CalDigit USB-C Pro Dock - 2 x DisplayPort 1.2, 85W Charging, Thunderbolt 3, UHS II SD Card Slot, USB Ports, LAN, 3.5mm Audio, USB-C and Thunderbolt 4 Compatible

I bought this to use under a conference table to connect HDMI, Ethernet, and a USB webcam to a slightly older MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt-2. This might be the only dock that can do that (via Apple's Thunderbolt-2-to-3 adapter) while also supporting USB-3-over-USB-C laptops such as the 12" MacBook; and newer Thunderbolt-3-over-USB-C laptops (like the latest MacBook Pros) with full speed and Thunderbolt-3's better video capabilities. Since this laptop won't last forever, and I also want to support guest laptops. With Thunderbolt-3 or USB-3-over-USB-C, the hub also powers the laptop from the one single cable (Thunderbolt-2 doesn't support this). Everything works flawlessly. No issues with wake from sleep, no issues with HDMI (via an active DisplayPort adapter which is required). Audio is properly sent over HDMI. It would be nice if the hub had its own HDMI, but the adapter is inexpensive, small, and lossless, and maybe DisplayPort is better for some people. I also like that the hub has no power button since it's under the table. It just does the right thing. The documentation, and the labels on the port themselves, are quite clear, straightforward, and specific on most points. Some tips: For a single cable to support both older USB-3-over-USB-C laptops as well as newer Thunderbolt-3-over-USB-C laptops at full speed, you need a passive Thunderbolt-3-over-USB-C cable, which by definition can't be longer than 0.5 meters. Such a cable is included with the dock, and this is described in the docs. A longer passive USB-3-over-USB-C cable will work with all laptops but won't support Thunderbolt-3 bandwidth (and the improved video capabilities), and a longer active Thunderbolt-3 cable will work with Thunderbolt-3 laptops but won't support USB-3-only laptops at all. For Thunderbolt-2, you plug an Apple Thunderbolt-2-to-3 adapter into the dock, and then I think any proper Thunderbolt-2 cable will work. Unfortunately, only adapters with female Thunderbolt-2 exist, meaning the adapter must be plugged into the dock not the laptop, and the cable you use is Thunderbolt-2 not Thunderbolt-3 (these have different connectors). This makes it less convenient to swap in a Thunderbolt-3/USB-C laptop if the hub is under the table like mine. The manual mentions the hub actually supports even older USB-A laptops to provide Ethernet and audio, but not video, via a USB-C-to-A cable from the "computer" port on the hub. So I was curious if it would provide Ethernet to my iPad via a USB-C-to-Lightning cable from the "computer" port. It didn't. It did fast charge the iPad though (or something close to that). I'm not sure why Ethernet didn't work since combining a Lightning-to-USB dongle with a USB-to-Ethernet dongle is generally a way to get Ethernet to an iPad. In any case the docs don't claim this will work, but it would be a neat little improvement to a hub that already has a bunch of neat little abilities. The docs do say Ethernet and video will work with a USB-C flavor iPad Pro. The hub also has one USB-C (USB-3.2-Gen.2) "data" port for things like hard drives. Unfortunately (consistent with the documentation), this port doesn't provide power to charge a phone or tablet. This would be a useful improvement to fast-charge a device via USB-C while a computer is plugged into the "computer" port – or to support bus-powered USB-C peripherals. I also don't think this port supports Thunderbolt-3 hard drives or peripherals at all. It also has three USB-A (USB-3.2-Gen.1) "data" ports. The one of these on the front is able to charge an iPhone relatively quickly (I believe the others have less or no power for charging).

I have been looking for a long time for a docking station that has the following: 1) Thunderbolt connection 2) USB 3 Gen 2 support for 10Gbps to allow my backups to go at full speed to external 10 Gbps supported NVME drive 3) Support two displays 4) Many USB ports - all USB 3 5) Ability to charge my Dell laptop that requires > 65 watts to charge Before this, I had a Dell Docking TB16 station with a 240 Watt adapter as the 180 could barely charge the laptop. Furthermore, went through two of them as one did damage to my equipment and the replacement started to come close to the behavior of the first so was worried over equipment damage. Sure signs if impending doom are disconnecting of peripherals and a flicking monitor. What did I get? ALL of that and more! It is driving a 2K 34" LG monitor and a 4K LG monitor off displayport with NO flickering. Has extra NIC port that I can set up for teaming Has support for Microsd and SD slot (still have to test) None of the other 65 watt docking stations could charge the laptop and this one does it with ease! CONS: You can be nit picky but the device DOES get warm. Wish it had a way to turn on and off the laptop like the Dell did. If you have similar needs - the Dell is a latitude 7490 and it works flawless with this docking station.

------------------- UPDATED: 2024 ------------------ I got tired of undependable monitor connections, AND using monitors through the doc wasn't working reliably with Ubuntu linux for the last couple of years. I gave up trying to use it with monitors and just plug the monitors in directly to whatever laptop i'm using. (Lenovo Linux for work, Macbook Pro for personal). So for the last 2-3 years this doc has been a glorified power supply for my laptop, and USB hub for my keyboard, mouse, and occasional thumb drive. Now the blue LED is blinking blue whenever i connect it to my laptop, and i have no idea what that means, but it's no longer powering my laptop anymore, and the external keyboard and mouse are also not connecting? So...... i guess blinking blue LED means it's... dead? I can't find any information in the manual about this led state so..........????? Now what? Downgraded from 4 star to 1 star. ---------------------- ORIGINAL REVIEW: ---------------------- I use this dock 8 hours a day for my job, supports two external monitors in addition to my macbook pro display, all with independent resolutions and desktops (not just mirroring). Haven't had any issues with flickering or monitors deactivating as long as you don't move anything (like any digital cable in my experience). Power to the macbook pro is fine, other than the lack of powering the dock via USB C (requires the use of the included power brick which plugs into a dedicated circular power port on the dock). The ports available are adequate when you have the right cables, but I wish this dock used USB C or HDMI ports for the displays instead of Display port, not many people have display port cables so i'd have to take my cables along with my dock to use it somewhere else, and combined with needing it's own power brick, it's certainly not a portable-friendly setup. The included CalDigit branded USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 dock cable is fairly short, so i ordered an actual apple brand thunderbolt 3 cable to connect the dock to my macbook pro which ended up being just a bit longer and just what i needed for my desk setup. The only real issue i've had is sometimes one of my external monitors (always the same one) doesn't get detected when i reconnect the dock to my macbook pro. The solution is fairly simple, either a) unplug the dock from my macbook pro and try again b) unplug both monitor cables from the dock, and then plug them back in, all while the macbook pro stays connected to the dock A stand to hold the dock vertical would have been nice to see for this price point. Having two monitor cables, the dock cable, speakers, and one or two peripherals / wireless adapters connected makes it almost impossible to balance on one side without a stand. I couldn't really justify paying almost $100 more for the CalDigit's TS3 Plus which seemed more like it was designed to sit vertically on your desk.

I have been terrifically disappointed with third-party docks for my MacBook Pro; they either required drivers (which have been summarily banned on MacOS Monterey) or failed to work as advertised. (Another, not-to-be-named Mac-centric vendor actually sold such a dock for many months, under a "pre-release" sale rubric so that you could not rate the product on their site, and with good reason: it didn't work.) This baby just plugs in and goes. No fuss, no muss, exactly as you would expect. I had a minor nit in that using a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter cable to plug in to my monitor's HDMI cable did not work, but I don't know if that was because the adapter cable was broken or the dock didn't like going back and forth. Replacing both with a DisplayPort cable fixed the problem. Highly recommended.

My computer is a Dell XPS 15 9570. I bought the Caldigit USB-C Pro Dock Thunderbolt 3 because I wanted to connect my 2 external Dell P2419H monitors to the USB-C Thunderbolt 3 port using DisplayPort connectors, charge the computer using the dock, free up the other ports on my computer and reduce the wiring clutter on my desktop. The product arrived in perfect condition in a well-insulated package. Setting up the dock was simplicity itself. The packaging contained very clear, simple set up instructions and Windows 10 instantly recognised the new hardware and set it up correctly. The only minor problem I had after set up was that the dock became the default microphone and speaker which required some subsequent tweaking to get my communications software (Skype and Zoom) to work correctly. After setting up the dock and removing my Dell power adapter, the computer gave a power adapter warning on every boot up saying that the charging device was below the 130W that the battery required to operate correctly. The warning stated that the dock was only charging at 65W, even though the dock is rated at 87W. (Some web research showed that Dell restricts non-Dell power adapters to 65W capacity even if they operate at a higher output). To remove the warning message I had to make a small adjustment to the computer’s BIOS but the dock nevertheless kept my computer fully charged. My Dell external monitors each contain a USB hub, comprising 4 USB ports, that require an upstream cable to be attached before the hub will function. The Dell instructions state that the upstream cable must be connected to a USB port on the computer itself. However, when attaching the upstream cable to a USB port on the dock, and not on the computer, the monitor’s USB hub worked perfectly, allowing the computer’s USB port to be kept available for alternative use. The dock fully met my expectations and I am very happy with my purchase.

I am an IT professional in infrastructure and software and have an extensive home office set up. I have had this product for a few weeks now. I could not be happier with it and highly recommend it. Docks are one area that you get what you pay for. Pros: * Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 support. * Indeed charges my Lenovo at 90W. * Works with everything I have thrown at it without issue. * No drivers needed (it's Thunderbolt, so, you shouldn't need software drivers at all). * UEFI / BIOS boot screens and boot loaders are displayed on a connected monitor to the dock as they should and without issue. * Every USB device I have connected works perfectly (wired keyboards and mice, wireless keyboards and mice using a wireless transmitter, etc). * USB transfer speeds are on par with expectations at 5Gbps. * Aluminum exterior. * Has a discreet blue power link indicator LED (lights up when the connected laptop is powered on). * Ethernet works perfectly fine on Linux, Windows 10 and Catalina. * Dual displays work just fine with a MacBoook Pro provided that you use USB-C to HDMI cables or get a suitable adapter. In this case you must remember that you need one cable for each display because Apple was good enough to 100% and thoroughly break DisplayPort MST (Multi-Stream Transport) such that you CANNOT use a single cable for multiple displays (nice job Apple, really nice job). Cons: * No power button to power on a connected laptop. * Runs a little hot. This dock replaces a horrible DisplayLink dock which I am happy to say I have booted out of my set up permanently due to nothing but software driver issues and the Linux kernel. I am using this with Pop!OS / Ubuntu 2018 15.4" Lenovo X1 Extreme gen 1 laptop. I have tested this dock on Windows 10 as well as a 2020 16" MacBook Pro. In all cases this dock has worked seamlessly, without issues from the moment I connected it up. When used with my Lenovo laptop both HDMI and USB outputs from the dock are run to my 2x2 KVM switch. No issues at all. The Ethernet works perfectly fine for which I use a flat Cat6 cable from the dock to my 1Gbps managed switch. I have fiber to the premise service at symmetrical 1Gbps and the dock does not in any way degrade my performance. I have no need for SD cards so I haven't tried it. I have no need for connecting headphones or some audio out either so I haven't tried that either.

Updated review - July 16th, 2020: Thunderbolt now successfully works and supports two external 4k displays @ 60Hz (from a Dell XPS 13, 9300, 2020 model now). 1) Your video card or integrated SoC specifications will still be the limiting factor AFTER TB3 or USB-C. You MUST "enable" the device through thunderbolt settings to get all other features of the dock to work. (Thank you Brian Y @ CalDigit Support for responding literally the same day). 2) If you do NOT have TB3 you CANNOT drive dual 4k (the site makes this fairly clear, though since it still 'checks' dual monitors, dual HD, single 4k @ 30Hz it doesn't guarantee you can do this (again back to SoC graphics limitation) REMAINING ISSUE: As others have noted, even via TB3 and it being 'enabled' there are power issues with the USB 3.2 ports. I have a Seagate 4GB external desktop HD and while it's plugged into the FRONT USB 3.2 port it works fine. If it's in either rear port however, there are apparently power issues since Windows will then sporadically flash notifications as if you've unplugged without ejecting and then plugged it back in. So I increased my rating from 1 star to 3 since I now have the main feature I wanted working (dual 4k @ 60Hz and charging via TB3), and their support was quick. However, for a device at this price point the power interruptions with an external hard drive as others have mentioned are unacceptable (buyer beware-should have taken more serious). Initial review - June 10th, 2020: "Tired of checking if your dock is Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C even though they share the same connector? Wish that both protocols would work together regardless of what laptop you have? CalDigit has solved this challenge and developed the USB-C Pro Dock. A next-generation dock that will adapt to any USB-C (Type-C) laptop it connects to. No drivers. No adapters. It just works! " IS ABSOLUTELY LAUGHABLE - DON'T FALL FOR IT. I should have paid more attention to iAppleGeek and other reviewers, actually even CalDigit's own documentation! If you look at the bottom, while they tout above "It just works!", further down is the truth - or some of it, whatever you're able to actually discern. For example, they say: "***USB-A users will need a USB-C to USB-A cable sold separately.", so I'm buying a dock with 3 USB-A ports, but can't use any of them and will need another USB-C to USB-A adapter? Dangling a dongle off a dock to get it to work ( which it doesn't)? The entire disclaimer, * by **, by *** directly contradicts everything they say in the introduction. Here is my experience with two Windows 10 PCs. One is an HP EliteBook 840 G5 w Intel UHD 620 and Thunderbolt, the other a Lenovo Yoga 910 80VF with Intel HD 620 and USB-C: The HP EliteBook will display to two external 4k monitors at 60Hz over DisplayPort, but the ability to remember the arrangement of those monitors is non-existent (it constantly flips 2 & 3 around for some reason). Worse yet, NONE of the USB-A ports will support a USB 2.0 external HD (the light will come on, the computer doesn't recognize it - but will if it's plugged directly into the computer). It also doesn't recognize a Logitech Unifying receiver on ANY of the USB - A ports.... OR THE USB-C with an extension and adapter! It also only charges an iPhone on 1 of the rear USB-A ports and the front. Though the rear somehow loses power intermittently. To make this even more interesting, the laptop is NOT being powered by the dock, it's using it's own power supply, so ALL power should be available to the dock. Now for the Lenovo, while the manufacturer states it does support dual 4k over USB-C the dock doesn't support it. The Lenovo is ALSO powered externally to the dock. It'll recognize the 2nd display, but doesn't actually display anything (I've tested this by reversing ports and also using the other computer). Ok, so it says only dual HD for USB-C... WRONG. It does not support the 2nd display PERIOD. But you know what does somehow work? ALL OF THE USB-A PORTS FOR EVERYTHING THAT DOESN'T ON THE HP. I have a 2020 Macbook Air on order and can only imagine what a mess this is going to be. Thoroughly disappointed and will be returning it once I find an alternative. It's unfortunate too because of both their claims, the design, and ports. It was ideal for me. What is absolutely unbelievable is their claims which I, unfortunately, fell for without reading their ridiculous caveats below - you're basically left with an absolute roll-of-the-dice on what WILL and WON'T work.

I bought this dock for my new HP Spectre x360 13 10th Gen Intel Laptop specs: Core i7 (10th gen), 4K Oled,16 GB Ram, 1tb SSD with 32gb Octane. Laptop comes with 65 watt charger. I mainly bought this for charging the laptop and using external monitor with one thunderbolt 3 cable. I was initially hesitant to buy the product from CalDigit as I have read some reviews and reddit people complaining about Caldigit product not working correctly with HP Spectre line of laptops. Even on CalDigit Support site, it mentions about this issue without much details. People mostly complained about not able charge or external monitor not working properly. It may have to do with power delivery requirement for certain older and current gen HP Spectre laptops with more than 100 watt power delivery power requirement. I would like to report that the Cal Digit Dock is working perfectly working for the latest Spectre(late 2019) laptop. I am currently using it with one external monitor, and for charging with one cable. My cable is tb3 40gbps rated cable from plugin. I can close the lid to use the external monitor only with external keyboard and mouse. I can also wake the computer up with the mouse or keyboard with the lid closed with the external monitor connected. I also haven't got the system message to use HP's charging adapter. I am glad I did not spend additional 80 dollars for CalDigit TS3 Plus because I do not need more ports then what is provided by the pro unit. As for their tech support, not very helpful. I called their tech support to see if this unit will work with Spectre laptop before purchasing it on amazon. Their answer was simply it may work but they are not sure and asked me to call HP. Overall this is a 5 star product. Update 1 When you notebook is off or sleeping. back USB ports are not active and will not be able charge your devices. However, front USB port continue to work charging devices. Update 2 I got another monitor and tried connecting two external monitors. One of the monitor would not connect as mentioned in some of the reviews on amazon and Reddit particularly certain brand of laptops specifically HP (I have HP Spectre x360 late 2019 model). After long hours of trouble shooting swapping video cables. I tried my old MacBook Pro 2016 model which is suppose to work with this dock. To my surprise, it showed same exact issue. As it turns out the the tb3 cable between the dock and the laptop can not be too long. I was using a longer cable for flexibility. I swapped out the cable for the original shorter caldigit tb3 cable. Problem was instantly fixed. 4K 60hz internal oled monitor, external 4k 60hz monitor and 3440x1440 60hz monitor. For those who maybe having problems. Check your tb3 cable. Another note: HDR does not work through this dock.