Matrox announces the DS1 Thunderbolt Docking Station

4 June, 2012 - Paul Dixon
Matrox DS1 Thunderbolt dock

Matrox has today announced the Matrox DS1, a Thunderbolt dock aimed at MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Ultrabook owners. Priced at $249 (£169), the DS1 is a cheaper alternative to Belkin’s $299 (around £200) Thunderbolt Express Dock, but lacks a couple of features that could be deal breakers for some potential customers.

The Matrox DS1 has two USB 2.0 ports, one high-speed USB 3.0 port, a full-sized DVI connector, microphone input, speaker/headphone output, and a single Thunderbolt port which is used to connect the dock to your laptop.

Matrox Thunderbolt docking station

As the DS1 only has the one Thunderbolt port, you won’t be able to daisy-chain additional Thunderbolt devices, and it also lacks a FireWire 800 port. Both of those capabilities are available with Belkin’s Thunderbolt Express Dock, which despite the absence of USB 3.0, DVI or audio input/output ports, looks to be a more attractive option.

Both the Matrox DS1 Thunderbolt Docking Station, and the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock, will be available to purchase in September.

Update: Belkin has now announced changes to the spec and price of their Thunderbolt dock.

[Via: The Verge]

About the author

Paul Dixon is the owner of Macsessed. He lives in Lancashire in the UK where he works as a web designer. You can find him on and Twitter.