But some people want/need the 2 ThunderBolt connectors. I'm not happy because I had planned on purchasing 2 17" Ivy Bridge MacBook Pros. That saved me $6,000+. Then the lack of a new Mac Pro saved another $6-7,000. I've gotten used to Apple not needing my money. I want all of the ports that I can have & then some. In order to run my 4 displays that I run on my Mac Pro I need 2 ThunderBolt Ports.
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Apple's Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter Rolling Out in Online Store
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But some people want/need the 2 ThunderBolt connectors. I'm not happy because I had planned on purchasing 2 17" Ivy Bridge MacBook Pros. That saved me $6,000+. Then the lack of a new Mac Pro saved another $6-7,000. I've gotten used to Apple not needing my money. I want all of the ports that I can have & then some. In order to run my 4 displays that I run on my Mac Pro I need 2 ThunderBolt Ports.
I picked up a FW 400->800 cable the day after I received my rMBP. It's male 400 to male 800 (as is standard since the ports are always female). The adapter Apple shows looks like it will work perfectly!
Available through phone purchase
If, like me, you still can't access the webpage, it's possible to order the adapter over the phone. I just did. And was told, btw, that demand is quite high, so -- I'm guessing -- shipping delays may soon be an issue.
If, like me, you still can't access the webpage, it's possible to order the adapter over the phone. I just did. And was told, btw, that demand is quite high, so -- I'm guessing -- shipping delays may soon be an issue.
Good to see this is now available, I've been holding off buying a new MBA until I could use my current crop of external FW800 drives and FireWire audio interfaces with one.
I thought about just buying new USB3 drives, but there don't seem to be many dual FW800/USB3 drives yet on the market.
I should know in a few days...
I thought about just buying new USB3 drives, but there don't seem to be many dual FW800/USB3 drives yet on the market.
I should know in a few days...
Maybe for you your ethernet connection runs at a "tiny fraction" of its theoretical speed, but my internet connection is faster than 100 Mb ethernet. Why would I want to cripple my internet connection with a 10/100 speed USB adapter if I got an Air? My Time Machine disk is also on the network, so you think I should just deal with 100 Mb speed when I could be accessing it at gigE speeds just because you personally think that people only use "a tiny fraction" of ethernet's capability?
The argument could be made that the Air is meant to be portable, but now the retina MBP lacks an ethernet port, so speed is important to some people.
We're not living in 1995 any more. Not everyone has a dial up speed ISP, and even if they do, many people have NAS boxes and other such network gear that really benefits from gig speed ethernet.
Just a quick question. I currently have 2 firewire drives (chained) which are connected to my MacMini, would there be a speed advantage by having one connected via FW800 and the other via the FW800/TB adapter?
I had a FW800 external HDD with a detachable base. When I bought the rMBP, I got a USB3 drive with the same detachable base. I've been able to move the USB3 base from one drive to the other with no problems.
From here on out, I'll buy USB3 drives for my external storage and backup. It's faster, more compatible (no adapter required), and they tend to be cheaper than the FW800 drives.
I'll still get the adapter, since I have several FW800 drives.
For external hard drives, that sounds like the perfect solution. Who makes them?
First of all, Macs now do support USB 3.0 and HDMI; the Mac Mini has a HDMI port as well as Thunderbolt and the new MacBooks have USB 3. As for Apple supporting these other formats, they do so because they offer technical advantages like bus-powered peripherals and superior bandwidth. Remember that FireWire launched approximately alongside USB 1.1 and even USB 2 could not touch it on bus power, real-world speed, the ability to operate without a host PC and the load it put on the CPU. All of these features were important enough for the pro video and audio market to wear the added cost of investing in FireWire systems.
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The problem with the Thunderbolt port on notebooks is that it condemns the user to have an assortment of adapters just to make use of it. You need an adapter for an external VGA monitor, another one for HDMI. If you want to make use of USB 3.0 speeds on an older MBP, you need to buy an expensive hub. You don't often run into these issues on a PC.
Sure Firewire is better in terms of capability but that's not nearly as important as how the general public has unanimously adopted USB over Firewire. Firewire has always been nothing more than a niche market for a very small demographic of people and it'll continue to be that way due to how the masses have already adopted the USB standard.
The mass market has different needs to those of the Mac elite. No matter what people say about FCP X and the OS X GUI, Apple continues to cater to high-end users who require the best and most reliable technology.
Nobody disputes the use of OSX and FCP X, that's not what I'm talking about, however since you bought up the issue of "high end users", there's no indication at all that the best and most reliable technology are Macs. The fastest supercomputers on the planet aren't using OSX, high end computer forensics machines aren't running OSX or Macs, the fastest gaming and most robust business machines aren't Macs either.
Macs are just another computer tool, some people like using them and that's okay. Some people are very happy on their PCs, some won't touch either and swear by Linux. To say that Macs and OSX are for the elite high-end users is ridiculous.
Seagate's definitely trying to bring Thunderbolt to the public but the investment is still quite large and its adapters are proprietary to its GoFlex design.
1TB GoFlex with Thunderbolt Adapter = $260 to $280 USD
The adapter alone (no drive) = $87 to $100 USD
Desk version Thunderbolt dock = $150 to $170 USD
You can buy a USB 3.0 2.5inch drive 1TB for about $100 USD.
If you do a cost-benefit analysis, it doesn't make much sense does it?
I wasn't suggesting using the direct Thunderbolt. That's not what I did, and I wouldn't pay those prices.
This is what I bought:
Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk 3 TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive STAC3000102 ($139 at Amazon)
The device came with a detachable base, and I was able to swap the base with a Firewire version I already owned:
Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk 3 TB FireWire 800 USB 2.0 External Hard Drive for Mac STBC3000101 ($159 at Amazon).
The USB 3.0 version was less expensive, and faster, though not pre-formatted for Mac, and of course, not daisy chain-able.
I'm looking forward to using direct Thunderbolt devices when the prices come down to something that is reasonable to me.
Belkin Thunderbolt
I am waiting for one of these bad boys, will solve a lot of headaches
http://www.belkin.com/thunderbolt/
I am waiting for one of these bad boys, will solve a lot of headaches
http://www.belkin.com/thunderbolt/
That's just completely wrong. In fact, professionals were so disgusted with FCP X that Apple actually started selling older copies of the product under the table because it sucked so bad. There's such a small percentage of Mac users who can even be considered high-end users. With PC's it's the same way, small percentage--just more. Best technology? Wrong. Most reliable? Debatable.
It is. The Air has support for 1 Gigabit Ethernet over Thunderbolt. It just lacks the bulky RJ45 jack.