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2016 MacBook Pros may not be compatible with currently available Thunderbolt 3 devices

Woodcrest64

Woodcrest64

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 14, 2006
1,309
520
2016 MacBook Pros may not be compatible with currently available Thunderbolt 3 devices According to this:

https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/03/2016-macbook-pro-thunderbolt-compatibility-issues/

After a battery of tests with their current lineup of USB-C and Thunderbolt products, Plugable learned that Apple’s newest MacBook Pros may not be compatible with currently available Thunderbolt 3 devices. This issue seems to specifically stem from the use of Texas Instruments controller chips in the Thunderbolt 3 devices. If true, this means that has Apple potentially shut out early adopters of the new technology.


Plugable had began running tests of their USB-C and Thunderbolt products and realized that their Thunderbolt 3 peripherals were no longer compatible with Apple’s latest MacBook Pro. It appears that using the currently available Texas Instruments controller chips in Thunderbolt 3 devices are incompatible with the newest MacBook Pro. In light of the news, Plugable has postponed their Thunderbolt 3 docking station as they evaluate the next steps.

Update 11/1/16: Apple has chosen to prevent Thunderbolt 3 devices using currently available controller chips from Texas Instruments from enumerating and functioning on the 2016 MacBook Pros. All current Thunderbolt 3 peripherals which use this controller chip are incompatible with the new 2016 Thunderbolt 3 MacBooks (To our knowledge, this includes all currently available Thunderbolt 3 devices including our TBT3-DP2X and TBT3-HDMI2X graphics adapters. Our Thunderbolt 3 cables do not require this chip, and therefore are compatible.)

Because of this, we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone our TBT3-UD1 Docking Station as we evaluate what is necessary to make this docking station MacBook-compatible. Our Flagship TBT3-UDV dock with Power Delivery/Charging is using the next generation controller chip from TI, and will be compatible with the 2016 Thunderbolt 3 MacBooks.

We’ll continue to post updates with new Thunderbolt™ 3 product and release information as it becomes available.

– Plugable
 
therealseebs

therealseebs

macrumors 65816
Apr 14, 2010
1,057
312
I'm really curious about what exactly this is, and whether it's a hardware-level thing, or a software thing, or what.
 
Wreckus

Wreckus

macrumors 65816
Jan 22, 2015
1,149
731
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Just saw this and I can't believe it.

For those who already have thunderbolt 3 devices and ordered a new MBP, I hope this gets rectified via a software or firmware update by Apple.
 
Z

Zackmd1

macrumors 6502a
Oct 3, 2010
815
487
Maryland US
therealseebs said:
I'm really curious about what exactly this is, and whether it's a hardware-level thing, or a software thing, or what.
Click to expand...

Might just be a software level thing as some have got the razer core eGPU enclosure to work through bootcamp. That or the core does not use this chip.

I would really LOVE to know what reasoning apple has for this one....
 
therealseebs

therealseebs

macrumors 65816
Apr 14, 2010
1,057
312
cmaier said:
They would likely have no way to know that Apple's software is doing it on purpose.
Click to expand...

They make peripherals, I suspect they know what they are doing. It's pretty easy in some cases to detect "this machine is specifically choosing to reject this device". (For instance, make the device report a different ID, device starts working, that's pretty compelling.)
 
cmaier

cmaier

Suspended
Jul 25, 2007
25,405
33,473
California
therealseebs said:
They make peripherals, I suspect they know what they are doing. It's pretty easy in some cases to detect "this machine is specifically choosing to reject this device". (For instance, make the device report a different ID, device starts working, that's pretty compelling.)
Click to expand...

But that isn't the case here, since if that were true they'd simply spoof it and move on with their lives. I wouldn't believe they know what they are doing - they buy chips from TI and integrate them the way TI's data sheets tell them to.
 
T

tubeexperience

macrumors 68040
Feb 17, 2016
3,192
3,897
So the 2016 MacBook Pros are not even compatible with Thunderbolt 3 devices that are out there?

This is turning out to be a complete disaster.
 
R

Ries

macrumors 68020
Apr 21, 2007
2,327
2,917
Rob_2811 said:
So..

No optical out
Crappy keyboard
Doesn't work with existing tb3 peripherals
Reduced bandwidth on two of the tb3 ports on the 13 inch
Slower Wifi than the previous model

But hey 17% thinner. What mess
Click to expand...

Forgot: Some cables / dongles / devices kills wifi.
 
therealseebs

therealseebs

macrumors 65816
Apr 14, 2010
1,057
312
cmaier said:
But that isn't the case here, since if that were true they'd simply spoof it and move on with their lives.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. It might be that this is a thing you can do with dev hardware, but not with production hardware, for instance. Also, it was merely an example of a possible way you could know. There's lots of ways. You can also disassemble code.

I wouldn't believe they know what they are doing - they buy chips from TI and integrate them the way TI's data sheets tell them to.
Click to expand...

I'm a lot more likely to believe that they know what they're doing than that random third parties on an internet forum know what they [Plugable] are doing.
 
UsersCanHave

UsersCanHave

macrumors newbie
Nov 3, 2016
4
2
Woodcrest64 said:
2016 MacBook Pros may not be compatible with currently available Thunderbolt 3 devices According to this:

https://9to5mac.com/2016/11/03/2016-macbook-pro-thunderbolt-compatibility-issues/

After a battery of tests with their current lineup of USB-C and Thunderbolt products, Plugable learned that Apple’s newest MacBook Pros may not be compatible with currently available Thunderbolt 3 devices. This issue seems to specifically stem from the use of Texas Instruments controller chips in the Thunderbolt 3 devices. If true, this means that has Apple potentially shut out early adopters of the new technology.


Plugable had began running tests of their USB-C and Thunderbolt products and realized that their Thunderbolt 3 peripherals were no longer compatible with Apple’s latest MacBook Pro. It appears that using the currently available Texas Instruments controller chips in Thunderbolt 3 devices are incompatible with the newest MacBook Pro. In light of the news, Plugable has postponed their Thunderbolt 3 docking station as they evaluate the next steps.

Update 11/1/16: Apple has chosen to prevent Thunderbolt 3 devices using currently available controller chips from Texas Instruments from enumerating and functioning on the 2016 MacBook Pros. All current Thunderbolt 3 peripherals which use this controller chip are incompatible with the new 2016 Thunderbolt 3 MacBooks (To our knowledge, this includes all currently available Thunderbolt 3 devices including our TBT3-DP2X and TBT3-HDMI2X graphics adapters. Our Thunderbolt 3 cables do not require this chip, and therefore are compatible.)

Because of this, we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone our TBT3-UD1 Docking Station as we evaluate what is necessary to make this docking station MacBook-compatible. Our Flagship TBT3-UDV dock with Power Delivery/Charging is using the next generation controller chip from TI, and will be compatible with the 2016 Thunderbolt 3 MacBooks.

We’ll continue to post updates with new Thunderbolt™ 3 product and release information as it becomes available.

– Plugable
Click to expand...
Will this effect individual devices like hard drives or is this limited to docking stations and such?
 
cmaier

cmaier

Suspended
Jul 25, 2007
25,405
33,473
California
therealseebs said:
Not necessarily. It might be that this is a thing you can do with dev hardware, but not with production hardware, for instance. Also, it was merely an example of a possible way you could know. There's lots of ways. You can also disassemble code.



I'm a lot more likely to believe that they know what they're doing than that random third parties on an internet forum know what they [Plugable] are doing.
Click to expand...

You may want to google me.
 
rukind2

rukind2

macrumors regular
Jul 8, 2012
196
109
PNW
Rob_2811 said:
So..

No optical out
Crappy keyboard
Doesn't work with existing tb3 peripherals
Reduced bandwidth on two of the tb3 ports on the 13 inch
Slower Wifi than the previous model

But hey 17% thinner. What mess
Click to expand...

Please help me understand this conclusion. What is it about the new MBP that makes it slower wifi? Thanks.
 
therealseebs

therealseebs

macrumors 65816
Apr 14, 2010
1,057
312
cmaier said:
You may want to google me.
Click to expand...

That sounds like effort. It's entirely possible that you are an expert who knows way more about building peripherals than these guys, but it's not the first assumption I'd make about someone I don't know, and putting in the time to try to research people on the off chance that I can reliably connect their forum handles to other things about them would not, in general, be a rewarding use of time.

The description they gave looked to me like they had some notion of what was being done, and why, and I don't know enough about the way thunderbolt negotiation happens myself to have a strong opinion either way, so. Eventually there will be more information.
 
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