@gioelandiathe 130W version can pass up to 90W through to attached systems. The 180W version can pass up to 130W through to attached systems (but only 90W to non-Dell systems). For an XPS 15 you'd need the 180W version. I'm not sure what a 16" MacBook Pro requires or how it would behave with a Dell dock. I know that the 15" MacBook Pro used an 87W charger but was designed to draw that at a non-standard voltage slightly higher than 20V, I think 20.4V, and the Apple 87W charger was designed to supply that (and ironically did NOT support some more common USB PD voltage levels, like 15V). This caused some compatibility or reduced functionality issues when using the 15" MBP with third-party chargers and using Apple's charger with other USB-C devices. Not sure if anything has changed for the new 16" MBP.
Yes, the Power button on the dock acts as an external Power button for the system and behaves identically to the system's internal Power button, including being able to power it up from shutdown, wake it up from sleep, and even force shutdown by holding the Power button down for a few seconds. But this only works with systems that actually support this, which is many but not all Dell systems. The XPS 15 supports this. The reason it doesn't work with every system is because there isn't a single industry standard for an external Power button, and surprisingly Dell hasn't even implemented support for this across their own entire product line. Current Inspiron systems seem not to support this, for example.
The two differences between the WD19 and Thunderbolt-capable WD19TB are that a) the WD19TB includes an "upstream" Thunderbolt port to allow you to attach another Thunderbolt peripheral, and b) the fact that the WD19TB uses Thunderbolt gives it access to much more display bandwidth from the host system. The WD19 with most systems on the market today that only support DisplayPort HBR2 over USB-C, which includes the XPS 15 models, can only run dual displays up to 1920x1200 each or a single 2560x1600 display (or 4K but only at 30 Hz). The WD19TB can run dual displays up to 4K 60 Hz each. With systems that support DisplayPort HBR3 over USB-C, the regular WD19 can support somewhat better display capabilities (dual 2560x1600 or a single 4K 60 Hz display), but the WD19TB is still even better, and the XPS 15 models available as of this writing don't support HBR3. The WD19TB is also backward compatible with non-Thunderbolt systems at a functionality level equivalent to a regular WD19. It also comes as standard with a 180W power supply.
You might find it useful to check the manuals for each dock for more information. You can find them at support.dell.com by searching the dock model and then going to the Documentation section.
@gioelandia ok I just checked the specs of the 16" MacBook Pro and it seems to come with a 96W USB-C power source. I haven't tried to figure out what voltage level is used for that output or whether the system will make the best use of a source that provides 20V even if the MBP uses some other level with its own charger, but the Dell docks I mentioned only ever supply 90W to non-Dell systems. If the MBP will use all 90W, which I'm not certain about, then the 6W shortfall shouldn't make a meaningful difference during regular usage. Worst case your battery might charge a bit more slowly, because laptops most of the time don't draw anywhere near as much power as their power adapter can supply. But if the 16" MBP indicates that it's drawing significantly less power than that from the Dell dock, then you could just connect your MBP charger in addition to the dock and it should use that as its power source. It's a bit less convenient of course, but it should work.
I can confirm having a MacBook 16" and it charges steadily at 90W.
Unfortunately, the power button doesn't do anything, but Apple's weird implementation doesn't allow you to sleep/ power off the device with the TouchID button anyway, so that might have something to do with it.
If having doubts for pairing a WD19 with a MacBook 16", let me tell you that everything works, much more reliably than with a regular usb-c dock, as I had a high quality one before, but it wasn't as stable as the WD19.
There are a few drawbacks though: - sometimes you have to plug the dock twice (plug-unplug-plug) for the Display-ports to work - the button doesn't do anything. - the unit gets a little hot, but thankfully it has a decently-quiet fan (could be better, could be worse)
@kriskate great news, thanks for sharing this! The issue with the Power button is that there's no industry-wide standard for an external Power button, so using the WD19's Power button requires firmware-level support from the system, and in fact even some Dell systems that otherwise work fine with the WD19 can't be controlled with that Power button because it seems Dell hasn't implemented that firmware-level support across their entire product line. The Inspiron systems seem to be the ones that are frequently out of luck in this regard. It's also nice to see somebody reporting the WD19 is quiet, because myself and others have found that some WD19s seem to run their fans at maximum speed (which is quite loud) for no apparent reason, even while the attached system is asleep. We're all hoping for a firmware update to address this soon, because it's quite annoying. There's a thread over here about that.
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
1
March 23rd, 2020 07:00
@gioelandiathe 130W version can pass up to 90W through to attached systems. The 180W version can pass up to 130W through to attached systems (but only 90W to non-Dell systems). For an XPS 15 you'd need the 180W version. I'm not sure what a 16" MacBook Pro requires or how it would behave with a Dell dock. I know that the 15" MacBook Pro used an 87W charger but was designed to draw that at a non-standard voltage slightly higher than 20V, I think 20.4V, and the Apple 87W charger was designed to supply that (and ironically did NOT support some more common USB PD voltage levels, like 15V). This caused some compatibility or reduced functionality issues when using the 15" MBP with third-party chargers and using Apple's charger with other USB-C devices. Not sure if anything has changed for the new 16" MBP.
Yes, the Power button on the dock acts as an external Power button for the system and behaves identically to the system's internal Power button, including being able to power it up from shutdown, wake it up from sleep, and even force shutdown by holding the Power button down for a few seconds. But this only works with systems that actually support this, which is many but not all Dell systems. The XPS 15 supports this. The reason it doesn't work with every system is because there isn't a single industry standard for an external Power button, and surprisingly Dell hasn't even implemented support for this across their own entire product line. Current Inspiron systems seem not to support this, for example.
The two differences between the WD19 and Thunderbolt-capable WD19TB are that a) the WD19TB includes an "upstream" Thunderbolt port to allow you to attach another Thunderbolt peripheral, and b) the fact that the WD19TB uses Thunderbolt gives it access to much more display bandwidth from the host system. The WD19 with most systems on the market today that only support DisplayPort HBR2 over USB-C, which includes the XPS 15 models, can only run dual displays up to 1920x1200 each or a single 2560x1600 display (or 4K but only at 30 Hz). The WD19TB can run dual displays up to 4K 60 Hz each. With systems that support DisplayPort HBR3 over USB-C, the regular WD19 can support somewhat better display capabilities (dual 2560x1600 or a single 4K 60 Hz display), but the WD19TB is still even better, and the XPS 15 models available as of this writing don't support HBR3. The WD19TB is also backward compatible with non-Thunderbolt systems at a functionality level equivalent to a regular WD19. It also comes as standard with a 180W power supply.
You might find it useful to check the manuals for each dock for more information. You can find them at support.dell.com by searching the dock model and then going to the Documentation section.
gioelandia
3 Posts
0
March 23rd, 2020 08:00
Thank you @jphughan, you cleared up many of my doubts.
Very kind and complete answer!
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
0
March 23rd, 2020 08:00
@gioelandia ok I just checked the specs of the 16" MacBook Pro and it seems to come with a 96W USB-C power source. I haven't tried to figure out what voltage level is used for that output or whether the system will make the best use of a source that provides 20V even if the MBP uses some other level with its own charger, but the Dell docks I mentioned only ever supply 90W to non-Dell systems. If the MBP will use all 90W, which I'm not certain about, then the 6W shortfall shouldn't make a meaningful difference during regular usage. Worst case your battery might charge a bit more slowly, because laptops most of the time don't draw anywhere near as much power as their power adapter can supply. But if the 16" MBP indicates that it's drawing significantly less power than that from the Dell dock, then you could just connect your MBP charger in addition to the dock and it should use that as its power source. It's a bit less convenient of course, but it should work.
kriskate
1 Message
1
March 25th, 2020 02:00
I can confirm having a MacBook 16" and it charges steadily at 90W.
Unfortunately, the power button doesn't do anything, but Apple's weird implementation doesn't allow you to sleep/ power off the device with the TouchID button anyway, so that might have something to do with it.
If having doubts for pairing a WD19 with a MacBook 16", let me tell you that everything works, much more reliably than with a regular usb-c dock, as I had a high quality one before, but it wasn't as stable as the WD19.
There are a few drawbacks though:
- sometimes you have to plug the dock twice (plug-unplug-plug) for the Display-ports to work
- the button doesn't do anything.
- the unit gets a little hot, but thankfully it has a decently-quiet fan (could be better, could be worse)
jphughan
9 Legend
•
14K Posts
0
March 25th, 2020 08:00
@kriskate great news, thanks for sharing this! The issue with the Power button is that there's no industry-wide standard for an external Power button, so using the WD19's Power button requires firmware-level support from the system, and in fact even some Dell systems that otherwise work fine with the WD19 can't be controlled with that Power button because it seems Dell hasn't implemented that firmware-level support across their entire product line. The Inspiron systems seem to be the ones that are frequently out of luck in this regard. It's also nice to see somebody reporting the WD19 is quiet, because myself and others have found that some WD19s seem to run their fans at maximum speed (which is quite loud) for no apparent reason, even while the attached system is asleep. We're all hoping for a firmware update to address this soon, because it's quite annoying. There's a thread over here about that.