Sorry, I should have said. I’m running Windows. I considered Linux, but the video and photo editing programs I had planned to use both are Windows only, and Windows allow me to more easily play some older strategy games I really enjoy. So I decided to just go with Windows for now.
If I get a chance tonight (and can find a displayport cable), I’ll try hooking up a second monitor to see how it goes. The other monitors I have access to are 1920x1200, so I won’t be able to try anything higher resolution than that.
Just tried it with two external monitors. Worked great, no problems. I had both external monitors and the built-in display running, with the display “extended” to all monitors. All were running at native resolution and refresh rate (laptop 2560x1600-165Hz, external monitor 1 at 3840x2160-60Hz, external monitor two at 1920x1200-60Hz). No additional power required for the hub/dock.
Again, FW 16, running Windows (latest BIOS and driver package), using the Anker 556 USB 4 hub. The hub was connected to the laptop with the included USB C cable (USB 4 speed rated).
I use the same dock and also with a 3440x1440p monitor funnily enough, and I can say it works perfectly well with both Linux and Windows. All ports function correctly.
I do sometimes plug the monitor in directly to the GPU instead of going through the dock. I can set my monitor to 240Hz this way while going through the dock tops out at 60Hz.
Given that the Anker 556 has some evidence of working, what is the consensus on the Anker 564’s chance at working? Notably it has two Displayport outputs which is perfect for me.
The product page for the Anker 564 says it’s “designed for Pro MacBook users” and that, based on the earlier comments from @Kyle_Reis, makes me think it won’t work well?
Yup, I have the dGPU. My use of the dock so far was for video editing in Davinci Resolve and the dGPU was beging utilized. The hub was plugged into port 1, I believe. The left port, closest to the display.
Amazing, thanks again for the answers. N.B.: You might want to clarify the same in the Docking Station Megathread too, before anyone asks there also.
I ordered the Anker 556 USB 4 hub. It has 4 USB ports which is exactly the amount I need. It has 1 HDMI and 1 DisplayPort which I can live with no problem - don’t really care too much here. Might as well upgrade my monitors too (cheap ones) since I’ve upgraded everything else so significantly.
Worst case if the Anker 556 does not work with my setup for whatever reason, I can return it within 14 days. Hoping that won’t be the case. That would be ridiculously bad luck.
That one actually uses a DisplayLink chip, which is essentially the “Jack of All Trades Master of None” in terms of working with a variety of systems.
A DisplayLink chip is essentially a dedicated GPU that has been cut down to the bare minimum for handling displays. It then communicates with the system’s main GPU over the USB protocol, allowing the main GPU to do 98% of the work while the DisplayLink chip just handles outputting the signal to the display.
I’ve found DisplayLink to work acceptably as long as not too much is changing on screen (a video of confetti however just becomes a mess due to the bandwidth limitations of the communication between the DisplayLink chip and the main GPU), however many people have complained about driver issues with those as well as mediocre stability.
The main reason to use DisplayLink is that it can bypass normal laptop limitation. In fact it should work on any of the 6 side ports of the Framework Laptop 16 (yes, even the ones that Framework says don’t support display output).
Basically there are 3-4 different ways for USB-C docks to connect to multiple external monitors:
Send multiple DisplayPort signals over USB-C: Supported by Intel and by many (not all) Mac systems.
Send a single higher bandwidth DisplayPort signal over USB-C and seamlessly split it using MST: Supported by Intel and AMD.
Use an eGPU to connect to external monitors: Supported by any system with the necessary drivers and PCIe tunneling.
Use a DisplayLink chip to connect to external monitors: Essentially a very simplified and cut down eGPU that can work over USB rather than PCIe. Supported by any system with the necessary drivers, however may introduce some latency, visual artifacts, and other limitations.
Usually when a dock is marketed as for MacOS it uses either the first method (because with most Macs that method works best) or sometimes the last method (lower tier Macs don’t support more than 1 external monitors total so DisplayLink is necessary for bypassing that limitation).
I’m wondering if some the compatibility issues are not because of the TB4/USB4 hardware, but the display hardware in these docks. I was looking the Caldigit’s “Element Hub” which is just a TB4/USB4 hub, and just buying extra Framework modules for display, network, etc. Actually a hub/dock built to use FW modules sounds interesting.
Or even better: A hub from framework to use those modules built around the 180W power supply. One cable to the notebook for both dock and high power charging. And a very compact power supply/dock combo.
Do USB-C hubs with power delivery 3.1 even exist yet? All I can find is PD 3.0
If they did exist, it would only need a couple couple cables and some velcro (or 3D-printed adapter) to pair them up with the framework 180W chargers I’ve already got.
Afaik the only one is the hub built into the Lenovo Legion Y34wz-30 monitor, however that hub can’t be purchased or used independently of the monitor (since it’s built in) and is only capable of 140w PD 3.1.
I can confirm that the Anker 568 works perfectly. I did have to update the firmware, which requires running the Anker dock manager app on windows or Mac, but afterwards it has worked flawlessly with my framework 16.
I was actually looking at the 
Might as well upgrade my monitors too (cheap ones) since I’ve upgraded everything else so significantly.