LaCie, the Seagate-owned company best known for its rugged external drives, has developed a Thunderbolt 3-enabled dock. The just-announced product, which debuts at this year’s NAB Show in Las Vegas, is officially titled the 2big Dock Thunderbolt 3, and it looks to be the most compelling Thunderbolt 3 dock thus far.
The 2big dock, which is designed by famed designer Neil Poulton, features an aluminum unibody for reduced noise and vibration. The design language of LaCie’s newest product addition is similar to that of previous LaCie products, allowing the dock to fit right in.
Unlike some of the Thunderbolt 3-enabled docks that we’ve seen thus far, LaCie has created a dock with two bays for holding external drives (up to 20 TB) in a RAID configuration capable of up to 440MB/s.
But the goodies don’t stop there. You’ll find handy items like full-sized SD Card and Compact Flash card readers on the front of the dock for easy access. Considering that the 2016 MacBook Pro lacks any sort of card reader, I imagine such a feature will be quite popular among creatives.
Also included on the front of the device is a full-sized USB 3.1 (Type-A) port. This port acts as a hub to allow you to quickly connect devices like USB flash drives and digital cameras to your MacBook Pro.
On the rear of the 2big dock, you’ll find not one, but two Thunderbolt 3 ports, which will allow for daisy chaining up to 5 additional LaCie 2big drives or other storage devices.
And then there’s DisplayPort connectivity for quickly connecting to an external display at up to 4K resolution, and a USB 3.1 port for compatibility with non-Thunderbolt 3 USB-C enabled computers. LaCie even includes an adapter cable to connect to USB 3.0 machines without the new Type-C connector.
Notice the quiet Noctua fan inside
Last, but certainly not least on the list of items, is USB Power Delivery. It’s unclear how much wattage the unit is capable of delivering to a compatible laptop, but here’s hoping that it will at least provide enough to charge the 13-inch MacBook Pro at full (60W) speed.
LaCie’s new 2big Dock will be available this summer in 12TB, 16TB or 20TB configurations. It has instantly shot to the top of my must-try list as far as MacBook Pro-compatible accessories are concerned.
