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Comment by dervjd | Hacker News Reader

If you're purchasing something to use permanently at your desk, it's worth spending more for a Thunderbolt dock. Most USB-C hubs are total crap.

You'll get far faster transfer speeds, more ports, charging (and at full speed), proper display output (dual 4K/60hz) and better components/reliability. The CalDigit TS3 Plus[1] is what I've used for several years - first with a 2019 Intel MBP and now with my new 2021 M1 Pro MBP. It's pricey compared to a USB-C dongle, but rock solid.

[1]: https://amzn.to/38sFDZk

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I think that Thunderbolt is not a particularly good solution for anything. You get 99% of the things it can do in USB-C, and the things that it can't either don't work on Apple machines (eGPU) or are needlessly high performance (I'm fine with my external SSDs being limited to just a couple 100 MB/s).

In exchange you get a lot more expensive hubs, stiff, expensive cables, and a much more limited computer compatibility.

I went through 2 CalDigit TS3 docks previously, and returned both of them. They had a good number of ports and seemed reliable for the few weeks I had them. But both of them had audibly noisy capacitors, resulting in a tinnitus-like 16KHz tone that would get louder when moving the mouse or when connecting an external monitor to the dock.

What did you replace it with? Having the same problem with mine and looking for an alternative.

We have three StarTech docks since November or December. No coil whine so far, except for the Realtek NIC (which works out-of-the-box on Macs, but is meh otherwise), we didn't have any issues with it.

https://www.startech.com/en-eu/cards-adapters/tb3cdk2dpue

I bought two identical 3x 4k docks from Startech, and used them for M1 and M1 Max macbooks. One of them developed a very loud coil whine. No other problems, but it was too loud to be used alongside a dead silent laptop. The other is fine.

Docks are always a hit or miss thing. I had Dell docks before, also ~350 eur or so, and they consistently failed to wake up the external screens on resume from sleep. Same screens worked just fine on the Startech.

Their entire product line seems to be "currently unavailable" on Amazon.

Looks like they hope to be back in stock late this month. They've got some availability notes on their website: https://www.caldigit.com/an-update-on-ts4-availability/

I imagine they're being hit by the chip shortage that impacted so many other companies. I'm still waiting on a Raspberry Pi, myself.

I suspect the difference is more between manufacturers than between USB-C/Thunderbolt. I bought the old CalDigit USB-C dock years ago for my 2016 rMacBook (no Thunderbolt support), and it’s still working fine today with my M1 MBA.

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