Apple's MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are remarkable laptops, but they don't make for the best desktop alternatives right out of the box. Like Henry Ford's Model T, which gave you a choice of colors (so long as you chose black), modern MacBooks give you your choice of ports, so long as they are Thunderbolt ports.
Apple uses oval-shaped Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 ports on its various laptops. Check out our primers on Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 to learn what makes Thunderbolt different from USB-C.
Thunderbolt and wireless connectivity are perfectly serviceable for most mobile professionals while they're out and about. But many offices around the globe still rely on legacy ports such as HDMI and USB 3.0, not to mention SD card readers and Ethernet for wired connections. And these days, with a goodly portion of commuting and business travel replaced by wearing a path in the carpet between your home office and the kitchen, flexibility matters more than ever. At certain times, you want to work on a single laptop screen in the living room, and at others, you buckle down at a desk with a more elaborate multi-screen setup and desktop peripherals.
If you don't want to rely on a whole host of USB-C adapters or dongles back at your desk, a docking station can be your best solution short of buying a desktop Mac. This guide to the top MacBook docking stations for your Apple laptop will help you find the desktop peripheral setup that's right for you. (For a higher-level overview of docking-station options, check out our deep-dive guide to how to pick a laptop docking station.) Note that some docks have compatibility lists for certain models of MacBook; with the M3-based MacBooks emerging, be sure to check for the latest compatibility claims for your specific model before you buy.
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