If you’re one of the many power-users raging against Apple’s choice to solely equip its latest MacBook Pro laptops with USB-C ports, you’ll appreciate the latest efforts from Henge Docks. At the CES electronics show in Las Vegas, the company announced three new docks to add back sorely missed ports. It also doesn't hurt that they're the most beautiful docking stations that I've ever seen.
New Kid on the Block
The newest addition is the tethered dock (starting at $199), which is scheduled to ship in March. With three USB 3.0 ports, two mini-DisplayPorts, SD card reader, ethernet and a USB Type-C/Thunderbolt 3 port, you’ll have plenty of room for peripherals the 13 and 15-inch Pros are missing. The block was small but seemed sturdy, and I was told that the final model will be made of an even stronger zinc alloy. It looks like it was made for a Mac, including its sloped design and space gray color scheme. It even had the same slight indent around the bottom of the casing that a Mac has.
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Revisions to Old Products
The $150 vertical docking station and horizontal docking station (starting at $499) are upgrades to Henge Docks’ previous products and will launch in the spring with USB Type-C and Thunderbolt 3 options in sizes for the new MacBook Pro; the vertical option is great for hooking a closed laptop up to monitors and makes your Mac look like a small desktop tower with pass through ports, while the latter has a whopping 13 expansion ports including MiniDisplay Port, an SD card slot, lock slot Ethernet and USB 3.0. It can support up to four monitors, but what impressed me the most was that with optional software, you can physically lock the laptop to the dock so that no one can take it off of your desk.
Henge Docks also announced that it has become a part of Apple’s Apple’s Authorized Business Solution Provider program, meaning that customers can buy MacBooks and other peripherals in bundled with the docks.
