If you don't want to rely on a whole host of USB-C adapters or dongles back at your desk, a docking station can be your best solution short of buying a desktop Mac. At certain times, you want to work on a single laptop screen in the living room, and at others, you buckle down at a desk with a more elaborate multi-screen setup and desktop peripherals. And today, with most business travel reduced to wearing a path in the carpet between your home office and the kitchen, flexibility matters more than ever. But many offices around the globe still rely on legacy ports such as HDMI and USB 3.0, not to mention SD card readers and Ethernet for wired connections. Thunderbolt and wireless connectivity are perfectly serviceable for most mobile professionals while they're out and about. Check out our primers on Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 to learn what makes Thunderbolt different from USB-C. Like Henry Ford's Model T, which gave you a choice of colors (so long as you chose black), modern MacBooks give you your choice of ports, so long as they are Thunderbolt ports.Īpple uses oval-shaped Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 ports on its various laptops.

Apple's MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are remarkable laptops, but they don't make for the best desktop alternatives right out of the box.

Docking station macbook pro 2015