What Is An Anchor Security Lock Adapter & How Can It Help Prevent Your Laptop From Getting Stolen?

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Whether you're waiting for a flight at the airport or working remotely from a coffee shop close to home, if you leave your laptop unsecured, you risk having it stolen. Laptops don't come cheap. Even some budget-priced laptops for college students are at least a couple hundred dollars, so you most likely want to protect your investment. While most of us try to be vigilant when we have our laptop with us, if you leave it unattended or take your eyes off of it for even a few seconds, you might find it gone. That's a hard pill to swallow, not just because of the money we spent on it but also because our laptops usually contain our personal information and other important data.

It may be hard to believe, but there are ways you can secure your laptop without having to watch it like a hawk. In the past, many laptops came with a Kensington lock slot that made it easy to attach a security cable and physically tether the device to a stationary object as a theft deterrent. However, as laptops became thinner, manufacturers started omitting this built-in security feature. That's where the Anchor security lock adapter comes in — a device that allows you to add a lock slot to your laptop through the headphone jack — filling the security gap that was left when many manufacturers phased out Kensington lock slots on their slimmer laptop models. 

The anchor security lock adapter is a small device that acts much like a security lock slot for laptops that don't come with one built-in, like the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max and many Ultrabooks. Laptop manufacturers have to sacrifice some features to make these laptops as thin and lightweight as they are, and the Kensington lock slot is often one of the first to go. These computers often lack USB-A ports and SD card readers as well. Still, users are willing to give these things up for the increased portability and convenience that comes with their slimmer profile.

The problem is that giving up the Kensington lock slot makes these computers harder to secure. The Multplx Anchor Adapter, which retails for $32.99 on Amazon, offers a solution to this problem. The device plugs into your computer's 3.5mm headphone jack, allowing you to secure it with a standard cable lock without making any permanent modifications to your device. The Anchor Adapter works with standard T-Bar cable locks, including those made by Kensington. That means you can physically secure your laptop to a desk, table, or other immovable object in the same way laptops with built-in Kensington locks can be secured.

It's easy to lock down your laptop with the Anchor Adapter. The only equipment you need to install the adapter is a screwdriver, which comes in the box with the product itself. From there, all you have to do is insert the adapter into your computer's audio port and turn the screw to lock it in place. You can then use the T-Bar cable lock of your choice to tether your laptop to a fixed object, which can help deter opportunistic theft. If you use wireless earbuds like the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, you probably won't even miss the headphone jack when you're using the adapter.

You don't have to disconnect the Anchor Adapter when you're finished using it. You can leave it in place, and it's small enough to fit in laptop sleeves and backpacks. You may be wondering if a determined thief could simply remove the adapter from your laptop and take it off since it's not a built-in security mechanism. While that's a legitimate concern, you won't have to worry about that happening because the lock you attach to the adapter blocks access to the screw, meaning the would-be thief would have to unlock the lock to remove the adapter, something that's pretty hard to do without the key.