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

Smart and stylish dock that is right up to date with the latest Macs.

- BY SIMON JARY

Apple has always been fond of 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 4.6×4.6×3.0 inches (11.6×11.6×7.5cm) and weighs 38oz (1.1kg). Those measurements are similar to those of the M4 Mac mini, at 5×5×2 inches (12.7cm×12.7cm×5cm).

It looks great and appreciatively different from 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.

The Anker Prime TB5 Dock mirrors the M4 Mac mini's shape and looks.

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

THUNDERBOLT 5 FUTURE PROOFING