I was skewing my analogy a bit, have to include 1000M for most readers to relate to, lol. Yes I still remember very clearly asking for upgrading from 10M to 100M hubs in the basement since the ethernet hub was shared among a few siblings. At that point 1000M already existed but of course very exclusive, much like how 10GbE has been for years now. The exact sentiment happens, looking at a LAN speed that someone doesn't think he ever needs, then ask why anyone else needs it, especially when the internet WAN speed is only a fraction of that.
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CalDigit Launches New Thunderbolt 5 Docks
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I spent my early days of computing trying to download 1.4MB disk images over a dial-up connection. Would take hours sometimes, since I'd have to keep starting over.
We're spoiled these days.
We're spoiled these days.
The previous 10G docks, namely the OWC Pro Dock and the Akitio, those had pretty limiting ports selection and also oddly excluding essential ports like analog audio. This CalDigit one is a class above those, with plenty of USB PD power budget, dual controller and so on. Only complaint I can see that someone else already mentioned, no higher tier media card slot especially a CFExpress type-B slot, which the OWC had.
You can have a fully-functional "local" network without having any internet at all. Not really related to the internet at all, as others have stated.
LAN = Local Area Network (the network inside your home)
WAN = Wide Area Network (the network outside your home)
Your Internet Router is what joins these two networks together so your inside network can talk to the world.
I actually really like what they've done here. If you need 10Gb ethernet, get the 5+. If you don't, get the 5. Most 10GbE to TB3 adapters alone cost anywhere from $200-300, with the lower end of that scale being a recent development. Meanwhile, you can get 2.5GbE to USB-C adapters for $20. So, $180 of that $500 is for that port alone. $320 for everything else on the 5+ is a steal.
Yeah, it doesn’t seem that hard to have added that I can totally agree. And that’s one of those features that I’m pretty sure is a more often omitted thing than most. But otherwise, this thing is a ****ing beast, and I would have one in a second if I didn’t already have tons of Sonnet 10G controllers and other Thunderbolt hubs. They even got DisplayPort over HDMI right. Nicely done.
The really very recent developments are the USB4 10G NICs, some Chinese ones are as low as like 100 or even less, but they are too new to be judged if they are production ready. Having the 10G port inside a dock with adequate power supply and cooling is still preferred.
(Actually I have used both the OWC / Akitio 10G docks, along with CalDigit's own Connect 10G passive NICs)
The main target buyers are probably MBP owners, already have a HDMI 2.1 on the MacBook. The DP2.1 is going to be more useful, and is preferred in most scenarios connecting to a high bandwidth display (that isn't a OLED TV).
It's really worth that price though. I have been using this dock for years and with Thunderbolt 5 it will last you a long time.
this is actually cheap - a 10GB Ethernet adapter, e.g. Qnap, I have costs 250 USD alone.
I have the CalDigit TS3 Plus - love it and works great.
Anyone know if you could connect the apple studio display via this hub in one of its thunderbolt port? On the plus model?
You've got to be kidding.
My internet connection has been faster than 100 mbps for at least a decade now. 2.5 and 10 gbps home internet connections are starting to become common. And gigabit is starting to become downright slow for LAN transfers. You know gigabit ethernet started becoming standard on Macs about 25 years ago, right?
Only when the majority of the work is done locally with lots of SSD space, or when the media is heavily compressed.
That changes when files are bigger and time constraints come into play.
Besides... 10Gbps networking isn't new (+10 years old now) and not expensive. Except in this dock.
I'm glad I have a TS4 but, if this were out when I was buying the TS4, I would have paid the extra.
I've been in the process of upgrading my LAN to 10Gbps for the simple reason that I run a NAS and the idea of backups from my PCs and Macs to the NAS at 10x the speed is VERY enticing. I also have a LOT of video files and use my NAS as a DVR (I have an ethernet-based HDTV tuner). So, yeah, LAN speeds mean something to me.
BUT - it's cost me. The router to support 10Gbps, the switch to make more than 2 ports (I have one and I'll need another, one for each 'node' in the mesh, which has a 10Gbps wired backhaul) and the machines themselves which, so far, have had 2.5 Gbps at best. I'm looking at a Mac Studio (might rush to beat the tariffs) and that would be my first "true" 10Gbps desktop.
I've been in the process of upgrading my LAN to 10Gbps for the simple reason that I run a NAS and the idea of backups from my PCs and Macs to the NAS at 10x the speed is VERY enticing. I also have a LOT of video files and use my NAS as a DVR (I have an ethernet-based HDTV tuner). So, yeah, LAN speeds mean something to me.
BUT - it's cost me. The router to support 10Gbps, the switch to make more than 2 ports (I have one and I'll need another, one for each 'node' in the mesh, which has a 10Gbps wired backhaul) and the machines themselves which, so far, have had 2.5 Gbps at best. I'm looking at a Mac Studio (might rush to beat the tariffs) and that would be my first "true" 10Gbps desktop.
I've had good experience with CalDigit docks when I've used them in the past. I ended up getting a Belkin TB4 Pro dock from work, and I like the profile of it, but I hate the front facing cable to connect to the machine.
Why do they keep putting USB-A ports on these things? May as well add a serial port.
Anyone spending $500 on a dock isn't using USB-A anymore.
Anyone spending $500 on a dock isn't using USB-A anymore.
With computer displays, I've noticed Thunderbolt displays tend to cost substantially more than USB-C (DisplayPort Alt Mode) based options.
And with external SSDs, I got the impression Thunderbolt 3 models generate considerably more heat than USB-C models.
Of course, one might ask why not 10 Gbps USC speeds instead of 480 Mbps...
I think the ASD only has one Thunderbolt port, an upstream Thunderbolt 3 port for connecting the display to your computer. See here and scroll down; 1 TB 3 and 3 USB-C ports. But I take it you're asking if the ASD can be connected to the CalDigit dock? (In other words, you can go Mac to CalDigit to ASD, but you wouldn't go Mac to ASD to CalDigit).
Here's a link to an Apple Support Community Discussion thread, and an excerpt from that:
"samtenor
User level:Level 4
2,026 points
Nov 29, 2024 2:19 PM in response to Robert Camner
The Studio Display only has 1 TB port - so, daisy chain is not feasible at the time.
So far I have tried - this Caldigit TS 4 (has 2 TB ports downstream) does support 2 Studio Display simultaneously."
If a CalDigit TS4 could handle it, I'd think the 5 series could. Be a surprise if not.
I think you're wrong. A lot of people have USB-A peripherals and would prefer to avoid having to use an adapter to connect to their new $500 dock, which they bought to provide lots of various ports and hopefully meet all their port needs.
Even a number of USB-C peripherals ship these days with a USB-A to USB-C cable.
And some Macs have USB-C and Thunderbolt ports (e.g.: the M4 series Mac Minis), but lack USB-A ports.
It stands to reason CalDigit knows its market, and even if they didn't, their major competitors would, and a number of dock makers continue to put USB-A ports on docks because users want and use them, and that will remain the case well into the future.
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Went with a base Mac Studio instead of upgrading my Max M1. I owned a TS4 for the longest time. It worked well. Had I went the M4 Max Laptop route, Id be getting this. Have an TB5 hard drive for my studio that I boot from. Its faster than the internal 512.