Macbook Pro with ThunderBolt Dock A Solid Solution?

[streamtech]

Will be interesting to see how people get on with the Caldigit Element Hub.

I take it this one doesn't have an Ethernet net port, but this could be sorted with a USBC to Ethernet dongle?

I only need to drive two external 2560 monitors and plugin in an Ethernet wire. I might want to add some external Thunderbolt storage in the future. Sounds like this one may tick all the boxes. My only concern is whether the 60watt pass through power is enough for the 16" Max. There is the TS3 plus with up to 87 watt pass through - but that doesn't have Thunderbolt 4 - and costs an extra £80.

 

[joevt]

I take it this one doesn't have an Ethernet net port, but this could be sorted with a USBC to Ethernet dongle?

I only need to drive two external 2560 monitors and plugin in an Ethernet wire. I might want to add some external Thunderbolt storage in the future. Sounds like this one may tick all the boxes. My only concern is whether the 60watt pass through power is enough for the 16" Max. There is the TS3 plus with up to 87 watt pass through - but that doesn't have Thunderbolt 4 - and costs an extra £80.

Yes, all recent Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 docks (those that can be connected to non-Thunderbolt hosts and usually support DisplayPort 1.4) use USB hubs and adapters internally including for Ethernet. So you just need to find an external USB to Ethernet adapter that works with macOS to match that capability.

Older Thunderbolt 3 docks (like the CalDigit TS3 Plus) that can't be connected to USB-C (non-Thunderbolt) hosts use a PCIe Ethernet controller internally. These docks are also limited to DisplayPort 1.2 and have few (zero, one or two, plus the downstream Thunderbolt port) USB 10 Gbps capable ports.

 

[R56L]

I'm really hoping for an elegant one cable solution... plug in TB, and have a dock with ethernet and two monitors (1440p either DP or HDMI) for my 14" base model MBP that's due to arrive next week. I'm looking to see if this can be done, or if only one monitor is supported via TB, and the second has to be connected with an addtional cable via HDMI.

 

[MallardDuck]

Will be interesting to see how people get on with the Caldigit Element Hub.

I take it this one doesn't have an Ethernet net port, but this could be sorted with a USBC to Ethernet dongle?

I only need to drive two external 2560 monitors and plugin in an Ethernet wire. I might want to add some external Thunderbolt storage in the future. Sounds like this one may tick all the boxes. My only concern is whether the 60watt pass through power is enough for the 16" Max. There is the TS3 plus with up to 87 watt pass through - but that doesn't have Thunderbolt 4 - and costs an extra £80.

I've had an element hub and a caldigit ts3 dock with my 2019 16, and now with the 2022 16. Both work great, though the power delivery isn't nearly enough for either one when under heavy load. Running handbrake for example would drain the battery if only charging via the dock or hub, but the machine is smart enough to draw from the actual power adapter if there is one. I expect the m1 to be even worse, given the 140 watt supply.

I run one DisplayPort monitor in the ts3, and a second DisplayPort via an adapter from the element hub. no issues with either one, but I do recommend only plugging or unplugging one at a time and letting the system stabilize before doing the other. On the ts3 you do need to watch as only some of the ports are 10gbps...not that I have that many devices that need it, but it's worth watching where you plug things.

 

[tmoerel]

OWC thunderbolt 4 Dock DOES NOT WORK WITH M1 MAX , troubleshooted all day with OWC and Apple.

Ok interesting. What is not working? I am using one right now on a 16" M1 Max and things are working well.

 

[Rad]

Will be interesting to see how people get on with the Caldigit Element Hub.

I take it this one doesn't have an Ethernet net port, but this could be sorted with a USBC to Ethernet dongle?

I only need to drive two external 2560 monitors and plugin in an Ethernet wire. I might want to add some external Thunderbolt storage in the future. Sounds like this one may tick all the boxes. My only concern is whether the 60watt pass through power is enough for the 16" Max. There is the TS3 plus with up to 87 watt pass through - but that doesn't have Thunderbolt 4 - and costs an extra £80.

I have a 14" MacBook Pro with 64GB RAM, 2 TB drive and the M1 Max processor. I actually have it connected to both a Razer Thunderbolt 4 dock from a right side port and a OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub on the other, each connected to a 4K monitor. Everything works great - all ports on the dock and hub work and no problem with the ethernet from the Razer or USB on the OWC. The OWC is the Hub not the dock. The Razer Dock port array is identical to the OWC dock and is likely inside has the same components. OWC was sold out of the dock so I opted for the smaller hub and got the Razer as the main dock.

Very happy with this setup that replaces an incredibly long lasting 2013 Mac Pro. It even runs Quickbooks 2021 in Windows 11 using Parallels without a problem.

 

[fleks]

Rad has already mentioned the Razer Thunderbolt Dock. Now I've also come across the new Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock. I own the MacBook Pro 14" M1 Max. Aside from the looks (I'm not a fan of colorful flashing LEDs), the available ports look very promising.
In my case, I would prefer to connect 3 monitors (2x 1440p & 1x 2160p). However, through this thread I have already said goodbye to this desire, as it is apparently simply not possible to connect all three monitors to the MacBook with a Thunderbolt 4 dock and an upstream.

In addition, I would like to be able to connect a network cable to the docking station and connect drives such as external HDDs/SSDs or USB sticks now and then. So I would have to connect a maximum of two cables to the MacBook (1x dock + 1x 2160p monitor).

I'm currently deciding between the Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock and the Caldigit Element Hub. With the Element Hub, I could upgrade the network card via USB-C adapter. The Razer, however, even offers 90W to power the MacBook Pro.

Unfortunately, I am very undecided which of these two docks is better suited for my use case. Maybe I'm overlooking another manufacturer's dock, but following this thread, I found that Caldigit's Element Hub dock is one of the most popular docks.

@joevt : I enjoyed reading your technical analysis of each dock. Can you maybe say something about the Razer as well?

Also, maybe you can give me a recommendation for my use case - I seem to be absolutely undecided.


Thanks to all for all the valuable infos around the docking stations and the new MacBook Pro!

// Edit: In the meantime, I was able to find out the controller of the Razer Dock. It is an Intel JHL8440 controller. Unfortunately, I cannot judge how it compares to the controllers of other docks.

// Edit2: In addition, I also discovered the SD5700T from Kensington. For those (including me) who don't necessarily need colorful LEDs, it seems to be a good alternative. It has the same controller as the Razer and the connectors are identical to the Razer. Unfortunately, I can't say much about the quality of the dock, but the multitude of ports seems very interesting to me - especially since you wouldn't need any additional adapters for networking, etc.

Maybe someone can still say something about this .

 

[joevt]

@joevt : I enjoyed reading your technical analysis of each dock. Can you maybe say something about the Razer as well?

There's two types of Thunderbolt 4 devices : dock or hub
All the docks are the same size and layout and have the same ports.
Same is true for all the hubs.
CalDigit Element Hub is the only Thunderbolt 4 hub or dock that is unique.
https://thunderbolttechnology.net/p...&field_prod_tb_version_value_many_to_one=tbv4
Actually QGeeM is also unique.
The Intel product list is missing the Sonnet Thunderbolt 4 Dock
https://www.sonnettech.com/product/echo11-thunderbolt4-dock/overview.html
but that seems identical to the Kensington dock.
There may be some small differences (Razor doesn't have USB 2.0 charging port or power button).
There may be other Thunderbolt 4 docks you can find on Amazon or elsewhere that are not listed in the Intel Products list.

I don't know if having the same layout means they all use the same USB chips for SD card, audio, Ethernet, or USB hubs.
The QGeeM has also a micro SD slot, HDMI, and DisplayPort outputs but you can do those with adapters connected to any other hub/dock.

I guess you should make a table of all the docks to make it easier to compare their features/ports/design.

 

[fleks]

There's two types of Thunderbolt 4 devices : dock or hub
All the docks are the same size and layout and have the same ports.
Same is true for all the hubs.
CalDigit Element Hub is the only Thunderbolt 4 hub or dock that is unique.
https://thunderbolttechnology.net/p...&field_prod_tb_version_value_many_to_one=tbv4
Actually QGeeM is also unique.
The Intel product list is missing the Sonnet Thunderbolt 4 Dock
https://www.sonnettech.com/product/echo11-thunderbolt4-dock/overview.html
but that seems identical to the Kensington dock.
There may be some small differences (Razor doesn't have USB 2.0 charging port or power button).
There may be other Thunderbolt 4 docks you can find on Amazon or elsewhere that are not listed in the Intel Products list.

I don't know if having the same layout means they all use the same USB chips for SD card, audio, Ethernet, or USB hubs.
The QGeeM has also a micro SD slot, HDMI, and DisplayPort outputs but you can do those with adapters connected to any other hub/dock.

I guess you should make a table of all the docks to make it easier to compare their features/ports/design.

Thanks for the explanation! This helps a lot. I think that a docking station is the better choice in my use case. So I will probably go for the Kensington dock.
As far as I could find out, there should be no big performance differences between the devices.
And so I directly installed the desired ports in the device.

 

[Rad]

Rad has already mentioned the Razer Thunderbolt Dock. Now I've also come across the new Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock. I own the MacBook Pro 14" M1 Max. Aside from the looks (I'm not a fan of colorful flashing LEDs), the available ports look very promising.
In my case, I would prefer to connect 3 monitors (2x 1440p & 1x 2160p). However, through this thread I have already said goodbye to this desire, as it is apparently simply not possible to connect all three monitors to the MacBook with a Thunderbolt 4 dock and an upstream.

In addition, I would like to be able to connect a network cable to the docking station and connect drives such as external HDDs/SSDs or USB sticks now and then. So I would have to connect a maximum of two cables to the MacBook (1x dock + 1x 2160p monitor).

I'm currently deciding between the Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock and the Caldigit Element Hub. With the Element Hub, I could upgrade the network card via USB-C adapter. The Razer, however, even offers 90W to power the MacBook Pro.

Unfortunately, I am very undecided which of these two docks is better suited for my use case. Maybe I'm overlooking another manufacturer's dock, but following this thread, I found that Caldigit's Element Hub dock is one of the most popular docks.

@joevt : I enjoyed reading your technical analysis of each dock. Can you maybe say something about the Razer as well?

Also, maybe you can give me a recommendation for my use case - I seem to be absolutely undecided.


Thanks to all for all the valuable infos around the docking stations and the new MacBook Pro!

// Edit: In the meantime, I was able to find out the controller of the Razer Dock. It is an Intel JHL8440 controller. Unfortunately, I cannot judge how it compares to the controllers of other docks.

// Edit2: In addition, I also discovered the SD5700T from Kensington. For those (including me) who don't necessarily need colorful LEDs, it seems to be a good alternative. It has the same controller as the Razer and the connectors are identical to the Razer. Unfortunately, I can't say much about the quality of the dock, but the multitude of ports seems very interesting to me - especially since you wouldn't need any additional adapters for networking, etc.

Maybe someone can still say something about this .

The dock I have is the Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock for Mac. Works flawlessly.

 

[fleks]

The dock I have is the Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock for Mac. Works flawlessly.

That's good to know, thank you! I contacted Razer support a few days ago about compatibility. They told me today that the Razer Thunderbolt Dock on the MacBook would only support a maximum of one external monitor. But I can't imagine that. Perhaps the support employee took the information from the original M1 MacBook Pro, but this should definitely be wrong for the M1 Pro or M1 Max variant, shouldn't it?

 

[R56L]

That's good to know, thank you! I contacted Razer support a few days ago about compatibility. They told me today that the Razer Thunderbolt Dock on the MacBook would only support a maximum of one external monitor. But I can't imagine that. Perhaps the support employee took the information from the original M1 MacBook Pro, but this should definitely be wrong for the M1 Pro or M1 Max variant, shouldn't it?

I went ahead and got the razer. Once my 14" Mbp comes in, I'm gonna give it a whirl.

 

[JahBoolean]

I own a Caldigit USB-C Pro dock (model that I chose for it's ability to run 4k@60*2) and could not go back.

Strong buy; but compatibility with the M1.5 series has to be confirmed.

 

[rolling green]

The dock I have is the Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock for Mac. Works flawlessly.

received the razer today and it works well but how do you get it to stay asleep. When I put my pro to sleep the dock and peripherals go to sleep for about 3 seconds and then wakes back up. The macbook stays asleep because there's no signal to the monitor and I'm able to wake it up with the mouse or keyboard. Just can't get the razer to stay asleep.

Edit: the dock sleeps for a minute after putting the MacBook to sleep but wakes up for about minute then sleeps again. The cycle continues with or without any peripherals plugged in. I wouldn’t mind so much but the RGB on the razer is pretty bright. Darn thing won’t stay asleep.

 

[vantablk34]

received the razer today and it works well but how do you get it to stay asleep. When I put my pro to sleep the dock and peripherals go to sleep for about 3 seconds and then wakes back up. The macbook stays asleep because there's no signal to the monitor and I'm able to wake it up with the mouse or keyboard. Just can't get the razer to stay asleep.

Edit: the dock sleeps for a minute after putting the MacBook to sleep but wakes up for about minute then sleeps again. The cycle continues with or without any peripherals plugged in. I wouldn’t mind so much but the RGB on the razer is pretty bright. Darn thing won’t stay asleep.

I have the same issue wake issue with the Razer Thunderbolt dock as well. Do you also happen to have issues with your displays connected to the dock when waking up the Mac?

I have a 4K Dell display connected to it via USB-C and another 1440p monitor connected to the dock via a USB-C dongle. For some reason, the MacBook Pro will always forget my display arrangement, the 4K display scaling option, and the 1440p monitor is stuck at 1080p; all of this happens when waking up from sleep.

 

[rolling green]

Haven’t tried adding another monitor. Don’t have any monitor issues yet but will try once I get beyond this. Currently have a Dell 1440 34” connected with no issues.
Hopefully rad can chime in with something helpful. His “flawless” comment gives hope but I’m ready to return it.

 

[DeepIn2U]

same boat here. seriously considering the razer thunderbolt 4 dock or the owc thunderbolt 4 dock. any recommendations appreciated

I'm concerned that the Razer on the Amazon link does not state it's power, while the OWC shows 90W of power claimed to charge your MBP, but what's the total power of the dock? also the razer info say 2x4K or 1x 8K but the slides from Razer doesn't state the 1x8K output.

Total watt's the dock (either) is critical, not just for charging the MBP but also the other peripherals connected to/within (USB keys/drives, or the SD card slot respectively).
example the OWC shows 85W charging but only claims

• Connect two 4K displays or one 5K display, hmmm (so 5W drops from 8K to 5K?)

Currently I'm using an HP 120W Thunderbolt 3 G2 dock supplied by work on my MBP when not using at work. I have my LG 34' connected via DisplayPort (even though I have USB-C DP directly on the screen, I'll use that when I get the iPad mini whenever I need to do that).

4x USB-A SS ports, 4x USB-C (1 cabled part of the dock is a thunderbolt to the '17 MBP, the other 3, 1 being another Thunderbolt 3, and 2 of those is just USB-C 1 charges).

So since my dock is 120W and no SD card reader, can project 4K what's really happening with the others listed? They look great but I'm just worried Amazon is misleading by not being clear.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Rad has already mentioned the Razer Thunderbolt Dock. Now I've also come across the new Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock. I own the MacBook Pro 14" M1 Max. Aside from the looks (I'm not a fan of colorful flashing LEDs), the available ports look very promising.
In my case, I would prefer to connect 3 monitors (2x 1440p & 1x 2160p). However, through this thread I have already said goodbye to this desire, as it is apparently simply not possible to connect all three monitors to the MacBook with a Thunderbolt 4 dock and an upstream.

In addition, I would like to be able to connect a network cable to the docking station and connect drives such as external HDDs/SSDs or USB sticks now and then. So I would have to connect a maximum of two cables to the MacBook (1x dock + 1x 2160p monitor).

I'm currently deciding between the Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock and the Caldigit Element Hub. With the Element Hub, I could upgrade the network card via USB-C adapter. The Razer, however, even offers 90W to power the MacBook Pro.

Unfortunately, I am very undecided which of these two docks is better suited for my use case. Maybe I'm overlooking another manufacturer's dock, but following this thread, I found that Caldigit's Element Hub dock is one of the most popular docks.

@joevt : I enjoyed reading your technical analysis of each dock. Can you maybe say something about the Razer as well?

Also, maybe you can give me a recommendation for my use case - I seem to be absolutely undecided.


Thanks to all for all the valuable infos around the docking stations and the new MacBook Pro!

// Edit: In the meantime, I was able to find out the controller of the Razer Dock. It is an Intel JHL8440 controller. Unfortunately, I cannot judge how it compares to the controllers of other docks.

// Edit2: In addition, I also discovered the SD5700T from Kensington. For those (including me) who don't necessarily need colorful LEDs, it seems to be a good alternative. It has the same controller as the Razer and the connectors are identical to the Razer. Unfortunately, I can't say much about the quality of the dock, but the multitude of ports seems very interesting to me - especially since you wouldn't need any additional adapters for networking, etc.

Maybe someone can still say something about this .

curious which 'new' Razer TB4 Dock are you referring to?
RC21-01690200-R3U1
shows no RBG and in silver for Mac's very odd for Razer since their mostly PC focused but it's nice. All USB-C ports are Thunderbolt4. Not sure the primary connection to your monitors is though.

 

[Rad]

received the razer today and it works well but how do you get it to stay asleep. When I put my pro to sleep the dock and peripherals go to sleep for about 3 seconds and then wakes back up. The macbook stays asleep because there's no signal to the monitor and I'm able to wake it up with the mouse or keyboard. Just can't get the razer to stay asleep.

Edit: the dock sleeps for a minute after putting the MacBook to sleep but wakes up for about minute then sleeps again. The cycle continues with or without any peripherals plugged in. I wouldn’t mind so much but the RGB on the razer is pretty bright. Darn thing won’t stay asleep.

I have the Mac version -> no RGB lights at all since there is no Mac software from Razer to control it. Just like their lack of software to control the Razer Core X Chroma eGPU case I used in the past with a Mac.

 

[joevt]

I'm concerned that the Razer on the Amazon link does not state it's power, while the OWC shows 90W of power claimed to charge your MBP, but what's the total power of the dock? also the razer info say 2x4K or 1x 8K but the slides from Razer doesn't state the 1x8K output.

Total watt's the dock (either) is critical, not just for charging the MBP but also the other peripherals connected to/within (USB keys/drives, or the SD card slot respectively).
example the OWC shows 85W charging but only claims

• Connect two 4K displays or one 5K display, hmmm (so 5W drops from 8K to 5K?)

Currently I'm using an HP 120W Thunderbolt 3 G2 dock supplied by work on my MBP when not using at work. I have my LG 34' connected via DisplayPort (even though I have USB-C DP directly on the screen, I'll use that when I get the iPad mini whenever I need to do that).

4x USB-A SS ports, 4x USB-C (1 cabled part of the dock is a thunderbolt to the '17 MBP, the other 3, 1 being another Thunderbolt 3, and 2 of those is just USB-C 1 charges).

So since my dock is 120W and no SD card reader, can project 4K what's really happening with the others listed? They look great but I'm just worried Amazon is misleading by not being clear.

This page says the OWC Thunderbolt 4 dock has a 135W power supply.
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB4DOCKO/

The power supply does not affect DisplayPort capabilities.

Any Thunderbolt 4 dock and hub (based on Goshen Ridge) or any Titan Ridge based Thunderbolt 3 dock (such as the HP Thunderbolt Dock G2) should be able to do 8K30 8bpc RGB with no compression using DisplayPort HBR3 link rate. 8K60 should be doable using HBR3 link rate at 12bpp (using 8bpc 4:2:0 or DSC). It's unlikely that Intel would not support all the capabilities of DisplayPort 1.4 from its Titan Ridge or Goshen Ridge Thunderbolt controllers so you should be able to assume that DSC or 4:2:0 are possible (as long as your GPU and display support them). You may need a firmware update for the HP Thunderbolt Dock G2 to support DSC to its internal MST Hub (for the DP1, DP2, USB-C with DP Alt Mode, and VGA ports).

 

[Rad]

curious which 'new' Razer TB4 Dock are you referring to?
RC21-01690200-R3U1
shows no RBG and in silver for Mac's very odd for Razer since their mostly PC focused but it's nice. All USB-C ports are Thunderbolt4. Not sure the primary connection to your monitors is though.

Yes, that's the one.

Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock for Mac, PC : Thunderbolt 4 Certified - 10 Ports in One - Dual 4K or Single 8K Video – Windows, Mac, and Thunderbolt 3 Compatible - Mercury White

Rewire the rules with the Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock Mercury White—a sleek, customizable hub that ushers in a new era of connectivity for your ideal setup. Packed with 10 ports, lightning-fast data transfer rates, and dual 4K or single 8K video output, you’ll always be primed to make the right conn...

www.amazon.com

As far as sleep goes, I usually have the monitors turn off but not to sleep while plugged in. When I do set it to sleep, I have not had an issue with waking up, staying asleep or remembering the monitor arrangement. I connect one monitor through each of the two T4 hubs, one from each side of the laptop. Probably could use one dock but I am used to a Mac Pro with numerous thunderbolt ports and buses to split the work.

 

[fleks]

curious which 'new' Razer TB4 Dock are you referring to?
RC21-01690200-R3U1
shows no RBG and in silver for Mac's very odd for Razer since their mostly PC focused but it's nice. All USB-C ports are Thunderbolt4. Not sure the primary connection to your monitors is though.

I was actually referring to that dock. It's the black version, but they seem to be identical. In a test report it was written that the RGB colours could not be controlled if the dock was used on a Mac because the software does not exist for the Mac. According to the test report, the LEDs would always be switched on. Unfortunately, it is in German: https://www.computerbase.de/2021-05/razer-thunderbolt-4-dock-chroma-test/


In addition, I have received interesting information from Caldigit support for people who want to connect 3 monitors. It was not clear, at least to me, that you have to connect the third monitor to the right side of the MacBook.

Thank you for contacting us. One Thunderbolt controller can only support
bandwidth of a max of two monitors. The M1 Max can support up to 4 displays
but that isn't taking into consideration a docking station so each display
would be connected to individual ports on the Mac - one each to the
Thunderbolt 4 ports and the last to the HDMI port.

When using a dock, with two monitors, that is using the max bandwidth of
both Thunderbolt 4 ports for monitors connections if you connect both
monitors through a dock. This means that the Element would have to be
connected on the left hand side Thunderbolt 4 ports with two monitors
attached to it and then the other monitor you are looking to use would have
to be connected to the right hand ports on the Mac - to either the
Thunderbolt 4 or HDMI port. You wouldn't be able to connect the Element to
the single right hand Thunderbolt 4 port and have two monitors running as
that Thunderbolt controller is a single port meaning a single monitor is
supported from the right hand Thunderbolt 4 port as it also has a video
connection (HDMI) being shared on this side.

Think of it this way, if there's two Thunderbolt ports next to each other
that is dual monitor connection, if there is a single port on its own, that
is a single monitor connection. As for the resolution, that will be fine as
we have updated the video capabilities of all of our docks, Element Hub
included, and the Element can support dual 6k@60hz. The official product
notes haven't been updated for them as no laptop / Mac at the time could
support 6k. We have updated information on the M1 Pro and M1 Max here:
https://www.caldigit.com/caldigit-docks-and-apple-m1-pro-m1-max-compatibilit
y/. As 6k 60hz is support, 2k 144hz would be no issue.

Regards,
CalDigit EU Support.

 

[rolling green]

Thanks for chiming in. I don’t think there’s a specific Mac version for the razer, both say Mac compatible. But I might return and opt for the non rgb version. Thanks for the help.

 

[vantablk34]

Haven’t tried adding another monitor. Don’t have any monitor issues yet but will try once I get beyond this. Currently have a Dell 1440 34” connected with no issues.
Hopefully rad can chime in with something helpful. His “flawless” comment gives hope but I’m ready to return it.

Hopefully it’s just a Razer specific issue. I’ve ordered the Anker Apex TB4 dock and will be returning the Razer if I don’t have the wake and display issues.

 

[tmoney468]

I’ve been able to use my Caldigit TS2 from my old late 2013 MBP with an Apple TB2 to TB3 cable. Surprisingly everything works, usb, Ethernet, monitor connection.

This will help hold me over until newer docks come out