Thunderbolt 3 Dock Review

Thunderbolt™ Station 3 Lite

The TS3 Lite was designed for users that already have a way to charge their laptops but still need to connect all their USB devices and monitors to the latest Thunderbolt™ 3 computers. Compatible with both Mac and PC, the TS3 Lite offers an incredibly affordable way of connecting all your devices.

Many Thunderbolt™ 3 devices like 5K monitors already provide the charging function to the attached computer and users don’t need a higher cost docking solution that offers charging.

Thunderbolt™ Station 3

The TS3 is designed for users who need 85W charging for the latest laptops such as the 15” 2016 MacBook Pro. In addition to charging the TS3 also adds a host of extra connectivity options.

The beauty of the Thunderbolt™ 3 is that it allows users to charge their Mac laptop with their docking solution. There is no need to connect your laptop’s charger anymore! One Thunderbolt™ 3 cable from the TS3 to the Mac laptop will charge the computer.

Dual Monitors

The TS3 Lite and TS3 allow you to connect dual 4K monitors to your Thunderbolt™ 3 workflow. The dual monitors can be in either extended or mirrored configurations.

Need to connect a 5K monitor? No problem. Both the TS3 Lite and TS3 can connect a monitor up to 5K through the Thunderbolt™ 3 port. The maximum resolution through the DisplayPort is 4K.

CalDigit chose DisplayPort because it allows users to connect any display they want. All you need is a DisplayPort to HDMI, DVI, VGA, or mDP cable. These cables are easily available and affordable.

How to Connect Dual Monitors

By looking at the back of the TS3 Lite and TS3 it’s easy to wonder how to connect dual monitors. In actual fact it is very simple. One monitor would connect to the DisplayPort connector and the second monitor would connect to the spare Thunderbolt™ 3 port with use of a USB-C video adapter. The video adapter can be HDMI, DVI, VGA or mDP. Again, these adapters are easily available and affordable.

If you don’t want to lose a spare Thunderbolt™ 3 port you can connect the USB-C adapter to the last device in the daisy-chain. Assuming that Thunderbolt™ 3 device has dual ports.

Charging Your Mac Laptop

A great new feature that Thunderbolt™ 3 has added is that it can now provide power to Mac laptops. The TS3 is able to provide up to 85W charging to laptops such as the 13” and 15” 2016 MacBook Pro. Literally one cable will charge and add devices to your laptop.

Mac & PC

Both the TS3 Lite and TS3 are compatible with Mac and PC. The only difference is that the TS3 on Windows does not support the charging function. Many PCs have proprietary charging that varies from PC to PC resulting in the TS3 not providing charging capabilities on Windows.

Thunderbolt™ 3 on Windows PCs is really taking off, and both docks offer a great way of adding extra connectivity options.

Windows users also have the ability connect dual monitors, or even a single 5K monitor in addition to all the other great connectivity options.

Standalone Charging

The TS3 Lite and TS3 offer standalone charging capabilities. This means that both docks do not need to be connected to the computer in order to charge your USB devices.

This is a great feature that allows users to take advantage of the dock even when the laptop is being used for something else.

Apple SuperDrive

The TS3 Lite and TS3 have the ability to work with the Apple SuperDrive in order to read CDs and DVDs.

Many Thunderbolt™ 3 docks on the market cannot work alongside the Apple SuperDrive. CalDigit has created a dedicated driver that allows our Thunderbolt™ 3 docks to work with the Apple SuperDrive.

USB 3.1 Type-A & Type-C

Both the TS3 Lite and TS3 offer the latest USB 3.1 interface which is fully backwards compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0. This means that you can use all your existing USB devices in addition to the latest USB 3.1 devices. The TS3 Lite features both Type-C and Type-A ports. The TS3 features USB Type-A ports.

eSATA

If you’re looking to add your eSATA devices to the latest Thunderbolt™ 3 computers, then look no further than the TS3. The dual 6G eSATA ports are a convenient way off adding extra affordable storage to your Mac or PC. Many eSATA RAID devices offer performance levels that can match Thunderbolt™ RAIDs. Why not connect them to a Mac or PC Thunderbolt™ 3 laptop and extend their longevity?

Gigabit Ethernet

Need a stable internet connection? The TS3 Lite and TS3 offer Gigabit Ethernet that allows you to add an ethernet port and benefit from a more consistent connection.

The Ethernet port features Wake-Up-LAN that allows the computer to wake up via the Ethernet port.

Compatible with Thunderbolt™ 2

The TS3 Lite and TS3 are compatible with Thunderbolt™ 2 computers using the Apple Thunderbolt™ 2 to Thunderbolt™ 3 Adapter. This means that you can use the docks with your older pre-2016 Macs.

The only limitations is that the charging function on the TS3, dual monitor connectivity, and 5K monitor support will not work.

Free High Quality
Thunderbolt™ 3 Cable

Both docks come with a free 0.5m Thunderbolt™ 3 cable. The cable is a fully certified high quality cable.

We recommend that you always use high quality cables with your Thunderbolt™ 3 devices. Cheaper cables can damage your devices.

If you need a longer length cable CalDigit also sells 1m and 2m cables.


TS3 Lite & TS3 Overview The TS3 Lite and TS3 offer users a superb way of connecting all their devices to the latest Thunderbolt™ 3 computers such as the 2016 MacBook Pro and Windows PCs. In the case of the TS3, the dock will also charge the Mac laptop it is attached to.