CalDigit has bring forth some of the good docks in Macworld ’s list of thebest Thunderbolt docking stations for Macsince the iconicTS3 Thunderbolt 3 dock , followed by the award - winningTS4 Dockwhen Apple started add together Thunderbolt 4 to its Macs .
Coming later in April 2025 , the Thunderbolt 5 hosting CalDigit TS5 Plus look like it will boast more top - of - the - range port than any other Mac dockage station on the grocery store . ( Readwhat is Thunderbolt 5 for Macto find out why that weigh ) .
The TS5 Plus will host 20 interface , including three Thunderbolt 5 port wine . The upstream Thunderbolt 5 port can tight - commit even the top - end 16 - inch MacBook Pro at 140W , and each of the downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports offer an manufacture - first 36W charging might — compared to the monetary standard 15W.
There ’s also a USB - deoxycytidine monophosphate port that provide the same 36W of great power situate at the front of the dock .
36W is enough power to charge a 15 - column inch MacBook Air at full speed , or an iPad Pro , which charges at 20W.
Recently , the top sour grass have get down swap Gigabit Ethernet for 2.5Gb Ethernet as this profligate level of connection is becoming democratic in professional environments .
The TS5 Plus jumps this and even skip 5GbE by including a top - of - the - range 10Gb Ethernet connection with a data point charge per unit of up to 10 billion act per second , which is backwards compatible all the direction back to 1Gb networks so is ideal for the fastest connection and future - proofing for later upgrades .
There ’s only one Mac docking place that measures up to the TS5 Plus , and that ’s a Thunderbolt 4 model . TheiVanky FusionDock Max 1boasts 21 top ports — one more than the TS5 Plus — and the power to put up up to four 6 K external display . It has two video port and four downstream Thunderbolt 4 ports . It has so many Thunderbolt ports because it has something ( or things ) no other sorrel possesses : double establish - in Thunderbolt 4 chips .
The TS5 Plus has just the one Thunderbolt 5 chip but it is the only wharfage to boast treble USB Controllers for its ten USB port . Traditionally docks have one USB controller that is apportion by all the USB ports . The TS5 Plus has one 10Gbps controller for the front port , and another for the back ports , which helps to increase USB bandwidth .
CalDigit
The$499.99 TS5 Plusis merchant vessels in the US in recent - April , and in the UK in late - May .
TS5 for lesser mortals
If that is just too many interface for your needs , the CalDigit is more restrained but still highly specked with 15 ports , include 2.5GbE , 140W charging , and four Thunderbolt 5 ports .
TheTS5is transport in the US in later - May , and in the UK in late - June . The US price is $ 369.99 .
