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Apple's Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter Rolling Out in Online Store

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Apr 12, 2001
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Alongside the introduction of the Retina MacBook Pro last month, Apple also announced two adapters to allow users to add Ethernet and FireWire 800 capabilities to the machine through its Thunderbolt ports. But while the Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter was available immediately, Apple's tech specs page for the Retina MacBook Pro has listed the FireWire adapter as launching in July.

schiller_retina_thunderbolt_adapters.jpg



Just as the calendar rolls over into August, Apple now appears to be making the Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter available in its online store with a $29 price tag and a shipping estimate of 1-3 business days.

As with the new Retina MacBook Pro configuration options, users are experiencing intermittent success in viewing the new adapter in the store, with some users able to view the adapter while others simply see a "page not found" error. The issue is almost certainly related to caching, and all users should hopefully be able to see the adapter shortly.

thunderbolt_firewire_adapter.jpg



Dutch site One More Thing reported earlier this week [Google translation] that one of its readers had sent an email to Apple CEO Tim Cook asking about the status of the adapter, with Cook simply replying "Tomorrow", suggesting that Apple would just barely make its July shipping estimate.

Article Link: Apple's Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter Rolling Out in Online Store
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/08/01/apples-thunderbolt-to-firewire-adapter-rolling-out-in-online-store/
N10248 said:
Can this put out the same amount of power as a real FW800 port for bus powered devices?
Click to expand...

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MD464ZM/A?fnode=51&p=1

"Easily connect your Thunderbolt-equipped Mac to a FireWire device with the Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter. Small and compact, it connects to the Thunderbolt port on your Mac computer, giving you a FireWire 800 port that supplies up to 7W for bus-powered peripherals like hard drives and audio devices."
 
Not showing up for me yet, but to those who can see the listing - does it say anything about support (or lack of support) for the MBA?
 
coolspot18 said:
Ethernet should really be BUILT INTO the Macbook Air.
Click to expand...

There is no vertical space for the physical port. That is why it is not built in.

I carry an Ethernet cable with me anyways - so I just leave the adapter on it. If I need Ethernet, they're both in my bag at all times.
 
Could this adaptor be used if you needed to connect a Thunderbolt device to a computer that only has FW800 (i.e. connecting a TB hard drive to someone else's laptop that didn't have TB)?
 
parkds said:
Could this adaptor be used if you needed to connect a Thunderbolt device to a computer that only has FW800 (i.e. connecting a TB hard drive to someone else's laptop that didn't have TB)?
Click to expand...

not sure, it looks like a 'female' FW connector and 'male' TB connector
 
hexx said:
not sure, it looks like a 'female' FW connector and 'male' TB connector
Click to expand...

That would work from a connection standpoint if you connected that adaptor to the device and then used a FW800 cable. Wonder if it would work technically though.
 
hexx said:
not sure, it looks like a 'female' FW connector and 'male' TB connector
Click to expand...

I thought both ends on a TB cable are identical. Same for a FW cable. So it wouldn't matter.

But the adapter could only work one way. That would be awesome if you could TB device to FW800 port with this but I doubt it.
 
Why?

Why do you need a TB to ethernet adapter when you can use a USB to ethernet adapter? Please don't bring up the 'faster interface' argument as ethernet connections typically run at a tiny fraction of their theoretical speed.
 
coolspot18 said:
Ethernet should really be BUILT INTO the Macbook Air.
Click to expand...

Then it wouldn't be a MacBook Air. NO MBA has ever had an ethernet port or optical drive because the idea is that it would be a wireless device. I hae a first0gen MBA with USB-ethernet adapter that I've used about twice. It's not all that cumbersome if you need it, but to get a narrower profile and less wight you gotta leave some things out.
 
This might put me in the stone age, but I am wondering if I can run this adapter into FW800>FW400.

It might put me in the stone age, but I have an audio console I really like that still uses the ol' 400.

...All in all, trying to go FW400>TB.

Thoughts?
 
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