Can Thunderbolt docks supply extra power to multiple bus powered devices?

[tonysiciliano1]

Can somebody educate me about how Thunderbolt docks work? Specificially, suppose I want to run multiple bus powered Thunderbolt 3 SSDs off my Mac laptop. I'm assuming at some point a Thunderbolt port would run out of enough juice to power "x" number of devices. Can you purchase a dock that will supply the needed power to the bus powered devices? I have read that docks can charge a laptop, or that they come with USB ports that will charge, but haven't found anything about Thunderbolt 3 ports supplying power to bus powered devices. Any recommendations? Thanks.

[mcbroomf]

Can somebody educate me about how Thunderbolt docks work? Specificially, suppose I want to run multiple bus powered Thunderbolt 3 SSDs off my Mac laptop. I'm assuming at some point a Thunderbolt port would run out of enough juice to power "x" number of devices. Can you purchase a dock that will supply the needed power to the bus powered devices? I have read that docks can charge a laptop, or that they come with USB ports that will charge, but haven't found anything about Thunderbolt 3 ports supplying power to bus powered devices. Any recommendations? Thanks.

I don't use a TB dock/hub for my TB3 devices but a look at the newer TB4 hub from OWC suggests that this one might (about 1/2 way down the page).  Perhaps worth contacting them to see what the specs are for power delivery.
https://www.owcdigital.com/products/thunderbolt-hub

[rdonson]

Take a look at CalDigit offerings.

https://www.caldigit.com/usb-c-hdmi-dock/

[Joe Towner]

Thunderbolt 3 devices can draw up to 15w before they need their own power supply.  So the question is what are you plugging in and how much does it draw?  Single drive TB3 NVMe enclosures I wouldn't worry about.

Check this out - https://www.anandtech.com/show/15091/owc-envoy-pro-ex-thunderbolt-3-and-plugable-tbt3nvme2tb-portable-ssds-review/4

From the article, power consumption by a NVMe TB3 drive is about 7w when active, and around 2.5w at idle.

So you can have 4 drives all connected & be fine.  OWC has a powered TB4 hub on the way, but it's still in pre-order status.

-Joe

[BAB]

Be careful of the stated specs the PD output must deliver 100w for use with 2019 MacBook Pro I’m currently running a Lauco hub it’s finicky when connected to a big screen, Wacom, drives and 30” monitor woks most of the time it also runs very hot.
Not sure with the newest MacBook max if I’ll even ever need a hub?

https://www.lauco.co/