Anker Prime TB5 Docking Station, 14-in-1 Thunderbolt 5 Dock with 120Gbps Max Transfer, Thunderbolt Dock with 140W Max Charging, Cooling System, Up to 8K, Dual Display for TBT 5/4 Laptops

I’ve gone through a few docks over the years, and the Anker Prime TB5 Docking Station is easily the most capable one I’ve used so far. Setup was straightforward, and it immediately handled everything I threw at it — dual displays, fast data transfer, and consistent charging without hiccups. If you’re running a modern setup (especially with a newer MacBook or high-end laptop), this dock actually feels like it’s built for it, not something you’re trying to “make work.” What stood out most: • Performance: No lag, no weird display issues — everything just works • Ports: Plenty of flexibility without needing extra hubs • Build quality: Feels premium and solid, not plasticky • Power delivery: Keeps my laptop charged even under heavy use Also really appreciate how it helps clean up the desk. One cable in, everything connected — exactly what a dock should do. A couple minor considerations: • It’s not cheap, but you’re paying for performance and future-proofing • Make sure your laptop actually supports Thunderbolt at full capability to get the most out of it Overall, if you want a high-performance, no-compromise dock, this is one of the best options out there right now. Worth it if your setup demands it.

I have a TB4 port on my laptop. This was plug and play. With my gaming laptop, I need at least 125W to charge while gaming and this dock supplies up to 140W. I appreciate the number of ports on the rear of the dock as it helps keep my desk tidy. I do wish that this had a port on the back for a speaker connection - there is a headphone jack on the front - but you can get a USB-C to headphone jack for a speaker connection or use the USB-C port directly if your speakers support that. I am running a UQHD 240Hz 4K monitor with no issues. Video and games run fine and images are as clear as if the monitor was plugged directly into the laptop. The dock has active cooling which I have found to be very quiet (meaning I don't hear it at all). I did find that when using the front headphone jack, there was a low-level hum when the port was idle. Sound was clear when anything was playing through the port though (no hum). That said, I would like Anker to address this issue. Overall, this dock works great. One TB4 connection from my laptop to the dock to charge and replicate ports. Could not be more simple.

The best part about the Anker Prime TB5 dock is style. It looks really good on your desktop, unlike all the other docks you find which are just ugly. It also stays quite cool, although I don't use it to charge anything, just for data transfers. Function-wise, it has 2 downstream TB5 ports, meaning you can connect to up to 2 external drives or up to 2 external monitors via these TB 5 ports. It also has 2 USB-C 3.2 ports as well as 3 USB-A 3.2 ports, as well as 2.5Gbps Ethernet. Two video ports, one HDMI and one DP, are provided but you can only use ONE of the two at a time, not both simultaneously. The HDMI and DP one-or-the-other choice is one of the compromises Anker has made regarding this dock; the other compromise is more unforgiving given its price (unless the high price is explained by Trump's tariffs): the microSD (TF) and SDXC slots are only UHS-I with up to 104Mbps speed, which is 1/3 of what you get with fully compliant UHS-II SD slots. You can get a Mac-compatible strip hub with full UHS-II support for like 30 bucks, so it's unforgiving of Anker to include such lowly SD support in such an expensive dock. All in all, though, this is a worthy docking station because it looks pleasing! When you work hard in front of your Mac and multiple monitors, an eye-pleasing dock makes life more enjoyable. The LED light is more of a gimmick but maybe you're into these things so that's a plus in some way. The USB ports all perform as advertised, and the overall build quality is excellent, too. Comes with a very high-quality TB5 cable. BTW, it doesn't come with a manual but you can scan a QR code to get the manual online. It mostly deals with how to set up multiple monitors for Macs and other OSes. UPDATE (05.20.2025): Earlier this month I encounted, several times, an issue whereby after waking up from sleep, the SD and microSD slots are no longer functional; the dock needed to be turned off and back on to fix this (using the power button at the front). Originally I suspected it to be a bug with the docking station; later, when I restarted my MacBook, the problem went away and the SD slots have been working consistently since. So I'm bringing the rating back to the original 4 stars. Overall I'm happy with the performance of this dock -- save for its slow SD readers. As you can see from one of my attached photos, I actually use a Lexar UHS-II SD/microSD reader for my SD data transfer needs, as it's more than thrice (!) as fast as this dock's built-in reader.

I’m new to the Mac world but prefer a dock with a hardwired LAN connection when at my desk. When I initially attached it, I needed to install a driver for full functionality. I used a 4k external monitor through the DisplayPort. The single Thunderbolt 5 connection did the rest. The power button has a few functions that are worth reading about. The first time I pushed it, did not cut off the power as expected. After reading the instructions, I found that a tap of the power button just turns off the blue ring surrounding the top of the adapter. If you hold the power button for 3 seconds, then it cycles the power. The power button will also sleep the laptop, so it is an easy switch to turn everything off. I did connect the Ethernet port to a 2.5Gps LAN and it identified the speed and worked quite well. I have gravitated towards Anker products because every one just works well. A big bonus is the there is not any external power supply or wall wart. Just a simple 2 prong power plug that fits easily into a power strip. I actually bought a second unit for work. I can recommend this product. Its small size is also beneficial. ETA: I wanted to buy Thunderbolt 5 monitor, but pricing prevented it. I did re-purpose a ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDMR which was a gaming monitor but supported the USB-C connection. It immediately connected with the previous 240Hz 4k connection without issue through the Thunderbolt 5 port. The picture is stunning. After spending time on two separate connections with a single laptop, I can say this is an impressive piece of kit. I don’t know how you could do better.

I was initially worried about dropping this much money on a dock that needs to work with two different Windows laptops (a Dell and an Alienware). I needed something that could power the Dell and drive video to two monitors, but also support peripherals. (For the Alienware, I didn’t care about power delivery.) I have to say, it was easy to set up and worked without a fuss. The only “fuss” was needing to find a USB-C to Displayport adapter since there is only one HDMI/DP output (and you have to choose), but I didn’t need to do any fiddling to get the USB webcam, mouse, two monitors, keyboard, and SSD connected to either laptop. Anker has pretty much cornered the market for me on peripherals, chargers, and power banks. I think if I were needing to connect more monitors, I would be very annoyed with the limited options, but as I knew what I was getting ahead of time and only need the two displays (plus the laptop screens), I don’t feel like it warrants knocking a star off for that. The build quality feels solid and looks stylish, which is par for the course for Anker, and i love the way it looks. A bit steep of a price, but it sure beats the pants off of the old Dell TB dock I was using and feels more premium, too. I haven’t had any issues with heat or noise, and while it’s a fairly chunky unit, it sits rather securely in the desk and doesn’t take up much real estate.

My Thunderbolt 4 hub from 2023 didn't have enough ports for my current needs. The Anker Prime T5 has more ports and most of them are in back so my cords can go behind my desk. It's a much cleaner layout. I also appreciate having the power supply inside the same enclosure rather than on the floor.

If you don't want to read my whole review.... just buy these for a flawless experience and save your money. You'll have a bunch of cables which is annoying but so much easier. "Cable Matters 48Gbps USB C to HDMI 2.1 Adapter for macOS" "UGREEN USB C to Ethernet Adapter, 10Gbps Data Port 6-in-1 Hub" I am a huge ANKER consumer and I rarely write reviews, I need to warn anyone looking at this. The product claims for this dock are lies. It says it supports HDMI 2.1 and Displayport 1.4. HDMI 2.1 is 48Gbps bandwidth, DisplayPort 1.4 is 32.4Gbps. The HDMI 2.1 port only allows 60hz to external 4K monitor when using the laptop screen or a second monitor, however, the displayport allow 4k monitor 240hz and Laptop screen standard variable refresh rate. If you use 1 single 4k monitor it'll work 240hz via the dock HDMI, but you can just use your HDMI port on the laptop for this same experience. The reason to get a dock is to have MULTIPLE monitors at a higher refresh rate without multiple cables. I'm fine with 120hz or 144hz but it needs to work on both external monitors via this DOCK, otherwise pointless. According to their MANUAL with a Macbook Pro M4 I should be able to run one DisplayPort 1.4 + one Thunderbolt C Upstream (2 total 4k monitors) at 144Hz refresh rate. This should be 100% the case with HDMI + USB-C upstream IF it was actually HDMI 2.1 because as noted above, HDMI 2.1 has higher bandwidth than displayport 1.4. But this is absolutely not possible, which means it's not HDMI 2.1. I tried all combinations to dock and also directly to laptop. None of these allow two 4k monitors at 144hz or 120hz, most of the time, only 1 Monitor works, 9 out of 10 times can't even get 2 monitors to display. Also, everytime I switch a display cable, I have to open the laptop to get the external display to turn on, very bizarre, it should just work. I checked for firmware update, it has most recent firmware. Don't waste your money if you want 2 high resolution monitors with decent refresh rate. You can just purchase a USB dock from a company like UGreen for $30 and have extra USB ports, and get the HDMI 2.1 adapter from cable matters (both listed above) because the whole point of getting a fancy expensive DOCK is to hook up multiple monitors and USB devices and have it all run with ease, no extra cables. There's no way this has HDMI 2.1 / firmware may need update / or they have a component inside with HDMI 2.0 limiting bandwidth. Hopefully it's just a firmware update. Even if they fix the HDMI 2.1 issue, still so buggy when trying to use 2 external monitors. I am using 2 ASUS PG32UCDM monitors (they work great no issues to my PC via HDMI 2.1). They also work great when using the M4 Pro HDMI direct port and cable matter USB-C to HDMI 2.1. Not sure why ANKER can't figure it out with all their products and experience.

So far, the functionality of this dock has been outstanding with a few minor caveats. I could not get the HDMI out to work at all on the unit I was sent or the replacement unit. I solved the issue by utilizing a usb-c to hdmi cable which works perfectly fine alongside the display port. Only other issue I had was after about a month, the blue light on the top of the dock which let you know it was powered on stopped working and will not turn on even after rebooting and unplugging the docking station. Aside from these issues, everything has worked well. I like the fact that all the cords are located in the back. I disliked my old HP docking station which has all the outgoing ports in the back but had the connection to the laptop come out the front. Made for a difficult placement to keep the desk organized. Don't have that issue with this one. A few minor fixes could make this one of the best docking stations around, which is should be at the price they are charging for it. You would not think you should have any issues and it should be a functioning product. If I were still in my 20 days return period, I would likely return and trying something else that might actually function fully as it was intended.

Works as expected, Lots of power and it has completed my mac studio desk setup

Great little device the first month-ish of use so far. Seems like one of the more affordable TB5 docking stations out there at the moment and has enough hubs to let me run my work setup without any real issue with the entire front to spare for plug n play devices.

It’s great so far and it works perfectly with my M4 Pro Mac mini. However it doesn’t work as well with my 13” M4 iPad Pro cause sometimes my Studio Display turns on and sometimes it doesn’t. It is listed as being compatible with USB4, but when I tried it with my Asus ProArt P16 laptop I got last year with the RTX 4090, it doesn’t work at all. I’m wondering if mine is defective.

Works really well. Nice package

Works as advertised. Plenty of ports, speed is good, runs quietly. A great addition to my workspace.