Anker Prime 14-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station review: Mac mini-like looks and power

Macworld

At a glanceExpert's Rating

Pros

14 top-end ports, including three Thunderbolt 5

2.5Gb Ethernet

140W Power Delivery

Stylish looks

Cons

Slow card readers

Our Verdict
This powerful and stylish dock is built for the new class of Thunderbolt 5 Macs is a recommended upgrade ready for the latest Macs or your next one.

Price When Reviewed
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Apple has always been fond of a square and stylish desktop designs, from the original Macintosh through the G4 Cube and all the way to the latest M4 Mac mini. Yet, accessories such as docking stations that are meant to sit next to these Macs are usually either tall and thin or long and slim.

The Anker Prime 14-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station looks rather like the latest Mac mini and Mac Studio. And like those two desktop Macs, it is built around the latest and fastest connection standard, Thunderbolt 5 (TB5).

Design

The Anker Prime 14-in-1 TB5 dock has the same aluminum finish as Apple’s Mac mini and Mac Studio, and mimics the port arrangements, too.

It measures 4.6 x 4.6 x 3.0 inches (11.6 x 11.6 x 7.5cm) and weighs 38oz (1.1kg). Those measurements are similar to the M4 Mac mini, which is 5 x 5 x 2 inches (12.7cm x 12.7cm x 5cm).




The Anker Prime TB5 Dock mirrors the M4 Mac mini’s shape and looks.Simon Jary / Foundry

It looks great and appreciatively different to the standard dock shapes.

While the M4 mini uses Thunderbolt 5, this compact dock is aimed more at the latest TB5-packing MacBooks, which lack as many ports and will link to the dock’s array via a single TB5 cable connection.




Simon Jary / Foundry

Ports and features

One upstream Thunderbolt 5 port (80Gbps, 140W)

Two downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports (80Gbps, 15W)

One HDMI 2.1 port

One DisplayPort 2.1 port

Three USB-A ports (10Gbps, 1x 7.5W, 2x 4.5W)

Two USB-C ports (10Gbps, share 45W)

Ethernet (2.5Gb)

SD card reader (UHS-I, 104MBps)

microSD card reader (UHS-I, 104MBps)

3.5mm combo audio jack (front)

232W power supply




Simon Jary / Foundry

Thunderbolt 5 future proofing

That’s a decent set of ports, and the inclusion of Thunderbolt 5 brings it right up to date with the newest Macs. At the time of writing, the M4 Pro and Max models of MacBook Pro and Mac mini, plus the Mac Studio, pack TB5, with other Macs remaining on TB4 for now.

Thunderbolt 5 is backwards compatible all the way back to USB-C via Thunderbolt 3 and 4, so this dock will work with all modern Macs. Buying a TB5 dock now will future-proof you for your next Mac purchase as we shouldn’t expect Thunderbolt 6 for at least four years: 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 came out in 2015, and TB4 at the same speed five years later, so it has taken ten years for Thunderbolt to make a dramatic shift in performance.

Non-TB5 Macs will have data-transfer speeds limited to TB3/TB4’s 40Gbps, but TB5 Macs can take advantage of the full 80Gbps (with 120Gbps Bandwidth Boost for enhanced video performance).

Anker could have included three downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports but has chosen to offer a choice of dedicated video ports, either top-end HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 2.1. These are helpful if your monitors require one of these connections rather than a direct USB-C or Thunderbolt monitor connection.

If Anker had gone full TB5—as Sonnet did with its Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 Dock—such users would have had to buy a separate adapter (say, USB-C to HDMI cable), although these aren’t expensive.

Dropping the potential third downstream TB5 port for dedicated video ports is convenient for some users—those with HDMI or DisplayPort monitors—but less flexible for those with USB-C or Thunderbolt monitors.

The upstream Thunderbolt port is handily placed at the back of the dock, which we prefer to those dock manufacturers who put it at the front, which can lead to ugly trailing cables.

It is rated at Power Delivery 3.1, so can output 140W, which is enough to fast-charge the top-end 16-inch MacBook Pro. Previously, to reach this charging speed Apple insisted you use its $49 USB-C to MagSafe 3 Cable. With Thunderbolt 5, you can connect via a TB cable too and still fast charge the laptop.




Simon Jary / Foundry

USB ports

The two downstream TB5 ports will work with USB-C if you don’t need them for faster Thunderbolt. On top of this there are two standard USB-C ports—situated on the front panel—that offer speedy 10Gbps data transfer rates and share 45W of charging power—so you could power a smaller laptop from one of these ports or two iPhones.

There are also three legacy USB-A ports, also fast at 10Gbps. Charging potential is limited, with one at the front capable of pushing out 7.5W, which is enough to fast-charge an Apple Watch, and the other two at the back are pegged at 4.5W each—so fine for a memory stick, keyboard or mouse.

Display support

You can connect to one or two monitors via either of the dedicated video ports (DisplayPort and/or HDMI) or via the downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports, or any mix of the options.

A MacBook with a Pro or Max M-series processor can run two 6K displays at 60Hz using the two TB5 ports or one TB5 and the DisplayPort. If using one TB5 and the HDMI port, the display running from HDMI would be restricted to 4K at 60Hz.

Single displays are 6K/60Hz for TB5 and DP, and 4K/60Hz for HDMI. Using the TB5 connection M4 Macs can support a 4K display at a higher 240Hz refresh rate; earlier M-series Macs 4K at 144Hz. With two displays, using TB5 or TB5 and DP, both monitors could be 4K at 144Hz.

Supported Windows computers offer superior graphics potential, with the opportunity to run dual 8K displays at 60Hz even via the HDMI.




Simon Jary / Foundry

Storage slots

The dock features both SD and microSD card readers, which allow you to add inexpensive portable storage that will be accessible from the connected Mac.

Prices of SD and microSD storage cards are volatile but at the time of writing you could pick up a 128GB microSD card for around $10, 256GB for $20 and 512GB for $35.

Stack that up against the $200 that Apple will charge you to upgrade a MacBook Pro from 512GB to 1TB at the point of purchase. And the card, of course, is portable.

That more expensive integrated SSD inside a Mac will be much faster, but for archive data, a storage card is a bargain.

Modern MacBook Pro models do already include a built-in SD card reader, and one that’s faster than the readers on the Anker dock. The Apple card reader supports up to 250MBps for a UHS-II card and 90MBps for a UHS-I card. The Anker card reader is only UHS-I rated with a speed limit of 104MBps. As such, MacBook Pro users might be better served with the card reader on their laptop. MacBook Air users, on the other hand, will gain much from the slots on the dock.

Other docks include faster UHS-II card readers that support speeds of 312MBps, so Anker has cut a corner here in comparison. That said, the card readers work well for users who just want to add inexpensive storage to their setup.

Wired networks

Like the best new Thunderbolt docks, the Anker Prime 14-in-1 TB5 Dock includes a more modern wired network standard. The Ethernet port at the back supports networks at up to 2.5Gb, so theoretically 2.5 times as fast as the more usual Gigabit (1Gb) Ethernet.

This is great if your network supports such speeds—your network must be at least 2,5Gb to take advantage—and is useful future-proofing for when it does. In the meantime, it is backwards compatible with Gigabit Ethernet.

You would need to use a Cat5e/ Cat6/Cat6a Ethernet cable that’s no longer than 3.3 ft (1m).




Simon Jary / Foundry

Price

The Anker Prime 14-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station is priced at $399.99, £399.99 or €419.

There aren’t a lot of Thunderbolt 5 docks to compare that price with. The Sonnet Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 SSD Dock costs the same but includes a built-in 2TB SSD, with 1Tb and 4TB options.

The Sonnet dock has an extra TB5 port but no DisplayPort or HDMI port. Whether that suits you better depends on the external display or displays that you want to connect. The other dock also boasts faster card readers but has less overall power (180W) available than the Anker 232W dock.

We have also reviewed the $249.99 CalDigit Thunderbolt 5 Element 5 Hub, which lacks the card readers, Ethernet and video ports but offers plenty of Thunderbolt 5 and USB ports: four TB5 and five USB.

We have tested the best Thunderbolt docking stations and best Thunderbolt and USB-C hubs for a wider choice.

Should you buy the Anker Prime 14-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Dock

The Anker Prime 14-in-1 TB5 Docking Station is a powerful dock that’s built for the new class of Thunderbolt 5 Macs (and Windows PCs) and will add Apple-like grace and style to your desk space. It has a wide range of well-placed fast ports. Backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 4 Macs and older networks, it is a recommended upgrade ready for the latest Macs or your next one.