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Hint at thunderbolt to USB 3.0 from owc?

Richdmoore

Richdmoore

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 24, 2007
1,956
355
Troutdale, OR
I read some of the comments talking about thunderbolt, it sounds like a hint that owc is planning to create (or just stock someone else's) thunderbolt to USB 3 adapter. (I assume OWC Larry is an employee.)

I hope this rumored product is released soon. (Two thunderbolt ports to daisy chain, and one or more usb 3 outputs would be the best.) An adapter to usb 3.0 will be a great upgrade for the 2011 Mac owners.

Here is the relevant conversation:

Matt Brusven
October 10, 2012 at 5:27 pm
Any chance on a thunderbolt to USB 3 adapter?

Reply
OWC Chris S.
October 10, 2012 at 6:05 pm
Like most other questions regarding potential products (and Thunderbolt items in particular) we really can’t comment on anything that may or may not be in the pipeline. All we can suggest you keep an eye out here on the OWC Blog, as we announce the products here as soon as they’re released.

Reply
OWC Larry
October 11, 2012 at 10:08 am
Likely by Christmas… and likely will be requiring 10.8 or later….

http://blog.macsales.com/15036-a-closer-look-at-thunderbolt-external-storage
 
G

g4cube

macrumors 6502a
Apr 22, 2003
760
13
Richdmoore said:
I read some of the comments talking about thunderbolt, it sounds like a hint that owc is planning to create (or just stock someone else's) thunderbolt to USB 3 adapter. (I assume OWC Larry is an employee.)

...

Reply
OWC Larry
October 11, 2012 at 10:08 am
Likely by Christmas… and likely will be requiring 10.8 or later….

http://blog.macsales.com/15036-a-closer-look-at-thunderbolt-external-storage
Click to expand...

Most likely Larry O'Connor, President of OWC/MacSales

Why the later date? Apple's XHCI driver will not work with a 3rd party USB 3.0 controller; it only works with the USB 3.0 controller built into Macs that support it. If you were to install a 3rd party USB 3.0 ExpressCard into a MBP 17, or PCIe card into a MacPro, Apple's driver will not support it under 10.7.5 or 10.8.x

Apple added XHCI driver for USB 3.0 to custom build of 10.7.4 that shipped with the first Macs that supported USB 3.0 natively. 10.7.5 and 10.8.x provided the driver in all builds that run on supported Macs.
 
mmomega

mmomega

macrumors demi-god
Dec 30, 2009
3,879
2,089
DFW, TX
I've been waiting for that hub for so damn long now it's getting ridiculous.

Thunderbolt display may not be released with USB3 until a new Mac Pro hits the shelves.

There are TB - Ethernet, Firewire, eSata, Optical, etc etc etc but getting a TB to USB3 adaptor is like pulling teeth. People would buy that dongle/hub more than anything else, all 2010 model Macs with TB and USB2, whoever made just a simple 1 or 2port dongle would probably make a killing. Most don't need an entire hub.

I was talking myself out of upgrading iMacs for another year or two but I may just go ahead and do an 27" i7 and be done with the waiting game. I rely a lot on external storage devices and going longer and longer without USB3 is getting tougher and tougher to do.
 
J

jorgechamorro

macrumors newbie
May 20, 2013
2
0
g4cube said:
A very expensive Thunderbolt to USB 3.0 solution:
Thunderbolt cable + Sonnet Adapter + USB 3.0 ExpressCard
Click to expand...

But they say that their USB3-Expresscard won't work in their TB-Expresscard adapter.

----------
Imac Sam said:
+1 on that. I would buy one in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...

Dreaming for +2 dongles for me too.

But I guess the reason this dongles don't exist yet is in the USB3 drivers.
 
Mr. Retrofire

Mr. Retrofire

macrumors 603
Mar 2, 2010
5,064
518
www.emiliana.cl/en
g4cube said:
Most likely Larry O'Connor, President of OWC/MacSales

Why the later date? Apple's XHCI driver will not work with a 3rd party USB 3.0 controller; it only works with the USB 3.0 controller built into Macs that support it. If you were to install a 3rd party USB 3.0 ExpressCard into a MBP 17, or PCIe card into a MacPro, Apple's driver will not support it under 10.7.5 or 10.8.x
Click to expand...
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1501482/

10.8.2 and newer supports Fresco Logic chipsets.
 
Giuly

Giuly

macrumors 68040
Oct 16, 2009
3,348
4
That depends whether you ask for timezone, state o
Sell your 2011 Mac and buy a 2012/2013 one, or to get an USB 3.0 hub if your Mac has USB 3.0 already. Everything else is more expensive.
51Gra5zi7jL._SL1000_.jpg
 
Outrigger

Outrigger

macrumors 68000
Dec 22, 2008
1,765
96
Giuly said:
Sell your 2011 Mac and buy a 2012/2013 one, or to get an USB 3.0 hub if your Mac has USB 3.0 already. Everything else is more expensive.
51Gra5zi7jL._SL1000_.jpg
Click to expand...

Thats the best looking hub to me, and I was all set on waiting for them to release 3.0, but MANY hubs will NOT power an ipad or be used to solely power something. Thats why I went with a hub that has a dedicated 5V 2.1A charging port.
 
C

ColdCase

macrumors 68040
Feb 10, 2008
3,359
276
NH
Just a reminder that most USB 3.0 hubs (including the one above) have had buggy firmware that ends up causing stability and sleep issues for a MAC and USB 3.0 hard drive enclosures (especially those that push the bus speed with SSDs or RAIDs). Belkin is a hub with a solid implementation that works well. There may be others by now, but thats not what most hub vendors test.
 
Giuly

Giuly

macrumors 68040
Oct 16, 2009
3,348
4
That depends whether you ask for timezone, state o
ColdCase said:
Just a reminder that most USB 3.0 hubs (including the one above) have had buggy firmware that ends up causing stability and sleep issues for a MAC and USB 3.0 hard drive enclosures (especially those that push the bus speed with SSDs or RAIDs). Belkin is a hub with a solid implementation that works well. There may be others by now, but thats not what most hub vendors test.
Click to expand...
The Satechi has been on the market for three weeks or so and I haven't seen any complaints about the firmware yet.
 
O

opinio

macrumors 65816
Mar 23, 2013
1,171
7
ColdCase said:
Just a reminder that most USB 3.0 hubs (including the one above) have had buggy firmware that ends up causing stability and sleep issues for a MAC and USB 3.0 hard drive enclosures (especially those that push the bus speed with SSDs or RAIDs). Belkin is a hub with a solid implementation that works well. There may be others by now, but thats not what most hub vendors test.
Click to expand...

The Kanex 4 port USB 3.0 Hub is good. I have used it for a few months with no probs. I run two 4TB's in RAID-0 and get 270MB/s r/w as well so it produces good speeds.

Not sure about sleep issues because my Mac is on 24/7.

It is a Mac/OSX centric hub too.

http://www.kanexlive.com/usb3hub4x
 
jimthing

jimthing

macrumors 68000
Apr 6, 2011
1,978
1,139
£60/$90 for a 4port USB 3 hub!

Actually that's quite reasonable at the moment (given it can power on one of the ports too), but to think the same thing in ol' fashioned USB 2 flavour would be a tenth of that price. Huff-puff!

The only good news, is that give it another 12 months, and we'll see it perhaps half by then, me thinks.

New fangled technology for ya, hey! :rolleyes:
 
K

KaraH

macrumors 6502
Nov 12, 2012
452
5
DC
mmomega said:
I've been waiting for that hub for so damn long now it's getting ridiculous.

Thunderbolt display may not be released with USB3 until a new Mac Pro hits the shelves.

There are TB - Ethernet, Firewire, eSata, Optical, etc etc etc but getting a TB to USB3 adaptor is like pulling teeth. People would buy that dongle/hub more than anything else, all 2010 model Macs with TB and USB2, whoever made just a simple 1 or 2port dongle would probably make a killing. Most don't need an entire hub.

I was talking myself out of upgrading iMacs for another year or two but I may just go ahead and do an 27" i7 and be done with the waiting game. I rely a lot on external storage devices and going longer and longer without USB3 is getting tougher and tougher to do.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the hub is nice but overkill for what I need. My SSD is on a USB port and since bandwidth is shared with one USB controller I *really* do not want to suck up a huge part of the bandwidth for just my backup drives or a blu-ray burner. Having them on a totally separate USB controller is ideal as them slowing each other down is not as big a deal. I just want to be able to send tbolt to a usb controller then out to a usb3 port.
 
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