The Byte-dock (http://www.byte-dock.com) is an upcoming dock that will will offer owners of Apple’s flagship range of laptops the functionality of a desktop computer at home or in the office. And it supports Thunderbolt.

The MacBook Pro is inserted into the docking station and connects with all peripheral equipment plugged into the dock, such as an external keyboard, monitor, mouse, printer or phone charger. Although the Byte-dock is specifically designed for the MacBook Pro range, plans are in place for it to become compatible with other Apple MacBooks. The Byte-dock also includes full Thunderbolt functionality, which has been developed by Intel and Apple.

Users can also have FireWire 800 devices, Ethernet and audio cables plugged into the dock and the MacBook will connect to them. The Byte-dock comes with two usb ports, one mic/line in, one audio out/headphone socket, one FireWire 800 socket, one Thunderbolt port (used in conjunction with the HDMI video cable shipped with the dock) and one Ethernet socket.

Users can also insert a media card into the in-built socket and leave in the device while it's docked. Each device package includes a Byte-dock, an instruction booklet and a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable. The Byte-dock is set to retail at approximately US$213 for all sizes.