I’m about to move from 2 mac (Studio with Studio Display and MB Air) to 1 mac (MB Pro) setup. I need a robust thunderbolt dock, and have narrowed it down to the CalDigit TS4 (which I know many use and like) vs the ivanky fusiondock max 1 (which I didn’t know, but has excellent reviews, and some say is more “stable”)… anyone with thoughts on these options? Thanks!
I have a TS4 which I plug into my M4 MacBook Pro when at my desk and haven’t had any issues with it.
It’s connected to 2 studio displays, ethernet cable, the Logitech Bolt receiver and some external hard drives.
Ethernet speed is close to the max at over 850mbps when testing on speedtest.net, so no throughput issues.
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If you’re reducing peripherals with your new setup do you actually need all the functionality the TS4 offers? I ask because I was in your position earlier in the year and I chose the CalDigit Elements hub in the end. It had all the usb-c and usb-A connections I needed without any ports I didn’t need, as well as powering my device and connecting my monitor. The only thing it’s missing that I might have liked but wasn’t essential was an Ethernet port (I’m sat right next to a wi-fi router so for me this was a nice-to-have but not essential). It’s also possible to Daisy chain (though I think that might be true of all CalDigit’s offerings) - as I’ve now maxed out all available points (I have a lot of peripherals) I’m considering adding a second Element hub to get 8 new ports. The Element has a really small footprint which was a consideration for me as well as I like my desk to be tidy.
I really wanted to love the Ivanky FusionDock Max 1 (and have one in use at my office), but find it to be quite flaky… drops connections to peripherals fairly regularly, drops individual monitors from a multi-monitor setup, and anything even remotely close to a static discharge in dry weather (despite attempts to touch grounded metal before touching the MacBook Pro) results in dropped connections. I’ve been waiting for the slowdown between Christmas and New Year’s at work to take an hour or so to swap all my cables and transition back to my CalDigit TS4, which was much more reliable. I do have one of the very first ones off the line, so perhaps something was improved since the first batch. Hope that helps!
Thanks again for the feedback… I do need the ports (including ethernet) that the more robust docks offer. Given the feedback here (@DFullerton) along with positive feedback on TS4 from people like Jason Snell and Stephen Hackett, going to just stick with CalDigit!
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@pdadoc I think you are on the right pathway here, I’m about to move from OWC TB3 to either a TS4. I was considering the Element Hub, as I love that it has an extra USB4/TB4 port, however the higher charging rate (60W v 98W) and also the integrated 2.5Gb ethernet port, along with a few more flexible USB-C / USB-A ports has won me over.
All that said, the TS4 was released in March 2022. I can’t help but wonder when the TS5 will be released, so considering if I can put up with my OWC TB3 (from 2016) for a little bit more. The biggest issue with my OWC TB3 dock, through it’s lifecycle was unreliable reconnection after plugin or sleep, it just doesn’t wake up some times (quite a few threads, but no solutions). I’m honestly surprised I’ve lasted this long with it.
I bumped into this thread that might be of interest for two points:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CalDigit/comments/1gg06z4/caldigit_ts5_thunderbolt_5_exposed_apple_event/
- The active engagement by Caldigit in Reddit seems reasonable, great to see
- It appears that the TS5 might be lurking about somewhere in the short to medium term future (but it’s always a guess)
I really wanted to love the Ivanky FusionDock Max 1 (and have one in use at my office), but find it to be quite flaky… drops connections to peripherals fairly regularly, drops individual monitors from a multi-monitor setup, and anything even remotely close to a static discharge in dry weather (despite attempts to touch grounded metal before touching the MacBook Pro) results in dropped connections. I’ve been waiting for the slowdown between Christmas and New Year’s at work to take an hour or so to swap all my cables and transition back to my CalDigit TS4, which was much more reliable. I do have one of the very first ones off the line, so perhaps something was improved since the first batch. Hope that helps!
For fairness, after I responded here in this forum, I contacted Ivanky and shared with them that my unit had been problematic, and I heard others with newer units may be having a better experience. Though my original purchase was 10 months ago, they responded immediately and said they were shipping me a new unit, and would like me to send in the problematic unit for further analysis.
2025-01-03: And one further update. After two days with the replacement Ivanky FusionDock Max 1 I have to say the new hardware has been performing flawlessly.
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Thanks again… cool to see CalDigit responding on that Reddit thread!
@DFullerton just checking what your experience has been with the dual TB4 cable situation? Can the Ivanky FusionDock Max 1 be used with a single cable or do both always need to be attached?
Could you plug in two different computers to unlock specific ports on the dock?
What is the experience of aligning and plugging in/out the dual cable?
(I move around my workspace quite often through the day, so this could get annoying)
I have no need for such configs so this is just out of curiosity.