CalDigit TS4 vs Anker 547 Hub: $380 or $35?

There is a specific moment in any new MacBook owner’s life when they realize two USB-C ports is not enough, and they open an Amazon search for “MacBook hub.” The price range that search returns is absurd — the cheapest acceptable option is around $25, the most serious option is over $400, and there is no obvious rule for what the gap buys you. We have been using a CalDigit TS4 on my main desk for eighteen months. For this comparison, we bought an Anker 547 clip-on hub ($35 at the time) and ran both on the same MacBook Air M4 for a working week, using each as the sole docking solution for a day. The difference is real, but it is not proportional to the $345 price delta.

Two fundamentally different products, shaped like the same idea

The Anker 547 is a bus-powered clip-on hub. It attaches to the side of a 13-inch MacBook, plugs into one of the Thunderbolt ports, and gives you HDMI, two USB-A, a USB-C data port, SD, microSD, and a USB-C passthrough for up to 100W of power. No wall brick. Total weight: 57 grams. The CalDigit TS4 is a desktop Thunderbolt 4 dock. It sits on your desk, draws from a 230W external supply, and gives you eighteen total ports including three TB4 downstream, five USB-A, one front USB-C, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4, UHS-II SD, 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and analog audio in/out. Total weight: 650 grams plus the power brick.

Calling these “two hubs” is like calling a kickstand and a parking garage “two ways to hold up a bike.” They solve adjacent problems.

The specs, so you can see the gap

Spec	Anker 547 Hub	CalDigit TS4
Street price	$35	$380
Bandwidth upstream	USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps)	Thunderbolt 4 (40 Gbps)
Total ports	7	18
Max external display	1 × 4K @ 30Hz	2 × 4K @ 60Hz or 1 × 8K @ 30Hz
PD passthrough	100W (with compatible charger)	98W (dock supplies)
Ethernet	None	2.5 Gbps
SD card	UHS-I	UHS-II
USB-A ports	2	5
Audio jack	None	3.5mm in/out
Form factor	Clip-on to MacBook side	Desktop dock
Needs wall power	No	Yes (230W brick included)
Weight	57g	650g
Warranty	2 years	2 years

How we tested this pair

One working week. Two days on the Anker alone. Two days on the CalDigit alone. One day of deliberately stupid workloads to see where each one broke. The test MacBook Air M4 drove a single LG 27UP850 4K monitor, a Logitech MX Keys S, an MX Master 3S via Bluetooth (so no USB burden), a Sony tethering cable to an a7 IV, a Samsung T7 Shield 1TB external SSD, and headphones (wired). We did the following measurable things.

Large file transfer: copy a 42GB folder of RAW files from the T7 Shield to the Mac’s internal SSD. Via the TS4’s Thunderbolt port: 48 seconds (about 875 MB/s). Via the Anker’s USB-C data port: 1 minute 52 seconds (about 375 MB/s). The Anker is not a Thunderbolt hub — it advertises USB 3.2 Gen 2 at 10 Gbps, and our measurement is consistent with that ceiling minus protocol overhead.

External display: driving the LG 27UP850 at native 3840×2160. TS4 handled 4K @ 60Hz over HDMI with HDR enabled. Anker topped out at 4K @ 30Hz over HDMI. On desktop scrolling, the difference is immediately visible — 30Hz feels like a slideshow compared to the Mac’s internal 60Hz panel. For spreadsheets and static work, you get used to it. For video preview or any motion, you will hate it.

Ethernet: the TS4’s 2.5Gbps port saturated our Unifi switch at roughly 280 MB/s in an iperf3 test. The Anker has no Ethernet at all, which for a home office with a reliable wired network is a bigger quality-of-life miss than expected. Wi-Fi 7 is great until your upstairs neighbor buys a microwave.

Where the Anker 547 is genuinely excellent

At $35, the Anker does three things well. It adds an HDMI port that works for presentations. It adds two USB-A ports that work for every dongle the world has ever made. And the clip-on form factor is genuinely clever — it travels with the laptop in the same bag slot, weighs nothing, and requires zero desk real estate. For a student who uses an external monitor at 30Hz for documents, plugs in a USB flash drive weekly, and carries the MacBook everywhere, the 547 is simply the right tool. Spending $380 instead of $35 for this use case is irrational.

The PD passthrough at 100W also means you do not need two chargers on the desk. Plug Apple’s 70W brick into the hub’s USB-C port, and the MacBook charges at full speed while still having a port to spare.

Anker 547 USB-C Hub on Amazon (paid link) (paid link)

Where the TS4 earns its price

Three scenarios where the CalDigit is not just better but categorically necessary. First, driving two 4K monitors at 60Hz on one cable. The Anker cannot do this. No bus-powered USB-C hub can; it is a bandwidth ceiling. Second, fast wired ethernet for Zoom calls from a home office with a 1Gbps-plus connection. Third, anyone who tethers a camera to the Mac — the TS4’s Thunderbolt bandwidth and UHS-II SD slot keep pace with a Sony a7 IV or a Fujifilm X-H2; the Anker’s UHS-I slot and 10Gbps upstream will bottleneck on 4K ProRes workflows.

The other earning-its-keep factor is cable discipline. The TS4 sits under the monitor, and with it come the five USB-A ports, the audio jack, and the Ethernet. My desk went from eight cables crossing the laptop edge to one Thunderbolt cable. That is not a number on a spec sheet, but it is the reason most people who own a TS4 never downgrade.

If you are shopping hubs for a 2-in-1 or tablet rather than a MacBook, our Satechi Pro Hub Slim vs competitors comparison covers a broader lineup.

CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock on Amazon (paid link) (paid link)

The middle ground that almost nobody admits exists

There is a real argument for owning both. A TS4 lives on your main desk. An Anker 547 lives in the laptop bag for travel, coworking spaces, and the occasional client site. Total cost: $415. That is less than a maxed-out Thunderbolt travel dock from OWC or Sonnet, and it covers two genuine use patterns without compromise. We have been running exactly this setup for a year.

Verdict for two buyers

The student, traveler, or occasional-external-monitor user: buy the Anker 547 and stop reading hub comparisons. At $35 it is the correct answer. You can always add a TS4 later when your setup grows up, and the Anker will stay useful forever as your travel option.

The work-from-home professional with a fixed desk and a good monitor: buy the TS4 and keep it for the next decade. The 4K@60Hz ceiling on cheap hubs is the single most common complaint we hear from first-time dock buyers, and the TS4 removes that ceiling permanently along with every cable annoyance you have not yet noticed you have.

The Anker does one job well for cheap. The TS4 does every job on the page without thinking about it. The difference costs $345, and it is worth every dollar for exactly the people it is made for — and zero dollars for everyone else.