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USB 3.0 on iMacs anytime soon?

zorinlynx

zorinlynx

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 31, 2007
8,448
19,286
Florida, USA
I'm thinking of buying an iMac soon, but I want to wait until I can get USB 3.0 on it, since Thunderbolt has gotten very little industry support. (Example: You can buy dozens of cheap USB 3.0 hard drive enclosures on NewEgg, but there are zero similarly priced Thunderbolt ones)

Has there been any evidence that Apple might add USB 3.0 soon? Or am I likely in for a long wait?
 
Thunderbolt is gonna be more widely available probably this year considering you'll start seeing them in PCs as early as April.

To answer your question, you can wait for the 2012 iMac like the rest of us. Release date? No one knows, but people are guessing around April.
 
i don't think we will see 3.0 anytime soon. not at least until Thunderbolt has been pushed for a while and maybe doesn't go anywhere.
 
PlaceofDis said:
i don't think we will see 3.0 anytime soon. not at least until Thunderbolt has been pushed for a while and maybe doesn't go anywhere.
Click to expand...

Since Ivy Bridge will support USB 3 natively, I fully expect the 2012 Ivy Bridge lineup to have USB 3. Hopefully I am not disappointed.
 
theSeb said:
Since Ivy Bridge will support USB 3 natively, I fully expect the 2012 Ivy Bridge lineup to have USB 3. Hopefully I am not disappointed.
Click to expand...

i don't like to get my hopes up when it comes to things like this. i can see Apple leaving it out intentionally. i'd rather be pleasantly surprised and pessimistic now. :D
 
I'm 100% positive there will be a Thunderbolt-to-USB 3.0 connector eventually, since Thunderbolt is faster than USB 3.0.
 
The real reason, I suspect, that USB 3.0 hasn't appeared on Macs yet is because no Intel chipsets support it. Manufacturers currently have to either add their own, or roll with a different motherboard manufacturer. Apple rarely does either.

Ivy Bridge, however, will. Additionally, to "downgrade" the board to support only USB 2.0 will cost *more* than to just support USB 3.0.

I'll feel safe betting that the next iMac update (with Ivy Bridge) will have USB 3.0.

Ivy Bridge is set (from what I hear) to launch around May, so expect the new iMacs to come out around that time.
 
It just feels like deja-vu. I remember how long it took for Macs to get USB 2.0 back in the day, because they thought Firewire was better. It *was* better, but sadly the industry didn't embrace Firewire much. I even owned one of those unfortunate USB 1.1-equipped TiBooks!

Now it seems the same is happening with USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt.
 
I think it will appear on Ivy Bridge, therefore will appear on the refreshed Macs.

This in turn will dampen any appetite for producing a Thunderbolt -> USB adapter too unfortunately.
 
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