Thunderbolt dock G2 230W to combo/USB-C

[bjacobs1]

Dear HP community,

Recently I bought a Thunderbolt dock G2 230W (2UK38AA#ABB) (https://store.hp.com/NetherlandsStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=2UK38AA&opt=ABB&sel=ACC) to go along with my MacBook Pro 13-inch

This is the version where the cable to the host system is a Thunderbolt connector and a power plug combined into one.* This doesn't fit in my MacBook

There is also a version (3TR87AA#ABB) with a combo cable where the two are detached from each other, which should fit in my MacBook.

Because of bureaucracy reasons it would take ~5weeks to replace the hub that I have now. So, I was wondering whether there would be a workaround. Here are the options I came up with:

- Connect the hub's cable to a female-male USB-C cable. This would decrease the cable speed by a factor of 4 though. Would that work?

- Open up the dock. Because I might have to return the product I have now I didn't dare to do it yet so I'm not sure what it looks like from the inside. Would it be possible to replace the cable with the combo cable that one can buy at e.g. https://www.ict-store.nl/artikel/106802/hp-thunderbolt-dock-g2-combo-cable.html

- Sawing off the power plug

I also have a second question: is it true that all G2 docks have no own MAC-address?

*When buying this I was unaware that there would also be a power plug in the host cable. The Dutch website (which I've linked to) shows a cable with only a Thunderbolt connection. (It's also wrong in that it also shows pictures with the sound system attached to it). In no way was I able to know that I would receive the connection that I received apart from reading some HP manuals. [end of rant about this unclarity]