Should you get a Thunderbolt Dock for Mac? Also, Hub vs Docking Station!

Really comprehensive - thank you

Sorry Jerry but Mac’s don’t work probably with third party thunderbolt devices, period. Just bought the caldigit ts4 for my MBP 16 Max. Monitors won’t wake up after sleep and hdmi is only 4K 30hz. Both worked flawlessly before without the dock! Evything is updated and I won’t mess around with it. That goes straight back to Amazon!

Great video on docks and hubs. Explained so much more than other videos on this topic. Excellent!!! So if I connect two devices (i.e., LG Display and Caldigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub) with power delivery to two different MacBook Pro Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, the MacBook Pro will only draw power from the higher power device? In my case this would be the LG display@94W PD vs. the Caldigit@60W PD. Thanks.

Hi Jerry! I'm Stefano from Italy. Can I connet my audio interface (Apollo Twin) with thunderbalt to the dock? Does it work? thanks

I would love to have 2 of the Caldigit TS4 dock but $400 each is more than I can afford at this time.

Anyway to share one Apple Pro Display XDR 6K display with a 2019 Mac Pro (Intel) and a 2023 M3 Max MacBook Pro (Apple silica) thanks!

With all the products out there, it gets confusing when they advertise as being Thunderbolt 4 or 3 compatible. To which as near as I can figure out that they word compatible only means that you can plug it into the dock or hub, but has nothing to do with the speeds. The pricing is all over the place as well. It's still a bit baffling that some of these hubs are almost the price of an M1 mini. Seems to me that manufactures are gouging and are actually benefiting from all the cheap crap out there when it comes to pricing. I would actually prefer if there wasn't docks and hubs out there that are cheap but don't work.

Do docks with 4k60hz output support 1440p144hz+ monitors? Bandwidth allows it, but will dock allow it?

I get over 300 miles range and it takes me less than 10 minutes and I’m back on the road.

I know that a Thunderbolt 4 hub does one thing specifically that Thunderbolt 3 cannot, expand one port into more, like old USB hubs have done. So if these devices are docks with multiple ports, are they also TB4 hubs as well?

The prices are ridiculous. Pls someone recommend a quality hub/dock that works on Mac and PC and has normal price

In the video, when you talked about speeds, you said USB-C supports X speeds and USB 4 supports faster Y speeds. USB-C is the connection type, not a version of USB. I think you meant USB 3.n vs USB 4. Both USB 3 and USB 4 support USB-C connections. USB 3 also uses USB-A, USB-B, and mini connections.

Jerry - with your reviews I have decided to buy the TS4 for my MBP 16 inch with M1 Max chipset. My only question - is it better to power the MBP through its Magsafe or through the TS4 Thunderbolt upstream port? When both the Magsafe & Thunderbolt upstream are connected, does the MBP default to the Magsafe or Thunderbolt power source?

I have a question about the new Macbook Air M3 with magsafe connector. I've used a hub in the past for ethernet, hdmi, usb connections and a card reader for photo's. Anker told me this will not work with the new Macbook Air. Do you have any suggestion for something that will work with the M3 Macbook air that is portable? Thank you!

hi, does the thunderbolt 4 dock support more than 120hz?

Hey Jerry I currently have a M1. I'm trying to use ElGato camlink with a Hub but its not workin correctly. do you think this kind Dock could handle camlink?

how to add IP to USB C port

Finally, someone explains this in a human way. Thanks!! 😊

My Lenovo has 3 thunderbolt ports (I know....I shouldn't be watching this). but don't you think you would get a better watch rate if your thumbnails didn't imply that Mac only need watch?

The CalDigit TS4 is nice, however, I really need a dock with more Thunerbold/Type C ports.

good stuff man! thanks for the info!

QUESTION: I have a 2015 Macbook Retina Pro, it doesn't have USB C...Will the TS4 work?

Great content!
But First disclaimer at first That are not docks a dock is connected via a docking port NO Macbook has a docking port! Unfortunately even windows notebooks today don't have docking ports any more. In a dock the notebook is physically firm connected to the dock additional to the electronic connection. These are expansion boxes and i use them too for my MBA M1, i have choosen a small tiny version in terms of mobility and i found one with a display port connection. it is as small as my NVME enclosure. Even though the expansion boxes for Wndows laptops are not docks.

My hub is my Mac Studio. Best Mac ever.

CalDigit TS4 and the other CalDigit docks suffer from same issue - they cannot wake up monitors from sleeping. All the security tweaks and firmware update would not work. I had CalDigit Elements and struggled with this problem for a couple of months. I gave up finally switching to another brand. CalDigit Customer service does not exist. Emailed them 4 times - no response. Just letting you know before you kiss your money goodbye.

I have just come across your content and love your videos. Easy to watch, informative and clarity of content! You have a new subscriber :)

Hello Jerry, Hoping you can solve my Dilemma… I currently have a MacBook M2 hooked to my Samsung CJ791 Monitor via Thunderbolt, which is great because it’s 1 cable to the monitor that allows me to charge the MacBook, use the USB hub built into my monitor where I hook my webcam, stream deck, speakers and other accessories near my monitor. This allows me to not have cables running all the way to the MacBook making a messy look. I recently upgraded to a Oled monitor AW3423DW, that I was hoping would be an easy swap, but it doesn’t have a Display port… how would I go about using one of your items to still connect near the monitor and have a seamless setup like I do now?

The type-c connector has really become a mess.

Thanks!

Jerry, you mentioned being able to disconnect from the mac easily and go mobile. how do you do this? I have a Caldigit TS3 and connect my MBP, my time machine, other external hard drives etc and if i just unplugged the mac from the caldigit all the drives would show straight away on the screen as being unsafely disconnected. If there is an easy way to do it and leave everything in place I would love to know how - best wishes, Nick

Your video was very helpful. I have a new M4 Pro Mac Mini on the way and I was looking for a dock to support my external peripherals. I not worried about extra monitors. Just my accessories. You are the only channel that answered my question about power. I wanted to know if there was an issue with the Mac Mini having a problem with power coming from the host port on the dock. I know the TS-4 is Thunderbolt 4 and the Mac Mini is Thunderbolt 5, but I am assuming the TS-4 should work fine. I don’t need the speed of Thunderbolt 5. Thanks.

I have MacBook Air M1 and two apple thunderbolt displays. help!

"post facing port" please explain.

Excellent video! Any plans to do an updated recommendations video for docking stations? Maybe a holiday shopping guide since the gifting season is right around the corner? Thanks for the content!

Hi, there is any way we can connect two MacBooks and two display through kvm? If any product is there share me pls. So I need to use one USB C cable to kvm from each Mac

Im waiting for a m4 Max macbook and the studio display have three extra ports. Do I need a dock then or is the studio display fast enough if I connect a SSD to it ?

Can you use a dock or hub without its own power?

You’re so much nicer and easier to follow when I slow you down to .75% speed…🙂. If I slow you further you sound er…inebriated 😎

Well explained!

Great Video! What if I were to connect a powered hub to a powered KVM? Could that be hazardous to the equipment?

I cant connect my thunderbolt display (with adapter to usbc) with my hub to my macbook. it only works direct to my macbook. why is that and is there a solution to have that single usbc connection to my macbook?

Random question, If I plug hdd's or ssd's into my dock which then gets plugged into my laptop, will I have to eject those drives everytime I want to unplug my laptop from the system?

The Caldigit does NOT have everything. It is conspicuously missing nvme ssd enclosure.

Has anyone ever mentioned to you that you have a visible likeness to Hall of famer Yankee Derrick Jeeter. Anyhow, thanks for the info. It was very informative.

If you're using a desktop computer like a Mac Mini M4, do you still need to power the dock? Since the Mac is getting its own power already

Power question: it’s not healthy for your Mac to be plugged in and charged to 100% the entire time. Ideally, I wouldn’t want to have to disconnect the dock while to stop it from charging my Mac.

do we have docking stations for windows pc?

have you ever tried the 18 in 1 temu thunderbolt docking station

a buddy in the film making world told me about it. figured id ask

a nice commercial for high priced docking