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At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Rock-solid stability A lovely mix of display ports Superb front-mounted charging options A nice mix of USB-A ports Good performance Cons Way, way overpriced at MSRP Dock gets finicky when connecting to more than two displays Our Verdict If price is no object, Anker’s 778 12-in-1 Thunderbolt dock is one of the best docks you can buy. I love all of its features…just not its price tag. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Anker 778 Thunderbolt Docking Station (12-in-1, Thunderbolt 4) Retailer Price $299.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Anker’s 778 12-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 laptop docking station is superb, with a solid feature set minus a couple of puzzling omissions. It’s simply overpriced. Our sister site, TechAdvisor, has previously reviewed the Anker 778 12-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 docking station. Now it’s moved to the front of my testing queue, too, where I can take a fresh look. As the name suggests, this dock is similar to the Anker 777, a $299 Thunderbolt 4 dock that I was less impressed with. On paper, the 778 is about as flexible a dock as you might like. With a dedicated Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) upstream port, DisplayPort as well as HDMI, chances are that you can connect to an external display or two without the need for an adapter. In fact, if you use the Thunderbolt port as well as two of the other ports, Anker says you’ll be able to connect up to three 4K displays. Four displays is also possible, though with limitations. Even though Thunderbolt 5 should be a 2024-2025 product, the lack of virtually any laptops or docking stations that support the technology makes Thunderbolt 3 and 4 still viable. (One customer on Amazon complained that this dock didn’t work with her Thunderbolt 3 laptop.) In fact, if you don’t really care about running a 4K display at 144Hz, as Thunderbolt 5 allows, this dock will be just fine. It’s just a pricy solution. Further reading: The best Thunderbolt docks On the front of the Anker 778 Thunderbolt 4 docking station are a pair of USB-C slots offering 30W charging.Mark Hachman / IDG There are a couple of features that I’ve always liked about Anker’s docks: The charging ports on the front of the dock are labeled — in this case, two 10Gbps USB-C ports supplying a rated 30W each. I’ve also liked the fact that Anker indicates which ports are which — USB-A ports can be tricky. I wish Anker would have labeled its two “USB 3.0” port on the back with a marker indicating its 5Gbps speed, but the other two USB-A ports at least have a “mouse and keyboard” icon over the top of them to indicate their legacy 480Mbps speeds. Anker’s 778 12-in-1 docking station is excellent, and one I’d absolutely recommend buying if the price fell within the range other docks cost. As it is, Anker charges way too much, even as good as it is. To reiterate, this dock includes two 10Gbps USB-C charging ports (30W) on the front. On the side, Anker includes a somewhat short charging cord, about 27 inches. On the rear, Anker’s dock includes a Thunderbolt 4 upstream port, two DisplayPort 1.4 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, gigabit Ethernet, and four USB-A ports (two 480Mbps, and two 5Gbps). A Kensington lock slot is tucked into the other side. The only two notable omissions? A headphone jack and SD/microSD card slots. I think the latter is of less concern, save for photographers. A headphone jack is optional, especially if you already have a laptop in front of you. But it’s a nice feature whose absence feels a bit out of place. The dock is made out of what appears to be plastic, and it will warm up a bit more than a dock made of metal. It’s rather long at about 8 inches across, and 3 inches deep and an inch high. Anker added a Kensington locking slot to the side of the Anker 778 Thunderbolt 4 docking station. The opposite side houses the Thunderbolt 4 cable.Mark Hachman / IDG Anker is one of the few dock makers that offers a downloadable utility, through which you can update the device firmware. There was an update waiting for me, which promised to clear out a few random bugs. It’s worth noting that even after updating the firmware there were a lot of on-again, off-again disconnections from my connected monitors; if this happens, simply restart your computer. The dock became absolutely stable after that. The Anker 778’s performance is mostly solid Anker allows you to connect two 4K displays at 60Hz via either the HDMI or DisplayPort ports, plus a third 4K display at 60Hz if you connect it to the Thunderbolt port. If you use all four ports (two DisplayPort, HDMI, plus Thunderbolt), Anker says you can connect four 4K displays. Only one will light up at 60Hz, however; the others will use a 30Hz refresh rate instead. You may struggle to get this dock to connect to multiple displays. As a “generic” Thunderbolt 4 dock, connecting to two 4K60 displays, this dock works perfectly well. But adding a third display required downloading the Anker software, rebooting, and fiddling with the display configurator within the Windows settings menu. I typically use a variety of laptops to test docks. In general, more modern hardware is more compatible with a modern dock like the Anker 778, and most laptops with a 12th- or 13th-gen Intel Core chip seemed to do well connecting to the dock, after I downloaded the utility software and rebooted. The rear of the Anker 778 Thunderbolt 4 docking station, with four USB-A ports, an HDMI port, two DisplayPort ports, and an upstream Thunderbolt 4 connection.Mark Hachman / IDG You may have a less satisfactory time with some of the power-sipping laptops that have shipped recently; Microsoft’s Surface Laptop with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip only “saw” two displays. An Asus VivoBook with Intel’s Lunar Lake/Core Ultra 200-series chip would only connect to three displays, period — if I tried to connect it to three external displays, the laptop’s own display shut off. That’s not the way it’s supposed to work! With two 4K displays, this dock was absolutely solid, stability-wise. When I connected three, I felt less certain that the average user would have a good experience, especially with variations in hardware. Four seems like a bridge too far for most setups. Anker’s docks (like the Anker 568 we reviewed last year) have always performed excellently in terms of charging power, and the Anker 778 is no exception. The front charging ports, rated at 30W, still deliver 26W by my measurements, which pushes into fast-charging territory for a smartphone. Traditionally, the upstream Thunderbolt port can double as a charging port. Don’t bother with the USB-A ports, except for bus-powered devices under 5W. The dock itself is rated for 100W power delivery. I usually take a laptop and run a game to push its power draw. On one laptop, power surged to over its rated 100W, which I’ve never seen before — it touched 102W a few times. On another laptop, the power draw was rock-solid at 87W. Either way, the Anker 778 delivers the power your laptop needs, consistently. Anker’s dock doesn’t suffer in the performance category, either. The dock didn’t drop a single frame while playing back a 4K, 60Hz video. My storage tests were maybe a tad low: 126.8MBps, as opposed to the 130- to 132MBps I usually see. (For more, see how I test Thunderbolt docks at PCWorld.) That dropped to 126MBps when I streamed the video at the same time. My file-copy test completed in one minute, five seconds — again, quite normal. Should you buy the Anker 778? I would absolutely buy this docking station. But I would absolutely not spend what Amazon, Anker, and other retailers are asking for it. Too many of our best Thunderbolt docks hover at or around $250, and this goes way above that. Ironically, many vendors on eBay have adopted that price point (or lower) in selling the 778. If you don’t mind buying through eBay, go for it. Otherwise, I’d opt for the Anker 568 instead. The lack of an SD card slot and headphone jack isn’t a dealbreaker. I’m surprised, however, that Anker hasn’t lowered the overall price to attract more business. This is a premium dock of premium quality, but at an ultra-premium price that you might not be willing to pay. Read...

Starting November 12, Windows 10 users have been running into problems when trying to update or uninstall apps. Normally, your first thought would be that such an issue is due to a Windows update… but that’s not the case here! Yesterday, Microsoft officially confirmed the problem and explained that it’s rooted in an update to the WinAppSDK 1.6.2 package, which was published on November 12. As such, this problem — the inability to update or uninstall — only affects apps that are dependent on WinAppSDK. Unfortunately, a lot of apps are. When you try to update an affected app through the Microsoft Store, you’ll see the “Something happened on our end” error message. Currently, this issue affects Microsoft Teams and other third-party apps on Windows 10 22H2. Other versions of Windows 10 and all versions of Windows 11 are immune. Get Windows 11 Pro for cheap Windows 11 Pro Microsoft is aware of the problem and working on a solution, with a footnote stating that a fix will be made available via Windows Update and other methods in “the coming days.” Until then, if you need an immediate workaround and if you have administrator privileges, you can use these PowerShell instructions to fix affected devices and apps. Read...

Apple’s latest MacBook Air is getting the Black Friday treatment, dropping to a new best price of $849 on Amazon, a rare 23 percent off its original $1,099 price. That’s an absolutely lit discount for a laptop that’s only been out for about eight months, and doubly so because Apple tends to be stingy with its sales. This 13.6-inch laptop features Apple’s speedy M3 chip, which is phenomenal for multitasking, streaming content, and even casual gaming. The 16GB of RAM ensures you have a smooth experience no matter what you’re doing. This is a productivity powerhouse. But if there’s one thing that truly sets MacBooks apart from their counterparts, it’s their gorgeous displays equipped with Liquid Retina technology. The latest MacBook Air is no different, delivering vibrant colors and sharp details and an overall great viewing experience. Also worth noting is this laptop’s incredible battery life. Apple claims you can get up to 18 hours of active use on a full charge, so you won’t have to worry about taking the charger with you if you decide to work out of a coffee shop, for instance. This is a stunning early Black Friday deal that you don’t want to miss, especially if you’ve been eyeing a MacBook Air for a while. Save $250 on this MacBook Air M3 on Amazon while you still can! This MacBook Air M3 is the perfect Black Friday treatBuy now on Amazon Read...

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The Trump administration will arrive in Washington this coming January with an enormous question mark over its head: Will Trump deliver on his promise to impose tariffs of up to 60 percent, and how will that affect the technology products that Americans buy? The short answer? No one really knows. For now, however, we have to take Trump’s words at face value, even if Trump eventually changes his mind. And if we do that, we can point you to where you’ll be paying more. Specifically, Trump’s statements indicate that two tariffs would be imposed: a flat tariff of about 10 percent on all imports, plus an additional 60 percent tariff on goods imported from China. The Consumer Technology Association has estimated that, based on current levels and patterns of trade, the effective tariff on Chinese goods will go up as high as 80.6 percent. Major consumer organizations, though, have begun calculating what these tariffs will cost American consumers. Prior to the election, the Consumer Technology Association said that the tariffs would raise laptop and tablet prices by 46 percent. On Nov. 4, the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimated that prices on “household appliances” would rise by 19 to 31 percent, and the price of toys would rise between 36 and 56 percent. The Center for American Progress (CAP) calculates that the average American family will pay up to $3,900 more per year, across the board, under the plan. Though Congress has the power to impose tariffs, it can cede the power to the President. Trump used Section 301 of the Trade Act during his first term, when he levied a smaller “retaliatory” tariff against Chinese imports (specifically solar panels, steel, and consumer goods), which the Tax Foundation considered to be a $80 billion tax hike on the American taxpayer, according to the Tax Foundation. However, President Biden left virtually all of those tariffs in place, the organization found. The National Retail Federation has projected two scenarios: a 10% or 20% tariff imposed on every country, and either a 70% or 120% tariff imposed on Chinese goods. The estimated effects of both are listed here. What is a tariff? A tariff is a fee imposed by a government to import goods. Economically, it’s a lever that a government can pull to push its citizens into buying more domestically. It works most effectively, however, when the countries in question both produce a common good, such as wheat. If a country like China manufactures a television or motherboard that an American citizen can’t buy from an American manufacturer, the American buyer has no choice; they must pay the tariff regardless. Here’s the way a tariff works: A tariff is a fee imposed at the point of entry. If a retailer wants to import a Chinese-made Blu-ray player, that retailer will buy the player for a certain cost — say, $100. At U.S. customs, the tariff is imposed: If the retailer wants to import that player, it must pay (in this case) 60 percent of the cost, or $60. (Foreign shippers, such as a Chinese company, do not pay the tariffs.) The retailer is going to resell the Blu-ray player for a markup, anyway — let’s assume 30 percent. If there was no tariff, the consumer would pay $100+ 30 percent, or $130, for the right to run down to Best Buy or Target and pick up the player. Retailers aren’t likely to absorb the cost that any tariffs bring.Best Buy With the tariff, the retailer has to make a choice: Absorb the cost of the tariff and sell the player at or near the original price of $130, or pass along the tariff’s cost to the consumer. Given that a retailer has an obligation to make money, the common belief is that the retailer would opt for the latter choice and make the consumer pay. Now, our hypothetical Blu-ray player costs $100 plus the tariff’s 60 percent ($160), plus the 30 percent retailer markup: $208. That’s a difference of $78 from the original, pre-tariff price to the higher, post-tariff price. “In brief, we find that the additional costs associated with these proposed tariffs would be too large for U.S. retailers to absorb and, when passed on to consumers, would result in prices higher than many consumers would be willing or able to pay,” the NRF said. “Some consumers would stop purchasing the items and demand would fall.” Whether you characterize the tariff as an effective tax, as CAP does, or simply inflationary, the simple answer is that the Trump tariffs will likely raise prices. What will Trump’s tariffs do to the price of tech products? That’s the simple math. The problem is that electronics manufacturing is anything but simple. Companies like Plugable have already made contingency plans to leave China, though tariffs really didn’t play a part.Mark Hachman / IDG Laptops, smartphones, and other complex electronic devices contain varying numbers of components, many of them sourced from China — but also from Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and elsewhere in Asia. Some peripherals — especially peripherals like USB-C hubs, for example — ship directly to Amazon, produced by a variety of small Chinese startups. Intel manufactures its chips in countries like Israel, Ireland, and others, but packages them in still other countries, such as Malaysia. Tariffs are still assessed, whether on the individual components or the finished goods. Other companies, such as peripherals maker Plugable, have moved their operations out of China. Plugable moved because of intellectual property concerns, but a variety of reasons have prompted manufacturers to distance themselves from China, IDC analyst Phil Solis wrote in an email. (IDC is owned by IDG, which owns PCWorld.) “It is important to note that because of the tariffs introduced in President-elect Trump’s first term and kept in place by the Biden administration, the supply chain disruption from the global COVID-19 pandemic, countries looking to increase manufacturing jobs, and the potential for an escalation of the trade war, companies have already been shifting manufacturing to other countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, India, and Brazil,” Solis wrote. “The semiconductor ecosystem has seen chip fabs being built in countries around the world with government investments to help,” Solis added. “If tariffs were to focus only on China, the effects would be lessened overall by the fact that many companies have already shifted manufacturing to other countries from China or are planning to do so because of President-elect Trump’s statements about tariffs.” The Consumer Technology Association’s estimates on how much the proposed Trump tariffs will cost the average U.S. family.Consumer Technology Association The CTA found that the current tariff on lithium-ion batteries — currently the highest the CTA tracked, at 5.9 percent — would go up to 50.5 percent under the new plan. Laptops and tablets would go from zero to 57.3 percent. Video games could be the hardest hit, with tariffs that would increase from zero to 62 percent. That will raise prices across the board, the CTA estimated. The average laptop price will increase by $357. Oddly, the CTA was much more optimistic in terms of desktops, as prices might only increase by $74. Here, though, the tariffs would have their desired effect, as Chinese imports would essentially vanish. The price of computer monitors, many of which are imported from China, would increase by 31 percent or an average of $109. Smartphone prices would increase by $213 (if a price of $816 is used as a baseline), the CTA found. Smartwatch prices would jump $37. Television prices might only go up $48 — but the cheapest TVs, such as those made by Chinese brands like TCL, might face relatively steep price increases. But it’s the price of video-game consoles that tech enthusiasts should worry about, with tariff costs potentially adding $246 to the total price. Consumer Technology Association The NRF didn’t focus on consumer tech products, per se. Its examination of “household appliances” comes closest, with its estimates of prices for items like refrigerators, toasters, and ovens. Still, consumers are likely to pay between $126 to $202 more for a $650 refrigerator, the NRF found. Can tariffs be avoided? Yes, they can, if only because Trump is a negotiator. As Bloomberg noted, Apple chief executive Tim Cook essentially talked Apple out of the first Trump tariffs simply by flying to Trump’s New Jersey golf club and making his case. But that strategy has only seemed to work when individual company executives meet Trump one-on-one. For now, tech companies haven’t had to answer the tough questions on how they plan to weather any Trump tariffs. Election Day (Nov. 5) fell shortly after major chipmakers like AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm reported earnings, which are accompanied by a routine grilling of executives by Wall Street analysts. Next up is Nvidia, which reports earnings on Nov. 20, followed by Dell on Nov. 26. Meanwhile, contract manufacturer and iPhone builder Foxconn said Thursday, Nov. 14 that it’s diversifying its supply chain, and its chairman said that “it’s uncertain” what policies Trump will implement. Foxconn was the crown jewel of a 2017 plan to bring foreign manufacturing to the U.S., under Trump. It went bust. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that corporations will keep prices down, even if they’re not subject to tariffs — one of the underlying issues of the Biden presidency. Could this year’s Black Friday be the last before tariffs kick in?Amazon, Apple Snopes.com pointed out a 2020 economic paper that found that the price of clothes dryers rose by about 12 percent in 2012 and 2016, when the U.S. placed antidumping duties, or tariffs, on China and South Korea. The problem? Washing machines were the subject of the tariffs, not dryers. But dryer prices went up anyway. Preventing that is up to U.S. government agencies like the Federal Trade Commission…which may or may not face cuts by the new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. There are other corollary costs consumers could face: Proposed tariffs on cars imported from Mexico, and the phasing out of the federal tax credit for electric vehicles. Mario Morales, another IDC analyst, said he’s more concerned about the potential effects of the CHIPS Act, which hasn’t really paid out any substantial amounts of funding — and that Trump has promised to rework. What about immigration? That’s left even more uncertainty in the supply chain. There’s even the very real possibility of a tariff war or trade war, where other countries place tariffs on American goods. U.S. exports then fall, hurting American companies. But it might not be China that imposes it, but Trump. In 2023, Trump suggested levying the exact same tariff other countries place on the U.S., as a retaliatory measure. Basically, we don’t know for sure what will happen. That’s left some in the industry scratching their heads, wondering whether tariffs will turn out to be another Trump bluff, or the last opportunity to grab a bargain during Black Friday 2024 before prices jump hundreds of dollars next year. Is normalcy still a possibility? Analysts hope so. “Hopefully cooler heads prevail over time,” IDC’s Morales said. Read...