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In fact, youll hardly notice it as it sits beneath a 13in MacBook Pro or Air.

We tested a bunch to find the best Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C docks available to owners of the latest MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

You can turn that 13in laptop screen into an iMac-sized 27in or even larger monitor by adding an extra display or add two large screens to extend your screen across your whole desk.

The 12in MacBook has just one USB-C port, the new MacBook Air boasts two USB-C (actually the superior but visually identical Thunderbolt 3 standard) ports, and the latest MacBook Pro models feature either two or four Thunderbolt 3 ports.

For more non-T3 USB-C-only docks check out Tech Advisors roundup of the best USB-C docking stations for laptops.

A larger MacBook with a heavy workload might start fading on a lower wattage charger.

Add too many devices to one of these docks and you may well experience power issues, as USB-C can handle just 7.5W bus-device power while Thunderbolt 3 can pass back 15W.

And you can use it as a base for hot-desking or multi-laptop home-office setups where one person can quickly attach their laptop to the mouse, keyboard, screen and printer as soon as another has detached.

Its a convenient and affordable way to add storage to your laptop setup.

Thats a very cheap way of adding half a terabyte of portable storage.

Fuller reviews are linked to underneath most of the tested docks.

Available in Silver and Space Gray, it matches the colours of Apples laptops.

Plainer USB-C docks can handle two 4K displays, but only at 30Hz.

If you want an SD Card reader in a hybrid CT3 dock, look at the Caldigit Pro Dock below.

As most people refer to Thunderbolt 3 as USB-C CalDigit called it the USB-C Pro Dock.

Caldigits Pro Dock is cheaper, features two DisplayPorts and an SD Card reader, which is lacking from the Belkin.

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Of course, youll lose that full 40Gbps bandwidth, but lighter users might not care.

It lacks the TS3s digital audio output, but not many people would use this anyway, and four USB-A ports should be enough for most of us (the TS3 Plus has five).

Other docks have more than one port for external displays, but this one needs adapters to connect to displays which adds to the overall cost.

It wont work for slower (5-10Gbps) USB-C laptops, such as the 12in MacBook.

Youll likely need an adapter to connect the second port via the spare Thunderbolt 3 port unless the display has a USB-C port too.

Its a nondescript black box, unlike some of the fancier docks we tested, but it includes a VESA Mount so can be attached behind compatible monitors, or with compatible VESA-mounting stations - something we havent seen with other docks.

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