Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Releases $49 Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter Alongside New MacBook Pro

Here in the UK, the price of a new MBP with all the added adapters that will be required just can't be justified. I'm still very happy with my 2010 MBP with 16Gb RAM and upgraded Samgung SSD. It still flies!

I'd imaging they will soon release external keyboards with the new toolbar, so I may go for that.

An adapter for Ethernet, Lightning, USB etc is going to add at least another $200 to the price tag. It's just not worth it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stella
bopajuice said:
Please explain to me why everyone who just bought an iPhone 7 and wants a new MacBook will have to buy an adapter.

Do you admire the way Apple can milk another 30 to 40 bucks out of their customers that we should not have to pay and can't understand because we are not professionals?
Click to expand...

You should probably put this into perspective:

The iPhone 7 is going to sell over 200 million iPhone 7, not to mention the over half-a-billion Lightning devices already out there the same cable can be used with.

Apple will likely sell around 20 million Macs, all together, this year -- not just the new USB-C models. Compared to the installed base of maybe 100 million, maybe 10% of all Macs sold by the end of the year will have USB-C only ports. So that works out to be something like 2% of all iOS users may be using a USB-C Mac by the time the next iPhone comes out.

So instead of giving the vast majority of customers a cable that will be most useful in all of the environments they may encounter throughout their day, you'd have Apple supply them with a cable on the less than 2% chance they will buy a new Mac?

Glad you're not running Apple. ;-)
 
Icaras said:
Oh look. Another article. Another thread of whining.
Click to expand...

With good reason to whine. I am a long time resident of the Apple ecosystem, but this new MBP - which I thought I'd buy - has put me over the edge. I'm not going to spend over $3000 on a sleek new computer, only to have to adorn it with a million expensive adapters so I can continue to use my old Mac peripherals. In time, there will be cheaper third party adapters, but will the computer reject them as not approved the way an iPad rejects a non-Apple lightening cable?
 
Anyone know if I'll be able to continue using my Apple Cinema Display 30" with the new Macbooks? I use the Dual-DVI adapter here.

MB571


I think I would need the USB-A to USB-C adapter and the Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapters. But the support page on the above strongly cautions against using any additional adapters in the mix.

My mind has to go into full-denial of reality mode when I realize that the adapters alone to use this monitor add up to about $170 (Dual-DVI $99, Thunderbolt 3-to-2 $49, USB-C to A $19). If that setup will work at all.

I'm not blaming Apple for dropping support of a nearly 10-year-old monitor. But they made a monitor that is amazingly still holding it's own in many respects. It's not quite Retina, but close enough for my needs. Here it is for anyone who wants to reminisce:

refurbished-apple-30-cinema-aluminum-display-hd-lcd-television-m9179b-a-[3]-566-p.jpg
 
JTToft said:
- If you go with Apple's Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adaptor, I believe it should work. The StarTech one also linked will not work.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's my hope. Don't know when/if I'll get the new Macbook, but if I have to replace this monitor to use it, I'll be waiting somewhat longer, unless monitor dies first. It takes a couple minutes each morning to get to full brightness (fluorescents warming up I believe) but that works perfectly with my eyes waking up as well.

I've had less issues with the monitor since MacOS update... which was exactly opposite of what I expected. The dual-dvi adapter was somewhat renown for flickering issues, etc. Have had that happen maybe 1 time since MacOS vs. once every few days before.
 
JTToft said:
The key feature here is that it precisely can be used in both directions. It's actually a pretty exciting adaptor, I think. Does way more than the competition, costs half, and is more compact.
Click to expand...

Very noice.

OllyW said:
Even more so when you consider you can't plug the headphones that come with the iPhone into your new Mac.
Click to expand...

This is really awkward to me. If they were going this route, it would have been best to just kill lightning and double down on USB-C. I'm hoping they go that route with the next iPhone (or maybe even iPad). Staggering it this way either means we're stuck with Lightning (I can't imagine there is an honest technical reason for this) for a long time or that people who get lightning audio accessories get double shafted (which I hope happens in the sense that I really, really, really want to see Lightning die—it's a terrible connector, the cables suck, and USB-C just makes sense for a sort of excellent grand unification).

bennyf said:
Anyone know if I'll be able to continue using my Apple Cinema Display 30" with the new Macbooks? I use the Dual-DVI adapter here.
Click to expand...

There is basically no reason you shouldn't be able to. Can't confirm without testing but I've generally done fine with adapter to adapter with video stuff, as long as the output is going to an older device. (Obviously you can't make VGA pipe out to DisplayPort device without some kind of special converter.)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: milo and JTToft
bennyf said:
Thanks, that's my hope. Don't know when/if I'll get the new Macbook, but if I have to replace this monitor to use it, I'll be waiting somewhat longer, unless monitor dies first.
Click to expand...

cult hero said:
There is basically no reason you shouldn't be able to. Can't confirm without testing but I've generally done fine with adapter to adapter with video stuff, as long as the output is going to an older device. (Obviously you can't make VGA pipe out to DisplayPort device without some kind of special converter.)
Click to expand...
- Damn. The Apple TB3<->TB2 adaptor does not work with DisplayPort outputs. That's disappointing, but it seems it's a technical limitation.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207266

You can still connect your Cinema Display. Just has to be with different cables.
 
This is actually cheap, compared to 3-party alternatives. The StarTech adapter costs like $75.
The real question is: will this adapter made by Apple work with Windows? Or will I have to get the StarTech one?
[doublepost=1477773336][/doublepost]
blufire95 said:
Actually very nice for devices like my 2011 iMac without USB 3.0 but with Thunderbolt, so we can plugin fast and cheap USB-C drives.
Click to expand...

Actually, I don't think that would work. (I may be wrong though). Thunderbolt 3 is capable or reading USB devices, but I don't think Thunderbolt 1 or 2 can. So even though the cord would still plug in, I don't think it would actually function in that context.
 
arpi said:
Nothing says pro then a bunch of extra dongles sticking out from you MacBook pro. And in 3 years you buy another set, because apple removes more ports.

A pro machine should support older ports as well, since you don't replace that often. But then again, Jobs understood this, Cook doesn't have a clue how pro things work.
Click to expand...

Most of the "pros" I'm familiar with are inundated with cables and adapters, and always have been. Because, their specific applications tend to be niche and specialized. That, in fact, is a distinguishing characteristic of "pro". "Pros" employ "solutions", not off the shelf "products". They take off the shelf products and adapt them to meet their needs.

If this were a desktop system, I think your argument that legacy ports should be provided would hold more merit. But in a laptop, the number of ports is highly restricted and not every port can be supported. Having uniform ports that can be adapted to any purpose is a lot more versatile, and adaptable, than a sampler set of one of each of a few different ports.
 
JTToft said:
- Damn. The Apple TB3<->TB2 adaptor does not work with DisplayPort outputs. That's disappointing, but it seems it's a technical limitation.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207266

You can still connect your Cinema Display. Just has to be with different cables.
Click to expand...

So, will have to wait and see if there's a Thunderbolt 3 to Dual-Link DVI adapter...? Googling didn't turn up anything for me, but it doesn't turn up many, if any, Thunderbolt 3 adapters period.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
bennyf said:
Thanks, I missed that. You're right it looks like exactly what's needed.

Edit: I realize I was trying to google for "Thunderbolt 3" instead of USB-C. I still don't really understand whether the two are always or only sometimes compatible.
Click to expand...
- You're welcome.

USB-C is the physical connector. Thunderbolt 3 is a protocol that can be implemented over that connector. Anything that's regular USB-C works in a Thunderbolt 3-enabled port; nothing that's Thunderbolt 3 works in a regular USB-C port.

Most adaptors you buy will be regular USB-C to whatever port you're looking for rather than Thunderbolt 3 to whatever port you're looking for. Like with Thunderbolt 2 equipped Macs, where most adaptors you needed were Mini DisplayPort to whatever (like your DL-DVI) instead of Thunderbolt 2 to whatever.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back