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bilbo--baggins

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 6, 2006
786
128
UK
When I got the latest iPad Pro M1 12.9” with Thunderbolt port the first thing I did was order an Apple Thunderbolt 3 cable to connect it to my 2019 iMac’s Thunderbolt (USB C) ports. I was surprised to find the iPad wasn’t recognised by the Mac. The USB C charge cable that came with the iPad but only provided USB 2 data speeds. I contact Apple - they tried various things that didn’t work and advised that I got a replacement cable. The replacement cable arrived, still didn’t work. Took the iMac to the Apple Store assuming there was a fault with the Thunderbolt port - only to be told a week later it was all working fine. Got my iMac home - still didn’t work. Took it back again and insisted they test it properly. This time they actually bothered to test - and what they found was that the M1 iPad Pro was recognised by M1 Mac’s using the Thunderbolt 3 cable, but not by Intel Macs. I wondered if this was some sort of oversight with Mac OS - but even now with the release of Monterey it’s still not working.

I have considered buying the OWC ”Universal” USB C cable - wondering if it will work with USB 4 speeds from Intel iMac to M1 iPad but a bit wary of wasting more money.

The odd thing is that if you google it - it would seem I’m the only person in the world that wants to connect my iPad using Thunderbolt and discovered it doesn’t work.
 
My iPad connects to my Intel Mac mini with a tb3 cable without a problem - but you do need to invest in the right cable. This situation is a mess right now, cable wise. I can think of the brand of mine but I’ll check in a couple of days when I get home.
 
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