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CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock Review: The Ultimate Connectivity Hub for Professionals
The CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock is a powerhouse of connectivity, designed to meet the demands of professionals and power users. With 18 ports, including Thunderbolt 4, USB-A/C, 2.5GbE Ethernet, and SD/microSD card readers, this dock is a one-stop solution for all your connectivity needs. Whether you're a Mac, PC, or Chrome user, the TS4 ensures seamless compatibility with Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 3, USB4, and USB-C devices. It also supports 98W laptop charging, 8K/6K display outputs, and 2.5x faster network speeds, making it a versatile tool for creative professionals, multitaskers, and tech enthusiasts.
Pros and Cons: What Customers Are Saying
1. Build Quality and Design
The CalDigit TS4 is built like a tank, with a sleek, space-gray design that fits seamlessly into any workspace. Customers have praised its solid construction and compact size (4.46" x 1.65" x 5.55"), which makes it easy to place on a desk without taking up too much space.
Pros:
- Durable and well-made: Many users have described the TS4 as a "solid piece of electrical equipment" that feels premium and reliable.
- Compact and portable: Despite its extensive port selection, the dock is lightweight (1.41 lbs) and easy to move around.
Cons:
- Runs warm: Some users have noted that the dock gets warmer than expected during use, though it doesn't overheat or cause any performance issues.
2. Connectivity and Performance
The TS4 shines when it comes to connectivity. With 18 ports, including 3 Thunderbolt 4 ports, 5 USB-A ports, 3 USB-C ports, and a 2.5GbE Ethernet port, this dock can handle almost any setup. It also supports dual 6K displays or a single 8K display, making it ideal for creative professionals.
Pros:
- Extensive port selection: Users love the sheer number of ports, which eliminate the need for additional hubs or adapters.
- High-speed data transfer: Thunderbolt 4 ensures 40Gb/s speeds, while the 2.5GbE Ethernet port provides 2.5x faster network speeds.
- Universal compatibility: The TS4 works seamlessly with MacBook Air/Pro, Dell Latitude, and even USB-C iPhones and iPads.
Cons:
- SD card reader underutilized: Some users feel the SD/microSD card readers are unnecessary and would prefer additional USB ports instead.
- Front audio port noise: A few users reported baseline noise from the front audio port, though the rear audio port works flawlessly.
3. Ease of Use and Setup
Setting up the TS4 is a breeze. Most users reported that it took less than 5 minutes to get everything up and running. The dock's plug-and-play functionality ensures that all connected devices are recognized immediately.
Pros:
- Simple setup: Users appreciate the straightforward installation process, with no need for additional drivers or software.
- Single-cable solution: The ability to charge your laptop and connect all peripherals with a single Thunderbolt cable is a game-changer.
Cons:
- Network wake issue: Some users experienced issues with the Ethernet port not reconnecting on wake, though this can be resolved by connecting the network cable directly to the laptop.
4. Compatibility and Firmware Updates
The TS4 is compatible with a wide range of devices, including Apple M1/M2 Macs, Intel-based Macs, and Windows PCs. However, some users initially faced compatibility issues, which were resolved after firmware updates.
Pros:
- Firmware updates improve performance: Users who initially had issues with external drives or monitors found that updating the firmware resolved most problems.
- Works with complex setups: The TS4 can handle demanding workflows, including eGPU setups, 4K monitors, and multiple external drives.
Cons:
- Initial compatibility hiccups: A few users reported issues with older USB hubs or specific devices not being recognized, though these were often resolved with troubleshooting.
Conclusion: Is the CalDigit TS4 Worth It?
The CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock is a premium product that delivers on its promises. Its extensive port selection, high-speed connectivity, and universal compatibility make it an excellent choice for professionals who need a reliable and versatile docking solution. While it has a few minor drawbacks, such as running warm and occasional compatibility hiccups, these are outweighed by its overall performance and build quality.
Final Verdict: If you're looking for a top-tier Thunderbolt 4 dock that can handle even the most demanding setups, the CalDigit TS4 is worth the investment. It's a 9.5/10 product that lives up to the hype and delivers exceptional value for its price.
Specification CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock - 18 Ports, 98W Charging, 40Gb/s Thunderbolt 4, USB-A/C, 2.5GbE, 8K/6K Displays, Mac/PC/Chrome Compatible:
Comments from Amazon:
I have been experimenting with USB docks and thunderbolt hubs for a while now - purchased and tested all kinds of stuff. Nothing worked as well as this hub. This hub is a single Thunderbolt cable to my laptop and from there it drives ethernet, all USB connections, peripherals, webcam etc. Most impressive - I have an eGPU that powers my monitor from a laptop. The eGPU connects to the hub and the hub is able to power the monitor. So - I now have a single connection from my laptop that is able to control even fairly complex setups that another hub would be useless for. Caldigit device is pricey but it is working. Saved me time and headaches on my setup. Great stuff!
I purchased the CalDigit TS4 because I needed a robust Thunderbolt hub that could provide a charge to a 16" MacBook Pro with enough powered ports to act as the connective hub for a Logic-based home studio that was also serving as a remote workstation and podcasting/webinar broadcast location. That means a 4K monitor, 4K webcam, USB broadcast microphone, audio interface, external 4Gb SSD, audio directly out the back of the TS4, and 4 MIDI-to-USB connections, with power left over for a phone charger, watch charger, and to periodically charge the keyboard and mouse. I've also occasionally used the SD card reader to transfer 4K videos, and it's been as fast a transfer as the card permits. The only flaw I've found - and I mean ONLY flaw - is that the front audio port has some baseline noise. At first this was going to be a dealbreaker, but only because I didn't realize there was another audio output on the back, which is dead silent. The TS4 is built like a tank and just works. In my opinion, it's worth the cost.
ADDENDUM, dated 4/21/2023@19:48 EDT: It WORKS Now on BOTH APPLE Laptop & Desktop ========================================================================= WORKS on MacBook Pro 16” 2019 (Intel-chip) & WORKS on iMac 24” 2021 (M1-chip) => Rating of 4 Stars This addendum, dated 4/21/2023, at 19:48 EDT, corrects my PRIOR negative review. Now, the CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Dock (Model TS4) is working fine on both my Apple laptop and Apple desktop. It now works successfully with all my external hard drives (HDDs), external Solid-State Storage drives (SSDs), my Dell monitor, my Ethernet (wired), and powers the laptop without any problems. The ONLY failure now is that I cannot get my ancient, Anker 13-port, USB2.x, hub to work when plugged into the TS4. My PRIOR negative TS4 review is hereby rescinded. My PRIOR negative rating of it as one (1) star is replaced now with four (4) stars. Here are more details about my recent experiments & testing providing additional details as why my review now is quite positive and I've rated it a lot higher: On Sunday, April 16, and Monday, April 17, I did some more trouble-shooting and experiments to help us debug the problem with the CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt Dock. The problem in a nutshell was that the TS4 FAILED to mount any drives on my Apple MacBook Pro laptop; BUT it worked SUCCESSFULLY on my Apple iMac desktop! During those experiments, I disconnected the TS4 from my laptop and re-connected it to my desktop being sure (like before) that I used CalDigit’s supplied Thunderbolt 4 cable. However, I took it one step at a time. WORKS. First, I tried connecting it to a different Thunderbolt 3 port on a different side (bus) of the laptop AND leaving the laptop’s Apple power-brick still powering the laptop. To my surprise, it SUCCESSFULLY mounted every external hard-drive (HDD) and solid-state storage (SSD) device that I connected it to. WORKS. Second, I re-connected it into the same Thunderbolt 3 port on the laptop that the TS4 originally failed on. Again, to my surprise, it now worked SUCCESSFULLY and mounted every external drive (HDD & SSD) that I connected it to. WORKS. Third, I dis-connected the Apple power-brick from the laptop. So, now the TS4 was providing the power to the laptop. Yet again, to my amazement, the TS4 continued to work SUCCESSFULL and again mounted every external drive (HDD & SSD) that I connected to it. WORKS. Fourth, I connected the monitor to the TS4’s Display Port 1.4 port. Again, to my pleasant surprise, it worked SUCCESSFULLY. WORKS. Fifth, I connected the Ethernet CAT-5 cable into the TS4’s 2.5 gigabit jack. Yet again, to my wonderment, it worked SUCCESSFULLY without any degradation in speed. FAILS. Finally, I did hit a failure (but not a show stopper). I connected my old, Anker USB2 hub (a self-powered hub with some 12 USB ports on it) into a USB port on the TS4. UNFORTUNATELY, it FAILED to recognize and activate the Anker hub. The peripherals connected into the Anker hub were thus rendered useless. So, some other external HDDs did not spin-up/mount; my wired trackball was useless; USB downstream connections to other devices (webcams, amateur radios, etc.) also failed. BOTTOM-LINE: For some unknown and puzzling reason, the CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Dock (TS4) is now working fine on my laptop, EXCEPT for that Anker hub problem. If you have any insight on why the Anker hub is not being recognized, activated when plugged into the TS4, then let me know and we’ll try to resolve this Anker hub issue. Of course, this Anker hub works fine when connected directly to the laptop’s Thunderbolt 3 ports. It even works when connected via an un-powered, Anker 7-in-1 hub. It just will NOT work when cabled into the TS4 dock. By the way, this Anker hub problem cannot be a power one because the 13-port Anker USB2.x hub is self-powered with a beefy Anker power-brick. ================================================================================== ORIGINAL Review, dated 4/d?/2023@h?:m? EDT: It FAILED on APPLE Laptop; But WORKED on Desktop =============================================================================== Fails on MacBook Pro 16” 2019 (Intel-chip); But Works on iMac 24” 2021 (M1-chip) => Rating of 1 Star I just purchased this CalDigit TS4 hub device. Despite the glowing reviews, I’m very disappointed in its operation so far!🙁. It fails totally when connected to my Apple laptop. Yet, it works superbly when connected to my Apple iMac. FAILS. The TS4 gets a failing grade when connected to my Apple laptop computer (MacBook Pro, 16”, 2019, Intel-chip). It FAILS to mount any of my external drives (HDDs). It intermittently mounts my external SSDs BUT ONLY if I connect them to the TS4’s Thunderbolt ports; they fail to mount when connected to any other ports (USB-c) on the TS4. I only tried one drive an a time to insure they were getting adequate power from the TS4 and still they failed to mount. All these same drives work fine when connected to this laptop using my older, less capable hubs (by Anker); or when directly connected to the laptops ports. These dismal test results were encountered with the TS4 connected to the laptop using the CalDigit-supplied Thunderbolt 4 cable AND the TS4 was providing power to the laptop. WORKS. The TS4 gets a stellar grade when connected to my Apple desktop computer (iMac, 24”, 2021, M1-chip). It SUCCESSFULLY mounts all of those same external drives (HDDs and SSDs). They work whether connected to the TS4’s Thunderbolt or USB-c ports. This superb test results were obtained with the TS4 connected to the desktop using the CalDigit-supplied Thunderbolt 4 cable BUT the TS4 was NOT providing power to the desktop (instead the Apple power-brick was still plugged-into the iMac). I checked the CalDigit firmware on my TS4 and it’s the latest released by them. It’s version 39.1. So, I’m clueless as to why the disparity in my test results to date. If I cannot resolve the TS4’s failure on the laptop, then the TS4 will be returned to Amazon. I plan to do a NVRAM reset on the laptop and re-test the TS4 connected to the laptop. I also plan to test the TS4 again but with the Apple power-brick still connected to the laptop (to see if it’s a power issue). I will also contact CalDigit support. Has anyone else experienced this disparity? Any suggestions?
The TS4 arrived earlier than exepected and as was said in other reviews this is.solid piece of electrical equipment. Took all of 5 minutes to setup and get working, downloaded the software from the internet and has worked flawlessly since. I have the Macpro Desktop that should be able to handle a 4k monitor, 2 30 inch Cinema on Dual dvi and one HDMI with 1920x1080.. The Macpro can’t handle the load so I thought I would try hooking the 2 30inch Apple cinemas with dual DVI conveters/USBs and voila it’s cooking with gas. The MacPro had the 4k monitor and HDMI outputs and functions perfectly with the TS4 running the Apple cinemas. Couldn’t for the life of me get the HDMI out[it to function on the Mac-ro after the recent upgrade and change of the display function, OWC used ti be my go to for Mac products, CalDigit is now. Cheers Cliff
La verdad compré este producto bastante a la expectativa, con mucha reserva y miedo la verdad por que es un producto bastante caro, y que si uno lee todas las reviews aquí en Amazon honestamente dan ganas de no comprarlo… Pero es que en el mercado no hay otra opción cómo está, con tantos puertos a tu disposición, con un sistema de carga rápido y confiable, con tantos puertos Thunderbolt disponibles y con una marca reconocida que lo respalda… entonces después de agotar las opciones en el mercado comparados con CallDigit, pues las opciones similares cuestan lo mismo o más caro y tienen las mismas reseñas de terror, así que me aventuré a comprarlo.. llevo ya unas semanas con el, me parece que más de un mes y se ha comportado increíblemente bien, el funcionamiento es óptimo, no he teñido problemas de sobre calentamiento, ni dificultades para que mi Mac con M1 reconozca los discos duros externos que le conecto. En mi flujo de trabajo actual ocupo hasta 3 discos externos conectados al mismo tiempo, con mi dungle anterior simplemente conectarlos al mismo tiempo era imposible, era mucha pérdida de tiempo pasar los archivos de un disco duro a la lap y de ahí otra vez a otro disco duro… era simplemente ineficiente… además no he actualizado al más reciente OS de apple Ventura , por que he leído también de muchísimos fallos con el Wifi, con el Bluetooth y con programas vitales para mi como photoshop, o la suite de Adobe, entonces también tenía miedo pues leí que ciertos problemas del CallDigit TS4 se resolvían actualizando al nuevo sistema operativo, pero oh sorpresa funciona mas que bien con el sistema entéricos Monterrey, así que no he presentado fallas, fluye de maravilla con 3 discos duros externos, 1 Hdd Toshiba de 4 Tb y 2 NVME M.2 de 1Tb de Adata , además de un teclado y mouse Logitech y un Monitor 4K LG… todo funciona excelente así que les recomiendo mucho compren este dispositivo sin miedo y sin preocupación por las malas reseñas, creo que Call Digit ha prestado atención y solucionado todos sus problemas con este dispositivo.
the box is for the ts4 , and the item inside is the older model ts 3 !!!
Long story. I recently switched from a 2015 iMac 27" with an extra LG 27" monitor. The new setup is MacBook Pro M1 14" and added a second LG 27" monitor. Both the LG monitors are Thunderbolt 3 connections only. While I can connect the monitors to the laptop direct, I wanted something more unplug and go. The plan was to connect the two monitors via a dock. Then the laptop to the dock via a single cable, and things all work together. I had a dream. Tried one combo dock and a vertical stand. But it only supported HDMI inputs. I thought I would be able to connect the Thunderbolt connections from the monitors to the dock HDMI ports using some connectors. No go. I returned that dock. Then found another brand. It looked promising. I was about to hit the purchase button but then noticed at the bottom of the page a video link to the CalDigit TS4. Watching the video and reading other reviews, this was the one I really wanted. Now the only problem was at the time, Amazon showed it unavailable and no expected date. Checked the CalDigit site and other suppliers. All out of stock. This was either a phantom product or really popular. After a few weeks, I went to purchase something else, and just by chance, I returned to the TS4 product page. It showed as available. Faster than fast, I clicked that purchase button to lock it in. It arrived a few days later (this week). The setup was dead simple. Just unplug the monitor cables connected to my laptop over to the new dock. More the network cable. Then boom, everything works. Dual monitor working. The laptop is off to the side and still have plenty of deskspace for other stuff. And just a single cable to unplug the laptop if I'm going remote. The only a few negative comments. There are two. First, the dock seems to run very warm. Well warmer than I expected. Not hot, like melt your desk, or anything. Just warmer than expected to the touch. The second is the network awake. With the RJ-45 cable connected, when I go in the office in the morning, it doesn't seem to reconnect on wake. I like to have a hard-wire connect over using home WiFi. I know there are some fixes on the CalDigit support site. For me it was easier just to connect the home network direct to the laptop. My only other comment is to CallDigit to maybe drop the memory slots and replace them with another pair of high-speed USB ports. I personally have not had a need to use a card reader in over five years. Seems if someone had that need, there are USB products they could use instead. However, the same can be said of Apple on the latest laptops. Overall 9.5/10.0 Very well-made product. Solid material.