Sonnet: Thunderbolt 5 dock with integrated NVMe SSD
Computers with Thunderbolt 5 are gradually coming onto the market – such as Apple's Mac mini M4 Pro or MacBook Pro M4.
Sonnet Dock with TB5: Fast and with SSD slot.
(Image: Sonnet / Montage: Mac & i)
Thanks to Thunderbolt 5, USB-C interfaces are getting a whole lot faster. Following the first docks and hubs for the technology from several providers, Apple accessory specialist Sonnet has now announced the first combination variant that combines various additional ports with an integrated PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. It is said to be the first product of its kind in the world.
SSD directly integrated, no installation possible
The Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 SSD Dock is set to go on sale in mid-March and will be delivered with an integrated M.2 Kingston SSD. Unfortunately, there is no version where you can buy and install the SSD yourself (potentially cheaper), even though Sonnet has offered such systems with Thunderbolt 4 in the past. Versions with 1 TByte, 2 TByte and 4 TByte are sold – An 8 TByte version is currently not planned. The prices are 586, 730 and 979 euros.
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Sonnet states that the maximum throughput rate is up to 6100 MByte per second (read). The write speed is up to 4000 MByte per second. The memory is therefore "ideal for professional applications and time-machine backups". How warm the construction gets, which always leads to throttling with SSDs, remains unclear. A Thunderbolt 5 cable is included.
Which ports the dock comes with
The TB5 dock comes with a whole range of other connections. There are three TB5 ports for peripherals alone, but they only provide 15 watts (two) or 60 watts (one). SD and micro SD cards can be read and written via UHS-III. There is a headphone socket, a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet socket and four USB-A ports, two of which are USB 3.2 Gen 2 (with charging option) and one USB 3.2 Gen 1. Two Kensington security slots secure the hub.
The system is supplied with an external power supply unit. It should be possible to connect up to two 8K screens, two 6K screens or three 4K screens. However, 8K does not appear to work on a Mac. The dock is also compatible with Windows, Chromebooks and the iPad Pro (M-SoC and higher). In addition to Thunderbolt 5 systems, Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 computers can also be used, naturally with less speed. Even Intel MacBook Pro machines with Thunderbolt 3 can control up to two screens.
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