A new Satechi stand could help turn your iPad Pro into a mini-iMac, adding not only desk convenience but also a whole host of new ports in the process. The Satechi Aluminum Stand & Hub for the new iPad Pro gives the Apple M1-powered tablet easy connections like HDMI and an SD card reader, for those wanting to switch their desktop over to iPadOS.
Some Mac accessories are stylish and some are practical, but the Linedock 16" aims to satisfy on both counts as it adds power, ports, and storage to your MacBook Pro 16-inch. A Mac-matching slice of aluminum, it slots under your laptop but then tackles some of the biggest complaints users of Apple's portable flagship, including adding not one but two full-sized SD card readers.
Chromebooks have been recorded to have had a growth spurt since last year, perhaps brought about by work from home and remote schooling arrangements. Of course, using laptops at home isn't new for Windows and Mac users but Chrome OS is relatively still new to this use case. That use case often involves tethering the notebook down with external displays and peripherals, something that a new generation of docking stations that Work with Chromebooks will be attempting to address.
Some may consider the iPad to be the true forebear of modern tablets but, when it launched, it was pretty much a gigantic iPhone. That was true not just in the software experience but in how the tablet was meant to be used, that is in portrait orientation. Many tablets today, especially the larger ones like the iPad Pros, are designed around a horizontal or landscape position, and, once upon a time, the first-ever iPad almost had a feature that would have inclined it in that direction as well.
The iPad is a computer, at least up until you start to want treating it like one and plug in accessories and peripherals. Then, Apple's tablet starts to feel a lot like, well, a tablet. At $380, Kensington's StudioDock aims to make bridging the two worlds - and going all-iPad on your desktop - easier, a docking station with the ports familiar from an iMac, but a form-factor designed with mobile devices in mind.
More than just the availability of USB-C and Thunderbolt 3, Apple's decision to ditch all other ports on its MacBooks caused a surge in external docks designed to replace those ports through a single cable. More often than not, these docs are designed to either blend with laptops or disappear into the background or under the desk. Razer's first external dock, however, is the exact opposite and the Thunderbolt 4 Dock Chroma's signature RGB glow is meant to call attention to its presence instead.
CES 2021 officially kicks off today, and Other World Computing - otherwise known as OWC - has started things off by revealing an entire slate of new accessories. The company revealed four new accessories in all today: the USB-C Travel Dock E, the U2 shuttle that can house up to four NVMe M.2 SSDs, the OWC Thunderbolt Dock, and the Envoy Pro FX external SSD. All of the products OWC announced today will either be available this month or within the first quarter of 2021.
Anker revealed a wireless charging dock for the VR headset Oculus Quest 2 that, if you ask us, should have come standard. The dock looks like it was made for the device. The dock allows the user's VR headset charging situation to be an ever-so-slightly simpler affair.
It almost feels like forever, especially after everything that has happened to our world, but it wasn't too long ago that the likes of Microsoft, Samsung, and even Huawei envision smartphones providing desktop-like experiences. Parts of that vision still exist, though with less fanfare, but it is a vision that is pretty much shackled to desktops and immobile setups. Of all those early believers of that vision, NexDock remains as one of the extremely few still making accessories for that vision and it has just announced its latest "lapdock" that tries to keep that dream alive.
Microsoft has two new docking stations to announce today, the Surface Dock 2 and the USB-C Travel Hub, and it's hoping they'll be enough to distract you from the new Surface Book 3's missing port. Tapping into the growing number of people wanting access to desktop peripherals but without having to plug in and unplug their laptop each and every time, the two hubs are also joined by a pair of desktop keyboard and mouse sets.
Microsoft's Surface line of laptops and tablets are sleek-looking but, as MacBook Pro fans have recently learned, there is sometimes a price to pay for that kind of design. Ports, in particular, are in short supply which is why Microsoft is selling its own Surface Dock to compensate. Sadly, that accessory has come up short for many users but, fortunately, a second-generation Dock may finally have most that what users have been asking for.
Almost two years ago, computing accessory maker launched a rather interesting dock for the Surface Pro. Instead of a normal dock or even a dongle, the SD7000 turned the 2-in-1 tablet into a makeshift Surface Studio. After almost two years in the market, the smaller Surface Go is now also getting its own Kensington docking station but if you were expecting something like a mini Surface Studio Mini, you're unfortunately in for a very expensive disappointment.