendor in The Netherlands, like Macsales.com but based in Europe/The Netherlands.. plugable is one brand name/maker…suggested retail is € 240… supports Windows and Macs with Thunderbolt3 ( M1 and Intel) , 14 ports , 2 year warranty… CalDigit TS3 is $459 USD ,sonnet Echo 2 the same… if you want just USB-C , no thunderbolt, newegg says “wav link WS-UG69PD6-A” for $136 $US… iogear is sorta affordable?? $170 USD… StarTech is around $200 USD… Targus is affordable… these are all brand names, but all

of them have a store/representative in Europe, and thus The Netherlands… all prices there would be in Euros… there’s Belkin… belkin connect is around $140 US… usb-c only, if you want the full power of Thunderbolt 3 + USB-C it’ll cost you more, period, if just USB-C , no Thunderbolt 3, it’ll be cheaper, of course…

well, I tried, i did my best… now it’s time for coffee, cigar and a rest…

John B

the windows standard for displays is you hook up whatever you want, and if it works good enough for you, then great.

The Apple standard for its built-in hardware-accelerated displays, makes them suitable for full-motion video for production/display of cinema-quality video with NO dropped frames, and NO dropouts or partial-blank scan lines due to memory under-runs or other issues. This requires a hardware rasterizer/display-generator for each fully-accelerated display, supported by Huge memory bandwidth to refresh each display 60 or more times a second. 

Because USB-3 does not have enough bandwidth to support two 4K displays, Apple has decided it will NOT be supporting Multiple displays over USB using Multi Stream Transport (MST).

To support two displays on one cable on a Mac, the port, the cable, and the first device (Dock or Display) must all be genuine ThunderBoot. USB-3 has only half the data pathways, and that is just not good enough.

Yes, good points, Grant Bennett-Alder and Servant of Cats… just USB-C only ( no ThundrrBolt3) won’t do for Macs usually… the dock has to be USB-C And Thunderbolt 3 as well, unless it states clearly and specifically that it supports USB-C only video output modes on a Mac … otherwise it won’t work…. I have given you a number if brands/makers already, nicbouwhuis… if you want a dock that supports USC and Thunderbolt 3 and you day “Oh $435 is way to expensive , i’m not paying that retail price, then check the refurbished/open-box sections or stores, or eBay/local selling groups.. ( FB marketplace??) you may get lucky… just do a search for USB-C + Thunderbolt 3 powereed docks Msc compatible… Amazon Resale NL, okamac.com … i found one for You… amac NL.. go there..Belkin Thunderbolt 4 dock 279 €… anyways you’re in the Netherlands and i’m in Canada and i’ve kinda done what i can here, so unless you’re willing to hire me to find you the best one at the best price in the Netherlands ( which you aren’t) , then that’s it, good luck and happy hunting

John B

if two HDMi ports is your main requirement, and low cost in important, see if you can find this specific Mac-oriented ThunderBolt Dock from a Reseller in your region:

https:/https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/docks/owc-thunderbolt-3-mini-dock

This dock is bus powered and somewhat limited, but it is priced accordingly.

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:

if two HDMi ports is your main requirement, and low cost in important, see if you can find this specific Mac-oriented ThunderBolt Dock from a Reseller in your region:

https:/https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/docks/owc-thunderbolt-3-mini-dock

This dock is bus powered and somewhat limited, but it is priced accordingly.

If the displays can take DisplayPort input, there's this:

Other World Computing – OWC Thunderbolt Dual DisplayPort Adapter

a great find!

Priced (in the US) at about US$40.