CalDigit's Latest Dock Features Four Thunderbolt 4 Ports and Four USB-A Ports

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CalDigit today introduced a new "Element Hub" dock, equipped with four Thunderbolt 4 ports and four USB-A ports for connecting external displays, storage drives, and other peripherals to devices like a MacBook Pro or iPad Pro. For data transfer, the Thunderbolt 4 ports provide speeds up to 40Gb/s, while the USB-A ports can reach up to 10Gb/s.

caldigit thunderbolt 4 dock lifestyle
Given that Thunderbolt 4 shares the same connector design as USB-C, and is backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3, the dock can be used with many MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iPad Pro models released in recent years, as well as the fourth-generation iPad Air. The dock has pass-through charging, providing a fixed 30W for the MacBook Air, a fixed 60W for the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and up to 45W for the iPad Pro.

Included in the box with the Element Hub is a 150W power supply, a 0.8-meter Thunderbolt 4 cable, and two rubber feet.

The dock is available to pre-order for a discounted price of $139.99 (regular price $179.99) on CalDigit's website, and will begin shipping later this month in the United States. The dock is also available to pre-order in the UK, and will begin shipping in March.


OWC also introduced a Thunderbolt 4 dock last month that may be worth checking out for customers who are considering purchasing one. Priced at $249, that dock is equipped with four Thunderbolt 4 ports, four USB-A ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, an SD card slot, and a combo 3.5mm audio in/out, with up to 90W pass-through charging.

Tags: CalDigit, Thunderbolt 4

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Top Rated Comments

Muramasa Avatar
Muramasa
53 months ago
In for one!

My onlyyyy tiny gripe is that I really wish companies would stop including the host port when advertising the total number of ports. It makes searching for exactly what you need a pain. This has 7 usable ports (4x USB & 3x TB4) and 1 Host TB4 port.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
joevt Avatar
joevt
53 months ago
Performance: The CalDigit product page says there hub is 40 Gbps and USB-C hubs are 5 or 10 Gbps. But they don't mention other Thunderbolt devices which are also 40 Gbps and they don't separate or include display data from other data.
To be more precise:
1) Thunderbolt in general: 40 Gbps total, 24 Gbps PCIe, 34.56 Gbps dual DisplayPort 1.2, 25.92 Gbps DisplayPort 1.4
2) USB-C gen 2: 22.66 Gbps total, 9.7 Gbps USB, 12.96 Gbps DisplayPort 1.4, 8.64 DisplayPort 1.2
3) USB-C gen 1: 16.96 Gbps total, 4 Gbps USB, 12.96 Gbps DisplayPort 1.4, 8.64 DisplayPort 1.2 (some such hubs may not support DP 1.4)

Thunderbolt 4 Hub (OWC or CalDigit): can perform as #2 with only direct connect USB devices or as #1 with downstream Thunderbolt devices or as a combination (USB uses PCIe data while the CalDigit is connected as #1).

A USB hub may contain a DisplayPort 1.4 MST Hub that supports DSC. If you have a GPU and OS that supports DSC (AMD navi and Catalina) then it may effectively double the display bandwidth using compression. The MST Hub decompresses the stream for displays that don't support DSC. This is how you can use a 4K 60Hz display with a USB-C hub like the CalDigit SOHO. But Apple broke DSC support in Big Sur (still broken in 11.2).
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
carestudio Avatar
carestudio
53 months ago

That power brick...I know, it's 150 Watts but still.
I know lol but looks at this offline charging illustration, you need that 150W power brick for sure.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Duncan-UK Avatar
Duncan-UK
53 months ago

It’s a hub, not a Dock.
Described as a hub dock

a hock!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LeadingHeat Avatar
LeadingHeat
53 months ago
Wow, this actually looks like a really good deal. CalDigit makes some quality products. I’ll have to check this out.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zdigital2015 Avatar
Zdigital2015
53 months ago

This is nice BUT...I would have liked to have seen them move one of the USB A ports to the back and one of the TB4 ports to the front, just for access of various items.

Plus an audio out jack and an ethernet jack would have been nice to have...but overall it is a nice looking dock.
It’s a hub, not a Dock.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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