Suggest a good docking station

Two 4K @ 60 Hz monitors is a common specification for Thunderbolt docks.

Another thing to consider: Apple's Technical Specifications for the M3 Max MacBook Pro do not indicate that refresh rates of greater than 60 Hz are available over USB-C (DP) or Thunderbolt. That Mac can drive a HDMI display at up to 240 Hz (high refresh rates may reduce the total number of displays you can have). But that is using a direct HDMI connection to the Mac's HDMI port.

in order to support TWO fully hardware accelerated displays on one cable out of a Mac, the Port, the Cable, and the first Device (Dock or Display) must ALL be genuine Thunderbolt.

The highest resolution AND the refresh rate will be limited by the fastest practical data rates the Mac can produce. Although the combined data rates are high, there are limits to what can be done on one Thunderbolt cable.

As I'm sure you're aware, your MBP M3 Max supports 4 native, external displays (3 via Thunderbolt ports and 1 via HDMI port).

Regarding docks (without shilling too much), we do have docks that will work for your setup sans the 144Hz refresh rate unfortunately. Our 120Hz dock uses MST which is not supported on Mac systems currently.

-Myke from Plugable

[Edited by Moderator]

void_ranger9 wrote:

First, thanks for your input.

I am confused what you mean by: "the first Device (Dock or Display) must ALL be genuine Thunderbolt."

Can you clarify?

Macs don't support DisplayPort MST daisy-chaining.

If you connect a monitor to a Mac via USB-C (DisplayPort) (not Thunderbolt), and then daisy-chain a second monitor off the first one "DP Out (MST)" port, you won't be able to drive a extended desktop setup that way.

You can plug in a Thunderbolt dock, then plug two non-Thunderbolt monitors (up to 4K @ 60 Hz each) into it. There are a number of docks from OWC, SonnetTech, and CalDigit (to name three that come to mind) that can handle this, if your Mac has Thunderbolt 3 or 4 and the ability to drive two or more external displays.

I do understand hardware limitations, but how come Macintosh makes it so complicated? My mediocre, middle spec, Dell Latitude isn't this picky when it comes to peripherals and supports 2 monitors no matter the dock.

Some of those laptops might support DisplayPort MST daisy-chaining.

Alternately, some of those docks might be providing extra display outputs using second-class workarounds … rather than using first-class, hardware-accelerated video output. Any dock that drives a monitor but plugs into computers via USB-A is almost certain to be using one of those second-class workarounds.

void_ranger9 wrote:

I am in search of a docking station for my M3 Max MacBook Pro. I have tried a handful of docks in the past and have had little luck with them.

The most important thing to me is that the dock supports 2 external displays at 144hz. Every other dock I have tried in the past only supported 1 external display and only did mirroring, not extending. I have had the Lenovo ThinkPad USB-C Dock as well as an Anker PowerExpand 9-in-1 dock. Both of which did not support 2 external displays. They did however work perfectly fine for Windows machines.

I hear good things about Plugable but am open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

search OWC/MacSales... well ahead of the curve all things Mac.

case1: you connect your Thunderbolt cable from a Thunderbolt port on your Mac and connect to a Genuine ThunderBolt Docking station. that dock supports up to two displays, provided the resolution and refresh rates are not too high.

case2: you connect your Thunderbolt cable from a Thunderbolt port on your Mac and connect to a Genuine ThunderBolt Display and the display's internal ThunderBolt Hub allows that display to connect to a second display, provided the resolution and refresh rates are not too high.

I purchased the Tobenone dock, and overall, I think it's decent. However, it doesn't support expanding to two 144Hz monitors. It can only support two 4K 60Hz monitors. You can contact their customer service for more details, they have a very good attitude.