I have the first Macbook Pro to come with a Thunderbolt connecter. I remember it being hailed as a Very Cool New Feature when I got it. I have never used it. There is hardly anything available for it and what is available is wicked expensive. I would trade it in a heartbeat for a USB 3.0 port. The front page story about Intel and Thunderbolt inspired this thread for me today. Do you use yours?
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Have you ever used your Thunderbolt port?
- Thread starter someone28624
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I'm sure some people use it and some don't but it's still a relatively new interface. It may catch on (more?), it may not. If it does, prices will come down and more devices will support it. I think it's too early to say either way.
Thunderbolt is like the early days of FireWire, IMHO. Expensive, and NOT, N. O. T. not an intended replacement for USB. Simply, it's an expensive but very high speed I/O. People singing it's overture are forgetting the FireWire was around for YEARS before it became standard on the Mac and was VERY VERY expensive initially.
That said, I use it for my Cinema display (so, in miniDP mode) but nothing yet. For my uses, a cheaper USB 3.0 drive is adequate. Honestly, I'd like to see some real world numbers. USB 3.0 @ 5Gbps seems, to me, plenty fast enough for a spinning hard disk. It is, in theory, 5/6th the speed of SATA III. Now an array of SSD's is another story, but, I am curious if a spinning hard drive is actually faster via thunderbolt or not.
Also, OP, I've heard that some folks are supposed to be coming out with a thunderbolt to USB 3.0 adapter (And there are already USB 3.0 'docking stations'). But, for the price, WHATEVER it is, I'd think a USB 3.0 hub would work just as well. Even though I don't use it, I wouldn't trade it for another USB port. It isn't an 'extra' port as it's the existing miniDP port that's always been there, and I don't want to get rid of my external video support. I use it every day. And who knows, one day I might use it, especially if docking station prices drop.
That said, I use it for my Cinema display (so, in miniDP mode) but nothing yet. For my uses, a cheaper USB 3.0 drive is adequate. Honestly, I'd like to see some real world numbers. USB 3.0 @ 5Gbps seems, to me, plenty fast enough for a spinning hard disk. It is, in theory, 5/6th the speed of SATA III. Now an array of SSD's is another story, but, I am curious if a spinning hard drive is actually faster via thunderbolt or not.
Also, OP, I've heard that some folks are supposed to be coming out with a thunderbolt to USB 3.0 adapter (And there are already USB 3.0 'docking stations'). But, for the price, WHATEVER it is, I'd think a USB 3.0 hub would work just as well. Even though I don't use it, I wouldn't trade it for another USB port. It isn't an 'extra' port as it's the existing miniDP port that's always been there, and I don't want to get rid of my external video support. I use it every day. And who knows, one day I might use it, especially if docking station prices drop.
Yup using it every day with either a daisy-chained set of FW drives, my external monitors, or my SSD TB drive. Fantastic. Wouldn't trade them for more USB 3.0 ports ever.
I occasionally use it to connect my MBP to my TV via mini displayport to HDMI adapter. I don't have any Thunderbolt peripherals, though.
Use Thunderbolt to plug my rMBP to a Matrox DS1 port replicator. Put the laptop on the desk, plug in one cable and get external monitor, LAN, and USB speakers all at once. It's like a TBD except I'm using a separate display over DVI from the Matrox box. Works great.
I think that's what I would most likely use thunderbolt for, though I'm having a hard time justifying the cost right now.
Since thunderbolt AND displayport displays can be daisy-chained, in my mind, wouldn't the technology allow for two distinct DVI (or miniDP, etc.) ports to exist on a dock? Now THAT would pry my wallet open. I have a 27" Apple Cinema Display, AND a 23" LG LCD panel. Sans a cheesy USB adapter, I have no way of using both even though I would absolutely love to. I want to drive both displays at native resolution at full native speeds. Buried deep inside my MBP has all of the technology to support it, since it can handle two daisy chained displays, but nobody yet has a way to make the 'daisy chain' actually two discrete video ports for using with two separate monitors that don't, themselves, support daisy chaining!
There are faux solutions, like USB adapters or adapters that turn the output into one huge display, but if I already have one port that contains the ability to connect to two different displays operating independently, why should I have to?