OWC announces production of Thunderbolt 4 docking hub . It succeeds Thunderbolt 3 which only supported 2 ports. This is a major advantage for those who have more than one Thunderbold device to connect to their computer.
Thunderbolt 4 Features
This hub has 4 ports. It provides 40 Gbps bandwidth. The current implementation of Thunderbolt 4 in Intel's Tiger Lake processors allows for only one such port per system. Which is not at all sufficient for those who use more than one Thunderbolt device. OWC therefore offers the ultimate solution to have more Thunderbolt ports.
The OWC Thunderbolt Hub has a Thunderbolt 4 port to connect to its host at 40 Gbps , 3 Thunderbolt USB-C ports to connect 3 other Thunderbolt devices, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 and a DC-IN 20V/5 power supply ,5A. The hub can deliver up to 60W of power to its host, 15W of power to each of the Thunderbolt 4 ports, and 5W to its USB-A connector. The device can cascade other Thunderbolt hubs. This allows you to have more than 5 ports available, or even more.
What controller does OWC use?
OWC did not provide further details on the controller used. But since Intel only has one Thunderbolt 4 controller for accessories: the JHL8440 , it is very likely that OWC will use this chip. The Intel JHL8440 primarily acts as a switch that splits a Thunderbolt 4 into 3 independent Thunderbolt USB-C branches and can daisy chain different peripherals. You can connect an external graphics card, storage drives, etc. to it. Input and output devices are also supported: keyboard, mouse etc. These can use the USB-A port.
You can pre-order this hub on the OWC website for a price of €167 including delivery.
