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CalDigit's Latest Dock Features Four Thunderbolt 4 Ports and Four USB-A Ports

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CalDigit today introduced a new "Element Hub" dock, equipped with four Thunderbolt 4 ports and four USB-A ports for connecting external displays, storage drives, and other peripherals to devices like a MacBook Pro or iPad Pro. For data transfer, the Thunderbolt 4 ports provide speeds up to 40Gb/s, while the USB-A ports can reach up to 10Gb/s.

caldigit-thunderbolt-4-dock-lifestyle.jpg

Given that Thunderbolt 4 shares the same connector design as USB-C, and is backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3, the dock can be used with many MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iPad Pro models released in recent years, as well as the fourth-generation iPad Air. The dock has pass-through charging, providing a fixed 30W for the MacBook Air, a fixed 60W for the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and up to 45W for the iPad Pro.

Included in the box with the Element Hub is a 150W power supply, a 0.8-meter Thunderbolt 4 cable, and two rubber feet.

The dock is available to pre-order for a discounted price of $139.99 (regular price $179.99) on CalDigit's website, and will begin shipping later this month in the United States. The dock is also available to pre-order in the UK, and will begin shipping in March.


OWC also introduced a Thunderbolt 4 dock last month that may be worth checking out for customers who are considering purchasing one. Priced at $249, that dock is equipped with four Thunderbolt 4 ports, four USB-A ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, an SD card slot, and a combo 3.5mm audio in/out, with up to 90W pass-through charging.

Article Link: CalDigit's Latest Dock Features Four Thunderbolt 4 Ports and Four USB-A Ports
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/02/03/caldigit-element-hub-thunderbolt-4-dock/
  • Like
Reactions: MajorWebUser
Wow. perfect for the M1 Macs I believe. More ports than OWC's hub and cheaper. Offline charging is very useful too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dark_Omen
fhall1 said:
Nice price, but I'd need too many USB-C to xyz dongles to make it functional for me
Click to expand...
are you referencing ethernet and HDMI? would seem it'd be simple to have an extra usb-a hub connecting to one of the usb-a ports if that's what you are relying on heavily at the moment.

My setup is not very sophisticated, but I'm getting sick of anything other than usb-c connectors existing, but there are so few hubs with multiple usb-c ports to date. So this looks good to me. Nice balance between moving to usb-c while allowing for legacy usb-a ports for the one-off cables (like for my gamin watch).
 
  • Like
Reactions: carestudio
This is nice BUT...I would have liked to have seen them move one of the USB A ports to the back and one of the TB4 ports to the front, just for access of various items.

Plus an audio out jack and an ethernet jack would have been nice to have...but overall it is a nice looking dock.
 
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ToomeyND said:
are you referencing ethernet and HDMI? would seem it'd be simple to have an extra usb-a hub connecting to one of the usb-a ports if that's what you are relying on heavily at the moment.

My setup is not very sophisticated, but I'm getting sick of anything other than usb-c connectors existing, but there are so few hubs with multiple usb-c ports to date. So this looks good to me. Nice balance between moving to usb-c while allowing for legacy usb-a ports for the one-off cables (like for my gamin watch).
Click to expand...
Yep - ethernet, HDMI and Displayport - used to have an E-SATA drive too, but finally retired that.
 
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Reactions: ToomeyND
So will it charge the 16” MBP at 96W? What’s up with companies not producing any sort of docks that can actually charge that computer without the battery draining while in use.
 
  • Like
Reactions: chrono1081
It is nice but I would like to see a version with just TB4 ports. The USB-A ports are just wasted space to say the thing has 8 ports.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: DVD9
It'd be great if Apple supported more than ONE external display on the M1 macbook pros. (and no, displaylink doesn't count)

I would've happily upgraded both my home and work laptops by now if not for that short sighted decision.
 
In for one!

My onlyyyy tiny gripe is that I really wish companies would stop including the host port when advertising the total number of ports. It makes searching for exactly what you need a pain. This has 7 usable ports (4x USB & 3x TB4) and 1 Host TB4 port.
 
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fhall1 said:
Yep - ethernet, HDMI and Displayport - used to have an E-SATA drive too, but finally retired that.
Click to expand...
Can't help on ethernet or HDMI, but I bought a usb-c to DisplayPort cable to connect to a new monitor recently, and I'm SOOOO happy I did. As I mentioned in my first post, I'm getting annoyed with my cables that aren't usb-c at this point. This middle ground that these last and next three years finds us in has me with duplicates of almost everything.
 
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Reactions: mlrproducts
Looks great, but sadly, won't work with my 2020 MBP, since Thunderbolt devices don't work at all on it, and Apple still hasn't resolved the issue. 🥲
 
  • Haha
Reactions: robotica
Ordered. Already using a USB-C to DisplayPort cable, only other issue is Ethernet but an $11 adapter will work left plugged in. Hoping and assuming this years 14” MBP will be a 60w charger.
 
ToomeyND said:
Can't help on ethernet or HDMI, but I bought a usb-c to DisplayPort cable to connect to a new monitor recently, and I'm SOOOO happy I did. As I mentioned in my first post, I'm getting annoyed with my cables that aren't usb-c at this point. This middle ground that these last and next three years finds us in has me with duplicates of almost everything.
Click to expand...
Agreed. But this saves me from buying USB-C to 3.0 micro cables for drives, which is fine since they can’t use full USB-C specs.
 
Pretty nice.

I tried their Thunderbold 3 HDMI dock and enjoyed it but for the terribly positioned power-charging port.

The side placement of this dock seems much better than back-center of the T3HDMI.
 
Would this work if I had it connected to my iMac Pro and plugged my LG 5K into it? (I like to use the extra screen with this and my MacBook Air and would save me fishing round the back.) I suspect not but I don’t get the technicalities of it all 😂)
 
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