CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt Station 4 User Guide

CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt Station 4

General Information

Introduction
The CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 4 (TS4) maximizes the potential of your Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 3, USB4, or USB-C host device by adding up to 18 ports of connectivity. In addition to this, the TS4 can provide up to 98W of power delivery in order to charge your host device and will supply up to 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet for fast network connectivity.

General Use Warnings

• Please read the TS4 manual thoroughly and familiarize yourself with the product before use.
• Avoid using the TS4 in extremely hot and cold environments. A safe temperature range is between 50°F – 95°F (10°C – 35°C).
• Avoid using the TS4 in humid environments. Moisture and condensation can accumulate in the device and cause damage to the electrical components.
• Only use the power adapter that has been supplied with the TS4. An excessive or inadequate power supply can result in unstable performance or device failure.

Safety Warnings

• Keep the TS4 away from liquids and moisture. Exposure to liquids can result in damaging the unit, electric shock, and result in a fire hazard.
• If your TS4 gets wet while it is still off, do not turn it on. In the case of any issue with the device, do not attempt to repair or open the device yourself. Doing so can result in personal injury, damage the device, and will void the warranty. If you have any issues, please contact CalDigit Technical Support.

System Requirements

• macOS 11.4 or above
• Windows 10 (20H2) or above T
• hunderbolt 4 Computer
• Thunderbolt 3 Computer
• Thunderbolt, USB4 or
• USB-C Chromebook
• USB-C (USB4) Computer
• USB-C Computer
• Thunderbolt or USB-C iPad

In the Box

TS4 Diagram

Using the TS4

Powering the TS4

1. The CalDigit TS4 requires power from the AC adapter to operate. Connect the AC adapter connector to the DC jack on the back of the TS4 and the other side to an AC outlet.
2. To power off the TS4, disconnect the power cable from the AC outlet.

Connecting the TS4 to your computer
Once the TS4 has been powered on, connect the device using a Thunderbolt™ 4 cable from the Thunderbolt™ 4 port labeled “Computer” on the TS4 to a Thunderbolt™ 4, Thunderbolt™ 3 or USB-C port on your computer. This single connection will now provide up to 98W charging for your laptop in addition to expanding your connectivity options.
NOTE
Always use the supplied Thunderbolt™ 4 / USB4 cable or a certified 40Gb/s Thunderbolt™ 4 /USB4 cable.

LED Indicator

The TS4 is equipped with an LED indicator, which will display a WHITE light if the unit is powered on and connected to your computer.

CalDigit Docking Station Utility
The CalDigit Docking Station Utility for macOS makes it incredibly easy to disconnect all your USB storage devices from the TS4 without the need to manually disconnect them one by one.
NOTE
The CalDigit Docking Station Utility Installer file needs to be downloaded and installed on your Mac from the CalDigit website. Please go to downloads.caldigit.com to download the Installer package.

Disconnecting all USB storage devices

1.  Open the CalDigit Docking Station Utility on the top menu bar.
2.  Click the eject button on the TS4 image.

Disconnecting individual USB storage devices

1.  Open the CalDigit Docking Station Utility on the top menu bar.
2.  Click on the specific USB device you would like to eject. Only that device will be ejected.

Interface Summary

Thunderbolt™ 4
The TS4 features three Thunderbolt™ 4 Type-C ports that can transfer at speeds up to 40Gb/s. One port is reserved for the connection to your host computer and the second can be used to connect extra Thunderbolt™ 4 devices. Thunderbolt™ 4 Type-C supports video and data. The Thunderbolt™ host port also provides charging up to 98W for your computer.
USB-C (10Gb/s)
The TS4 features three USB 3.2 Type-C ports (10Gb/s). These ports are intended for data use only and two of them can supply up to 7.5W of power in order to bus- power or charge devices.
The left front-facing USB-C port supports up to 20W of power and is intended to be used with devices that require more power and is ideal for charging devices faster.
All of the USB-C ports provide Offline Charging in order to charge your devices even when the TS4 is not connected to a host computer.

USB-A (10Gb/s)
The TS4 features a total of five USB-A (10Gb/s) ports all of which support up to 10Gb/s performance and 7.5W of power. Three of the USB-A ports, as indicated with a battery icon, provide Offline Charging which allows those USB-A ports to charge devices even when the TS4 is not connected to a host device. If you do not wish for the TS4 to Offline Charge your devices you can connect those devices to the USB-A ports that do not have a battery icon.

UHS-II SD/micro SD Card Slots
The front-facing UHS-II SD (4.0), and UHS-II microSD (4.0) card slots are capable of transfing speeds up to 312MB/s. These card slots are compatible with SDXC, SDHC, and standard SD cards.

DisplayPort
The TS4 features a full-size DisplayPort that supports a maximum resolution up to 8K.  DisplayPort can be easily converted to HDMI, miniDisplayPort, VGA, and DVI with the use of adapter cables or adapters.
Note: The DisplayPort on the TS4 is only compatible with active DisplayPort adapters. If you attempt to use a passive adapter, your display will not function correctly. If you are not sure which type you have, please check with your adapter manufacturer to ensure that it is an active adapter.
Any display connected to the DisplayPort will be regarded as a secondary display by default. This can be changed in the “Display” section under “System Preferences”.
NOTE
The TS4 supports dual display functionality. However, the actual resolutions are limited by GPU, OS, Driver and Firmware. Please refer to the tables below for general information.

Single Monitor: Using DisplayPort

Single Monitor: Connected to Thunderbolt™ 4 Port (With use of a USB-C Video Adapter connected to the Thunderbolt™ 4 port)

Connecting Dual Monitors or a single Higher Refresh Rate Monitor
You can add up to two external monitors to the TS4 as long as your computer’s Thunderbolt ports support dual displays. M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, Intel based Macs, Thunderbolt 4, and Thunderbolt 3 PCs support up to dual displays. Some early Thunderbolt 3 PCs do not support dual displays. Check if your Thunderbolt 3 PC supports dual displays. Users on original Apple M1 computers, or on USB-C PCs can only connect a single display to the TS4. In addation to the dual monitor support, TS4 can support an external monitor with higher refresh rate showing below.

 |

TBT4, TBT3 & USB4 PC

|

Inrel TBT3 Mac

|

Apple M1 Mac

| Apple M1 Pro, Max & Ultra Mac| USB-C

10Gb/s PC (DP1.4)

|

TBT iPad Pro

|

TBT4/USB4

Chromebook

---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---
4K 60Hz| √| √| √| √| √| √| √
5K 60Hz| √| √| √| √|  | √| √
6K 60Hz| √| √| √| √|  | √|
8K 60Hz| √|  |  |  |  |  |
Dual 4K 60Hz| √| √|  | √|  |  | √
Dual 6K 60Hz|  |  |  | √|  |  |
 | Higher Refresh Rates (Single Monitor)
4K

Up to 144Hz

| √| √| √| √| √|  | √
3440×1440

Up to 180Hz

| √| √| √| √|

100Hz

|  |

100Hz

2560×1440

Up to 240Hz

| √| √| √| √| √|  | √

*Some refresh rates require DP 1.4, HBR3 and DSC 1.2 support from host, GPU and monitor. Some Thunderbolt 3 hosts that only support DP 1.2 will be capped at a lower resolution & refresh rate. The bit/color depth may vary in order to support higher refresh rates. The support of higher refresh rates may vary due to OS updates.

Dual Monitors : Connected to DisplayPort & Thunderbolt™ 4 Ports
(With use of a USB-C Video Adapter connected to the Thunderbolt™ 4 port)

How to connect Dual Displays to the TS4

Option 1

• Connect one monitor to the DisplayPort connector.
• Connect the second monitor to one of the spare Thunderbolt 4 ports via a USB-C Video Adapter*.

Option 2

• Connect one monitor to one of the spare Thunderbolt 4 ports via a USB-C Video Adapter*.
• Connect the second monitor to one of the spare Thunderbolt 4 ports via a USB-C Video Adapter*.

Option 3
Connect two USB-C or Thunderbolt monitors directly to two of the Thunderbolt 4 ports.
*Adapters sold separately. Also available on the CalDigit Online Store.

2.5 Gigabit Ethernet
The TS4 has a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port with up to 2.5X performance* of Gigabit Ethernet. The 2.5GbE ports is backwards compatible with standard Gigabit Ethernet, and can be used with a 5GbE, or 10GbE network.

Audio
The TS4 has one front-facing audio combo port, one rear-facing audio out port, and a second audio in port on the back of the device. Only the front- facing combo port or the rear-facing audio ports can be connected at a time. If you have all of these three audio ports connected to the devices at the same time, the TS4 will default to the audio in/out on the front audio port. Once you disconnect your audio device from the front audio port, the audio will default to the device connected to the back of the TS4.
On macOS, the audio devices must be selected in the “Sound” section under “System Preferences”. The TS4’s audio devices will be listed as ‘CalDigit TS4 Audio – Front’ or ‘CalDigit TS4 Audio – Rear’ in your settings depends on the audio port you use.

• 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet is only supported on Thunderbolt based hosts.

CalDigit TS4 Specif ications

Interface:

• 3x Thunderbolt 4 (40Gb/s) 3x USB-C (10Gb/s)
• 5x USB-A (10Gb/s)
• 1x SD UHI-II
• 1x microSD UHI-II
• 1x DisplayPort 1.4
• 1x 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet
• 1x Front Combo Audio Jack 1x Rear Audio Jack In
• 1x Rear Audio Jack Out

Power:

• DC IN (19.5V 11.80A)

Power Delivery:

• 98W to Host Device

Dimensions & Weight: 

• Height : 5.55” (141.0mm)
• Width : 1.65” (42.0mm)
• Length : 4.46” (113.4mm)
• Weight : 1.41Ibs (0.64kg)

System Requirements

• macOS 11.4 or above
• Windows 10 (20H2) or above
• Thunderbolt 4 Computer
• Thunderbolt 3 Computer
• USB-C (USB4) Computer
• USB-C Computer
• Thunderbolt or USB-C
• iPad Windows Tablet
• (Thunderbolt or USB-C) Chromebook
• (Thunderbolt 4, USB4, USB-C)

In The Box:

• 1 x CalDigit TS4
• 1 x Thunderbolt 4 Cable
• 2 x Rubber Feet Strips
• 1 x Power Cord
• 1 x Power Supply (230w)  100-240Vca; 50/60Hz

Warranty:
2 Year Limited Warranty

CalDigit TS4 Accessories

Thunderbolt™ 4 Cables

• Thunderbolt™ 4 / USB4 Cable Passive 0.8m (40Gb/s)
•  Thunderbolt™ 4 / USB4 Cable Passive 1m (40Gb/s)
•  Thunderbolt™ 4 / USB4 Cable Active 2m (40Gb/s)

Power Supply

• CalDigit TS4-230W AC Adapter PSU

DisplayPort Adapter

• CalDigit Active DisplayPort 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 Adapter

USB-C Video Adapters

• CalDigit USB-C to DisplayPort adapter
• CalDigit USB-C to HDMI adapter
  Please contact CalDigit or an authorized CalDigit reseller for availability and pricing.

Technical Support and Warranty Information

Technical Support
If you run into any issues while using your TS4, please contact CalDigit Technical Support.

• Email (US): support@caldigit.com
• Email (UK/EU): eusupport@caldigit.com
• Phone (US): 714-572-6668
• Phone (UK/EU): +44 (0) 1993 700 972
•  Website: https://www.caldigit.com/support

When contacting CalDigit Technical Support, make sure to be at your computer and have the following information available:

1.  Your TS4 serial number
2.  Operating system and version
3.  Computer make and model

Warranty Information

The TS4 is covered by a 2-year limited warranty.

Please visit www.caldigit.com for more information on all CalDigit products. Specifications and package contents are subject to change without notice.

USB Type-C®, USB-C® and USB4™ are trademarks of the Universal Serial Bus Implementers Forum (USB-IF). Thunderbolt™ is a trademark of Intel Corporation. All product names are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their respective owners.

References

• CalDigit Support Downloads
• CalDigit – Considerate. Authentic. Design.
• Support – CalDigit

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