The Vertical Docking Station from Henge Docks is by far the best docking station I have ever used. This is the innovative product that made Henge Docks the company they are today. It comes in 4 models which are compatible with the MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and MacBook Pro Retina. Today, I will be reviewing the MacBook Pro Retina version.

Before I even get to the dock itself, I have to give Henge Docks credit for the amazing packaging. The dock comes tightly packed in foam padding inside of a well-designed box.

The very first thing I noticed about the dock was the aluminum. I know there are tons of Mac accessories out there that are made of aluminum, but this is the first one I’ve seen that truly matches the Mac aluminum finish. In fact, you could slap an Apple logo on this and you would think Apple actually made it.

Above is what the bottom of the dock looks like before setting it up. All of those cables are Henge Docks’s cables and connect to the existing ports on your MacBook. I was a bit surprised because the cables Henge Docks provides are actually pretty high-quality. The bottom of the dock is lined with rubber so it doesn’t fall or slide around on your desk. The rubber gets a very solid grip so there is no need to worry about your MacBook falling over while in this dock.

This is what the top of the dock looks like. These are the tips of those cables I showed in the previous picture. The only cable you have to provide and install is the charging cable. If you happen to use the Thunderbolt port like me, then you have to take out the provided Mini Display cable and replace it with your own Thunderbolt cable.

To take out, replace, or add cables, you must undo this screw with the provided wrench and pull back the black rubber cover. After all is removed, you can then have access to all of the screws inside which you can unscrew or screw to add or remove cables. I decided to take out a few because I didn’t need them. This is also how I added in my own Thunderbolt cable.

After you have finished adjusting the cables, you can then feed them out the back. The back is made of a stiff rubber which helps hold the cables securely in place. I love how the cables go straight out the back because it hides them and helps eliminate tangled and messy cables.

After you have plugged the cables into your external display, you can finally dock your MacBook for the first time. It slides right in very smoothly and perfectly aligns with the cables. The inside is lined with a non-slip rubber so your MacBook is held in securely. To undock, you have to put one hand on the aluminum base and the other on the MacBook. It would be very nice if the dock was heavy enough where you could single-handedly undock your MacBook.

Conclusion

The Vertical Dock from Henge Docks is without a doubt the best MacBook accessory I have ever reviewed. With the premium materials and ingenious design, it’s impossible to not fall in love with the Vertical Dock. In New York City, buildings are built vertically to save space. The same concept goes for the Vertical Dock. When your MacBook is positioned vertically, it saves you a bunch of that much-needed desk space. It also makes it very quick and easy to plug-in your MacBook to your external display. Before I owned the Vertical Dock, I would have to manually plug in the power cable, the Thunderbolt cable and the USB cable one by one. Now, I can dock my MacBook and everything is plugged in at once. It almost feels like magic! My two and only complaints about the Vertical Dock is that it doesn’t come with a Thunderbolt cable and if you ever need your power cable, you have to unscrew it which is kind of a pain. Everything else is absolutely perfect and I couldn’t be more pleased. So… If you need more desk real estate, less cable clutter and fast way to plug in your MacBook, I would highly recommend the Vertical Dock from Henge Docks.

Click here to purchase yourself a Vertical Docking Station from Amazon