The MacBooks Air and Pro with M1 have proven to be very capable laptops,
despite a couple of issues here and there. I’m sure a lot of people would like to be able to
hook these up to run in a desktop mode and that’s where these CalDigit docks can come in handy.
Hey, Im Jerry, and Yes, I love my MacBook Pro M1. It is a very capable machine for 95%
of what I need a laptop to do today. Its fast for regular web surfing, video watching, for
logging into my work servers and you can even edit video on it with some caveats. …. I want
to be able to use this device for everything, including with a big screen, external keyboard,
and additional ports, so CalDigit sent me these 2 docks to try out with the new MacBooks with M1.
A quick disclaimer here, CalDigit has not paid me for this review
and no one has reviewed or had any input on this video before my posting it.
The first dock is the USB-C SOHO Dock. This is a nice compact dock with a good selection of ports
for most people. It connects via USB-C to one of the only 2 USB-C ports on the
M1 MacBooks, and the cable is not permanently attached, which is nice…..On the front you
get the option of fast SD or Micro SD UHS II ports and 10gbps USB-C and USB-A ports……which
I don’t think I even knew that you could get 10gbps through a USB-A port, so that’s cool…..
On the back side you have a USB-C input for power up to 100w, an HDMI 2b and a
DisplayPort 1.4 connection. Both of these can do up to 60hz output, more on that in a minute.
So lets get this connected here…….
OK, so we are up and running….. and one of the first things I wanted to test was disk and SD card
speed through this hub…Using a Sandisk Extreme Pro SD card with a maximum speed of 170MBps
I am able to get read speeds of 160MBps through the CalDigit USB-C SOHO Hub. Which is fantastic,
because usually the slowest part of my workflow is just copying or importing footage from the SD
cards. On my iMac I can only get around 90MBps and you might not think it matters but that’s
just time when I am twirling my thumbs waiting and to have it be this fast is actually helpful.
I also have this 1 TB Samsung T7 SSD which I usually edit off of on my iMac. If we connect
this to the USB-C port on the front and bring up the BlackMagic Disk Speed Test we can see that we
are not getting the highest speed for this drive, peaking around 610MBps write
and 550MBps read. Now, I do want to say that based on my previous tests,
the USB-C speed on these M1 MacBooks are not as fast as my Intel MacBook Air or my iMac
which can get nearly the max speed of around 1 GBps. But the speeds that I am getting
through this hub is more than fast enough for almost any workflow, including video editing.
On the Back of the SOHO dock we are connected via DisplayPort running scaled at 3k and 60hz.
I want to point out that on my last video I was connected to a BenQ monitor using these docks and
I was limited to 30hz. I reached out to CalDigit and they confirmed that the dock does work at 60hz
with the M1 Macs. I also reached out to BenQ and they confirmed there is some issue between
the M1 Macs and BenQ displays using Thunderbolt and DisplayPort, and they are looking into it.
So I went and bought this Samsung monitor to test and we are connected at 60hz. The display looks
great and I don’t see any lag. If I play a video on this screen you can see that it looks great.
CalDigit says that you can use this dock with 2 external monitors and those configurations depend
on resolution, refresh rate, and operating system. With the M1 MacBooks you are limited to just
1 external display and that limitation comes from Apple. So if you want to use the Caldigit
SOHO dock with multiple displays you can do so but make sure your setup meets the requirements.
Also on the back is the USB-C power connection which can passthrough up to
100w of power to your laptop. I have the Apple supplied MacBook Pro adapter which
I believe is a 60w adapter and it has no issues charging up though this hub.
There are a couple of great things about this CalDigit SOHO dock.
First, it is tiny. You can use this on your desk without taking up much space and just as easily
toss it in your bag for work or travel………… Second, this includes the ports I need the most, including
both SD and Micro SD card slots, USB-C and USB-A. I can pretty much do everything I
need to with those specific ports and it helps that they are up to 10gbps……….Third, this thing
can be bus powered from the laptop, negating the need for an external charger during meetings or
short bursts of productivity, making this a nearly perfect all around dock for my MacBook Pro M1.
There are just 2 things I wish the SOHO dock included. An ethernet Port and a rear audio jack.
If I am using this at a desk, I will probably want a decent set of external speakers and
instead of connecting them to the MacBook, I would rather have that on the dock.
If you are in the market for a Dock that has a few more ports and options
than maybe the older, bigger brother of the SOHO Dock will work better for you.
This is the CalDigit TS3 Plus Dock. It is a bigger, beefer dock that has Thunderbolt,
more port options, but does fall behind the SOHO dock in some ways.
First off with the TS3 Plus dock, we can see on the front there is a Single SD card slot,
headphone out, audio in and 5gbps USB-C and USB-A.
On the backside we get 5 more 5gbps USB-A ports, a 10gbps USB-C port,
thunderbolt in and out, displaayport, optical audio out,
1gb ethernet and a power port providing up to 87w of power for your laptop.
When I connect the Same Sandisk extreme SD card to the TS3 Plus dock I get around 90MBps read speed,
so a bit slower that the SOHO dock but using the Samsung T7 SSD on the rear 10gbps usb-c port,
I get faster read speeds at around 640MBps…or about 80MBps faster than the SOHO dock.
The great things about the TS3 Plus dock are first, The front audio ports on the TS3 Plus
will make it easier for connecting headphones or a microphone when docked at a desk. In my limited
testing I found no distortion or delay on the audio connected via headphones………Second, there
are many more USB ports on the TS3 Plus compared to the SOHO, so if you have a different mouse
with an RF receiver you can always leave that connected to the dock and still have plenty of
room for usb drives or other peripherals…………Third, Having ethernet for a fast, stable connection
will always be preferred to wifi whether you are gaming or uploading large files. And forth,
the included power supply means you don’t need to worry about taking your laptop charger out of your
bag each time you connect and that will lessen the amount of times I forget my charger when I leave.
2 things the TS3 Dock are missing in my opinion are a Micro SD card slot,
and a rear audio out for connecting speakers
because I don’t think I will be taking advantage of the rear optical audio out. gv
So, I think that both of these docks are great and have different use cases.
If you want a dock to add a few more ports and have the ability to travel with your M1 MacBook,
the CalDigit USB-C SOHO dock is a great option. If you are more
of a power user and need additional ports for peripherals and a stable Ethernet connection,
the TS3 Plus Dock with thunderbolt will be a great option. But what do you think?
Which one of these docks would work best for you and your M1 MacBook. Is there a better dock out
there I should try?.........I would love to be able to Frankenstein these 2 docks together and
have something the size of the SOHO that adds Ethernet and an audio out jack on the back.
I think my dock of choice for now with the MacBook Pro M1
will be the USB-C SOHO dock because it works well with HDMI on my beautiful BenQ monitor
and provides most of what I need. But if BenQ and Apple can resolve their differences
I would probably switch to the TS3 Plus and use DisplayPort and be happier with the extra ports.
…………..if you have been looking at the MacBooks with M1 but are having trouble deciding which one
to get, you should check out this video over here, or look in the desctiption for my M1 Playlist.
Hit the like button if you did, hit subscribe if you want, and Ill see you next time.