Apple at 50, Siri, Apple Vision Pro, and vibe coding, on the AppleInsider Podcast
Apple has marked its 50th anniversary, although arguably a year too soon but we'll get into that, plus there's good news for users of the Apple Vision Pro, hopeful news about Siri, and bad news for certain vibe coders, all on the AppleInsider Podcast.Looking back at Apple's history — image credit: AppleThe fiftieth anniversary celebrations are, quite reasonably, marking the half century since the partnership of Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, was founded on April 1, 1976. But the Apple we know today, the corporation, was created in 1977.It seems unlikely that Apple will do another round of parties and events, but we'd be up for it if they did. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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Top 8 clean setups: Great cable management pays off
Untangling cord spaghetti may seem tedious, but the result? Glorious. Take tips from the best cable management we've seen in setups. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

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Top 8 clean setups: Great cable management pays off
Untangling cord spaghetti may seem tedious, but the result? Glorious. Take tips from the best cable management we've seen in setups. (via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

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Is Apple One worth it for you?
Apple offers a broad range of services nowadays, ranging from Apple TV to Apple Music, Apple Fitness+, and more. In addition to those individual services, Apple offers an a compelling Apple One bundle where you get access to different subscription offerings at a discount. Is Apple One worth it? Here’s what you need to know. more…

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Apple at 50: Michael Spindler, the CEO who brought in the clones
He's Apple's Chief Operating Officer who became the CEO — but he's not Tim Cook. Instead, this was how Michael Spindler replaced John Sculley, and made himself ill trying to save the company in the 1990s.Apple CEO Michael Spindler — image credit: AppleMichael Scott was the first Apple CEO, brought in by Mike Markkula, who became the second CEO when Scott was shown the door. Markkula was then responsible along with Steve Jobs for recruiting John Sculley, until he was also shown the exit sign.But while it was Sculley who made Spindler Chief Operating Officer, and then it was the board that made him CEO, Markkula was again behind all of this. It was Markkula who recruited Spindler to join Apple in September 1980. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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'The Bonfire of the Vanities' series headed to Apple TV
Maybe the third time is the charm. Writer/producer David E. Kelley is adapting Tom Wolfe's "The Bonfire of the Vanities" novel into a series for Apple TV, with "The Batman" director Matt Reeves.Apple TV is dramatizing "The Bonfire of the Vanities" — image credit: AppleDavid E. Kelley is still best known for "The Practice" and "Ally McBeal" shows, but he's also the writer of Apple TV's "Presumed Innocent" and "Margo's Got Money Troubles." Now according to Deadline, he's dramatizing Tom Wolfe's famous 1987 novel of greed and Wall Street money.Not to spoil the story, but as excellent as it is, Wolfe's novel feels as if it fades out rather than have a big finish, which has made it difficult to successfully adapt. It was filmed in 1990, with Tom Hanks starring and Brian DePalma directing from a screenplay by Michael Cristofer, but that was a flop. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

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The Tim Cook era: Apple’s most important products from 2016-today
Macworld On April 1, 1976, three visionaries decided to start building computers at a humble, California-based garage. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak took care of marketing and hardware, while Ronald Wayne briefly assisted with administration. Success was far from guaranteed at the time, and Apple Computer Company had to undergo multiple evolutions before earning its current status as the most influential corporation. And it’s not even close to slowing down. In the last 10 years alone, Apple has put out one of the most dramatic iPhone redesigns, a couple of groundbreaking gadgets, plus a ton of other advancements in tablet and desktop computing. Here’s a look at the most noteworthy products released between 2016 and today: September 2016: AirPods Roman Loyola/IDG When Apple made the controversial decision to remove the headphone jack from the iPhone 7, it created a problem that needed a solution. The wireless AirPods were more than that. While they were the butt of more than a few jokes after their debut, AirPods popularized the wireless earbud format, pushing rivals to develop their own copycat models. Apple has since rounded out the lineup with the higher-end AirPods Pro and over-ear AirPods Max, along with tight ecosystem integrations, including Hearing Protection, Spatial Audio, Find My, and other handy perks that contribute to their undeniable popularity. September 2017: iPhone X Foundry Everyone knew something big was coming at the 2017 iPhone event, but no one was prepared for Apple to reinvent the phone again. To mark the iPhone’s 10th anniversary, Apple unveiled the iPhone X with a “One more thing” announcement, and it was worth the fanfare. The revolutionary redesign did away with the classic Home button and thick bezels and made way for Face ID, gesture navigation, and the first Liquid Retina display with rounded corners and an edge-to-edge aesthetic. The iPhone has been through numerous updates since the iPhone X’s unveiling, but the impact of the all-screen design and multi-touch navigation continues to be felt across all of Apple’s product lines. September 2018: Apple Watch Series 4 Apple In 2018, the Apple Watch Series 4 debuted, featuring the first major design overhaul. The smartwatch offered larger size options and a sharper display with rounder corners and slimmer bezels.  But the biggest chance wasn’t the design. The Apple Watch Series 4 leaned heavily into health, with a new electrical heart rate sensor, the first ECG sensor, Fall Detection, the ability to detect Atrial Fibrillation, and other fitness enhancements. The Apple Watch Series 4’s design still feels fresh today on the SE 3, and its focus on wellness is on full display on the latest Apple Watch Series 11. October 2018: 3rd-gen iPad Pro Foundry When the first iPad Pro arrived in 2015, it was basically a larger version of the iPad we already knew. In 2018, it came into its own with a transformative design upgrade.  Smaller, skinnier, and drop-dead gorgeous, the 3rd-gen iPad Pro was the start of a years-long tablet redesign that dropped the Home button, slimmed down the bezels, and adopted the iPhone X’s Liquid Retina display. Apart from the all-screen look, the iPad Pro also adopted the universal USB-C port and introduced the Apple Pencil 2, which magically attached to the top edge when charging. October 2020: M1 Macs Jason Cross/Foundry 2020 was the year that changed everything for the Mac. While Apple had been through processor changes before, the Mac’s transition from Intel chips to Apple silicon wasn’t a mere chip upgrade. The shift unlocked higher power and efficiency levels, making Macs significantly more reliable and efficient, and dramatically boosting performance and battery life.  Apple launched the M1 chip in three existing Macs—the MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini—to showcase its raw power. But it wasn’t just speed—Apple silicon also introduced support for iOS apps on the Mac and made it easier for developers to optimize their iPhone apps for the Mac. Today, M chips can also be found in higher-end iPads, unlocking unrivaled capabilities in impossibly thin tablets. April 2021: AirTag Foundry Despite its small size, the launch of the AirTag in 2021 had a remarkable impact on how we keep track of our personal belongings. For just $29, any iPhone user can find the exact location of a tagged item—as long as another Apple user is in its vicinity. Thanks to a network of billions of iPhones, the Find My network is the most reliable of its kind, outdoing third-party solutions like Tile and others.  Countless stories have been shared about how AirTag was able to locate misplaced baggage while traveling, stolen cars, bikes, wallets, and even pets. It may not be the fanciest Apple product, but it has certainly been one of the most valuable introductions of the past decade. June 2023: Vision Pro David Price / Foundry After years of rumors, Apple finally kick-started its spatial computing era with the Vision Pro. Announced at WWDC 2023, the headset utilizes several cameras and sensors to 3D-map and analyze users’ surroundings. It then generates a virtual reality where users get to pick the level of immersion.  With visionOS, users can place floating app windows and widgets anywhere in their view, turning any room into a large digital canvas. While its $3,499 price tag has barred most iPhone users from even considering buying one, the Vision Pro gives us an early glimpse of Apple’s vision for the future of computing. March 2026: MacBook Neo Foundry Perhaps the most recent impactful Apple release of the past 10 years is its newest: the low-cost MacBook Neo. Starting at $499 for students and educators, this MacBook is the cheapest, most accessible laptop Apple has ever made.  While some power users will naturally complain about its A18 Pro iPhone chip, the device isn’t for them. It’s Apple’s first laptop made for switchers, students, and kids who need a reliable machine for web browsing, checking emails, handling documents, and light photo or video editing. Given Apple’s established reputation and the MacBook’s premium build, Neo is bound to disrupt the affordable laptop market for years to come. This is part five of a five-part series exploring 50 years of Apple product releases. You can catch up on anything you missed here: (1976-1985; 1986-1995; 1996-2005; 2006-2015).

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Who’s in Apple’s top 10? Here’s the full list of the most influential people of all time
Macworld April 1 marks Apple’s 50th anniversary, a milestone it couldn’t reach without the help of some very talented people. So we decided to put together a list of the 50 people who made Apple the company it is today. Some worked there for just a year or two; others for almost the entire half-century, while others never actually worked for the company at all. But all influenced Apple’s journey in some profound way. This is all, of course, deeply subjective. It is very unlikely that every reader will agree with the author’s selections, far less with his rankings. Which is fine, we welcome the conversation. Our only rule is that if you complain about someone’s exclusion, tell us who you would cut to make room. We’ve reached the top 10: What did we get wrong? Drop us a message on Bluesky or Threads. 50-41 50. Katie Cotton Apple PR legend Katie Cotton joined Apple in 1996, shortly before the return of Steve Jobs, and worked closely with him for the next 15 years. For better or worse, she was instrumental in shaping the company’s communications strategy and famous culture of secrecy, fiercely controlling Apple’s portrayal in the press. As we wrote upon her retirement in 2014, she “largely turned public relations on its head.” Cotton sadly passed away in 2023, but like Jobs himself, her legacy lives on in Apple Park.

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Enough looking back, what do Apple’s next 10 years look like?
Macworld It’s unusual for a major technology company to not only survive and grow for a half century, but to steadily increase its cultural relevance and market dominance. A lot of time has been spent this week looking back at the last 50 years and the products, people, and events that make Apple special. It naturally leads one to ask: What about the next 50 years? Honestly, it’s impossible to predict. Even the most respected futurists and prognosticators have all been proven wrong, time and again, when trying to guess what the world will be like in half a century. Nobody predicted the technology landscape of 2026 back in 1976. But we can at least look forward 10 years. A decade feels like an eternity in tech, but it’s a horizon we can at least see from here. Out with the old guard Apple has gone through a number of leadership changes over the years, but executive turnover has been relatively low lately. The next decade is likely to be different. By the time 2036 rolls around, the Apple Leadership page is going to look very different. Tim Cook has been rumored to be on the verge of retirement for a while, likely to be replaced by hardware chief John Ternus. Maybe that will happen in a year, maybe two, or three, but no way does Cook go another 10 years without retiring. Apple’s John Ternus could be the next CEO once Tim Cook retires.Apple/Youtube That will mean a new CEO and a new Senior VP of Hardware, but there are a number of other executives who are likely to make their exit as well: Services and Health VP Eddy Cue is 61 and has been with Apple since 1989. Software boss Craig Federighi is 57 and worked at NeXT, joining Apple when it was acquired, then left, before coming back again 17 years ago. Greg “Joe” Joswiack, who replaced Phil Schiller as marketing VP in 2020, is 62 and has been with Apple since 1986. COO Sabih Khan just replaced Jeff Williams last year, but is 60 and has been with Apple since 1995. Retail chief Dierdre O’Brian is also 60 and has been with Apple since 1988. Chip architect Johny Srouji is 62 and has been at Apple since 2008, when he joined to lead development of Apple’s first in-house system-on-chip, the A4. In other words, most of the key players at the top of Apple’s org chart are going to be 70 or older in 2036 and will have been with the company for decades. Smart money says most will retire before Apple’s 60th anniversary. Nobody can really tell you what this wholesale change in Apple leadership, from the CEO down, is going to mean for the direction of the company. Apple has cultivated a strong corporate culture, but new leadership always comes with changes in priority and process. The iPhone still reigns supreme The tech media is always looking for the next big thing, and is quick to proclaim that we’ll all be using some totally different gadget in just a few years. In reality, it takes a long time to shift the habits and preferences of billions of people. Software and services can move quickly. Social media took over society in record time. AI is spreading like wildfire. But hardware is slower. Facebook was so sure that we’d all be strapped into VR headsets all day that it bought Oculus for a whopping $2 billion. That was 12 years ago, and VR is still a niche technology. Laptops overtook desktops as the dominant computing platform 20 years ago, and both are still used every day, with hundreds of millions of sales per year. Apple will surely enter new product categories over the next decade, but the iPhone will still reign supreme.Apple So yes, Apple will introduce new hardware. Smart glasses. A cheaper Vision headset. All sorts of smart home accessories, from robotic hubs to cameras and more. Some might even sell very well. But the iPhone will remain at the center of the Apple universe. Its form factor will evolve—some will fold (horizontally or vertically), the camera bump will change size and shape, the button layout will get tweaked, and the holes in the screen for cameras will move and resize. In a recent interview, Tim Cook said, “The iPhone is going to be around for a very long time. There’s so much left we can do with the iPhone. And I think it’s going to continue to be the center of people’s digital lives.” Spatial Computing stalls When Apple announced Vision Pro, it coined a new buzzword for AR/VR experiences: Spatial Computing. At the time, Tim Cook hailed it as the next step, the next evolution of personal computing after desktop, laptop, and mobile. Then, generative AI blew up and everything changed. The fact is, even without the pivot to AI, spatial computing is sort of a solution in search of a problem. Mixed reality is great for consuming entertainment, sports, or playing games. It’s a lot less useful for all the everyday tasks that we use our MacBooks and iPhones for. Like transparent displays, VR/AR is one of those things that looks cool in the movies but doesn’t quite hold up in real life. Spatial Computing has a long way to go before it hits the mainstream.Foundry I’m sure if you walked through the Apple offices in Cupertino, I’m willing to bet you’d would find that the vast majority of employees are not at their desks with Vision Pro headsets on. If it delivered a real productivity boost, even a small one, Apple employees would all be wearing them while working. We haven’t seen any evidence of that. Apple will get better at VR. Lower-cost headsets will come in the next decade, and the software will get better. But Spatial Computing will still be something that people do on the side, primarily as a way to consume and not create. At best, these Vision products will end up like iPads: a popular secondary device you use when you want to do specific things or escape for a while. AI software begets AI hardware The real growth category for Apple will be AI-powered hardware accessories. Apple, like every tech company, is investing heavily in a wide variety of AI initiatives and partnerships. Right now, none of it is great. Eventually, some of these bets will pay off, and Apple’s AI will stop being a joke and start being a real strength. But Apple doesn’t want to sell software, really. It was to sell things that run Apple’s software. That’s much harder to compete with at Apple’s level and a lot more profitable. That’s how Apple’s AI future is really going to manifest: in new AI-first products. Apple intelligence will surely spawn a variety of new products over the next 10 years.Foundry Apple will likely start simple, with new smart speakers and cameras that can recognize what they’re looking at in order to trigger actions. Privacy will be Apple’s selling point: processing done on-device, or in special cloud infrastructure that minimizes data collection. But before the decade is out, Apple will introduce real assistants. Siri with an actual personality. A tabletop display/camera/speaker on a robotic arm that moves and gestures like it’s alive. Perhaps the most successful “AI accessory” Apple sells will be smart glasses, which could show up in its first iteration as soon as next year. As opposed to more complicated, difficult, and expensive augmented reality glasses that have to integrate 3D graphics into the space around you, smart glasses have either no display or a “heads-up display” fixed in place in front of you. Like the Meta Ray-Ban glasses, but with Apple design, branding, software, and services, and Apple’s reputation for privacy and security. Apple will profit from selling a variety of AI-first devices, but more importantly, they’ll make the lock-in effect to the Apple ecosystem stronger than ever. A whole category of products that exist as a medium to interact with advanced AI and other Apple services–that’s Apple’s next big growth area. What Apple won’t do Just as important as looking at what Apple is going to do and change in the next decade is considering where things will stay the same. Services, for example, will expand as expected. Particularly in Health, though it wouldn’t surprise me to see a paid AI service from Apple, or a bigger subscription play in sports. But major new service initiatives into areas in which Apple isn’t already involved–like when the company launched a streaming TV service–are probably not in the cards. Apple’s services expansion will be in existing areas of focus, from tools for creative professionals (hello, Apple Creator Studio) to music, TV, health, maps, sports, and news. Apple probably won’t figure out how to do games over the next 10 years.Foundry Apple still won’t figure out premium gaming. The iPhone will dominate mobile gaming, of course, but Apple doesn’t know or isn’t willing to do what it takes to make the Mac a popular gaming device, or the Apple TV box, or anything else that relies on a steady stream of day-one AAA titles. Apple doesn’t “get” gaming, and there’s no sign that it’s about to. The company will also not change its stance on its draconian control over its software ecosystem. Every ounce of freedom that users get to use Apple’s products the way they want, to run the software they want, paid for the way they want, will be gained under duress. Developers will get to make and distribute software without Apple’s explicit blessing only under court order. Apple considers the ability to develop and sell software for its products to be a gift it benevolently bestows upon the world, and that attitude isn’t going to change in 10 years. And despite the increasingly important role of social networks in society, Apple won’t start its own. Trading in personal information is anathema to the company’s values, and even though Apple’s meager official social media presence will increase a lot in the next decade, it won’t ever run its own service. Apple can still surprise us A lot of what Apple will get up to over the next decade has already been telegraphed, through interviews, leaks, and product roadmap so predictable that relatively minor changes, like a cheaper MacBook, are hailed as massive company shifts. But Apple can still surprise us. The touchscreen Mac we all thought would never happen now appears to be on the way. MacBook Neo could be the start of a series of Apple “budget” products—real budget products, not the iPhone “e” line that still costs twice what a budget smartphone does. Apple is not exactly a surprising company. Innovative, but rarely first. But ten years is a long time, and plenty of time for something new to come out of left field. After all, five years ago nobody was even thinking about generative AI, and now the entire tech industry, including Apple, is spending unlimited money, power, water, and other resources to cram it into everything. The most surprising change in Apple over the next ten years will probably come from a global shift that nobody is even aware of yet.

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This Apple TV show is one of the ten most popular originals in the United States right now
Another Apple TV show has appeared in the Nielsen chart for streaming originals in the US, which is by no means a guarantee given the relatively small size of the streamer. The second season debut of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters just scraped in the Top 10 at position 10, with 467 million minutes viewed for the week of March 2 – March 8. more…

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Kensington EQ Pro Thunderbolt 5 Dock for MacBook review: Fast with special guest stars
Macworld At a glance Pros Thunderbolt 5 19 ports Integrated M.2 slot for an SSD Dedicated function keys Optical audio KonstantCharge for undocked peripherals Cons Premium price 180W power supply lesser than rivals Our Verdict For the premium price you get a lot of connectivity (19 ports!) and a tidy storage M.2 enclosure that you can upgrade as and when you wish, not when and with what Apple demands. The optical audio port, CompactFlash slot and hot keys are nice extras rarely found on docking stations. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Price When Reviewed$449.99 Best Prices Today: Kensington EQ Pro Thunderbolt 5 Dock for MacBook Retailer Price $389.49 View Deal Kensington $449.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Kensington’s EQ Pro Thunderbolt 5 Dock for MacBook, known to its friends as the SD7100TS, is a dock stacked with 19 ports, a dedicated SSD slot for you to add extra storage, and special Mac hot keys for easy iPhone photo backup and a Focus Mode. It even has “Designed for MacBook” on the box, but this could be because Windows hasn’t quite caught the Thunderbolt 5 wave yet. This is a horizontal docking station with solid good looks in a gunmetal-gray with nicely rounded corners. Dock specs One upstream Thunderbolt 5 port (80Gbps, 140W) Three downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports (80Gbps, 15W) One USB-C port (10Gbps, 30W) One USB-C port (10Gbps, 7.5W) Four USB-A ports (10Gbps, 4.5W) Ethernet (2.5Gb) NVMe M.2 SSD slot (up to8TB) UHS-II SD card reader (312MBps) UHS-II microSD card reader (312MBps) One 3.5mm combo audio In/Out jack (front) One 3.5mm audio In jack (back) One 3.5mm audio Out jack (back) One TOSLINK optical audio (back) 180W power supply Simon Jary Kensington has decided against including a dedicated video port such as HDMI or DisplayPort in favor of the full set of Thunderbolt 5 ports. While that might mean you have to supply your own USB-C to HDMI/DP adapter cable if your monitor doesn’t support a USB-C/Thunderbolt connection, it does offer you more flexibility in choosing what you want each port to do. If a dock has a DisplayPort or HDMI port, for instance, and you want to connect via Thunderbolt, that video port is wasted. Having the maximum three downstream Thunderbolt 5 docks gives you the freedom to decide what to use each port for. Thunderbolt 5 (TB5) is backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 4 and 3, so even if your Mac isn’t yet built for TB5, you can rest assured that it will work with earlier Thunderbolt versions and be ready for your eventual TB5 Mac upgrade. Thunderbolt 5 Macs get 80Gbps data-transfer rates and up to 120Gbps in Bandwidth Boost mode for top-end video demands. One TB5 port is “upstream”, meaning it connects to your Mac. The other three are “downstream” for connecting other devices such as monitors and storage drives. Simon Jary Power One TB5 port is at the front, which might suit you but strikes me as odd and a potential cause of cable-clutter, especially as there is a 30W 10Gbps USB-C port at the front already—nicely placed for charging your iPhone or even connecting a wireless charger. Also at the front is another 10Gbps USB-C port with a weaker 7.5W power rating. The Thunderbolt ports are rated at 15W. The four legacy USB-A ports are not up to much charging at just 4.5W. Indeed, the EQ Pro feels a bit under-powered, with a max 180W power supply. The PD 3.1-rated upstream Thunderbolt 5 port is great, supplying up to 140W: enough to fast-charge even the top-end 16-inch MacBook Pro, and the 30W USB-C is meaty. The other ports probably have all the power your connected devices require but in comparison the CalDigit TS5 Plus has 330W for its two 36W TB5 ports and 36W USB-C, and the Sonnet Echo 13 has a 60W TB5 port. A “KonstantCharge” feature allows devices to be charged even when the dock isn’t connected to a laptop, so you can use it like a desktop charger. In his charging tests my PCWorld colleague Mark Hachman found the 30W charging port delivered 28.6W under load, and the other USB-C port provided about 6W. The downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports delivered 13.6W of power. On the back of the dock is a power button, which we appreciate as many docking stations don’t have them. Although modern devices have sophisticated battery safeguards and battery management, I prefer not to keep my MacBook constantly connected to a power source. Yes, I can pull the cable out but an On/Off button is cleaner and less wearing on the hardware. The power supply is rated at 180W, so is the maximum shared power load the dock can supply. With a possible 240W of port power potential, plus the power needed by the dock and SSD slot, that 18W is not up to the full load. Other docks offer 240W (or even 300W for the CalDigit TS5 Plus), which would have made more sense than an under-powered 180W power supply. It’s likely that 180W will be enough at most times, but a 240W charger would have been a more sensible choice from Kensington. Network speed The dock matches similar Thunderbolt 5 docks with a faster 2.5Gbps Ethernet port. Even if your network is stuck at 1Gb Gigabit Ethernet, it’s backwards compatible so builds in more future-proofing to your setup. Audio From an audio perspective, as well as a single 3.5mm combination mic/headphone jack on the front of the dock, there are separate mic, speaker, and headphone I/O ports, plus an optical connection to pass lossless audio to some high-end audio systems—a boon for those editing video or audio. Simon Jary Hotkeys Another curiosity bonus feature is the set of two hotkeys on the top of the dock; pictured above. These include one for backing up your iPhone photos and videos to your Mac or SSD plus another offering a Focus Mode for Mac, including ‘Do Not Disturb’, or you can customize the buttons for other functions using the Kensington Konnect. Turning on Do Not Disturb is pretty easy anyway via Control Center in the Mac’s top menu bar, but it’s undeniably a little easier with a physical button. Play around in the software to hone these buttons to your own one-touch functionality requirements. Portable storage At the front are two fast UHS-II SD/MicroSD card reader slots, and as a surprise bonus even CF 4.0 (CompactFlash) card slot that will please those professional photographers who use older high-end DSLRs that require it. The EQ Pro is the only modern docking station we’ve seen with one of these. Simon Jary Super store A feature that is becoming more common with docking stations is an integrated PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD enclosure. This is usually found on the bottom of the dock, but the Kensington EQ Pro has it on the top, secured by a screw on one side of the dock itself; see our photo above. You’ll need your own tiny Phillips cross-head screwdriver as Kensington doesn’t include one in the box—other dock makers such as Ugreen and iVanky do include a screwdriver, so this will be missed as you search your office or home for one the right size. Apple doesn’t make MacBook storage cheap—the 14-inch MacBook Pro comes with 1TB as the base level, with 2TB costing an extra $400 and 4TB a whopping $1,000! Once you’ve purchased, you can’t go back to add more. The dock doesn’t come with an NVMe M.2 SSD, unlike the Sonnet Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 SSD Dock that is sold as 1TB ($479), 2TB ($649) and 4TB ($999) models. Go to Amazon to find a NVMe M.2 SSD from a reliable brand, such as Samsung, WD and SanDisk. 1TB should cost around $150-200, 2TB around $350 and 4TB $600-700. Storage prices are notoriously volatile so you find them more affordable or more expensive when you’re searching for one. Many users will use a dock to add two external displays, but the latest M5 Pro/Max chips will allow three or four via daisy-chaining.Kensington Displays: M5 Pro/Max mean more monitors While Thunderbolt 4 docks continue to be capped at two external displays on the Mac, the latest top-end M5 Pro and M5 Max chips support up to three external displays with the Kensington EQ Pro. The M5 Max can handle four but as there aren’t enough ports to hang so many monitors off you’ll need to daisy-chain the fourth screen from the third. Maximum resolution for a dual-monitor setup is two 6K monitors at 60Hz. A single 8K/60Hz display is possible with M5/M4 Base/Pro/Max plus Pro/Max versions of the M1/M2/M3 chipped Macs. On one end of the EQ Pro are two Kensington security slots plus the screw to take off the dock’s lid to reveal the hidden SSD enclosure.Simon Jary Kensington EQ Pro performance From a performance standpoint, Kensington’s dock was slightly slower than other Thunderbolt 5 docks tested by my colleague Mark: the Sonnet Echo 13 transferred data from our test SSD at about 436MBps, while the Plugable TBT-UDT3 was about the same. Kensington’s drive transferred data at 398MBps, or 9% slower. The EQ Pro boasts more ports, though, remember. We copied multiple gigabytes of data from a folder on my desktop to the dock’s SSD. The dock performed normally, taking about 16 seconds. (Sonnet’s dock is the fastest here, at about 14 seconds.) While streaming, that dropped to 17.3 seconds. Obviously, that difference would enlarge the more data you transferred at a time. Our tests found that that SSD inside Kensington’s dock performed essentially the same as the Razer Thunderbolt Dock Chroma, another Thunderbolt 5 dock with an M.2. SSD slot, when performing a folder copy: 16.8 seconds by itself, and 17.5 seconds while streaming 4K video. Foundry / Mark Hachman Price The Kensington EQ Pro Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station is priced at $449.99. For a dock with this many ports this is comparable with the 15-port $399 CalDigit TS5 or 23-port iVanky FusionDock Max 2, both of which lack the SSD enclosure. The $479 Sonnet Echo 13 has the built-in SSD slot (with SSD included from $479 for 1TB) but fewer ports and the $499 Ugreen 17-in-1 Maxidok has the slot but fewer ports, so the Kensington EQ Pro measures up well when compared to docks with that feature. To get full value from this dock you’ll want to add the SSD card, which will up the cost significantly but also massively enrich your Mac setup with a ton more upgradable storage at hand. Should you buy the Kensington EQ Pro Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station (SD7100TS)? $449 (plus the cost of the SSD if you want to use this dock to its full potential) is a lot of money but for the level of connectivity (19 ports!) and a tidy storage M.2 enclosure it’s more affordable than its closest rivals. The optical audio port, CompactFlash slot and hot keys are nice extras rarely found on docking stations.

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Kensington EQ Pro Thunderbolt 5 Dock for MacBook review: Fast with special guest stars
Macworld At a glance Pros Thunderbolt 5 19 ports Integrated M.2 slot for an SSD Dedicated function keys Optical audio KonstantCharge for undocked peripherals Cons Premium price 180W power supply lesser than rivals Our Verdict For the premium price you get a lot of connectivity (19 ports!) and a tidy storage M.2 enclosure that you can upgrade as and when you wish, not when and with what Apple demands. The optical audio port, CompactFlash slot and hot keys are nice extras rarely found on docking stations. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Price When Reviewed$449.99 Best Prices Today: Kensington EQ Pro Thunderbolt 5 Dock for MacBook Retailer Price $389.49 View Deal Kensington $449.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Kensington’s EQ Pro Thunderbolt 5 Dock for MacBook, known to its friends as the SD7100TS, is a dock stacked with 19 ports, a dedicated SSD slot for you to add extra storage, and special Mac hot keys for easy iPhone photo backup and a Focus Mode. It even has “Designed for MacBook” on the box, but this could be because Windows hasn’t quite caught the Thunderbolt 5 wave yet. This is a horizontal docking station with solid good looks in a gunmetal-gray with nicely rounded corners. Dock specs One upstream Thunderbolt 5 port (80Gbps, 140W) Three downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports (80Gbps, 15W) One USB-C port (10Gbps, 30W) One USB-C port (10Gbps, 7.5W) Four USB-A ports (10Gbps, 4.5W) Ethernet (2.5Gb) NVMe M.2 SSD slot (up to8TB) UHS-II SD card reader (312MBps) UHS-II microSD card reader (312MBps) One 3.5mm combo audio In/Out jack (front) One 3.5mm audio In jack (back) One 3.5mm audio Out jack (back) One TOSLINK optical audio (back) 180W power supply Simon Jary Kensington has decided against including a dedicated video port such as HDMI or DisplayPort in favor of the full set of Thunderbolt 5 ports. While that might mean you have to supply your own USB-C to HDMI/DP adapter cable if your monitor doesn’t support a USB-C/Thunderbolt connection, it does offer you more flexibility in choosing what you want each port to do. If a dock has a DisplayPort or HDMI port, for instance, and you want to connect via Thunderbolt, that video port is wasted. Having the maximum three downstream Thunderbolt 5 docks gives you the freedom to decide what to use each port for. Thunderbolt 5 (TB5) is backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 4 and 3, so even if your Mac isn’t yet built for TB5, you can rest assured that it will work with earlier Thunderbolt versions and be ready for your eventual TB5 Mac upgrade. Thunderbolt 5 Macs get 80Gbps data-transfer rates and up to 120Gbps in Bandwidth Boost mode for top-end video demands. One TB5 port is “upstream”, meaning it connects to your Mac. The other three are “downstream” for connecting other devices such as monitors and storage drives. Simon Jary Power One TB5 port is at the front, which might suit you but strikes me as odd and a potential cause of cable-clutter, especially as there is a 30W 10Gbps USB-C port at the front already—nicely placed for charging your iPhone or even connecting a wireless charger. Also at the front is another 10Gbps USB-C port with a weaker 7.5W power rating. The Thunderbolt ports are rated at 15W. The four legacy USB-A ports are not up to much charging at just 4.5W. Indeed, the EQ Pro feels a bit under-powered, with a max 180W power supply. The PD 3.1-rated upstream Thunderbolt 5 port is great, supplying up to 140W: enough to fast-charge even the top-end 16-inch MacBook Pro, and the 30W USB-C is meaty. The other ports probably have all the power your connected devices require but in comparison the CalDigit TS5 Plus has 330W for its two 36W TB5 ports and 36W USB-C, and the Sonnet Echo 13 has a 60W TB5 port. A “KonstantCharge” feature allows devices to be charged even when the dock isn’t connected to a laptop, so you can use it like a desktop charger. In his charging tests my PCWorld colleague Mark Hachman found the 30W charging port delivered 28.6W under load, and the other USB-C port provided about 6W. The downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports delivered 13.6W of power. On the back of the dock is a power button, which we appreciate as many docking stations don’t have them. Although modern devices have sophisticated battery safeguards and battery management, I prefer not to keep my MacBook constantly connected to a power source. Yes, I can pull the cable out but an On/Off button is cleaner and less wearing on the hardware. The power supply is rated at 180W, so is the maximum shared power load the dock can supply. With a possible 240W of port power potential, plus the power needed by the dock and SSD slot, that 18W is not up to the full load. Other docks offer 240W (or even 300W for the CalDigit TS5 Plus), which would have made more sense than an under-powered 180W power supply. It’s likely that 180W will be enough at most times, but a 240W charger would have been a more sensible choice from Kensington. Network speed The dock matches similar Thunderbolt 5 docks with a faster 2.5Gbps Ethernet port. Even if your network is stuck at 1Gb Gigabit Ethernet, it’s backwards compatible so builds in more future-proofing to your setup. Audio From an audio perspective, as well as a single 3.5mm combination mic/headphone jack on the front of the dock, there are separate mic, speaker, and headphone I/O ports, plus an optical connection to pass lossless audio to some high-end audio systems—a boon for those editing video or audio. Simon Jary Hotkeys Another curiosity bonus feature is the set of two hotkeys on the top of the dock; pictured above. These include one for backing up your iPhone photos and videos to your Mac or SSD plus another offering a Focus Mode for Mac, including ‘Do Not Disturb’, or you can customize the buttons for other functions using the Kensington Konnect. Turning on Do Not Disturb is pretty easy anyway via Control Center in the Mac’s top menu bar, but it’s undeniably a little easier with a physical button. Play around in the software to hone these buttons to your own one-touch functionality requirements. Portable storage At the front are two fast UHS-II SD/MicroSD card reader slots, and as a surprise bonus even CF 4.0 (CompactFlash) card slot that will please those professional photographers who use older high-end DSLRs that require it. The EQ Pro is the only modern docking station we’ve seen with one of these. Simon Jary Super store A feature that is becoming more common with docking stations is an integrated PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD enclosure. This is usually found on the bottom of the dock, but the Kensington EQ Pro has it on the top, secured by a screw on one side of the dock itself; see our photo above. You’ll need your own tiny Phillips cross-head screwdriver as Kensington doesn’t include one in the box—other dock makers such as Ugreen and iVanky do include a screwdriver, so this will be missed as you search your office or home for one the right size. Apple doesn’t make MacBook storage cheap—the 14-inch MacBook Pro comes with 1TB as the base level, with 2TB costing an extra $400 and 4TB a whopping $1,000! Once you’ve purchased, you can’t go back to add more. The dock doesn’t come with an NVMe M.2 SSD, unlike the Sonnet Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 SSD Dock that is sold as 1TB ($479), 2TB ($649) and 4TB ($999) models. Go to Amazon to find a NVMe M.2 SSD from a reliable brand, such as Samsung, WD and SanDisk. 1TB should cost around $150-200, 2TB around $350 and 4TB $600-700. Storage prices are notoriously volatile so you find them more affordable or more expensive when you’re searching for one. Many users will use a dock to add two external displays, but the latest M5 Pro/Max chips will allow three or four via daisy-chaining.Kensington Displays: M5 Pro/Max mean more monitors While Thunderbolt 4 docks continue to be capped at two external displays on the Mac, the latest top-end M5 Pro and M5 Max chips support up to three external displays with the Kensington EQ Pro. The M5 Max can handle four but as there aren’t enough ports to hang so many monitors off you’ll need to daisy-chain the fourth screen from the third. Maximum resolution for a dual-monitor setup is two 6K monitors at 60Hz. A single 8K/60Hz display is possible with M5/M4 Base/Pro/Max plus Pro/Max versions of the M1/M2/M3 chipped Macs. On one end of the EQ Pro are two Kensington security slots plus the screw to take off the dock’s lid to reveal the hidden SSD enclosure.Simon Jary Kensington EQ Pro performance From a performance standpoint, Kensington’s dock was slightly slower than other Thunderbolt 5 docks tested by my colleague Mark: the Sonnet Echo 13 transferred data from our test SSD at about 436MBps, while the Plugable TBT-UDT3 was about the same. Kensington’s drive transferred data at 398MBps, or 9% slower. The EQ Pro boasts more ports, though, remember. We copied multiple gigabytes of data from a folder on my desktop to the dock’s SSD. The dock performed normally, taking about 16 seconds. (Sonnet’s dock is the fastest here, at about 14 seconds.) While streaming, that dropped to 17.3 seconds. Obviously, that difference would enlarge the more data you transferred at a time. Our tests found that that SSD inside Kensington’s dock performed essentially the same as the Razer Thunderbolt Dock Chroma, another Thunderbolt 5 dock with an M.2. SSD slot, when performing a folder copy: 16.8 seconds by itself, and 17.5 seconds while streaming 4K video. Foundry / Mark Hachman Price The Kensington EQ Pro Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station is priced at $449.99. For a dock with this many ports this is comparable with the 15-port $399 CalDigit TS5 or 23-port iVanky FusionDock Max 2, both of which lack the SSD enclosure. The $479 Sonnet Echo 13 has the built-in SSD slot (with SSD included from $479 for 1TB) but fewer ports and the $499 Ugreen 17-in-1 Maxidok has the slot but fewer ports, so the Kensington EQ Pro measures up well when compared to docks with that feature. To get full value from this dock you’ll want to add the SSD card, which will up the cost significantly but also massively enrich your Mac setup with a ton more upgradable storage at hand. Should you buy the Kensington EQ Pro Thunderbolt 5 Docking Station (SD7100TS)? $449 (plus the cost of the SSD if you want to use this dock to its full potential) is a lot of money but for the level of connectivity (19 ports!) and a tidy storage M.2 enclosure it’s more affordable than its closest rivals. The optical audio port, CompactFlash slot and hot keys are nice extras rarely found on docking stations.

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