Best Black Friday Thunderbolt dock deals

Officially, this year’s Black Friday takes place on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. Cyber Monday is the following Monday, or Dec. 2, 2024.

Early Black Friday sales have already begun at several retailers, though sales should ramp up as Black Friday nears. Retailers haven’t been shy about using early sales to unload inventory before the Black Friday craziness begins.

Over the years, I’ve found that certain retailers simply outdo others in specific product categories. I routinely search sites like Newegg, B&H, Target, and Walmart, but Amazon typically has the best collection of deals on docking stations of all stripes, including Thunderbolt docks.

Premium Thunderbolt docks usually retail for about $220 to $270 or so, depending upon the features. I usually hope for $200 or less.

In 2024, you benefit from one key trend: Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 are roughly the same in terms of throughput and features, but retailers hate keeping old hardware on the shelves. It’s likely that you’ll still see substantial sales on older Thunderbolt 3 hardware, with lesser discounts applied to Thunderbolt 4 options.

I’m already seeing evidence of that. The Plugable TBT3-UDZ, which has been one of my favorite Thunderbolt 3 docks for years, is being discontinued in favor of the TBT4-UDZ, the Thunderbolt 4 version. With Thunderbolt 3 hardware on its way out — and very similar to Thunderbolt 4 in what it can do — you should expect additional discounts on older TB3 hardware. Thunderbolt 5 is just barely beginning to roll out. You won’t see any deals there.

Consult your laptop’s manual. A Thunderbolt port may be labeled with a small lightning-bolt logo, but that icon can sometimes be used to signal that the port can be used for charging, too. If nothing else, a USB-C dongle/hub will always work with a USB-C port.

USB ports have been around for years. USB-C (the oval-shaped port) replaced USB-A (the rectangular port) because USB-C was more versatile, with higher speeds and a reversible port connector. USB-C ports can be rated for either 5Gbps or 10Gbps, just like a normal USB-A port. But some USB-C ports connect to a Thunderbolt chip inside your laptop, and this allows the port to run at a higher 40Gbps speed. Physically, the connector looks exactly the same. It’s just what it can do that’s different.

Thunderbolt 5 is slowly entering the market, but with only one or two docks and a tiny number of laptops right now. You won’t see any sales on Thunderbolt 5 docks during the 2024 holiday season.

Speed and features. A USB-C hub connects to a single 4K (or 1080p) display and provides a mix of ports: USB-A, SD card slots, and so on. You can usually plug your laptop’s USB-C power cable (if it uses one) right into it.

A Thunderbolt dock supplies even more bandwidth for more ports. There are two key differences: It has enough bandwidth to drive a pair of 4K displays, and many docks come with their own power supply that can charge your laptop as well as your phone. All that occurs via the Thunderbolt cable that connects your laptop to the dock.

Yes and no. Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, and USB 4 all run at 40Gbps across the same connector. USB 4 is identical to Thunderbolt 4. But if your laptop runs USB 4, it won’t “understand” Thunderbolt 3 protocols. USB 4 laptops, which are still rare, have AMD Ryzen chips inside.

Physically, they use the same USB-C cable. Functionally, they’re almost the same, and run at the same 40Gbps throughput. Thunderbolt 4 was released almost as a patch to Thunderbolt 3, ensuring that everything worked properly. If your laptop has Thunderbolt, you should be able to buy either a Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 dock without any problems.

Since Thunderbolt 3 is being phased out, you’ll probably find more discounts on the older Thunderbolt 3 hardware. (For all the gory details, see my roundup of the best Thunderbolt docks.)

Possibly. Historically, the back of a desktop has been chock-full of I/O ports, especially DIY models that you build yourself. Desktops usually have extra room for internal SSDs, SD cards, and so on. However, if your desktop lacks these things, and if it includes an external Thunderbolt port, you can always add these additional components externally via Thunderbolt.

Read the user reviews closely. While Macs adopted Thunderbolt first, some of the Apple M1 silicon couldn’t keep up with Intel Thunderbolt controllers used by Windows PCs, and the Apple macOS experience suffered as a result. If a Windows user complains, pay attention; otherwise, you can dismiss them.