not worth it. $100 too much. Maybe if it had a 10GB ethernet port. but it does not.
also slower SD card transfer rates.
also slower SD card transfer rates.
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CalDigit's New Thunderbolt 4 Dock for MacBook Pro Features 18 Ports
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This 100%. Satechi one is awesome and $100+ cheaper from BeatBuy.
Am I the only one who can't get this TS4 dock? looks like it's out of stock everywhere. I was hoping to place my order tonight, now it's all gone 
should have done it earlier.
should have done it earlier.
I soured on this company when they never released an ethernet driver for a 2 year-old USB-C dock for the current release of macos at the time. No thanks. They don't stand behind their products.
Personally, while I think this dock has most everything you could want, I’m extremely hesistant to buy it, b/c the TS3+ has constant issues w/ my 16” M1 Max. It randomly drops the video feed from my two monitors, and the picture will occasionally flicker badly. It could be the MBP or the Dell Monitors, but I’m almost positive it’s the dock, because if I hook the MBP directly to the monitors, there is no problem.
Caldigit support acts like this is some kind of anomaly and offers to replace my TS3+, but I’ve seen countless other posts complain about the same thing. I’ve also tried Satechi, and had refresh rate issues with that TB4 dock, but it was definitely stable, with no flickering or picture drops.
I just want a one cable setup that allows me to dock my MBP without any issues. Why is that so hard to accomplish??? I think I’ll wait until the external monitors from Apple are released, hopefully this year, and then I’ll bypass the dock all together, if possible, and, again, if possible, daisy chain the monitors, so I have a one cable solution.
Caldigit support acts like this is some kind of anomaly and offers to replace my TS3+, but I’ve seen countless other posts complain about the same thing. I’ve also tried Satechi, and had refresh rate issues with that TB4 dock, but it was definitely stable, with no flickering or picture drops.
I just want a one cable setup that allows me to dock my MBP without any issues. Why is that so hard to accomplish??? I think I’ll wait until the external monitors from Apple are released, hopefully this year, and then I’ll bypass the dock all together, if possible, and, again, if possible, daisy chain the monitors, so I have a one cable solution.
Life is so much easier when you just make the jump to USB-C and thunderbolt. Glad I did when it first came out. The initial expense of replacing my hardware seems to have been worth it considering the expense of purchasing these kinds of docks to support so many legacy interfaces. The external thunderbolt HDD I got was less than this machine! A MacBook Pro docked to the 5k Ultrafine provides more than enough USB-C and thunderbolt ports, and I even have a dongle for HDMI!
Oh and the juxtaposition of fast charging in a dock that is clearly intended for people that have their laptops plugged into an external monitor all day is funny, but I guess they need to do something to justify that price.
Looks like a concrete brick though, so will match the new MacBook Pro's!
Oh and the juxtaposition of fast charging in a dock that is clearly intended for people that have their laptops plugged into an external monitor all day is funny, but I guess they need to do something to justify that price.
Looks like a concrete brick though, so will match the new MacBook Pro's!
It isn't a well designed product if HDDs or any disk still receives a signal and power once the host is off and disconnected. This isn't restricted to USB A either, it does this over the additional Thunderbolt port and 3.1 Gen2.
IMO, it isn't doing a lot of good if it is isn't working properly.
That’s why I said “switch”. Peripherals are switched as a set between machines.
Um, this is Thunderbolt, as in Thunderbolt 4.
Now, with my tax return here in three weeks, I'm getting this and then maybe that new QNap Thunderbolt 4 NAS? Hmmm...
An indicator of how abandoned tech is is when no big name or even small name brands support it anymore.
I was looking for a USB-C dongle that has a Ethernet port & CompactFlash card reader + other ports but none were ever made.
I could insist that there are sizeable user base for it but even I know that's not true.
No ifs or buts about it. If you're still stuck on Firewire & miniDP then odds are you'll whine over a $35.95 dongle.
Those are the ones we’re likely to get. This is just nice for the extra ports but we don’t really want the extra clutter of needing to strap the 10G box into the mix as well. I know we COULD it just would have been nice to not need to.
CalDigit today introduced its new Thunderbolt Station 4 dock with 18 ports, which it claims is the most on any Thunderbolt dock ever.
Great to see 2.5G Ethernet! 10G would be better, but I am sanguine about costs still. But...
The lack of a DisplayLink MST chip to cure the external monitor issue on M1 Macs is an omission I'm not willing to overlook. Not for US$360. IndieGogo and Kickstarter seem to be full of Thunderbolt/USB4 dock projects which will include DisplayLink. I would have hoped that CalDigit would be able to execute the same thing with CalDigit quality and reliability. I'd be willing to pay the CalDigit price for that. It would be a Shut Up And Take My Money!!! buy, in fact.
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I was using FW800 all weekend.
People joke, but old hardware is not useless. I have a 2011 Core2Duo mini set up as a Plex/iTunes server. Watching a movie right now on AppleTV 4k.
I swapped a 500GB SSD into slot 1, cloned the boot and transferred gigs of movies from a a FW800 drive and Bobs your uncle. What was funny though was that FW800 was slower than transferring other movies from my M1 via Airport through an extreme connected via EN to the mini.
People joke, but old hardware is not useless. I have a 2011 Core2Duo mini set up as a Plex/iTunes server. Watching a movie right now on AppleTV 4k.
I swapped a 500GB SSD into slot 1, cloned the boot and transferred gigs of movies from a a FW800 drive and Bobs your uncle. What was funny though was that FW800 was slower than transferring other movies from my M1 via Airport through an extreme connected via EN to the mini.
Tbh I'm surprised you'd buy monitors that only have HDMI. In my experience it comes with headaches (**** color formats for a monitor most of the time) so I could on the contrary complain that there is only one DisplayPort.
And how about DVI for older monitors?
Edit: what I mean is i tried to use a monitor over hdmi with a mac mini and i got "bleeding" reds. Replaced the cable with usb-c to displayport and now the reds stay where they should be.
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Hmmm so we lose the digital optical out? Is there an alternative way of getting hi res audio out of an M1 MacBook Pro and into a seperate DAC?
I would argue that it's a badly designed HDD enclosure if it's spinning up drives based on USB power rather than detection of a USB-host device and interaction with an OS driver, but I don't have any examples to give you of enclosures functioning differently, on account of me not using USB-enclosures (I'm a programmer, I rarely need disk IO so fast it can't be done over TCP/IP).
I concede that it would be a great additional feature to be able to control how each USB port behaves individually with respect to power status while no host-device is connected. It's great to be able to plug my mouse into my dock and have it keep charging while I'm at a meeting, but it's not worth it if it breaks the USB-spec and ruins hard drives functioning correctly.
It's just I'm not sure you're right here, it seems like a poor design choice for a USB HDD enclosure to decide when the drive is spinning based solely on being supplied power or not, but I haven't read the USB spec or implemented any USB products, so I don't know how this is supposed to be done, I'm just making educated guesses based on how I would want to implement those aspects of such a device, with no knowledge whether or not that's possible in the USB spec (I should think it is, but that it requires a more complex USB device).
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The audio of any Thunderbolt dock is going to be provided by a USB adapter internally. Therefore, find a USB audio device that has the features you want and connect it the the Thunderbolt dock externally.
CalDigit today introduced its new Thunderbolt Station 4 dock with 18 ports, which it claims is the most on any Thunderbolt dock ever.
The dock features three Thunderbolt 4 ports, with one of them providing up to 98W of pass-through charging to compatible Macs, including the latest 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. The dock is also equipped with three USB-C ports (3.2 Gen 2), five USB-A ports (3.2 Gen 2), SD and microSD card slots (UHS-II), one DisplayPort 1.4 port, one 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port, an audio in jack, an audio out jack, and a combo audio in/out jack.
The dock is also compatible with Macs and iPads featuring Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C ports, with some functionality limited depending on the device.
While the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro brought back many ports, the dock can expand connectivity even further and serve as a hub for connecting external displays, microphones, headphones, speakers, and other equipment.
Priced at $359.95 in the United States, £324.99 in the United Kingdom, and €324.99 in the EU, the dock can be ordered through CalDigit's online store in those regions starting today. CalDigit said the dock will launch in other regions in mid-March.
Article Link: CalDigit's New Thunderbolt 4 Dock for MacBook Pro Features 18 Ports
No RS-232 Port?! Forget about it….
I’ve had constant problems with my TS3+ as well. Video glitches and then all hard drives disconnect. I no longer attach any usb hard drives to it and instead use a Dell 3100 dock for that. Caldigit support offers unuseful suggestions like try it with a different Mac or use an intel Mac. Also they now say I can’t use a usb hub with it. Maybe it’s Apple that is at fault but at this point I wish I had just bought a separate more basic TB hub like OWC’s, a Displayport adapter for my second monitor and then add what I need in terms of cheap usb hubs and card readers, etc.
I've never had a problem, running one 4-in, 4-out audio interface alongside another 4-in, 8-out - but I make sure that each latency-critical audio device is connected to the "top level" USB ports on the computer, and the aforementioned 7+3-port USB hub mops up the mice, keyboards, backup drives, scanners, phones/tablets, MIDI devices etc.
(This is on a 5k iMac and both the USB-C ports are used for external displays - so the remaining ports are all USB-A).
It's not. I own 2 TS3+ docks that I use every day. These things are the epitome of rock solid and fully dependable. They just work. Wake up instantly, fully reliable. I have an Elgato as well which is a total disaster in comparison (almost never connects on wake up, have to unplug and replug almost every single time with that one.)
I would not even give it a second thought. I'll buy a TS4 for my next MBP. Money well spent.
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For comparison I have a Dell WD15 USB-C dock hooked up to my Mini as well. It has a multitude of ports like the TS3+ but just without Thunderbolt. Disks do what they are supposed to and stop spinning after my Mini is powered down.
Same thing happens when the drives are directly plugged into the two USB A ports on the Mini, they behave as they should.
TS3+ is on the latest firmware using the supplied TB3 cable.