Consumers may not be clamoring for Thunderbolt accessories, but considering the number of products that continue to be introduced, we have to imagine there’s a market for them at the professional level. The latest is CalDigit’s Thunderbolt Station ($199). Much like Belkin’s long-delayed, finally-released Thunderbolt Express Dock, this breakout box turns a single Thunderbolt connection into a handful of useful ports.
Thunderbolt Station is housed in aluminum, with ports on both its face and back. On the front, you’ll find audio in, audio out, and a single USB 3.0 port. Flipping around to the back, there are two more USB ports, a pair of Thunderbolt ports, an HDMI output, LAN connection, and AC power. We see something like this as being most useful when paired with a MacBook Air, which is missing many of these outputs.
