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I was just about to buy the Thunderbolt 4 Pro from the Apple Store, good thing I didn't :)
Same here. I was in the Apple store at the weekend and "discovered" one on the shelf. I'd never even heard of Cal Digit before then. What stopped me was the lack of a slot for an internal ssd. I so want an internal SSD so I can get rid of another box and cables from my desk. The case seems big enough too.
 
The mere fact that you associate 10Gbps networking with your internet connection tells me you do not ever need 10Gbps networking.
This sort of question happens every single time when a multi-gig port shows up, and it is the first time someone sees it. I think it will carry on for another decade or two. I am old enough to remember when 1000Base-T was new and seeing the same question from 100M users, them looking at their 56k dial up modems, thinking what a waste 1000M was, lol.
 
Just ordered a Mac Studio just so I didn't have to worry about ports. The only thing external I'll do is upgrade a TB4 SSD enclosure to a TB5 enclosure.
 
This sort of question happens every single time when a multi-gig port shows up, and it is the first time someone sees it. I think it will carry on for another decade or two. I am old enough to remember when 1000Base-T was new and seeing the same question from 100M users, them looking at their 56k dial up modems, thinking what a waste 1000M was, lol.
You know it’s one thing to question how many use cases there are for a residential home to have over a 1G WAN link, but to state “Does 1GBPS Ethernet vs 10 GBPS Ethernet have any real world speed differences” is like asking if a 2025 Ferarri is really faster than a Ford Model T.

Some people do more on their networks than stream Netflix
 
At that price, I expect CalDigit to put in some effort to make them more Mac-like. I’d love to get one, but most TB hubs look too industrial.
I think the sides reflect a design for heat dissipation, a good thing.

Ironically, the Apple Studio Display is liked by some in part because of that 'industrial metal' looking aesthetic.
$500 for a doc is insane.
Desktop/Laptop cost that much.
Which raises the question of how longterm an investment it is, not unlike when people consider the more expensive displays. How long will it last, and how soon with the ports get 'dated?'

I recently picked up a used CalDigit TS3 Plus for $90 not far from home. Perhaps comparing its ports and speeds (e.g.: some 5-Gbps rather than 10 USB ports, though one USB-C port is a 10; doesn't really add net TB3 ports, you use one and get one) to this new one may offer some idea how the new one might 'age' over 8 to 10 years.

Those docks that do have an M.2 slot inside are there for convenience over performance, these TS5 docks do not.
I've noticed before that prior generation Thunderbolt docks with an internal SSD slot (a minority of such docks) tended to have surprisingly slow SSD speeds (compared to dedicated stand-alone external Thunderbolt 3 SSDs/enclosures).

SonnetTech has a new (according to their website) Echo 13 Thunderbolt 5 SSD Dock and here's a blurb from that: "Sonnet Echo™ 13 Thunderbolt™ 5 SSD Dock delivers next level storage performance — 6000 MB/s with Thunderbolt 5 computers, 3400 MB/s when used with a Thunderbolt 4 or 3 computer — with your choice of pre-installed Kingston®M.2 NVMe® SSD storage. Connections? Echo 13 has you covered with four Thunderbolt 5 ports, four USB-A ports, one 2.5Gb Ethernet port, one headphone jack, SD and microSD card slots, plus 8K display support."

Might be of interest for those looking at the CalDigit offerings but desiring an internal SSD slot. But here's something strange - I look at the pricing, and it's based on an SSD being included:

1 Terabyte - $400 (Note: I'm rounding up a penny; not a fan of the $x.99 thing).
2 Terabyte - $500.
4 Terabyte - $670.

I don't see an option to buy it without an included SSD, and I see the term 'built-in SSD.'

Not everyone wants an internal SSD in their dock (and is willing to pay for it).

Anybody got any thoughts on the relative market appeal of this vs. CalDigit's 2 new TB5 dock offerings?
 
Yeah. But isn’t 1GBPS enough for most tasks, even on LAN?
I mean define “most tasks”. For most internet users, sure it is quite difficult for a high-consuming household to notice the difference when using typical streaming or social media or browser page downloads.

If you use a LAN, it is literally 10X of difference. Some people host servers serving hundreds of thousands of sessions in their residential home. Some people do large 8K file transfers as part of their work at home job. Some people live in densely populated apartments which share WAN connections across multiple sub units. Some people have 10 kids who heavily consume data.
 
Most people don't need anything more than 100 mbps.
influencers & tech industry want to sell stuff for more price so they include 10 gbps to upsell.
No. For creative professionals and prosumers who use or deal with high-end media and content—especially for productivity and with the use of NAS devices without Thunderbolt —the difference is invaluable
 
Is it safe to use these with desktops like the Mac mini, which doesn't require charging?
I used the 4 with my Mac mini, before my MBP arrived. The PD protocol asks the attached device how much power it needs (0 through full power), the mini just tells the dock it doesn't need power.

I'll be interested to see what the prices in Europe are, when it is available.
 
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Isn’t 1 GBPS enough for 4K projects?
Nope, it is more than enough for playback, but if you are editing, you need to load large chunks into memory quickly and write them back out. The faster you can read and write, the quicker and more fluid the application can allow you to edit multiple streams together.

Don't forget, time is money. That 10gbps will pay for itself on a project within a couple of days, at most.

There are many other tasks that require large amounts of data to be pushed around - one of the reasons the new NAS we bought has 4 10gbps ports.
 
This sort of question happens every single time when a multi-gig port shows up, and it is the first time someone sees it. I think it will carry on for another decade or two. I am old enough to remember when 1000Base-T was new and seeing the same question from 100M users, them looking at their 56k dial up modems, thinking what a waste 1000M was, lol.
100mbps? I remember the change from 10 to 100! 😂 And that was at the time of 300 baud modems, 56K was a long was in the future and most of our devs were using DEC terminals with 9600 baud connections to the mini computers in the computer centre 100 miles away - bundled in a Kilostream line, we upgraded to a Megastream and Telecom dug through the old cable 4 times in 1 day laying the new cable! 🤣
 
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Damn, this was literally announced 2 days after I got my CalDigit TS4.

As such a pricey dock is something I buy intending to keep it for a while, I even got the 5 years extended warranty.

I could technically return it, but it will be at least 2 months before we can have the TS5 in Europe. So I guess I'll keep mine, and sell it when I buy a Mac supporting Thunderbolt 5 (I have an M2 MacBook Air at the moment, so only Thunderbolt 4).

Nice dock though, for me CalDigit are the best ones. I love the design, and not many combine the features I look for:

- power supply and connection to the host computer on the back (I dislike permanently installed cables in the front)
- enough Thunderbolt and USB-C ports
- DisplayPort connection
- 2.5G Ethernet

I just replaced my old Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Dock with the CalDigit one. It didn't have enough USB-C ports and 1G Ethernet was a bottleneck, now that I connected my NAS with 2.5G. Not planning to switch to 10G anytime soon (mainly due to the fact that a NAS keeping up with 10G would need to be an all-SSD NAS and that's still too pricey).
 
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Damn, this was literally announced 2 days after I got my CalDigit TS4.

As such a pricey dock is something I buy intending to keep it for a while, I even got the 5 years extended warranty.

I could technically return it, but it will be at least 2 months before we can have the TS5 in Europe. So I guess I'll keep mine, and sell it when I buy a Mac supporting Thunderbolt 5 (I have an M2 MacBook Air at the moment, so only Thunderbolt 4).

Nice dock though, for me CalDigit are the best ones. I love the design, and not many combine the features I look for:

- power supply and connection to the host computer on the back (I dislike permanently installed cables in the front)
- enough Thunderbolt and USB-C ports
- DisplayPort connection
- 2.5G Ethernet

I just replaced my old Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Dock with the CalDigit one. It didn't have enough USB-C ports and 1G Ethernet was a bottleneck, now that I connected my NAS with 2.5G. Not planning to switch to 10G anytime soon (mainly due to the fact that a NAS keeping up with 10G would need to be an all-SSD NAS and that's still too pricey).
I bought mine a month back, I looked at T5 docks and the 2 that were available were both over 500€, so I went with the T4 for around 250€ instead. I really wanted a T5 dock, but didn't want to wait until the prices start to come down as I was just ordering an MBP M4 Pro. The extra speed of T5 would have been nice, but I don't currently need that speed, over what T4 offers.
 
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