MP 6,1 2013 Mac Pro Users: what are you doing with the TB2 ports?

[mf44]

I'm currently using a late-2103 (trash can) Mac Pro. There are a ton of these TB2 ports and I'm wondering what, if anything, I can be doing with them. It seems like there is very little hardware out there that still supports this standard, and what does exist is very expensive. I know there are also USB 3.0 ports, and I can get a hub to make more of them, but my understanding is the throughput would be compromised because there is only one controller for all 4 USB ports.

Ideally I'd like to get a semi-speedy external HDD, as I've only got 256GB internal. I was going to pull a trigger on a USB3 external HDD, but I'm now worried about the speeds, if I'm using the other USB ports, too.

I'm curious what other folks have plugged into the TB2 port. I've only got my monitor hooked up...

 

[Snow Tiger]

Sticking our fingers in the ports and seeing if we can electrocute ourselves ? 😂

Sadly , you cannot use TB3 devices with a TB2 port .

Well , outside of Apple TB displays , there used to be a fast TB2 drive made by Lacie :

Little Big Disk Thunderbolt™ 2 | Seagate US

You might find an used one on eBay .

If you are really clever , you might just figure out how to rebuild it with two larger drives .
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There is this adapter , but Apple won't officially recommended its use with the Mac Pro 6,1 .

Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter

Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter

Effortlessly connect your Mac to a Thunderbolt 2 device with the Apple Thunderbolt 3 Adapter. Buy now at apple.com

www.apple.com

And here is Apple's half meter long TB2 extension cable , male to male connector :

Apple Thunderbolt Cable (0.5 m) - White

Apple Thunderbolt Cable lets you conduct fast data transfers by connecting Thunderbolt-enabled devices to your Mac. Get fast, free shipping.

www.apple.com

But there are some user reports of success with attaching TB3 devices to the TB2 ports on the MP6,1 with this cable .

You also need another adapter cable ( male TB2 to male TB2 ) to use it .

It's connected like this :

Mac Pro 6,1 ( 2013 ) TB2 female port > TB2 male connector extension cable ( one end )----TB2 male connector extension cable ( other end ) > Apple TB2 female connector adapter cable ------ Apple TB3 male connector adapter cable > Your TB3 device's female port .

 

[Pakaku]

There is this adapter , but Apple won't officially recommended its use with the Mac Pro 6,1 .

Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter

But there are some user reports of success with attaching TB3 devices to the TB2 ports on the MP6,1 with this cable .

It should work if the adapter supports data going from TB3 to a TB2 computer, and as far as I can tell, that adapter is one of the only few that actually properly does that (usually the other adapters only support attaching TB2 devices to a TB3 computer)

I doubt Apple would recommend it, but probably only because they'd prefer to convince you to spend money on newer TB3 Macs

 

[Snow Tiger]

It should work if the adapter supports data going from TB3 to a TB2 computer, and as far as I can tell, that adapter is one of the only few that actually properly does that (usually the other adapters only support attaching TB2 devices to a TB3 computer)

I doubt Apple would recommend it, but probably only because they'd prefer to convince you to spend money on newer TB3 Macs

It is a bi-directional cable , but I worry when Apple doesn't give something the official seal of approval with something as simple as this .

 

[Daverich4]

It should work if the adapter supports data going from TB3 to a TB2 computer, and as far as I can tell, that adapter is one of the only few that actually properly does that (usually the other adapters only support attaching TB2 devices to a TB3 computer)

I doubt Apple would recommend it, but probably only because they'd prefer to convince you to spend money on newer TB3 Macs

That adapter works properly when connecting an Akitio hard drive enclosure to my 2013 Mac Pro.

 

[Flint Ironstag]

Sadly , you cannot use TB3 devices with a TB2 port .

I've connected everything to my 6,1s with that adapter: eGPU, Lacie and countless OWC RAID units, flash drives, antennae, etc.

 

[mf44]

Will the TB2 to TB3 adaptor also work with USB-C devices? Or only TB3?

 

[saulinpa]

The TB2-TB3 adapter does not give USB-C. Also does not work with most video adapters.

They do make a TB2-USB3 dongle but it is a bit expensive.

Seems like if you start today you should buy a TB2 cable, TB2/3 adapter and a TB3 dock. That can give you a few USB3 ports along with whatever else you need.

 

[steve1960]

Only using TB2 on a laptop but have a Belkin dock to reduce connectivity directly to the laptop ports. Also use a Western Digital Thunderbolt Duo external raid box with two 4TB drives for backups.

 

[MarkAtl]

TB display, UAD devices, Akitio Thunderquad2 mini.

 

[rawweb]

BM Vega 56 eGPU, daisied to that LG Ultrafine 5k (temp swapped with 6k XDR while I have it from work during quarantine) and 27” Cinema Display. 2 lacie rugged SSDs, FireWire>TB Audio Interface, occasionally a Apple Thunderbolt Display if I need three monitors and an OWC ThunderBay 4. Love ❤️ my rig.

 

[CC88]

In the TB2 ports I have my 32" monitor, my Akitio MiniQuad thunderbolt raid and my Gdrive 16tb for backup.

 

[Langdon St. Ives]

Two 4k displays (1 x 27", 1 x 32"), one CalDigit dock that connects to ESATA drives (one of them an external BD burner that would otherwise have been on USB 2 on the iMac I was using before the MP 6,1, and I just kept this around when I switched, still working fine so no need to replace, but I moved it to USB3 now), one Firewire adapter connecting several TBs of pre-existing external drives (these enclosures have been upgraded several times over the years with growing internal drives), and one goes directly to a LaCie 2big (also replaced the disks several times). This leaves one Thunderbolt port open for when I need it temporarily. (Well if push comes to shove I could also daisy-chain through the LaCie I guess, so in that sense two ports open.) A bunch of USB3 drives that are more or less cold storage used to sit on the CalDigit as well on the iMac, but are now on the native USB3 ports. So I'm pretty happy with the connectivity options on the old trashcan.

 

[DRDR]

I do use it for:

• 4k Display
• Cinema Display
• TB 3 docking station with two eSata ports and additional USB 3 ports and a TB 3 port (Apple converter)
• 10 Gbit Ethernet TB 3 interface connected to the TB3 docking station
• external PCIe case with TB3 used for 2 TB NVMe storage (Apple converter)
• 3.1 SSD drive connected to external PCIe case
• eGPU with RX590 connected by TB3 (Apple converter)

It works.

 

[spacedcadet]

Could you not just upgrade the internal SSD with a new one if you need more capacity? OWC Aura Pro x2 pretty decent value. 1TB for $279. Sounds like there are good options for external backup storage too judging by the posts above.
I'm considering whether to replace my 2010 cMP with one of these 2013 trashcans (if I can get a good deal) or move to something current. If I go 2013 I'd definitely replace the internal as the first upgrade.

 

[DRDR]

You can replace the apple ssd with an NVMe drive. Firmware upgrades are apparently now possible with non Apple SSDs.

 

[Ocnetgeek]

You can replace the apple ssd with an NVMe drive. Firmware upgrades are apparently now possible with non Apple SSDs.

From what I have read you can use an adapter to put pretty much any NVMe drive in there. It sounds very much like the upgrade process for a 2023-2015 MacBook Pro

 

[DRDR]

Yes but be careful to get the latest firmware by updating macOS before doing so. The reason: With an old firmware the computer will not be able to update when booted from an external drive or from an non Apple internal drive.

 

[spacedcadet]

Yes but be careful to get the latest firmware by updating macOS before doing so. The reason: With an old firmware the computer will not be able to update when booted from an external drive or from an non Apple internal drive.

Really good to know this before I start tinkering if I go down the 2013 route.

 

[Hunter5117]

I still have a bunch of old firewire drives which I have swapped out new high capacity drive units and they work great with the Apple TB2 to firewire dongle. Of course not the fastest but along with having upgraded my internal to an Apple 1tb AHCI SSD, I have enough fast storage. I sync my working files on the internal and external drives nightly so that I mostly always just work from the internal. I also have my 27" TB display and a 27" LED display connected. I do have an OWC TB2 expansion box that I am not currently using but plan to get setup at some time.