CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 3 dock with eSATA, dual-4K display support starts shipping

By Malcolm Owen
Wednesday, June 07, 2017, 07:47 am PT (10:47 am ET)

CalDigit has commenced shipments of the Thunderbolt Station 3 dock, an accessory for Macbook Pro users wanting to expand their notebook’s connectivity options first launched in CES, with the $249.99 device offering dual 4K display support and a pair of eSATA ports alongside more conventional connections.

Introduced as a Thunderbolt 3 dock for professionals in January, the Thunderbolt Station 3 borrows some of the appearance of its predecessor, the Thunderbolt Station 2, but upgrades the Thunderbolt connectivity to a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports. Able to offer 40Gb/s of bandwidth, these ports are also capable of recharging a connected MacBook Pro, providing up to 85W of power, and can also be used to daisy-chain up to six devices through a single Thunderbolt 3 port on a MacBook Pro.

On the front of the unit are audio connection ports, as well as a USB 3.0 Type A connection with standalone charging, while on the back are the Thunderbolt 3 ports, two USB 3.0 connections, Gigabit Ethernet, and one DisplayPort. The Thunderbolt 3 ports and the DisplayPort can be used to support two 4K monitors, with it also capable of powering a 5K-resolution display.

Added to the connections list are two 6 gbit/sec eSATA ports, allowing for external storage devices to connect to the dock and be used by the MacBook Pro. While users will probably want to use the spare Thunderbolt 3 connection to attach external storage to the dock, to take advantage of the higher bandwidth, the inclusion of eSATA at least means older storage hardware can still be used, making it an option for accessing archive drives.

CalDigit is shipping pre-orders of the Thunderbolt Station 3 now, with new orders expected to ship at the end of June. The dock is priced at $299.99.

The new release follows after another dock launched at the same time as the Thunderbolt Station 3, earlier this year. The Thunderbolt Station 3 Lite is a thinner unit at AppleInsider previously examined, with a slightly smaller number of connections and limited charging power, but is positioned as a value option at $199.99.