this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2024
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Can you break this down?
The 2017 model pictured in this post supported Thunderbolt 3, which was a 40 gbps connection. Supported display modes included up to 4k@120, 2x4k@60, or 5k@60, which was better than the then-standard HDMI 2.0.
What combination of resolution, frame rate, and color depth are you envisioning that having a dock handle a gigabit Ethernet connection, analog audio would require scaling down the display resolution through the same port?
By 2021, the MacBook Pros were supporting TB4, and the spec sheets on third party docking stations were supporting 8k resolutions, even if Macs themselves only supported 6k, or up to 4x4k.
Even if we talk about DisplayPort Alt Mode, a VESA standard developed in 2014, and supported in the 2017 models pictured in this post, that's just a standard DP connection, which in 2017 supported HDR 5k@60. But didn't support a whole separate dock with networking and USB ports.
Right, for a single device.
Dual 4k120 would already saturate the bandwith. Regarding networking, gigabit is pretty slow for LAN depending on your workload. If you were to require 10gbit, you'd be SOL.
Did you read the specs in your link? Even with that TB4 dock you wouldn't be able to do dual 4k120.
I really don't get trying to justify manufacturers forcing you to buy an additional device to get the same ports they could provide natively without using a hub/dock. It's a pretty submissive attitude.
What would you use to drive dual 4k/120 displays over a single cable, if not Thunderbolt over USB-C? And what 2017 laptops were capable of doing that?
Even if we're talking about two different cables over two different ports, that's still a pretty unusual use case that not a lot of laptops would've been capable of in 2017.
4k120 panels weren't even available in 2017 afaik. But you could do dual 4k120 with one hdmi 2.1 and 1 displayport 1.4 so just need 2 video outputs from your laptop (which used to be pretty common).
Please note that we're having this discussion in 2024 and I'm talkimg about use cases in 2024. I don't really see the point in talking about what you would theoretically do 6 years ago with panels that weren't even available.