Triple 4K HyperDrive – the Great Disappointment

A few months back, I jumped on IndieGoGo and backed the “Triple 4K Display Dock for MacBook Pro 2016-2021“. Having just moved almost fully to Mac, I was looking for a solid dock and this was highly anticipated.

Unboxing the HyperDrive Triple 4K Dock

When I got the HyperDrive 4k, it arrived fairly poorly packed. The box looked like it had been sat on. We all know the state of shipping these days where many packages carriers will play soccer with our packages. There wasn’t anything for foam in the packaging, but it’s an all aluminum dock so it “should have” been ok.

Using the HyperDock Triple 4k

I unboxed it, and it looked great. I plugged it in. Here is where the anticipation went to shit. It’s really simple (in theory). There are two a short cables with the USB-C connection ends on them. I am unsure if they are Thunderbolt 4 cables or if there is any difference in the cable spec at all, but I followed there little guide, and … NOTHING. No power, no data, nothing. I try a few different cables I have laying around, to no avail. Ok, so manufacturing defects happen sometimes; let’s reach out to support.

So Much for Support

Over the last month or so of having the dock, I have reached out to HyperDrive support. They always reply initially within the first day or so. They always ask me to try the same guide for connecting the cables, tell me that they are now closing my support ticket but if I reply, they will reopen it and continue support. However, when I reply, they never re-open the ticket and I’ve had to start a new support ticket.

In short

I spent ~$150 for a dock for my Mac that is a glorified paperweight. That alone could be resolved with decent customer service, and with them sending me a fixed/verified working unit as a replacement. Instead, I get a short first reply that disregards the the actual context of my submission, and then radio silence. What is worse is that they eventually sent an automated email asking me to rate my support. I have yet to fill that out as I want to be honest, and not petty, I am not sure I can keep my emotion out of the equation.

As much as I wanted this to be amazing, it’s broken – and that could be forgiven if the support were there to make it right. I simply cannot recommend this dock.