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If you want a decent dock you have to spend a bit of money. I went through this pain before accepting the cost and buying a CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub[1

If you want a decent dock you have to spend a bit of money. I went through this pain before accepting the cost and buying a CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub[1]. Run's two 4k displays at 60Hz, any peripheral and charges my laptop. So good I bought a second. 1. https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-4-element-hub/ https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-4-element-hub/

steveBK123 5y ago
Basically one of the few that actually does what it says on the box reliably. Even the OWC brand one I had was flakey, at similar $200-400 price point.
zeristor 5y ago
Don’t you mean “so good you bought the company”?
- buggeryorkshire 5y ago
  Good to see you again Victor!
- sitkack 5y ago
  For everyone under 40, there was a shaver ad that flooded the airwaves of our youth where some guy (Victor) would say, "I liked it so much I bought the company". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf22bddvLnc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf22bddvLnc
TheNewAndy 5y ago
It is missing Ethernet, which seems to be important to the author. Having heard positive things about caldigit, I got their USB-C Pro Dock and I get frequent screen blanking with my M1 Mac, and often some of the USB ports fail to work. I don't use the ethernet port, but I think it is a Realtek (so likely the same thing the author is complaining about) I have spoken to caldigit support and so far they have replaced the dock once, and now have gone pretty quiet.
- moritonal 5y ago
  For the Ethernet I enjoyed the fact the dock was clean and unopinionated, just providing USB ports so I could use a USB-C-to-Ethernet adapter. Your comments about the Screen Blanking sound bad and are are likely correct, I only have an Intel Mac to compare.
  - TheNewAndy 5y ago
    I have used the dock with windows and Linux machines and seen solar issues btw. So I would expect the same with an Intel mac
    - vetinari 5y ago
      The screen blanking with M1 was driving me crazy. I went through untold amount of cables, and ended up with miniDP (on the dock) to DP (on the monitor) that doesn't blank, but only flickers occasionally. The funny thing is that 2015 Intel MBP (with Apple TB2->TB3 adapter) with the same dock and same monitor didn't blank or flicker. I guess it is something about the new Apple TB implementation in M1.
- dntrkv 5y ago
  Their TS3 dock supports ethernet. I've had mine for well over 3 years now and it still works great. Can't say the same for the 5+ other docks I had before this one.
- manyxcxi 5y ago
  I’ve got the TS 3 Plus dock (which has Ethernet) and it has been working flawlessly on my 2020 MBP (Intel) the entire time. I _think_ there was a firmware update in the early days that unlocked the 85 or 90 watt charging. I had heartburn about the price, but it’s been worth every penny. I’m not pushing 4K though, so mileage may vary. I’ve got a 27” TB2 Apple Cinema Display via TB2 to USB-C and a Dell via Display port. As a guy working with Raspberry Pi and 3D printers a lot in my free time it is SO NICE to have the card reader right up front and easy to access. I also love un/plugging just one cord when I’m on the go.
Sophistifunk 5y ago
For the sake of anecdata, I have a CalDigit TB3 dock that's been working reasonably well for a few years now, which is actually pretty high praise given the competition, and I'll probably stick with CD when I get around to replacing it.
morninglight 5y ago
My kid wanted a USB hub, so I got this at the local $5 store. Have not heard any complaints. I am sooo lucky. https://www.fivebelow.com/products/4-port-type-c-charging-hub https://www.fivebelow.com/products/4-port-type-c-charging-hu...
- Nextgrid 5y ago
  That's USB 2 though - it's literally a USB-A hub with the connector swapped for a USB-C one. This speaks volumes about the beauty of USB 2.0 and the USB-A specs that they withstood decades of unscrupulous manufacturers; they're so simple that it's literally more effort to screw it up than to do it properly, so even the cheapest option will typically work.
  - morninglight 5y ago
    I know that, and you know that, and by the time my kid figures it out.... I'll have saved enough to send him to College. .
    - appletrotter 5y ago
      Top 5 usb C hacks that your kids don't want you to know. Hack 1. Gas light your children ...
      - danuker 5y ago
        While I don't approve of gaslighting, I endorse the use of appropriate technology. Since "real" USB-C hubs seem to be garbage, why use one?
dogma1138 5y ago
You can get them on the cheap as you can buy enterprise Dell/HP USB-C/TB for like $50-70 on EBay… Do not waste your money on high end consumer stuff, the enterprise stuff is better and the market is flooded with disposed units…
- Gigachad 5y ago
  Those Dell ones that come with the XPS caused us endless problems at work. Higher res screens would just not work properly. The only one that consistently just worked was the apple HDMI/USB-A/USB-C charging dongle.
  - dogma1138 5y ago
    Sounds to me that you for some reason got the older USB-C 3.1 / Gen 1 docks those are limited to 5gbps which means no 4K@60 the Gen 2 USB-C / TB3 docks work quite flawlessly as long as you ofc plug them into a Gen 2 or TB port…
    - ungamedplayer 5y ago
      This echos the same problem that I had with the older Lenovo "docks" (hub). The newer ones work without an issue.
    - vladvasiliu 5y ago
      They should be able to get 4k@60 with the older docks. I have such an older monitor which works fine. It's just that the usb 3 ports work at 480 Mbps.
      - vetinari 5y ago
        With USB->DP adapter yes. With a hub offering USB3 ports, mostly no. Once both lanes are in DP-alternate mode (needed for 4k@60), there's no bandwidth for USB3, only the separate wire for USB2. So here it depends how it is internally connected, and whether it can switch USB3 ports to USB2 or not. Many hubs can't do this.
xattt 5y ago
I ended up getting a Lenovo USB-C Gen 2 hub a couple of years ago, and it’s still on sale. Also very satisfied. I’m able to switch my personal (Lenovo) and work (Dell) laptops, mostly without issue. I say without issue because the Dell/Intel only supports HBM2 so won’t do two monitors if one of them is more than 1080p. I settled on using the HDMI out from the laptop to split the difference in frustration and convenience.
- microtonal 5y ago
  I ended up getting a Lenovo USB-C Gen 2 hub a couple of years ago, It works fine on ThinkPads. Unless you are using Linux, where 4k@60Hz does not work due to lane misconfiguration (maybe this is fixed by now?). On Macs, I have found this Dock to be a complete disaster. It would often not charge unless you plug/unplug the Dock several times. Also Ethernet often doesn't work (it uses a Realtek NIC). I had two and sold both of them, because they are practically unusable with Macs, and replaced them by Startech Thunderbolt 3 Docks, which work great.
  - xattt 5y ago
    There have been a couple of firmware updates over my couple years of ownership. I had a couple of issues with the dock simply not connecting to the non-Lenovo computer, but this was fixed with the fw update early last year.
    - microtonal 5y ago
      These issues were with the firmware updates early last year (I think the last update I tried was from April 2021). I see that they finally provided a new firmware update March this year. Too late \o/.
      - xattt 5y ago
        And hence the slow descent into madness!
bsder 5y ago
For the sake of anecdata, I found that even the Caldigit docks fail to work on the Intel Macbook Pros (I only have a single data point about the M1s and they didn't work there either). When I hook even basic things like my keyboard and mouse up to the USB A ports, things work for about 20 minutes or so (varies widely) and then the USB A ports go dead requiring a reboot to restore. This is a known failure mode, but it doesn't hit everybody. It is solely an Apple software fault as older OSs do not exhibit it. I really wish I knew what the issue was. On the plus side, I found this so infuriating that I finally threw all in and switched to Linux full-time (Lenovo X1 Carbon with a ThinkPad dock) and haven't looked back since. Side note: practically every thunderbolt dock I have works fine with every x86 laptop I have running either Windows or Linux (including the Caldigit!). YMMV.
- iends 5y ago
  My entire team and a few other developers I work with have had zero issues with CalDigit TS3 on Intel Macs. At least 10 TS3s over the period of several years.
LocalPCGuy 5y ago
I don't like the idea of having to chain multiple dongles(I know the advantages, being able to choose a good network adapter, etc.) but I'd still pay decent money for a single device that I can leave on my desk with everything plugged in without the need for additional interconnects. (I do see that they make actual hubs as well, might check those out.)
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
conradev 5y ago
CalDigit's TS3, TS3 Plus, and now the TS4 are all incredible products. I have used them with my MacBooks over the years as well as my gaming PC (ASUS ProArt B550 motherboard), and they are the most reliable part of my desktop setup. They are not just reliable, but reliably fast. I get full gigabit ethernet speed, fast USB transfer speeds, and fast SD card reading, without fail, every time.
whatever1 5y ago
What network controller does it have? Is it the same realtek ?
- whatever1 5y ago
  Replying to myself. From a tear down it seems like the TS3 plus version uses an intel network controller! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f6Zs1JyZBQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f6Zs1JyZBQ
serverlessmom 5y ago
Opened this for the express purpose of plugging caldigit. A device that improves on these other devices with a massive upgrade in engineering. Full teardown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f6Zs1JyZBQ&ab_channel=CameronGray https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f6Zs1JyZBQ&ab_channel=Camer...
wwalexander 5y ago
I’d just like to chime in with the Kensington SD5700T [1]. I’ve tried a CalDigit TS3 Plus, an Anker PowerExpand 13-in-1, and the Kensington has by far been the most reliable. It doesn’t have built-in HDMI/DisplayPort out, but it’s easy to buy the appropriate cable to connect to your monitor (I recommend Club3D [2]). Especially if you’re trying to use an HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 1.4 display, as I’ve found most built-in ports on these hubs don’t support these latest standards or have weird issues with them. It also has a nice mounting bracket [3] that lets you hide the cable mess under your desk or behind your monitor. [1] https://www.kensington.com/p/products/device-docking-connectivity-products/laptop-docks-usb-accessories/sd5700t-thunderbolt-4-dual-4k-docking-station-with-90w-pd/ https://www.kensington.com/p/products/device-docking-connect... [2] https://www.club-3d.com/en/cat/cable/usb_type_c/1606/301/ https://www.club-3d.com/en/cat/cable/usb_type_c/1606/301/ [3] https://www.kensington.com/p/products/device-docking-connectivity-products/laptop-docks-usb-accessories/docking-station-mounting-bracket/ https://www.kensington.com/p/products/device-docking-connect...
- mason55 5y ago
  Can second this recommendation for an M1 Pro MBP. Expensive, but I've been very happy with mine. A single cable in and out of my laptop to cover power (at a full 95W) plus monitors, USB-A peripherals, network, and everything else, super amazing.
  - culopatin 5y ago
    If you were to install monitor control, can you adjust the brightness of both monitors or just one?
- seanp2k2 5y ago
  I've had really bad luck with TB3 docks including the OWC and CalDigit. It seems that having a stiff TB cable on a non-locking port isn't that great of an idea. I ended up rigging up some cardboard and lots of tape to reinforce and stabilize the dock side of the connection on the OWC, and connecting to it would work only about half the time, and even then my dual external monitors would usually be swapped L/R. The best solution to this I've seen is on Angelbird’s SD Dual Card Reader which uses a sadly proprietary shaped molded USB-C connector that goes DEEP into the reader, but it is very snug and wiggle-proof. I haven't tried, but I'm confident that I could swing this thing around by the cable and not hurt it or have it disconnect at all. It really does feel like the piece of pro-level kit that would be at home on a DIT cart like it was designed for. The Lenovo TB3 Workstation dock worked relatively well for docking an X1 Extreme, and that too has a proprietary connector which combines Lenovo's charging plug with a TB3 connector. It's secure and doesn't wiggle much, but it's short and flexible but not terribly so (large bend radius). Lastly, I'd just like to complain about how lame it is that there are so few docks with >1 HDMI or [preferably] DP connectors. On the OWC dock, I was literally using 1x MiniDP to DP adapter cable for one monitor, then a USB-C DP alt-mode dongle plugged into HDMI to the other monitor. Plugging a dongle into a dock is serious product-level cringe. Surely I'm not the only person in the world who wants to close their workstation-class laptop and use it with dual 4K60 32" monitors, yet there seem to be so few products that work like that. I don't want to dasiy-chain one over TB either. I understand the bandwidth limitations and hope that TB4 makes this an easier sell. My Ideal TB4 dock: - LOCKING connector, somehow. Build a cage around it like they do for some IECs or mold in a deep strain relief or something. - 3X DisplayPort 2.0 (since they lock, unlike almost all HDMI that isn't on rackmount pro gear that news stations have)...DP 2.0 has been out since 26 June 2019. - 25G SFP slot that can take a 10GbE GBIC, DAC, or fiber. I'd settle for 10G SFP. - 2x downstream TB4 ports that can fall back to USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (ugh, really not a fan of USB IF naming conventions) - 4x USB 2.0 type A on a hub to plug in all the stuff that doesn't need much bandwidth, like keyboards / mice / phone charger / bluetooth dongle / YubiKey. - 2x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type A ports for fastish devices like external HDDs that came out before Type C. - Pass through the entire 100W and make that actually work with MacBooks. I've plugged into so many docks that can't actually charge the larger MBPs. They'll give 45w or something, which doesn't cut it for MBPs, let alone mobile workstation class laptops. 100W would at least keep a laptop with a 45W TDP CPU and at least as powerful GPU afloat. I'm talking about stuff that comes with 200w+ power bricks here. I don't mind terribly plugging in the power adapter separately, just don't make me do what Lenovo did and plug TWO POWER BRICKS INTO THE DOCK. That's a bit much. - No damn 3.5mm headphone + mic jacks (extra audio chipset that is inevitably worse than the one built in and much much worse than a proper external pro interface), built-in wifi, bluetooth, built-in m.2 / 2.5" SSD...I love the SD card reader personally but make it a damn good fast one or just give me another couple of USB ports instead. The closest I can get to this today is the Lenovo workstation dock, which they now make in a TB4 flavor featuring: 1 x 3.5mm Audio combo Jack 4 x USB-A 1 x USB-C 1 x HDMI 2.1 2 x Displayport 1.4 1 x RJ45 (gigabit) 1 x Thunderbolt (for Host connect) 1 x Thunderbolt (for Device connect)
nerdawson 5y ago
As I was scrolling through the article, I was hoping to see the TS3 amongst the docks torn down. I was happy with mine until I started using an extra display with it recently. The main display is hooked up via DisplayPort. The problem arose when I added a second display over USB C. For some reason, when I plug the monitor into the dock, there's a faint electrical noise. If I plug the monitor into a USB C port on the laptop instead, it's perfectly quiet. Maybe I should attempt HDMI instead. Either way it's frustrating.
moffkalast 5y ago
Remind me to never buy a laptop without a healthy array of dedicated external ports. This is lunacy.
- TacticalCoder 5y ago
  Yup when you see both the price and the size of these docks, you gotta wonder why even bother with buying a laptop in the first place. If the goal is to hook up two 4K monitors, I'd rather have, say, a desktop computer powered by a threadripper.
  - seanp2k2 5y ago
    Yeah, the thing too about desktop vs laptop is not just core count but TDP. An Intel 12900K on an OC can draw like 400W ( https://wccftech.com/intel-core-i9-12900k-overclocked-to-5-3-ghz-across-all-cores-with-1-44v-voltage-hits-insane-400w-power-consumption-in-aida64-stress-test/ https://wccftech.com/intel-core-i9-12900k-overclocked-to-5-3... ) vs a laptop that will get you a max of like 115w for turbo (<10 seconds at a time) and 45w under normal circumstances ( https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/132215/intel-core-i912900hk-processor-24m-cache-up-to-5-00-ghz.html https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/132215/... ). And good luck getting anything close to RTX 3090Ti performance in a laptop. It'd basically be a toasted oven on your lap. Desktops can just sink a ton more heat, and as process shrinks and die size increases have gotten us less and less additional performance each year, we're just pushing power up to the point now where a TOTL gaming desktop is pulling close to 1KW. A laptop will never come close. If you really do want to try a literal desktop CPU in a laptop, there are mfgs like Eurocom and Sager that will sell you one, just don't expect it not to throttle a lot under actual heavy workloads.
    - roywashere 5y ago
      To be honest I see this as a win for laptops nowadays. I still work from home most days of the week and I prefer not to have a power hungry workstation turned on all day, especially with current electricity prices. Because of unfortunate timing of when my contract expired I already pay around 800 euros per month for energy
notatoad 5y ago
what if i don't want a decent dock, or two 4K screens, i just want to plug in a hard drive and a mouse at the same time? is there a USB-C option for me, or is my best bet a USB-A hub, a USB a-to-c adapter, and a usb c-to-a adapter.
- katbyte 5y ago
  you can get small USB-A <--> USB-C adapters. I picked up a few of these since I got a new MacBook and finally had to deal with the nightmare of USB-C and its really helped: https://www.anker.com/ca/products/variant/usbc-to-usb-30-adapter/B87310A1 https://www.anker.com/ca/products/variant/usbc-to-usb-30-ada...
Phrodo_00 5y ago
While there certainly is something nice about plugging in a single cable, I just use a usb-c hub with a usb ethernet and a usb switch with my peripherals and then connect my screen directly This is cheaper in the same way I don't use a KVM and instead change the inputs in my monitor (Also, I'd have to figure out what DP KVM supports G-Sync and 1440p 165hz).
- kaylynb 5y ago
  Same here. I can’t really use a monitor that’s less that 120Hz, even for engineering work. 60Hz monitors give me eye strain. It’s impossible to find any KVM at any price point that works with 120Hz, and certainly not 120Hz@3840x1600. Forget about G-Sync. I resorted to just keeping short USB and DP or TB->DP cable extenders plugged into the computer ports and have a “cable zone” where I just unplug and replug all the cables to switch machines. The short extensions are to protect the ports in the machines from wearing out. It’s way cheaper than any KVM and it actually works.
  - adamzegelin 5y ago
    I've had good success with a 1x4 KVM from Level1Techs. I use it paired with a Alienware AW3418DW 3440x1440 120Hz G-Sync monitor. My PC has a NVIDIA 2080 and G-Sync+120Hz works fine through the KVM. I also have my MBP connected, via a CalDigit dock, and it can push 120Hz to the monitor too. Level1Techs a small shop that I discovered via their YouTube channel. While they don't manufacturer the KVM themselves (all to common, see the OP link), they look to have done rigorous testing and compatibility analysis. They claim it works up to 3840x2160@120hz because it supports DP 1.4. https://store.level1techs.com/products/14-display-port-kvm-single-4computer https://store.level1techs.com/products/14-display-port-kvm-s...
    - kaylynb 5y ago
      Thanks. I've heard good things about them, but they were sold out for a long time. I actually did many days of research into assembling my own KVM. HDMI is surprisingly straightforward but DP is a nightmare of nested standards. Just one example: There is support for running i2c tunneled through another protocol. The biggest issue is the link speeds that a DP1.4 cable runs at. The chips needed to do the switching are expensive and pretty much need to be machine assembled. When you get to those frequencies the trace design and board composition even become a factor. After all that I don't find the $299+ for a good KVM to actually be that excessive. It's surprising how difficult it is to electronically do "I unplug cable and plug another one in". I don't even need stuff like display spoofing, etc, since I only use one machine at a time and don't constantly switch, but it was just way too much work to put together. If you only need slower link speeds it's doable.
Forgeties79 5y ago
I’ve been very happy with this OWC thunderbolt dock. No monitor outputs, but as someone who is juggling so many hard drives for video/audio projects - mostly running 3-2-1 backup protocol for my salaried job AND freelance clients AND personal work - the large number of ports and wall power are critical. I had so many problems with bus powered drives drawing too much and then randomly ejecting because I have too many plugged in. This thing solved it immediately. On my M1 Mac mini, between the OWC dock and another dongle (bus powered) and the remaining ports on the Mac, I can run 10+ drives with no problem plus multiple peripherals. That may seem excessive, but when you’re juggling between drives trying to find old projects for people or trying to build a demo reel, it speeds up the process immensely. It also enabled me to consolidate a bunch of old 1 to 3 TB drives onto a couple of master 16 TB drives with everything in front of me at once, saving a ton of time, stress, and double checking. Frankly it’s just nice not having to unplug something two or three times a day just to be able to plug in something else. I always have an available port now and it’s got me so much better organized. https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-thunderbolt-dock https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-thunderbolt-dock
makeitdouble 5y ago
To note, “a bit of money” is 250$ on amazon right now. Two of them would buy a complete Ryzen mini-PC, which could be another way to convey how hard it must be to make a “decent” thunderbolt dock.
- rektide 5y ago
  AMD is joining Intel in having Thunderbolt4/usb4 ports on their upcoming mobile chips. Would be great to have an io up alterntive part that has 4, 5, 6 or more ports.
- whywhywhywhy 5y ago
  >how hard it must be to make a “decent” thunderbolt dock. I’d been thinking about this and want to add to the evidence that even though MacBooks were USB-C only for years and years Apple never shipped a dock they only shipped single port dongles. No way would Apple not sell a $500-$800 dock that could “solve the usb-c problem” unless there was a good reason and I think the reason is this solution is inherently janky for some unsolvable engineering reason and only single port cables are reliable to the level Apple was happy with.
ben7799 5y ago
Caldigit is junk just like most of the others. I just had to get IT to swap mine out at work last week. We have hundreds of CalDigit and OWC docks.. tons have failed. I had an OWC one fail a couple years ago as well. And yah, these things cost as much as a Chromebook or a cheap windows notebook.
gernb 5y ago
While I agree that's a great dock, IIUC, it's not technically a USB-C dock, it's a Thunderbolt dock. I know it's the same cable but IIUC it's not USB-C?
- fastball 5y ago
  USB-C is the connector type, so yes Thunderbolt 4 uses USB-C. The transport standard is USB-[some number], current gen being USB-4 (which is actually based on the TB3 standard).
aldebran 5y ago
My work gave me this. I have a 2019 16” i9 MacBook that crashes in every other unplug plug of this dock. Here’s the most amazing issue with this dock yet: it somehow resets my router through the ethernet port I’m using to connect to the router. No other device has this issue. Other than this dock, nothing else causes any issue working with my router. I went through 2 of these and finally bought generic usb C hubs and run 2x usbc->HDMI for 2x displays.
vishnugupta 5y ago
While we are recommending, I’ve been very happy with my purchase of Dell’s docking station. “Dell WD19TB Thunderbolt Docking Station”, to be specific. Works well with MBP. It has some Windows specific features that don’t work with Apple machines. So DYOR.
arcticbull 5y ago
I'm a huge fan of the Dell WD19TB. Works great on my MacBook Pro M1 Pro (did I mention it's for Pros) and my gaming PC. The only issue I have with it is that the PC will only run video over Thunderbolt if I use YCbCr 4:2:2 with chroma subsampling - so instead I wired my PC monitor directly to the GPU and use the WD19TB for everything else (including video on my Mac laptop over HDMI). Gets a solid 980Mbits symmetric on the ethernet port, 90W of power delivery, etc. It's a lifesaver swapping just the one cable between my PC and laptop. Works in USB-C mode too.
- ruuda 5y ago
  I have been using this one for years, it used to drive two 4k displays at 60 Hz. But since half a year or so, I can't get the second display to run at 60 Hz any more. I think it's a regression in the Linux kernel, but it's basically impossible to debug. A few times it suddenly did recognize it can do two displays at 60 Hz, but it seems to depend on the phase of the moon :/
  - arcticbull 5y ago
    Dude video over these hubs - even the good ones - is so hit and miss. It's really frustrating actually.
k8sToGo 5y ago
Yes. Avoid anything with displaylink.
muro 5y ago
I found a random USB-c monitor to be a decent hub (I used a cheap Lenovo, was great). No ethernet cable, however wifi is usually good enough, if not faster. If it needs to be Thunderbolt and money is no object, there is the Apple Studio Display with 3 USB-C ports.
guerby 5y ago
I've recently received my https://frame.work https://frame.work laptop (64 GB RAM 2 TB NVME) and with its expansion card system I can have 4 usb-c, or 2 usb-c and HDMI and DP on it, and if a connector fails the replacement expansion card is 10-20 EUR.
__alexs 5y ago
Some CalDigit docks have this fun issue where if you plug the wrong sort of adapter into the wrong sort of USB-C port it will brick the port if not the entire device on the other end.
wil421 5y ago
No Ethernet? I would stick to the TS3 plus. I love mine.
ubermonkey 5y ago
I did the same thing, seeking a "one plug" setup with my Macbook Pro. I have a different CalDigit (the TS3+), but same conclusion: to do this right, you have to throw a little money at it. With this dock, I was able to run: - 2 4K monitors - Gigabit Ethernet - USB-A - Audio connection for speakers - Power all on one USB-C cable to the laptop. It also has an SD slot and a front-facing USB-A port for thumb drives, etc. https://www.caldigit.com/ts3-plus/ https://www.caldigit.com/ts3-plus/
DocG 5y ago
How is 50-90€ not a "bit of money" for a dongle already?
zdefz 5y ago
The thunderbolt 4 element hub is causing kernel panics on M1 devices running in RAID 0. It is unnreliable and requires additional cooling to keep my mind safe. I in fact created this account just to warn you. I had two of them with 3 Sabrent Thunderbolt SSDs each. So when you setup a RAID level and then copy data from A to B, it did crash for me each time. For copy I used "Carbon Copy Cloner" In fact I go so far to say Thunderbolt is not reliable at all for 24/7 use, as it gets much hotter and currently would require active cooling to prevent throttling.
nickm12 5y ago
+1 to Caldigit Thunderbolt. I bought a TS3 Plus almost two years ago and have been living the single-cable lifestyle since. Works great.
glmdev 5y ago
This is true, though Ethernet seems to be an endemic problem. I have a ~$300 Dell WD19TB that works flawlessly to drive a couple displays, audio out, USB hub, and card reader, but the Ethernet died after a few months. So now, comically, I have to have a type-C Ethernet adapter connected to the back of my Thunderbolt dock...

steveBK123 5y ago

Basically one of the few that actually does what it says on the box reliably. Even the OWC brand one I had was flakey, at similar $200-400 price point.

zeristor 5y ago

Don’t you mean “so good you bought the company”?

buggeryorkshire 5y ago
Good to see you again Victor!
sitkack 5y ago
For everyone under 40, there was a shaver ad that flooded the airwaves of our youth where some guy (Victor) would say, "I liked it so much I bought the company". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf22bddvLnc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf22bddvLnc

TheNewAndy 5y ago

It is missing Ethernet, which seems to be important to the author. Having heard positive things about caldigit, I got their USB-C Pro Dock and I get frequent screen blanking with my M1 Mac, and often some of the USB ports fail to work. I don't use the ethernet port, but I think it is a Realtek (so likely the same thing the author is complaining about) I have spoken to caldigit support and so far they have replaced the dock once, and now have gone pretty quiet.

moritonal 5y ago
For the Ethernet I enjoyed the fact the dock was clean and unopinionated, just providing USB ports so I could use a USB-C-to-Ethernet adapter. Your comments about the Screen Blanking sound bad and are are likely correct, I only have an Intel Mac to compare.
- TheNewAndy 5y ago
  I have used the dock with windows and Linux machines and seen solar issues btw. So I would expect the same with an Intel mac
  - vetinari 5y ago
    The screen blanking with M1 was driving me crazy. I went through untold amount of cables, and ended up with miniDP (on the dock) to DP (on the monitor) that doesn't blank, but only flickers occasionally. The funny thing is that 2015 Intel MBP (with Apple TB2->TB3 adapter) with the same dock and same monitor didn't blank or flicker. I guess it is something about the new Apple TB implementation in M1.
dntrkv 5y ago
Their TS3 dock supports ethernet. I've had mine for well over 3 years now and it still works great. Can't say the same for the 5+ other docks I had before this one.
manyxcxi 5y ago
I’ve got the TS 3 Plus dock (which has Ethernet) and it has been working flawlessly on my 2020 MBP (Intel) the entire time. I _think_ there was a firmware update in the early days that unlocked the 85 or 90 watt charging. I had heartburn about the price, but it’s been worth every penny. I’m not pushing 4K though, so mileage may vary. I’ve got a 27” TB2 Apple Cinema Display via TB2 to USB-C and a Dell via Display port. As a guy working with Raspberry Pi and 3D printers a lot in my free time it is SO NICE to have the card reader right up front and easy to access. I also love un/plugging just one cord when I’m on the go.

Sophistifunk 5y ago

For the sake of anecdata, I have a CalDigit TB3 dock that's been working reasonably well for a few years now, which is actually pretty high praise given the competition, and I'll probably stick with CD when I get around to replacing it.

morninglight 5y ago

My kid wanted a USB hub, so I got this at the local $5 store. Have not heard any complaints. I am sooo lucky. https://www.fivebelow.com/products/4-port-type-c-charging-hub https://www.fivebelow.com/products/4-port-type-c-charging-hu...

Nextgrid 5y ago
That's USB 2 though - it's literally a USB-A hub with the connector swapped for a USB-C one. This speaks volumes about the beauty of USB 2.0 and the USB-A specs that they withstood decades of unscrupulous manufacturers; they're so simple that it's literally more effort to screw it up than to do it properly, so even the cheapest option will typically work.
- morninglight 5y ago
  I know that, and you know that, and by the time my kid figures it out.... I'll have saved enough to send him to College. .
  - appletrotter 5y ago
    Top 5 usb C hacks that your kids don't want you to know. Hack 1. Gas light your children ...
    - danuker 5y ago
      While I don't approve of gaslighting, I endorse the use of appropriate technology. Since "real" USB-C hubs seem to be garbage, why use one?

dogma1138 5y ago

You can get them on the cheap as you can buy enterprise Dell/HP USB-C/TB for like $50-70 on EBay… Do not waste your money on high end consumer stuff, the enterprise stuff is better and the market is flooded with disposed units…

Gigachad 5y ago
Those Dell ones that come with the XPS caused us endless problems at work. Higher res screens would just not work properly. The only one that consistently just worked was the apple HDMI/USB-A/USB-C charging dongle.
- dogma1138 5y ago
  Sounds to me that you for some reason got the older USB-C 3.1 / Gen 1 docks those are limited to 5gbps which means no 4K@60 the Gen 2 USB-C / TB3 docks work quite flawlessly as long as you ofc plug them into a Gen 2 or TB port…
  - ungamedplayer 5y ago
    This echos the same problem that I had with the older Lenovo "docks" (hub). The newer ones work without an issue.
  - vladvasiliu 5y ago
    They should be able to get 4k@60 with the older docks. I have such an older monitor which works fine. It's just that the usb 3 ports work at 480 Mbps.
    - vetinari 5y ago
      With USB->DP adapter yes. With a hub offering USB3 ports, mostly no. Once both lanes are in DP-alternate mode (needed for 4k@60), there's no bandwidth for USB3, only the separate wire for USB2. So here it depends how it is internally connected, and whether it can switch USB3 ports to USB2 or not. Many hubs can't do this.

xattt 5y ago

I ended up getting a Lenovo USB-C Gen 2 hub a couple of years ago, and it’s still on sale. Also very satisfied. I’m able to switch my personal (Lenovo) and work (Dell) laptops, mostly without issue. I say without issue because the Dell/Intel only supports HBM2 so won’t do two monitors if one of them is more than 1080p. I settled on using the HDMI out from the laptop to split the difference in frustration and convenience.

microtonal 5y ago
I ended up getting a Lenovo USB-C Gen 2 hub a couple of years ago, It works fine on ThinkPads. Unless you are using Linux, where 4k@60Hz does not work due to lane misconfiguration (maybe this is fixed by now?). On Macs, I have found this Dock to be a complete disaster. It would often not charge unless you plug/unplug the Dock several times. Also Ethernet often doesn't work (it uses a Realtek NIC). I had two and sold both of them, because they are practically unusable with Macs, and replaced them by Startech Thunderbolt 3 Docks, which work great.
- xattt 5y ago
  There have been a couple of firmware updates over my couple years of ownership. I had a couple of issues with the dock simply not connecting to the non-Lenovo computer, but this was fixed with the fw update early last year.
  - microtonal 5y ago
    These issues were with the firmware updates early last year (I think the last update I tried was from April 2021). I see that they finally provided a new firmware update March this year. Too late \o/.
    - xattt 5y ago
      And hence the slow descent into madness!

bsder 5y ago

For the sake of anecdata, I found that even the Caldigit docks fail to work on the Intel Macbook Pros (I only have a single data point about the M1s and they didn't work there either). When I hook even basic things like my keyboard and mouse up to the USB A ports, things work for about 20 minutes or so (varies widely) and then the USB A ports go dead requiring a reboot to restore. This is a known failure mode, but it doesn't hit everybody. It is solely an Apple software fault as older OSs do not exhibit it. I really wish I knew what the issue was. On the plus side, I found this so infuriating that I finally threw all in and switched to Linux full-time (Lenovo X1 Carbon with a ThinkPad dock) and haven't looked back since. Side note: practically every thunderbolt dock I have works fine with every x86 laptop I have running either Windows or Linux (including the Caldigit!). YMMV.

iends 5y ago
My entire team and a few other developers I work with have had zero issues with CalDigit TS3 on Intel Macs. At least 10 TS3s over the period of several years.

LocalPCGuy 5y ago

I don't like the idea of having to chain multiple dongles(I know the advantages, being able to choose a good network adapter, etc.) but I'd still pay decent money for a single device that I can leave on my desk with everything plugged in without the need for additional interconnects. (I do see that they make actual hubs as well, might check those out.)

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

conradev 5y ago

CalDigit's TS3, TS3 Plus, and now the TS4 are all incredible products. I have used them with my MacBooks over the years as well as my gaming PC (ASUS ProArt B550 motherboard), and they are the most reliable part of my desktop setup. They are not just reliable, but reliably fast. I get full gigabit ethernet speed, fast USB transfer speeds, and fast SD card reading, without fail, every time.

whatever1 5y ago

What network controller does it have? Is it the same realtek ?

whatever1 5y ago
Replying to myself. From a tear down it seems like the TS3 plus version uses an intel network controller! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f6Zs1JyZBQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f6Zs1JyZBQ

serverlessmom 5y ago

Opened this for the express purpose of plugging caldigit. A device that improves on these other devices with a massive upgrade in engineering. Full teardown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f6Zs1JyZBQ&ab_channel=CameronGray https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f6Zs1JyZBQ&ab_channel=Camer...

wwalexander 5y ago

I’d just like to chime in with the Kensington SD5700T [1]. I’ve tried a CalDigit TS3 Plus, an Anker PowerExpand 13-in-1, and the Kensington has by far been the most reliable. It doesn’t have built-in HDMI/DisplayPort out, but it’s easy to buy the appropriate cable to connect to your monitor (I recommend Club3D [2]). Especially if you’re trying to use an HDMI 2.1 or DisplayPort 1.4 display, as I’ve found most built-in ports on these hubs don’t support these latest standards or have weird issues with them. It also has a nice mounting bracket [3] that lets you hide the cable mess under your desk or behind your monitor. [1] https://www.kensington.com/p/products/device-docking-connectivity-products/laptop-docks-usb-accessories/sd5700t-thunderbolt-4-dual-4k-docking-station-with-90w-pd/ https://www.kensington.com/p/products/device-docking-connect... [2] https://www.club-3d.com/en/cat/cable/usb_type_c/1606/301/ https://www.club-3d.com/en/cat/cable/usb_type_c/1606/301/ [3] https://www.kensington.com/p/products/device-docking-connectivity-products/laptop-docks-usb-accessories/docking-station-mounting-bracket/ https://www.kensington.com/p/products/device-docking-connect...

mason55 5y ago
Can second this recommendation for an M1 Pro MBP. Expensive, but I've been very happy with mine. A single cable in and out of my laptop to cover power (at a full 95W) plus monitors, USB-A peripherals, network, and everything else, super amazing.
- culopatin 5y ago
  If you were to install monitor control, can you adjust the brightness of both monitors or just one?
seanp2k2 5y ago
I've had really bad luck with TB3 docks including the OWC and CalDigit. It seems that having a stiff TB cable on a non-locking port isn't that great of an idea. I ended up rigging up some cardboard and lots of tape to reinforce and stabilize the dock side of the connection on the OWC, and connecting to it would work only about half the time, and even then my dual external monitors would usually be swapped L/R. The best solution to this I've seen is on Angelbird’s SD Dual Card Reader which uses a sadly proprietary shaped molded USB-C connector that goes DEEP into the reader, but it is very snug and wiggle-proof. I haven't tried, but I'm confident that I could swing this thing around by the cable and not hurt it or have it disconnect at all. It really does feel like the piece of pro-level kit that would be at home on a DIT cart like it was designed for. The Lenovo TB3 Workstation dock worked relatively well for docking an X1 Extreme, and that too has a proprietary connector which combines Lenovo's charging plug with a TB3 connector. It's secure and doesn't wiggle much, but it's short and flexible but not terribly so (large bend radius). Lastly, I'd just like to complain about how lame it is that there are so few docks with >1 HDMI or [preferably] DP connectors. On the OWC dock, I was literally using 1x MiniDP to DP adapter cable for one monitor, then a USB-C DP alt-mode dongle plugged into HDMI to the other monitor. Plugging a dongle into a dock is serious product-level cringe. Surely I'm not the only person in the world who wants to close their workstation-class laptop and use it with dual 4K60 32" monitors, yet there seem to be so few products that work like that. I don't want to dasiy-chain one over TB either. I understand the bandwidth limitations and hope that TB4 makes this an easier sell. My Ideal TB4 dock: - LOCKING connector, somehow. Build a cage around it like they do for some IECs or mold in a deep strain relief or something. - 3X DisplayPort 2.0 (since they lock, unlike almost all HDMI that isn't on rackmount pro gear that news stations have)...DP 2.0 has been out since 26 June 2019. - 25G SFP slot that can take a 10GbE GBIC, DAC, or fiber. I'd settle for 10G SFP. - 2x downstream TB4 ports that can fall back to USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (ugh, really not a fan of USB IF naming conventions) - 4x USB 2.0 type A on a hub to plug in all the stuff that doesn't need much bandwidth, like keyboards / mice / phone charger / bluetooth dongle / YubiKey. - 2x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type A ports for fastish devices like external HDDs that came out before Type C. - Pass through the entire 100W and make that actually work with MacBooks. I've plugged into so many docks that can't actually charge the larger MBPs. They'll give 45w or something, which doesn't cut it for MBPs, let alone mobile workstation class laptops. 100W would at least keep a laptop with a 45W TDP CPU and at least as powerful GPU afloat. I'm talking about stuff that comes with 200w+ power bricks here. I don't mind terribly plugging in the power adapter separately, just don't make me do what Lenovo did and plug TWO POWER BRICKS INTO THE DOCK. That's a bit much. - No damn 3.5mm headphone + mic jacks (extra audio chipset that is inevitably worse than the one built in and much much worse than a proper external pro interface), built-in wifi, bluetooth, built-in m.2 / 2.5" SSD...I love the SD card reader personally but make it a damn good fast one or just give me another couple of USB ports instead. The closest I can get to this today is the Lenovo workstation dock, which they now make in a TB4 flavor featuring: 1 x 3.5mm Audio combo Jack 4 x USB-A 1 x USB-C 1 x HDMI 2.1 2 x Displayport 1.4 1 x RJ45 (gigabit) 1 x Thunderbolt (for Host connect) 1 x Thunderbolt (for Device connect)

nerdawson 5y ago

As I was scrolling through the article, I was hoping to see the TS3 amongst the docks torn down. I was happy with mine until I started using an extra display with it recently. The main display is hooked up via DisplayPort. The problem arose when I added a second display over USB C. For some reason, when I plug the monitor into the dock, there's a faint electrical noise. If I plug the monitor into a USB C port on the laptop instead, it's perfectly quiet. Maybe I should attempt HDMI instead. Either way it's frustrating.

moffkalast 5y ago

Remind me to never buy a laptop without a healthy array of dedicated external ports. This is lunacy.

TacticalCoder 5y ago
Yup when you see both the price and the size of these docks, you gotta wonder why even bother with buying a laptop in the first place. If the goal is to hook up two 4K monitors, I'd rather have, say, a desktop computer powered by a threadripper.
- seanp2k2 5y ago
  Yeah, the thing too about desktop vs laptop is not just core count but TDP. An Intel 12900K on an OC can draw like 400W ( https://wccftech.com/intel-core-i9-12900k-overclocked-to-5-3-ghz-across-all-cores-with-1-44v-voltage-hits-insane-400w-power-consumption-in-aida64-stress-test/ https://wccftech.com/intel-core-i9-12900k-overclocked-to-5-3... ) vs a laptop that will get you a max of like 115w for turbo (<10 seconds at a time) and 45w under normal circumstances ( https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/132215/intel-core-i912900hk-processor-24m-cache-up-to-5-00-ghz.html https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/132215/... ). And good luck getting anything close to RTX 3090Ti performance in a laptop. It'd basically be a toasted oven on your lap. Desktops can just sink a ton more heat, and as process shrinks and die size increases have gotten us less and less additional performance each year, we're just pushing power up to the point now where a TOTL gaming desktop is pulling close to 1KW. A laptop will never come close. If you really do want to try a literal desktop CPU in a laptop, there are mfgs like Eurocom and Sager that will sell you one, just don't expect it not to throttle a lot under actual heavy workloads.
  - roywashere 5y ago
    To be honest I see this as a win for laptops nowadays. I still work from home most days of the week and I prefer not to have a power hungry workstation turned on all day, especially with current electricity prices. Because of unfortunate timing of when my contract expired I already pay around 800 euros per month for energy

notatoad 5y ago

what if i don't want a decent dock, or two 4K screens, i just want to plug in a hard drive and a mouse at the same time? is there a USB-C option for me, or is my best bet a USB-A hub, a USB a-to-c adapter, and a usb c-to-a adapter.

katbyte 5y ago
you can get small USB-A <--> USB-C adapters. I picked up a few of these since I got a new MacBook and finally had to deal with the nightmare of USB-C and its really helped: https://www.anker.com/ca/products/variant/usbc-to-usb-30-adapter/B87310A1 https://www.anker.com/ca/products/variant/usbc-to-usb-30-ada...

Phrodo_00 5y ago

While there certainly is something nice about plugging in a single cable, I just use a usb-c hub with a usb ethernet and a usb switch with my peripherals and then connect my screen directly This is cheaper in the same way I don't use a KVM and instead change the inputs in my monitor (Also, I'd have to figure out what DP KVM supports G-Sync and 1440p 165hz).

kaylynb 5y ago
Same here. I can’t really use a monitor that’s less that 120Hz, even for engineering work. 60Hz monitors give me eye strain. It’s impossible to find any KVM at any price point that works with 120Hz, and certainly not 120Hz@3840x1600. Forget about G-Sync. I resorted to just keeping short USB and DP or TB->DP cable extenders plugged into the computer ports and have a “cable zone” where I just unplug and replug all the cables to switch machines. The short extensions are to protect the ports in the machines from wearing out. It’s way cheaper than any KVM and it actually works.
- adamzegelin 5y ago
  I've had good success with a 1x4 KVM from Level1Techs. I use it paired with a Alienware AW3418DW 3440x1440 120Hz G-Sync monitor. My PC has a NVIDIA 2080 and G-Sync+120Hz works fine through the KVM. I also have my MBP connected, via a CalDigit dock, and it can push 120Hz to the monitor too. Level1Techs a small shop that I discovered via their YouTube channel. While they don't manufacturer the KVM themselves (all to common, see the OP link), they look to have done rigorous testing and compatibility analysis. They claim it works up to 3840x2160@120hz because it supports DP 1.4. https://store.level1techs.com/products/14-display-port-kvm-single-4computer https://store.level1techs.com/products/14-display-port-kvm-s...
  - kaylynb 5y ago
    Thanks. I've heard good things about them, but they were sold out for a long time. I actually did many days of research into assembling my own KVM. HDMI is surprisingly straightforward but DP is a nightmare of nested standards. Just one example: There is support for running i2c tunneled through another protocol. The biggest issue is the link speeds that a DP1.4 cable runs at. The chips needed to do the switching are expensive and pretty much need to be machine assembled. When you get to those frequencies the trace design and board composition even become a factor. After all that I don't find the $299+ for a good KVM to actually be that excessive. It's surprising how difficult it is to electronically do "I unplug cable and plug another one in". I don't even need stuff like display spoofing, etc, since I only use one machine at a time and don't constantly switch, but it was just way too much work to put together. If you only need slower link speeds it's doable.

Forgeties79 5y ago

I’ve been very happy with this OWC thunderbolt dock. No monitor outputs, but as someone who is juggling so many hard drives for video/audio projects - mostly running 3-2-1 backup protocol for my salaried job AND freelance clients AND personal work - the large number of ports and wall power are critical. I had so many problems with bus powered drives drawing too much and then randomly ejecting because I have too many plugged in. This thing solved it immediately. On my M1 Mac mini, between the OWC dock and another dongle (bus powered) and the remaining ports on the Mac, I can run 10+ drives with no problem plus multiple peripherals. That may seem excessive, but when you’re juggling between drives trying to find old projects for people or trying to build a demo reel, it speeds up the process immensely. It also enabled me to consolidate a bunch of old 1 to 3 TB drives onto a couple of master 16 TB drives with everything in front of me at once, saving a ton of time, stress, and double checking. Frankly it’s just nice not having to unplug something two or three times a day just to be able to plug in something else. I always have an available port now and it’s got me so much better organized. https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-thunderbolt-dock https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-thunderbolt-dock

makeitdouble 5y ago

To note, “a bit of money” is 250$ on amazon right now. Two of them would buy a complete Ryzen mini-PC, which could be another way to convey how hard it must be to make a “decent” thunderbolt dock.

rektide 5y ago
AMD is joining Intel in having Thunderbolt4/usb4 ports on their upcoming mobile chips. Would be great to have an io up alterntive part that has 4, 5, 6 or more ports.
whywhywhywhy 5y ago
>how hard it must be to make a “decent” thunderbolt dock. I’d been thinking about this and want to add to the evidence that even though MacBooks were USB-C only for years and years Apple never shipped a dock they only shipped single port dongles. No way would Apple not sell a $500-$800 dock that could “solve the usb-c problem” unless there was a good reason and I think the reason is this solution is inherently janky for some unsolvable engineering reason and only single port cables are reliable to the level Apple was happy with.

ben7799 5y ago

Caldigit is junk just like most of the others. I just had to get IT to swap mine out at work last week. We have hundreds of CalDigit and OWC docks.. tons have failed. I had an OWC one fail a couple years ago as well. And yah, these things cost as much as a Chromebook or a cheap windows notebook.

gernb 5y ago

While I agree that's a great dock, IIUC, it's not technically a USB-C dock, it's a Thunderbolt dock. I know it's the same cable but IIUC it's not USB-C?

fastball 5y ago
USB-C is the connector type, so yes Thunderbolt 4 uses USB-C. The transport standard is USB-[some number], current gen being USB-4 (which is actually based on the TB3 standard).

aldebran 5y ago

My work gave me this. I have a 2019 16” i9 MacBook that crashes in every other unplug plug of this dock. Here’s the most amazing issue with this dock yet: it somehow resets my router through the ethernet port I’m using to connect to the router. No other device has this issue. Other than this dock, nothing else causes any issue working with my router. I went through 2 of these and finally bought generic usb C hubs and run 2x usbc->HDMI for 2x displays.

vishnugupta 5y ago

While we are recommending, I’ve been very happy with my purchase of Dell’s docking station. “Dell WD19TB Thunderbolt Docking Station”, to be specific. Works well with MBP. It has some Windows specific features that don’t work with Apple machines. So DYOR.

arcticbull 5y ago

I'm a huge fan of the Dell WD19TB. Works great on my MacBook Pro M1 Pro (did I mention it's for Pros) and my gaming PC. The only issue I have with it is that the PC will only run video over Thunderbolt if I use YCbCr 4:2:2 with chroma subsampling - so instead I wired my PC monitor directly to the GPU and use the WD19TB for everything else (including video on my Mac laptop over HDMI). Gets a solid 980Mbits symmetric on the ethernet port, 90W of power delivery, etc. It's a lifesaver swapping just the one cable between my PC and laptop. Works in USB-C mode too.

ruuda 5y ago
I have been using this one for years, it used to drive two 4k displays at 60 Hz. But since half a year or so, I can't get the second display to run at 60 Hz any more. I think it's a regression in the Linux kernel, but it's basically impossible to debug. A few times it suddenly did recognize it can do two displays at 60 Hz, but it seems to depend on the phase of the moon :/
- arcticbull 5y ago
  Dude video over these hubs - even the good ones - is so hit and miss. It's really frustrating actually.

k8sToGo 5y ago

Yes. Avoid anything with displaylink.

muro 5y ago

I found a random USB-c monitor to be a decent hub (I used a cheap Lenovo, was great). No ethernet cable, however wifi is usually good enough, if not faster. If it needs to be Thunderbolt and money is no object, there is the Apple Studio Display with 3 USB-C ports.

guerby 5y ago

I've recently received my https://frame.work https://frame.work laptop (64 GB RAM 2 TB NVME) and with its expansion card system I can have 4 usb-c, or 2 usb-c and HDMI and DP on it, and if a connector fails the replacement expansion card is 10-20 EUR.

__alexs 5y ago

Some CalDigit docks have this fun issue where if you plug the wrong sort of adapter into the wrong sort of USB-C port it will brick the port if not the entire device on the other end.

wil421 5y ago

No Ethernet? I would stick to the TS3 plus. I love mine.

ubermonkey 5y ago

I did the same thing, seeking a "one plug" setup with my Macbook Pro. I have a different CalDigit (the TS3+), but same conclusion: to do this right, you have to throw a little money at it. With this dock, I was able to run: - 2 4K monitors - Gigabit Ethernet - USB-A - Audio connection for speakers - Power all on one USB-C cable to the laptop. It also has an SD slot and a front-facing USB-A port for thumb drives, etc. https://www.caldigit.com/ts3-plus/ https://www.caldigit.com/ts3-plus/

DocG 5y ago

How is 50-90€ not a "bit of money" for a dongle already?

zdefz 5y ago

The thunderbolt 4 element hub is causing kernel panics on M1 devices running in RAID 0. It is unnreliable and requires additional cooling to keep my mind safe. I in fact created this account just to warn you. I had two of them with 3 Sabrent Thunderbolt SSDs each. So when you setup a RAID level and then copy data from A to B, it did crash for me each time. For copy I used "Carbon Copy Cloner" In fact I go so far to say Thunderbolt is not reliable at all for 24/7 use, as it gets much hotter and currently would require active cooling to prevent throttling.

nickm12 5y ago

+1 to Caldigit Thunderbolt. I bought a TS3 Plus almost two years ago and have been living the single-cable lifestyle since. Works great.

glmdev 5y ago

This is true, though Ethernet seems to be an endemic problem. I have a ~$300 Dell WD19TB that works flawlessly to drive a couple displays, audio out, USB hub, and card reader, but the Ethernet died after a few months. So now, comically, I have to have a type-C Ethernet adapter connected to the back of my Thunderbolt dock...