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Need-to-knows
- iVanky is powered by a dual-chip architecture, an industry first for a MacBook dock
- Supports up to four native 6K@60Hz displays on compatible Apple Silicon Macs
- iVanky has the most ports, 26 in total
- CalDigit compatible with Windows and Mac
If you’re a serious Mac user, running a MacBook Pro with an M4 Pro or M4 Max and trying to drive multiple monitors, keep a fast NAS connection going, and charge everything from a single cable, you’ve probably already discovered that most Thunderbolt 5 docks don’t quite live up to the promise.
The problem isn’t that they’re bad, but that they were designed to work with everything. Windows PCs, older Thunderbolt 3 Macs, USB4 devices. It means they can’t go all-in on what Apple Silicon Macs are actually capable of.
That’s exactly what iVANKY has done with the FusionDock Ultra. It doesn’t work with Windows. It doesn’t work with Intel Macs. It was engineered from scratch around Apple Silicon, and the result is a dock that does things no other single Thunderbolt 5 product has done before. I’m here to put it through its paces against its nearest competitor, the CalDigit TS5 Plus to see which is best.
Let’s get into it!
Bandwidth and architecture
Both docks claim 120Gbps, but they don’t necessarily mean the same thing, and the difference matters more than the spec sheet implies.
The CalDigit TS5 Plus runs at 80Gbps bidirectional under normal conditions. It can activate Thunderbolt 5’s Bandwidth Boost to push up to 120Gbps, but that boost is triggered specifically to prioritise display bandwidth. When it kicks in, it reallocates capacity away from other connected devices, things like external drives and USB accessories.
The FusionDock Ultra doesn’t need to do this thanks to its dual-chip architecture. This means it routes displays, data, and networking across entirely separate lanes, all simultaneously, at up to 120Gbps. When everything is running at once, it simply keeps running at full speed.
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Admittedly, this is a pretty high-end difference. For a one-display setup with light accessory use, you probably won’t notice. But the FusionDock Ultra is built for the kind of complex workloads that so called ‘power users’ need to get through. And when you’re spending this much on a dock, it’s reassuring to have this headroom.
Display support
This is probably the section that marks the FusionDock Ultra most from CalDigit.
The TS5 Plus supports up to dual 8K@60Hz on compatible Macs, or dual 4K@240Hz for high refresh rate setups. On M5 Pro and M5 Max Macs, you can technically get to three or four displays, but to do that you have to use additional ports directly on the MacBook itself alongside the dock which sort of defeats the purpose of a single-cable setup.
Related: M4 Mac mini review
Or, you can daisy chain Thunderbolt cables but that means the monitors you use must also support Thunderbolt chaining. That greatly restricts the amount of compatible displays available to you.
The FusionDock Ultra supports up to four native 6K@60Hz displays from a single dock connection depending on the model and chip of your Mac. No DisplayLink software, which compresses the signal, introduces latency, and visibly degrades image quality for anyone doing colour-sensitive work. That means you get four monitors, all running natively from one Thunderbolt cable which is quite remarkable really.
It’s the first dock to achieve this, and it’s only possible because of the dual-chip design. Again, for the power users out there, this is a clear advantage.
Port selection
The TS5 Plus offers 20 ports, which is a strong total. Three Thunderbolt 5 connections, ten USB ports, 10GbE, SD and microSD card readers, DisplayPort 2.1, and three audio jacks. The front-facing 36W USB-C fast charging is a really useful addition, and the UHS-II card readers are a nice touch for photographers offloading footage.
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The FusionDock Ultra has 26. That’s 8x USB-C, 4x USB-A, HDMI, DisplayPort 2.1, four 80/120Gbps downstream USB-C display ports, 10GbE, four audio ports and an SD card reader. Crucially, all of those remain available even with four 6K displays connected. That’s the major differentiator here: on most docks, once you’ve committed your display outputs, your peripheral options shrink dramatically.
The FusionDock Ultra’s port count is designed to survive a fully loaded display configuration and still have room for everything else.
Networking
Both docks include 10Gb Ethernet, and both are significantly better choices than any dock with standard gigabit Ethernet. If you’re working with NAS-based media or shared storage environments, 1GbE becomes a bottleneck almost immediately. 10GbE removes that ceiling.
That means there isn’t really a huge difference here between the two, but the dual-chip architecture, does again mean there is less competition for bandwidth on the dock. On the TS5 Plus, all of that traffic shares the same channel which could lead to slowdowns for the most strenuous workloads.
Thermal design and stability
This one matters more under real-world conditions than most dock reviews acknowledge.
The CalDigit TS5 Plus uses passive cooling, with the rigid aluminium chassis acting as a heatsink. In light to moderate use, this is fine. The concern is what happens when you push it seriously. For the kind of all-out workload the FusionDock Ultra is designed for, passive cooling isn’t exactly ideal.
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The FusionDock Ultra uses an active dual-fan cooling system inside a floating alloy chassis which is a huge benefit when you’re really putting a dock through its paces. The last thing you want when working on a big project is for a drive dropout to occur and risk things like data loss.
The fans respond dynamically to workload, scaling up only when needed and sitting around 44-46dB in normal use, quiet enough to blend into standard office ambient noise. It’s peace of mind more than anything to have that active cooling.
Compatibility
This is the one area where the CalDigit TS5 Plus wins out.
The TS5 Plus works with Thunderbolt 5, 4, and 3 Macs, USB4 devices, Windows PCs, and the iPad Pro. If you split your time between macOS and Windows, or if you’re on an older Thunderbolt 4 machine and not yet ready to upgrade, the CalDigit is the only option of the two.
The FusionDock Ultra requires Apple Silicon and macOS 15.1 or later. Intel Macs and Windows machines are out. That’s a deliberate trade-off, because the dual-chip architecture and native quad-display support are only possible because iVANKY built the product entirely around Apple Silicon’s capabilities. Universal compatibility would mean abandoning that.
Price and value
The FusionDock Ultra is $649. The TS5 Plus is $499. A $150 difference.
This call is obviously dependent on your needs, but I will say that, for Apple Silicon Mac users, the FusionDock Ultra is better value. Native quad-display support from a single dock is a feature that would otherwise require a second dock (another $500), DisplayLink adapters with all the compromises that come with them, or simply accepting fewer screens.
Measured against any of those alternatives, $150 is a justifiable premium if you need it.
The TS5 Plus is fine if you’re on one or two displays and don’t need everything the FusionDock Ultra offers. But if you’re spending $499 and still not getting the setup you actually want, that’s not good value.
Wrapping up
The CalDigit TS5 Plus is a solid dock. If you’re on Windows, on an older Mac, or you need the broadest possible compatibility, it remains a perfectly good choice.
But if you’re on Apple Silicon, and if you’re reading a buying guide for top-end Thunderbolt 5 docks, then the iVANKY FusionDock Ultra feels like the better pick. It’s the first dock in this category that prioritises Apple Silicon Macs in this way and no other dock can match that.
Native quad displays, true 120Gbps across all lanes simultaneously, dedicated 10GbE bandwidth, active cooling and 26 ports. It’s an impressive stack of features that will open up your workflow if you need that extra headroom.
Which would you choose? Let me know below!
This post is supported by iVanky
