u/Hrvoje1996

After months of troubleshooting my CalDigit TS5 Plus, I’m convinced that most of its random problems are caused by the dock getting too warm.

My setup:

• 16-inch MacBook Pro M5 Max
• Apollo x8
• Samsung T7 4TB ×2, T7 1TB and T5 1TB
• MIDI Keyboard
• Samsung U32R59x connected through DisplayPort
• Original CalDigit cable
• Dock positioned vertically

The display would randomly go black for about a second, the Apollo would disconnect and reconnect, and Cubase would lose audio. Sometimes SSDs and MIDI devices would disconnect too. At its worst, I had to reboot everything, and I also experienced kernel panics.

I installed the firmware updates, including the beta PD firmware PDF608, and tried every suggested troubleshooting step. Nothing fixed it permanently.

Then I put a USB fan next to the dock and the problems stopped.

The fan is too noisy to use in a recording studio, so that was never a real solution. Recently, I started running the air conditioning much colder. Since then, I haven’t had a single issue with the TS5 Plus.

When I turn the AC down and the room gets warmer, the problems start again. When I cool the room down, they stop. I’ve tested this repeatedly and the result is always the same. At this point, I’m certain the temperature of the dock is the cause.

I should not have to keep my studio freezing cold or place a noisy fan next to an expensive dock just to make it work properly. It should remain stable at a normal room temperature with devices connected to its available ports.

So, CalDigit, when are you going to admit that the TS5 Plus has a temperature problem? People are being told to check their cables, reinstall software, update firmware and blame macOS, while the dock simply becomes unstable when it gets too warm.

Can this be fixed through firmware, perhaps by changing its power or thermal management, or are you going to release a revised version with better cooling?

I finally know what causes the problems, but keeping the air conditioning at an unnecessarily low temperature is not a permanent solution. CalDigit needs to address this.

Honestly, I just wanted a dock that works.

I paid premium money for the TS5 Plus because it's constantly recommended as one of the best docks you can buy for a Mac. I'm a professional music producer, so reliability is more important to me than saving a few hundred euros.

Instead, I've spent months troubleshooting.

My setup is a MacBook Pro M5 Max, Apollo x8, several Samsung SSDs, MIDI controllers and an external display.

Over the last few months I've had:

• random display blackouts
• Apollo disconnecting during sessions
• Apollo not being recognized until I reboot the Mac
• SSDs and MIDI devices randomly disconnecting
• kernel panics
• situations where the display doesn't come back at all

The thing that frustrates me most is that I didn't buy a dock to spend my time reading logs, collecting system reports, testing beta firmware and trying different cable combinations.

I bought a dock because I wanted to connect one cable and get on with my work.

I've probably spent more time troubleshooting this thing than I have troubleshooting any other piece of studio gear I've owned.

To be fair, CalDigit support has been responsive and they've acknowledged ongoing Thunderbolt 5 related issues. They've also opened an RMA for my unit.

But as a customer, it's hard not to be disappointed.

What worries me is that this isn't some cheap Amazon dock. This is supposed to be one of the best Thunderbolt docks on the market.

At this point I'm genuinely curious how many people are running M4 or M5 Macs with a TS5 Plus and having absolutely zero issues.

Because my experience has been the complete opposite.

Has anyone here experienced issues with Apollo Thunderbolt interfaces (Apollo x8, x8p, Twin X, etc.) not being recognized after reconnecting a MacBook through a TS5 Plus?

My setup is:

• MacBook Pro 16" M5 Max
• CalDigit TS5 Plus
• Apollo x8 (Thunderbolt 3)

The Apollo works perfectly when connected directly to the MacBook.

However, when connected through the TS5 Plus, I always run into a situation where the Apollo is visible in System Information as a Thunderbolt device, but it does not appear as an audio device in macOS or UAD Console until I reboot the computer.

I've also been experiencing occasional display dropouts and Thunderbolt disconnects through the dock, so I'm trying to determine whether this specific Apollo issue is related to the TS5 Plus, Thunderbolt 5 compatibility, or something else.

Has anyone using an Apollo Thunderbolt interface experienced similar behavior?

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m having a strange issue with my CalDigit TS5 Plus setup on a new MacBook Pro 16-inch with M5 Max.

Every ~10 minutes, my monitor briefly goes black for about a second, and at the exact same time my Universal Audio Apollo x8 disconnects/reconnects (audio drops in Cubase).

What’s strange is that my external SSDs stay mounted and connected during this. So it doesn’t seem like the entire dock fully resets.

Devices connected to the TS5 Plus:

• Apollo x8
• 2x Samsung T7 4TB
• 1x Samsung T7 1TB
• 1x Samsung T5 1TB
• Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S88 MK2
• Moog Sub37
• Arturia Akai MPK Mini IV
• SSL UF8+UF1 daisy chained
• Genelec GLM
• Monitor connected via DisplayPort

Computer:

• MacBook Pro 16” M5 Max

Nothing is connected to it except TS5 Plus.

Important detail:
With my previous MacBook Pro 16-inch with M1 Max, I did NOT have this issue.

The only issue I had on the M1 Max setup was that sometimes after restart, the SSDs would not appear until shutting down TS5 plus and turning on. But I never had display + Apollo disconnects like this.

I’m wondering if this could be:

• a TS5 Plus firmware issue
• M5 Max Thunderbolt compatibility issue
• thermal issue
• bandwidth/power delivery issue
• or something related to UAD/Apollo

Has anyone experienced similar behavior with TS5 Plus + Apple Silicon + audio setups? Especially where SSDs remain connected, but display/audio briefly disconnect together?