CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt USB-C Dock Review

About a month ago I made a video on the YouTube channel about the best USB-C docks for the M1 MacBook Pros. I was looking for Docks with the fastest write speeds and great port options. Shortly after, I received an email about a brand new dock from CalDigit that ended up being better than any of the docks I reviewed for that video. I’ve been using this new dock for a few weeks now and am here to report my findings. If you’d like to check this dock out even further, here’s a link: https://jerad.link/caldigitts4 

Let’s dive in!  

The Front of the Device

Let’s start by taking a look at what the front of the dock has to offer.

On the front, there is an SD card slot, a micro SD card slot, a headphone jack, a USB-A, and two USB-C ports. There are a couple of important things to note here. First, the USB-A port is a USB 3.0+port, which means that the transfer speeds are fantastic. The micro SD card slot is an amazing addition because so many devices are using micro SD cards now, like drones, GoPros and audio recorders. The USB-C ports are both for data transfer, but one of them also offers 20 watt fast charging for your phone and tablet. These features are absolutely fantastic and I love that they are all included on the front of the device. This provides very easy and fast access to any of these ports as I’m sitting at my desk working. 

Feet Options

One cool thing about this dock that I didn’t expect is that it comes with multiple feet options to orient the dock horizontally or vertically.

The bottom has a large foot to support a vertical alignment, but the device also comes with two feet that can be mounted on the side for horizontal alignment as well. With my current desk setup, I opted for the lower feet to hold the dock horizontally. 

The Back of the Device

Now let’s move on to the back of this dock, where it becomes an unstoppable powerhouse.

The back includes a power jack, an ethernet, four USB-A ports, four USB-C ports, a mic jack, a headphone jack, and a display port 1.4. Here are some more important things to note. Two of the USB-A ports offer fast charging capabilities and three of the USB-C ports are thunderbolt compatible, one of which being used to plug into your computer. This is a massive amount of ports and inputs that really take this dock to the next level. Another great feature is that, because all of these are on the back, I can plug everything into the back of the device which will keep my desk completely clear of chords and clutter. 

How It Works with my Mac

Now, I’ve had issues with CalDigit docks in the past with not being able to connect with the DisplayPort. This device has fixed those issues and I have connected with no problems at all. I’ve been using this dock plugged in to my ASUS Pro Art Monitor for a few weeks now and it has been an amazing experience. Essentially, this device here does everything that I need to connect my display, my mouse and keyboard, external hard drives, a webcam, and a microphone, all in one compact place. It has done an absolutely fantastic job handling all of that, and I haven’t had any issues yet.

Transfer Speeds

Transfer speeds from my solid state drives and my hard drives are running at their max performance being plugged into this dock. It hasn’t hindered any write speed performance with any of my drives. This speed and power of this dock is equal to the very best of any other dock that I have ever tried. Even when I have something plugged in to almost ever slot on this dock, there are no bottle necking issues at all. This is an absolute powerhouse of a dock. 

Final Thoughts

The final verdict here? This is by far my favorite thunderbolt dock that I have used with my Macs. Moving forward, this will be my default dock for a long time, until something else can come along and outperform it. 

If you’re interested, you can check out the dock online here:

https://jerad.link/caldigitts4

For more Mac and dock related content, check out these videos on the YouTube channel: