Glyph Thunderbolt 3 NVMe Dock (1TB)

Okay! So, I was very nervous about purchasing this hard drive hub at first due to the plethora of negative reviews. And let me start by saying the negative reviews are not ill-willed. At first use, you will run into one very damning issue. However, it can be overcome quite simply! A lot of purchasers have complained about the thunderbolt cable not making a connection with the ports, which in turn causes the cable to fall out with only a small wiggle. Others have complained about the drive disconnecting on its own without proper ejection, causing the hard drive to corrupt. The disconnecting is most likely due to the cable not being fully seated in the port. I am able to report that this is true. The cable does not seat completely with the thunderbolt 3 port. My initial thought was that this is just a poor design. However, after further examination, I noticed that the thunderbolt port holes are extended with a plastic cover. It almost appears that this should be removed. And sure enough, I was able to release the cover easily without damaging the plastic clips! Now, the thunderbolt cable can securely connect to the hard drive hub! I have given it a significant wiggle test and the cable does not come out! I'd imagine this would not void your warranty since it was easily removed without damage, but of course proceed at your own risk.The read and write speeds that I've logged seem fair considering I purchased the pre-installed 2TB nvme. I would have purchased the empty hub and installed my own Samsung EVO PRO, but saving $150 with the sale seemed like a good trade off for now. I will eventually upgrade with a faster nvme since other users have reported great r/w speeds in this enclosure. I will update my review when the time comes. But, 1093mb/s write and 1334mb/s read is not bad for an external drive with a thunderbolt hub.Overall, I am very pleased with this hard drive hub. It has a solid build. It doesn't actually get hot enough for you to worry about hard drive damage as some users report. I like that it charges your MacBook. The only reason I am giving it a 4-star review is due to the plastic cover that needs to be un-intuitively removed for the thunderbolt cable to securely connect. Glyph does not mention the plastic cover in the manual as well, so I am unsure why it is there. Would I recommend this hard drive hub? HELL YES! Take advantage of this technology while it's still in production!Edit:The thunderbolt cable still stays connected no problem! I have recently traded in my cheese-grader Mac Pro and i7 MacBook Pro for the new 2019 16” i9 MacBook Pro! This allowed me to use this hub to its fullest potential, as I am now doing all my music production from my MacBook Pro. It’s nice to turn my mobile workstation into an entire studio with just the plug of a single cable! The only issue I have found, is that now my studio monitors are making a hissing interference sound.Current Chain:MacBook(<—87W; thunderbolt 3—>)SSD Hub *psu(thunderbolt 3/2—>)UA Apollo *separate psu(XLR audio—>)Yamaha HS7/8S *separate psuI’m not sure where the interference is coming from, but I am starting to explore more into the issue. I don’t want to say it is directly related to the hub. Though, the interference did appear once I started running the Apollo thunderbolt signal to the SSD hub. I want to root for the is hub, so I will edit this review later with my findings.Edit: I am able to confirm that the audio interference is due to both the MacBook Pro (2019 16") needing to have the thunderbolt cable plugged into the right side of the MacBook and the poor insulation of the included Glyph thunderbolt cable. If you use an Apple branded thunderbolt cable and plug the unit into the right side of the MacBook Pro, the interference distortion is no longer present.So, as a final conclusion, the hub FREAKING ROCKS! I just wish it came with a higher quality thunderbolt cable, but I'm sure this will be no issue for most people.

I was looking for a super-fast storage solution (at least 2TB) for photo and video editing, to supplement my Synology NAS (which was limited to 1Gbps). Since my primary machine is a Macbook Pro, I knew I needed a Thunderbolt dock, and what drew me to the Glyph Atom was that it had an integrated SD card reader, NVMe and ethernet support (less stuff to buy and clutter my desk). I also needed support for Apple's older Thunderbolt displays, and I'm glad to say they work properly with the Atom (using Apple's Thunderbolt 2 => 3 adapter). I've been using the dock now for a few months, and it's been pretty flawless.Here's a couple concerns I had, before buying this unit though:1) I heard many people mention loose connection at the back (and needing to remove the plastic surround for the thunderbolt ports). I do find these ports are not super secure, and I can see how removing the plastic surround might help, but unless you're plugging it in and out very frequently, it seems fine as-is. I kept the plastic piece in place, and I've not had any issues with it accidentally disconnecting, for months.2) I was worried that the Sabrent SSD I bought (SB-ROCKET-2TB) wouldn't fit. With the silicon heat transfer material in place, it is a bit too tight. What I did was just use a sharp knife to shave the silicon material down a bit, and then it fit perfectly fine. I've been running it this way for months, and again no issue with heat or anything.3) I also had concerns that the SSD would be limited to slow speeds by the dock itself. This is somewhat true. The Sabrent Rocket 2280 SSD is PCIe 3.0, capable of about 3000 MB/s in real life. However, with the Glyph Atom, it maxes out at 1300 MB/s. I reached out to their support, and they got back to me very quickly, that this was to be expected, and assured me it's just a limitation of the controller (not a cable issue, as I first suspected). It's a bit of a bummer that it can't take full capability of PCIe 3.0 bandwidth, but 1300 MB/s is still extremely fast and hasn't affected me in day-to-day use (it still feels just as fast as my Macbook Pro's internal SSD).All in all, I've been pretty happy with this purchase, the Glyph Atom has met all my requirements, feels like a professional piece of equipment, and their support has been fantastic. If I had any suggestions for an improved version of this dock, it would be to 1) take full advantage of PCIe 3 speeds (or even PCIe 4), and 2) add a CFExpress slot.

I use the Glyph Thunderbolt 3 dock with Samsung 970 EVO 2TB NVMe SSD as a dedicated Time Machine backup attached to my 27" 2019 iMac. After initial backup it has run flawlessly for 8 days. Each hourly backup has been extremely fast. The unit is quiet (noiseless as you would expect) and only emits a tiny amount of heat. The variety of ports is great.One minor complaint - it is big. Check the dimensions to make sure that your workspace will accommodate the unit.One setup issue - I read in a review that the screws for the NVMe cover were tight and that was accurate (the hold down screw for the SSD as well). I had to use a large phillips head jewelers screwdriver and a pair of pliers to turn it to make sure that I did not strip the screw head. Not sure why Glyph tightens those screws so tightly.I will come back periodically to report on operation.