LINEDOCK was devised to solve a problem, and that problem was the lack of ports on MacBooks from 2016 onwards. The original LINEDOCK 13″ fulfilled the brief and was a lifesaver for MacBook Pro 13-inch owners, as Apple deemed that two USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 ports would suffice.
However, being left with just two ports was a real pain and before LINEDOCK 13″ MacBook Pro users would find that once they’d plugged in power and card reader, there were no ports left to plug in anything else. Ok, you could of course unplug the power, but constantly swapping cables is not an ideal scenario.
LINEDOCK 13″ enabled you to plug in your MacBook Pro 13″ with one cable and then plug in all your accessories into the LINEDOCK, genius.
The LINEDOCK 13″s arrival helped saved time, but it was also far more than a standard dock with an internal hard drive and battery. That meant that it would greatly extend the laptops battery life and storage, which was often meagre.
Now, LINEDOCK 16″ is ready to ship and brings a host of updated features and builds on the foundation of the original LINEDOCK 13″.
The new LINEDOCK 16″ again features an internal battery that will extend the usable time of your laptop away from mains power. This is a major feature for all photographers working out in the field, especially if you’re tethering.
A feature I really like is that the new model reflects the design of the MacBook Pro, it’s been truly designed to partner. Side-by-side, the LINEDOCK and MacBook Pro look very similar with the same space grey finish and slimline profile.
Our test of the LINEDOCK 16″ is well underway; we’ll bring you the full review shortly, but for now, I can say it’s an impressive piece of kit and perfectly aligned with the Wandrd Pryke 31 backpack I looked at a week or so back. This backpack features a dual laptop insert so ideal for the MacBook Pro and LINEDOCK 16″ to sit comfortably side-by-side.
For now, full details of the specification of the LINEDOCK are still to arrive, but with a unit on my desk, the full review will appear soon.
What I do know so far is the hard drive in the version we have is a 1TB SATA 6; this gives transfer speeds up to 600MB/s, more than enough for most HD and some 4K editing needs, but ideal for onsite back-up and additional storage when you need it.
When it comes to ports, there are three USB Type-A ports (3.0/3.1 – to be confirmed), one USB Type-C (Thunderbolt 3/4 TBC). The back is an HDMI, USB type-C (Thunderbolt 3/4 TBC); this is where the mains power connects and a display port. On the final side is another USB type-C (Thunderbolt 3/4 TBC) and two SD card slots (UHS-I / UHS-II TBC)
For more information on the Linedoc 16-inch and to purchase your check out linedock.co/pages/macbook-15in-docking-station