Even M1 Mac owners can have 3 displays with this Ugreen docking station

anyone who has used macbook or any USB-C only laptop It seems to be familiar with “Dongle Life”. While we wait for the world to USB-C everything, we often have to rely on an array of adapters to support older or less compatible peripherals and displays.

Many M1 Mac users have the unfortunate headache of realizing that their multi-monitor ambitions have been foiled by Apple limiting the M1 chip to a single monitor (for MacBooks) or two displays. Did. (If you have an M1 Mac Mini).

While I recently featured Accelell’s Thunderbolt 4 dock (Thunderbolt is a very fast and versatile type of USB-C.) It can solve all these problems for Windows PC users, but what makes that great unit versatile is the M1 Mac users. One feature was missing.

This option from Ugreen makes up for that shortcoming by adding DisplayLink support, allowing the M1 to do things even Apple didn’t intend. Find out why this combination of features makes the Ugreen USB-C Multifunction Docking Station the ideal companion for your Mac or Windows PC.

The Ugreen Multifunction Docking Station Pro provides a total of 12 ports between the front and rear connection arrays. Like most USB-C docking stations, it offers an easy way to turn your laptop into a full-fledged desktop workstation by simply plugging in a single cable.

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The front port (pictured above) includes a single 10Gbps USB-C port, most commonly used as a connection point for laptops. But you also get quick access to a headphone/mic combo port, an SD/TF card reader, and an extra USB-A port for those pesky mice, keyboards, or other peripherals that stick to older standards.

The docking station has the following ports on the back:

• Two 5Gbps USB-A ports for peripherals such as mice, keyboards, webcams and printers
• 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps port (for connecting laptop or other devices on the back)
• 1 PD 3.0 20V/5A backwards compatible power delivery port for connecting the USB-C power adapter or other power source that came with your laptop
• 1 Gigabit Ethernet port
• 3 video output ports: 1 HDMI 8K @ 30Hz (backward compatible with 4K @60Hz), 1 HDMI 4K @60Hz, 1 DisplayPort (DP) 4K @60Hz

All of this translates into the ability to run triple display setups with hardwired LAN connectivity, a host of USB-C and USB-A peripherals, and power supplies. All of this is done via the single included Thunderbolt 4 cable. This is not ideal if you don’t already have a USB-C based power adapter from your laptop. For example, the owner of his MagSafe-based MacBook and Mac Mini user should probably buy one. 3rd party USB-C charger It says it is compatible with laptop models.

At this point, you might say, “Wait… my M1 MacBook/Mini can’t support a triple monitor setup, what do you mean?” Usually that is true. But this is where DisplayLink comes into play. With this technology, you can run an extra monitor on almost any Windows or MacOS system by essentially creating a virtual GPU (video card) output.

For the M1 MacBook Air and M1 Mac Mini tested with this dock, the installation process consisted of: Install the driver from Synaptics (the makers of DisplayLink) websiteAfter a simple installation, I tested both HDMI and DP displays at various resolutions. They all show up just fine in the standard Displays section of the MacOS Settings app, and they and a monitor connected natively via either the Mac’s single Thunderbolt video output or the Mac Mini’s single HDMI output. There was no discernible difference between

Of course, the Ugreen Multifunction Docking Station Pro is by no means the cheapest solution. It accomplishes much of the same thing by significantly reducing the expense of using a combination of several separate adapters, dongles, and cables. But most of what you’re paying for here is the extreme convenience this single monolithic unit offers. It’s meant to be a single home for all your connectivity and adaptation needs, and it worked very well in my testing.

When you head to your desk at the end of a long, tiring day and can connect to a dozen or so peripherals with just that one cable, you start to feel that the money you spent on it is worth it. . This is even more true for M1 Mac users who may struggle to reach their full setup goals without a DisplayLink-enabled adapter like this one.