I think I have been patient enough. I am on my third ts4 (the second one with the new firmware arrived doa). The new one with the firmware update fixed absolutely nothing. My ethernet drops out at least 5 times a day. I have nothing else plugged in and I am still getting a message saying the USB device was disabled because it was using too much power. So it is a huge expensive brick sitting on my floor. I have requested a refund over and over and they won't give me one and I can't afford anything else unless they give me one. And before anyone asks, I have tried every recommendation I can find or that support has given me. I don't understand how it got such great reviews.
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Caldigit TS4 Dock
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Weird. Definitely not my experience. The ethernet has been rock solid on my 14" M1 Pro.
The ethernet on the TS4 seems to be a Thunderbolt adapter, (internally) whereas on the OWC it seems to be a USB adapter internally.
No issue with USB devices, though I've got relatively low-power devices attached.
I think we are all too deeply involved in our issue to be able look at the situation more objectively. Our priority is to determine if the dock is indeed faulty or perhaps it's something in our system that doesn't play nice with the dock. Sometimes it's hard to diagnose an issue with our system because issues like these are usually oblivious to us.
In order to really find out, why not test the dock on another computer from someone else other than yours? A system that doesn't necessarily has to be similar in setup and configuration either. That would seem like a next logical step to undertake.
I have been using it on my M1Max MBP since it came out a year or so ago and have had no issues at all.
I have had zero issues with mine since I bought it. It came from the factory with the latest firmware and it's been rock solid. Using it on an M1 Pro 14" MBP running through it two 5K Studio Displays, ethernet, wired keyboard, mouse dongle, Apple SuperDrive CD-R/DVD-R (which is actually connected to one of the Studio Displays, audio out and a USB-C 2TB Samsung T7 Shield SSD.
My TS4 has been just as solid as my old TS3+ was ever since I updated its firmware around a year ago. I use mine as a "poor man's KVM" of sorts and switch it between an Intel iMac and M1 Pro MBP and have multiple high-power-draw devices (MBP, iPad Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max) hooked up to it at the same time every day and it handles it like a champ.
In fact as far as power output goes, the TS4 is better behaved than the TS3+ was. The TS3+ would pretty reliably throw the "using too much power" notification when plugging in the iPad but I've not once seen it on the TS4.
I haven't used the ethernet port on it though so I can't comment on the reliability of that.
In fact as far as power output goes, the TS4 is better behaved than the TS3+ was. The TS3+ would pretty reliably throw the "using too much power" notification when plugging in the iPad but I've not once seen it on the TS4.
I haven't used the ethernet port on it though so I can't comment on the reliability of that.
I´m super happy as well with the TS4 since February. I´m using it with my personal MB Pro M1Pro 14" and a Lenovo Windows 11 Notebook. Also the ethernet connectivity is running rock solid on both laptops.
With limited info on progress of the M1 issues, I took a risk and got the TS4 for my M1 Mac Mini. I updated all the software and the thing works amazing. No issues at all. It does exactly what I wanted it to do. Keep in mind however that I have not used it for more monitors, just plugging in a lot of USB devices for editing.
And how does the Ethernet perform? Does it work stably at full speed? Also after sleeping and waking up?
I'm now using such a 2.5gbe Ethernet card on usb, but with prolonged use (e.g. 20-30 min) at full speed on the local network to the NAS I think it overheats and first has interruptions in transmission and then disconnects. And after waking up my MBP M1Max is connected at 100 mbit. I have to disconnect and connect the cable and there is already a link at 2.5gbe.
I would like to have a stable 2.5gbe only does it work well here?
I'm now using such a 2.5gbe Ethernet card on usb, but with prolonged use (e.g. 20-30 min) at full speed on the local network to the NAS I think it overheats and first has interruptions in transmission and then disconnects. And after waking up my MBP M1Max is connected at 100 mbit. I have to disconnect and connect the cable and there is already a link at 2.5gbe.
I would like to have a stable 2.5gbe only does it work well here?
The TS4 uses a PCIe based Intel Ethernet controller, so it doesn’t have the problems that the USB-based Realtek adapters might have.
macOS 13.4 and I lost VRR/HDR in 4K on external monitor (Dell G3223Q). Now it's either 60hz VRR/120hz HDR or 120hz 4K with no HDR. Used to work "ok" with VRR up to 144hz and 4K HDR.
Not sure if Caldigit, macOS or Dell are to blame but Caldigit is always the most likely culprit. As you know TS in TS4 stands for "Totally Stable" 😁
Not sure if Caldigit, macOS or Dell are to blame but Caldigit is always the most likely culprit. As you know TS in TS4 stands for "Totally Stable" 😁
I have another CalDigit dock that has worked beautifully with no issues until some of the more recent MacOS updates. With nothing changed, if I reboot with the item attached (TB) and storage and other attached to the dock, the system shortly after reboot shuts down. This is not the hub or attached items but something about the OS and how it arbitrates what is connected or the M chip. As I have mentioned elsewhere, like some others, issues with certain monitors appears that were not their previously with Intel machines and MacOS of yore.
I also have TS3+. Worked well for many years and is the reason Caldigit had my trust to get TS4 day 1.
BIG mistake!
Anyway, power cycled the Dell Monitor (pulled plug for 5 mins) and it got back up working again.
I've searched and read through many posts in this thread to determine whether I can use the CalDigit TS4 with a 14" M2 Pro MBP to drive both an Apple Studio Display (5K) and an LG Ultrafine 5K via a single TB4 cable connection. If I understand prior posts correctly, the LG Ultrafine 5K does not support Display Stream Compression (DSC) and thus he TS4 cannot drive it and an Apple Studio Display at the same time (with only one TB4 cable to the MBP). Do I have this right? Anyone out there using a TS4, an ASD, and an LG Ultrafine 5K?
(EDIT: the objective is to get both displays at 5K 60Hz and not have the LG drop to 4K. I can currently get 5K on both with my 2019 15" MBP (intel i9) but only by connecting each display to TB ports on opposite sides. I am upgrading to a 14" MBP M2 Pro.)
(EDIT: the objective is to get both displays at 5K 60Hz and not have the LG drop to 4K. I can currently get 5K on both with my 2019 15" MBP (intel i9) but only by connecting each display to TB ports on opposite sides. I am upgrading to a 14" MBP M2 Pro.)
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You might want to contact CalDigit directly. They have been (at least for me) very helpful with fast turn around time.
No, this won't work. It's covered in the chart on this page: https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-station-4/
You could do 2 Studio Displays but only one LG total.
A drop to 5K39 8bpc RGB might work on the LG UltraFine 5K if you connect wth a USB-C cable and create a custom timing. I'm not sure if 53K39 works with both the 27MD5KA and the 27MD5KL or just the 27MD5KL. I don't know if you need to connect the Apple Studio Display first, and then the LG UltraFine 5K second. I've never tried SwitchResX custom timings with Apple Silicon Macs. Maybe someone can comment about that - if you can do multiple arbitrary timings of the same resolution, say 5K30, 5K31, 5K32, 5K33, 5K34, etc. and test each one.
No. The problem is not with the dock. It's with the host computer. Only two DisplayPort connections are connected to the host Thunderbolt controller. The LG UltraFine 5K uses two DisplayPort connections - one for each 2560x2880 half of the display - leaving no DisplayPort connections for other displays.
Even if there were more than two connections, the Thunderbolt cable (40 Gbps) would not be able to carry them all.
The LG UltraFine 5K uses 30 Gbps.
The Apple Studio Display uses 11.232 Gbps.
Actually, the older LG UltraFine 5K uses 28.15 Gbps so maybe that could work. Still, that would add up to more than the 38.935 Gbps that the Apple Pro Display XDR uses when DSC is not supported.
@joevt many thanks for the explanation and clarification! My LG is a later one (27MD5KLB-B) but I get it - just not enough DP "spots" on the TB controller and not enough cable bandwidth, and no display stream compression (DSC). Two cables is a small price to pay for all my 5K real estate - I work exclusively with text and my ASD+LG Ultrafine setup is excellent.
Has anyone applied this update?
This particular update has been available since mid-2022. There are lots of people in the thread who have applied it, and new TS4s have been including the same firmware since at least then.Has anyone applied this update?
There is another new update which was released last week which updates the USB-PD portion of the dock.
Caldigit says it fixes:
- Inability to attain certain refresh rates/resolution combinations
- Monitor wake from sleep issues
- USB-C adapters not working as intended
Ugh. I haven’t used my TS4 for a while, but with the new update out I figured I would give it a try and install it.
I then connected my two Dell U2723qe’s via USB-C. In monitor high speed mode (vs high resolution), they would only display at 30Hz. A reboot and some finangling in the display settings later, I was able to finally get 60Hz 4K resolution via 5.1 Gbps DSC. Maybe this will work? It should work.
One sleep mode and wake-up later, and they were back to 30Hz. No option to change back to 60 without unplugging the cables. Very frustrating. So most of the time, I’m just using the usb hubs in the monitors and skipping the TS4
I then connected my two Dell U2723qe’s via USB-C. In monitor high speed mode (vs high resolution), they would only display at 30Hz. A reboot and some finangling in the display settings later, I was able to finally get 60Hz 4K resolution via 5.1 Gbps DSC. Maybe this will work? It should work.
One sleep mode and wake-up later, and they were back to 30Hz. No option to change back to 60 without unplugging the cables. Very frustrating. So most of the time, I’m just using the usb hubs in the monitors and skipping the TS4