It’s hard to believe, but it’s been over seven years since I first got my hands on CalDigit’s TS3 Plus dock, and during its heyday, I labeled it as the best dock for Mac users.Since then, CalDigit released the TS3’s successor, appropriately called the CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock, which offered a refined take on its predecessor.Now, with the advent of Thunderbolt 5 adoption for the latest M4 Pro Macs and higher, CalDigit is back with an even more powerful version of its TS-series dock – the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 5 Plus, or TS5 Plus for short.
Yes, CalDigit has retuned to its “plus” nomenclature of the past, as it plans to offer a less powerful 15-port version of the TS5 in the future.The TS5 Plus, of course, includes support for Thunderbolt 5, but is there any other reason why prospective buyers should consider it over the already great TS4? Perhaps! Watch my hands-on video review for a closer look, and be sure to subscribe to 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Mac peripheral coverage.Some of my favorite gear Apple Polishing Cloth Jeff's favorite screen cleaning cloth that polishes to a shine.
Specifications The CalDigit TS5 Plus includes 20 ports, which bests its predecessor by two ports.While the form factor is generally the same, the dock has increased in size over the TS4, which itself was a bit larger than the TS3 Plus.Here’s a look at all of the interface details and additional specs: Ports 1 x Thunderbolt 5 Upstream / USB4 v2 (140W | 80Gb/s) 2 x Thunderbolt 5 Downstream / USB4 v2 (36W | 80Gb/s) 4 x USB-C (Data Only) (7.5W | 10Gb/s) 1 x USB-C (Data Only) (36W | 10Gb/s) 5 x USB-A (Data Only) (7.5W | 10Gb/s) 1 x SD Card Reader (SD 4.0 | UHS-II) 1 x microSD Card Reader (SD 4.0 | UHS-Il) 1 x DisplayPort 2.1 1 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet 1 x Front Combo Audio Jack (3.5mm) 1 x Rear Audio Jack In 1 (3.5mm) 1 x Rear Audio Jack Out 1 (3.5mm) 1 x DC In (24V | 13.75A) Video: CalDigit TS5 Plus review – a supercharged Thunderbolt 5 dock Additional specs Height : 6.10″ (155.0mm) x Width : 1.85″ (47.0mm) x Length : 5.03″ (127.9mm) Weight: 1.98lbs (0.90kg) 140W power deliver to host Kensington Security Slot Supports dual 4K/6K monitors 1 x braided 1M Thunderbolt 5 cable 2 x rubber feet strips 1 x power cord 1 x power suppoly (330W) 2 year warranty Price: $499.99 Design and form factor The TS5, while retaining the same overall form factor as its forebears, is significantly larger than the TS3 Plus, and still quite a bit larger than the TS4.
This is CalDigit’s heaviest and largest TS-series dock yet, but there’s a reason for the increased size and weight, namely the addition of more ports, and the extra amount of power that it can both accept from the hefty new power supply, and thereafter deliver to a host computer connection.The TS5 Plus is 0.55-inches taller, 0.20-inches wider, and 0.57-inches longer than its direct predecessor.It also weighs 0.57lbs more than the TS4.
Some of my favorite gear AirPods Pro 2 Jeff Benjamin's favorite wireless earbuds; they just keep getting better.Of course, it wouldn’t be a CalDigit Dock without the company’s staple ridged-aluminum sidewalls, which has become its trademark design feature.This design is not only great for heat dissipation, but it also allows the included rubber feat to easily attach to the chassis in order to orient the dock horizontally on a desktop instead of vertically.
Worth noting – the feet that CalDigit includes with the TS5 Plus ditch the longstanding translucent design for a matching space black look.Speaking of which, the TS5 Plus is noticeabley darker than the already dark space gray TS4.It’s much closer to the space black anodized aluminum that’s found on the latest MacBook Pro – a decidedly nice touch.
Two extra USB-C data ports The front of the TS5 Plus features the same exact port configuration as the TS4, albeit with a slightly different orientation.However, the specification of those ports have changed a bit.I’ll discuss that in the next section.
The rear of the dock is where you’ll find the extra two ports featured on the TS5 Plus, which consist of two additional 10Gb/s USB-C data ports that join the single USB-C data port found on the TS4.These data ports are good for attaching any additional USB-C accessories, but are particularly nice for connecting bus-powered USB-C SSDs, since they provide enough power (7.5W) to drive those devices.Some of my favorite gear Whoosh! Screen Cleaner Jeff Benjamin's favorite screen cleaner for Apple products.
Noteworthy improvements Like its predecessor, the TS5’s improvements go beyond just additional ports.Quite a few improvements have been made to the already existing ports.Obviously, the biggest improvement has to do with the adoption of Thunderbolt 5, which provides double the speed of Thunderbolt 4.
In this regard, the TS5 is a much bigger improvement over the TS4 than the TS4 was over the TS3 Plus – as Thunderbolt 4 connectivity remained at the same 40Gb/s as Thunderbolt 3.Thunderbolt 4 increased minimum PCIe data requirements to 32Gb/s from 16Gb/s making it possible for external SSDs to get up to 3,000 MB/s.Thunderbolt 5 builds on this by doubling the PCIe data bandwidth from 32Gb/s to 64Gb/s, meaning that external drives can support speeds up to 6,000 MB/s.
If you have a Mac with Thunderbolt 5, such as the M4 Pro Mac mini, or M4 Pro MacBook Pro, you will notice improved speeds when connecting Thunderbolt 5 peripherals.For example, when connecting the OWC Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 SSD, you’ll get the same 80Gb/s link speed as you would when connecting the drive directly your Mac’s Thunderbolt 5 port.If you tried to connect the same drive to an older dock like the TS4, the link speed would fall back to 40Gb/s.
But that in and of itself showcases one of the strengths of Thunderbolt 5, and that is backwards compatibility.So even if you don’t yet own one of the latest Macs with Thunderbolt 5, you can still enjoy its benefits with Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 3 (Macs only), or even straight USB-C devices like the iPad Air or iPad mini, and have the peace of mind of knowing that you’re prepared for a future upgrade when the time comes.Some of my favorite gear M4 Mac mini The M4 Mac mini is pound-for-pound the best value in Mac computers in Apple's history.
140W Thunderbolt 5 upstream port The previous generation CalDigit TS4 was capable of providing up to 98W of power to a host computer via its upstream port and included Thunderbolt cable.While 98W is nothing to scoff at, that falls far below the 140W maximum power input of Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro.You needed to use Apple’s fast-charge capable 140W USB-C power adapter for fast charging in the past.
The TS5, on the other hand, can charge the 16-inch MacBook Pro at full 140W speed when connected via the included braided 240W-capable Thunderbolt cable.Even better is the fact that it can recharge your connected MacBook Pro at full speed, even while other devices are being fed power from its other ports.That’s because CalDigit includes a massive 330W power supply, which provides just enough power to feed all 12 powered ports without throttling back the upstream power connection – impressive.
Granted, the downside of this is that the power brick has gotten bigger, but this is a tradeoff that I think must be users will be fine with given the benefits.The unit also supports offline charging for all of the power ports with the exception of two of the USB-A ports on the rear that are purposely disabled when there’s no host connection.This is ideal for connecting devices that you prefer to stay powered down when your Mac is not attached to the dock.
36W Thunderbolt 5 downstream ports The TS5’s two downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports now supply more than double the power, going from 15W on the TS4 to 36W on the TS5 Plus.This is enough to fast charge the iPhone 16 Pro, and will be more than enough power for future power-hungry bus-powered Thunderbolt 5 SSDs.I also tried connecting my Rodecaster Duo audio interface to one of these downstream ports, reasoning that since it only required 27W of power, it should be enough to power the interface.
Oddly enough it wouldn’t power the interface through the downstream 36W Thunderbolt 5 ports, but powered it fine from the front-facing 36W USB-C data port.I reached out to CalDigit to see why this might be, but I’m guessing it’s something to do with the way that Rode has implemented its power delivery spec.36W USB-C data port CalDigit upgraded its powered front-facing USB-C port on the TS5 Plus, going from 20W on the TS4 to a powerful 36W.
Again, this will be great for fast charging the latest iPhone 16 Pro, recharging an iPad, etc.Dual USB Controllers When connected to a Thunderbolt host machine, the TS5 Plus provides extra bandwidth to connected USB devices via two dedicated 10Gb/s controllers.How is this beneficial? Before, when you’d add two high bandwidth SSDs to two separate USB connections, those drives would share the same logical bandwidth, and therefore have to split the amount of 10Gb/s bandwidth.
In such a scenario with the TS5, it’s now possible for both of those drives to derive the maximum 10Gb/s bandwidth independently.CalDigit has configured all of the USB-A ports and front-facing USB-C ports to a single controller, and all of the rear-facing USB-C ports, including the two Thunderbolt ports, and the front-facing SD Card and microSD card slots, to the second controller.This makes for potentially faster speeds when moving files from multiple SD Cards to an external USB-C SSD if you have them connected to separate controllers.
10 Gigabit Ethernet port One of the most noteworthy upgrades is the move from 2.5GbE on the TS4 to a full 10GbE connection on the TS5 Plus.This was one of the areas that I was hoping would get addressed, and I was not disappointed.The addition of 10GbE means having super fast connections to 10GbE NAS boxes like the UGREEN NASync, or in the case where you’re fortunate enough to have 5- or 10Gb fiber Internet connectivity, it’ll be great for that as well.
DisplayPort 2.1 The last major port improvement over the TS4 is the move from DisplayPort 1.4 to Display Port 2.1.This makes sense considering that DisplayPort 2.1 incorporates a huge improvement over 1.4, providing up to 80Gb/s of display bandwidth.This allows for connecting to higher resolution display with higher frame rates.
Display connectivity I currently run a single display setup, that being the Asus ProArt 5K display, which I reviewed earlier this year.This display features multiple ways to connect it to a Mac, including USB-C, DisplayPort, and HDMI.For connecting to HDMI monitors, users can purchase a USB-C to HDMI dongle like this USB-C to HDMI 2.0b Adapter.
I tested the ProArt 5K with the CalDigit TS5 Plus via a USB-C connection, and it worked fine.One thing to note, however, is that USB-C display connections need to use one of the dock’s two Thunderbolt ports, although technically, the display doesn’t require Thunderbolt.Alternatively, I can connect to the dock’s DisplayPort connection using a DisplayPort cable.
This serves to free up that Thunderbolt port, which is obviously more desirable seeing as that there are only two downstream Thunderbolt ports available.For Mac users with multiple displays, the TS5 Plus supports up to two external displays at once, at up to 6K resolution.That means you can easily connect two Pro Display XDRs if you happen to have it like that.
CalDigit’s Dock also works well with high refresh rate displays thanks to Thunderbolt 5’s Bandwidth Boost technology.Bandwidth Boost allocates one of the downstream 40Gb/s lanes for a total of 120Gb/s for display connectivity.The rest of the dock therefore retains 40Gb/s for data transfer.
This allows users to connect a single 4K display up to 240Hz, or with certain Macs, even dual 4K displays at 240Hz.The previous TS4 was only able to do high refresh for a single 4K display up to 144Hz.CalDigit says that Mac users can connect a single 8K display up to 60Hz on Pro/Max Apple Silicon.
On the TS4, 8K support was limited to PCs.Because external display configurations can be confusing, CalDigit provides a full chart outlining display such connectivity.Also included are specs for Thunderbolt 4 and Thunderbolt 5 Windows PCs.
Windows users can enjoy connecting triple 4K displays up to 144Hz, something Mac users can’t, but note that the TS5 Plus doesn’t work with Thunderbolt 3 PCs.Downsides Like with any product, the TS5 Plus isn’t perfect, and there are a few downsides.The most obvious downside is the asking price: at $500, it’s far away from impulse buy territory.
If you’re purchasing this dock, then you should definitely make sure that you have a need for it now, or that you’ll be able to take advantage of it fully in the future.The unit is also larger than its predecessors, so it’ll take up a larger desktop footprint than before.With that being said, the fact that you can orient the dock in both horizontal and vertical mode gives the TS5 Plus more flexibility in this area than competing products.
If you’re connecting to a USB-C monitor, you’ll need to utilize one of the two downstream Thunderbolt ports in order to do so.Since downstream Thunderbolt ports are at a premium, I suggest using DisplayPort connectivity if you can.Some people will scoff at the fact that the down lacks an HDMI port, but there are legitimate technical reasons for its omission, and since DisplayPort is native to the Thunderbolt spec, that connector makes a lot more sense.
You can still use an active adapter if you absolutely need to connect via HDMI.Upsides To be clear, the TS5 Plus feature more upsides than downsides, as outlined throughout this post.It’s a one-cable solution for all of your Mac’s peripherals It features Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, which is double the speed of Thunderbolt 4, features Display Port 2.1, and Bandwidth Boost for high resolution or high frame rate displays.
140W fast charging for your MacBook Pro that doesn’t throttle down when other devices are connected.Seven USB-C ports in all, with three of those ports capable of charging devices at 36W.10Gb Ethernet connectivity, great for connecting to a NAS.
Dual USB controllers to prevent bottlenecking with multiple USB SSDs.A sleek, silent design that dissipates heat, and can be oriented both horizontally and vertically.9to5Mac’s Take CalDigit’s TS5 Plus is the best Thunderbolt dock that you can currently purchase [Note: ], but as such, it comes in at an eye-watering price point of $499.99.
That’s a steep price to pay, and falls far outside of impulse-buy territory.That being said, there’s simply nothing else on the market that competes with this dock in terms of current features, and even if you don’t yet own a Thunderbolt 5-capable device, it should serve you well for years to come.This dock lets you get full speed charging, monitor connectivity, 10GbE, Thunderbolt 5 accessory connectivity, alongside connections to many more peripherals, all via a single cable connection.
For MacBook Pro owners, it’s a pretty awesome device.Like its predecessor, the CalDigit TS5 Plus includes everything, but this time throws in the entire kitchen sink for good measure.If you can get over the admittedly steep price, and want to future proof your setup, then the TS5 Plus is a solid purchase, however the TS4 will still provide more than enough punch for most general users, can be found cheaper, and is actually available in stock.
…Or you might choose to wait for the regular TS5.As mentioned at the outset, CalDigit plans to release a base TS5 with less ports for less money.Yet, the regular TS5 will still include Thunderbolt 5, 140W host charging, and will even have one more Thunderbolt 5 port than the TS5 Plus.
But it will lack 10GbE, 36W USB-C ports, and other features like dual USB-C controllers.I just got my hands on the regular TS5, and will be back shortly with a full breakdown and comparison.Do you use a dock with your Mac? Would you consider the TS5 Plus? Sound off in the comments with your thoughts.
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