Is there such a thing as a Thunderbolt 1/2 > USB-C adaptor?

[Craigy]

OK - So I've got a 2011 27" iMac with thunderbolt ports and I would like to be able to use some external USB-C SSD drives with it for video projects.

Is there an adaptor out there that I can plug into one of the TB ports on the iMac that will let me connect a USB-C SSD drive?

Thanks.

 

[theluggage]

OK - So I've got a 2011 27" iMac with thunderbolt ports and I would like to be able to use some external USB-C SSD drives with it for video projects.

Is there an adaptor out there that I can plug into one of the TB ports on the iMac that will let me connect a USB-C SSD drive?

Thanks.

Look at the specs for the USB-C SSDs you are considering: the majority only use 5Gbps USB 3.1 gen 1 speeds (5Gbps is faster than most SATA SSDs), so there’s no advantage to connecting them via USB-C rather than a USB 3 ‘A’ socket - often the drives come with an adapter cable.

Of course your 2011 iMac doesn’t have USB 3, either, but there are plenty of TB1/2 docks or TB1/2 to USB 3 adapters. Or, get a TB1/2 external drive...

 

[vkd]

Of course your 2011 iMac doesn’t have USB 3, either, but there are plenty of TB1/2 docks or TB1/2 to USB 3 adapters. Or, get a TB1/2 external drive...

TB1 docks and adapters are thin on the ground, as well as being price prohibitive.

 

[theluggage]

TB1 docks and adapters are thin on the ground, as well as being price prohibitive.

AFAIK most "TB2" devices will work with TB1 (do check).

Of course, anything thunderbolt-related will carry a price premium - my last suggestion of just getting a TB1/2 drive was probably the most practical, unless someone already has USB 3 drives they want to use...

http://www.kanex.com/thunderbolt-esata
https://www.amazon.com/Thunderbolt-...513433265&sr=1-3&keywords=thunderbolt+to+usb3
https://www.amazon.com/CalDigit-Thunderbolt-Station-Ethernet-TS2-US-6010/dp/B00R85YS1W
https://www.owcdigital.com/products/thunderbolt-2-dock#tech-specs

 

[ZapNZs]

To my knowledge, no one has yet released a TB2-->TB3/USB-C adapter that works with USB-C devices lacking TB.

However, you can use a TB1/2 dock to get USB-A ports with USB 3.1 gen 1, or a TB-->USB-A adapter such as the one Kanex offers. Alternatively, you can also use TB3 docks in combination with the Apple Thunderbolt 3-->2 adapter (as it is bidirectional with the TB signal.)

If you purchased something like the AKiTiO Thunder2 Dock, you could then connect to your USB-C SSD with 5 Gbps USB 3.1 gen 1 using a USB-A-->USB-C cable (or whatever your SSD uses on its side, such as MicroB.)

 

[jtara]

There's no advantage of TB1 over USB3. In fact, USB3 is slightly faster.

Oh, 2011 doesn't have USB3?

 

[theluggage]

There's no advantage of TB1 over USB3. In fact, USB3 is slightly faster.

Nonsense.
TB1 is two 10Gbps channels (i.e. daisy-chain two devices and each can get 10Gbps), TB2 is the same but can combine channels to drive a single 20Gbps device, TB3 is two, bondable, 20Gbps channels.

USB 3.0 (aka. USB 3.1 gen 1) is a single 5Gbps channel1. USB 3.1 gen 2 is a single 10Gbps channel if both host and peripheral support it (and even a lot of 'USB-C' stuff doesn't). USB 3.2 is only recently announced, not yet implemented, and will basically bring USB up to par with TB2, with two, bondable 10Gbps channels.

Plus, TB can carry video signals, and falls back to a mini DisplayPort output if you plug in a legacy device.

However, more to the point, 5Gbps is more than enough for the majority of single, external drives, many of which contain SATA drives that top out at 6Gbps max (rarely achieved) - so even with drives that do support USB 3.1gen2 (e.g. the Samsung T5) you're in to diminishing returns - especially since the peak sustained transfer speed that reviewers obsess over is rarely the real bottleneck in real-world use.

Oh, 2011 doesn't have USB3?

...no, so really the benchmark here is "anything faster than USB2 is a plus" (did someone say Firewire 800 )

 

[mpainesyd]

See these tips for booting a 2009 iMac from a bare SSD card, using a Goflex Firewire adapter:
http://www.mpainesyd.com/filechute/BOOT_OSX_SSD.pdf
Of course, it may be difficult to find a Goflex Firewire adapter these days but they also made (make?) TB1 adapters.

 

[vkd]

http://www.kanex.com/thunderbolt-esata

Yes, I have looked at this adapter before. Can anyone say what the eSATA port could be used for? Seems a shame to waste it, I mean if there was an eSATA to USB3 adapter you could plug in there or something..?

 

[theluggage]

Can anyone say what the eSATA port could be used for?

You connect an external eSATA hard drive...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com-External-Hard-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B00P1S5IWG

...its not going to be night and day better than USB 3 but it should be more efficient way to drive a SATA HD/SSD than via a USB-to-SATA bridge. Might support things like TRIM that don't always work over USB (don't rely on me here).

I find this sort of thing quite useful - lets you work with bare 3.5" and 2.5" HD/SSDs:

https://www.startech.com/uk/HDD/Docking/usb-3-esata-docking-station~SDOCKU33EF

NOTE: these are random picks as an illustration of what is available, not personal product recommendations.

 

[ZapNZs]

Yes, I have looked at this adapter before. Can anyone say what the eSATA port could be used for? Seems a shame to waste it, I mean if there was an eSATA to USB3 adapter you could plug in there or something..?

It's a legacy port that I consider to be superior to USB 3.1 gen 1 for SATA storage when the drive is not constantly being plugged-unplugged, especially in regards to SATA SSDs, which eSATA will fully saturate, and is capable of passing TRIM commands unlike USB (on macOS).

 

[Anonymous Freak]

If your computer has USB 3 already, just use a USB-A to USB-C adapter. USB is USB, the physical ports don't matter, you can just use physical adapters. The version is the only thing that impacts speed.

USB 1.1 is the original - a pitifully slow 12 Mbps

USB 2.0 was the main one for a long time, from 2004-2011. If your Mac is earlier than 2012, it probably has USB 2.0. That ramps up speed to 480 Mbps (about 50 megabytes per second real-world speed.)

USB 3.0 (also called "USB 3.1 Rev 1") is what most USB 3 is. That's 5 Gbps (about 600 megabytes per second.) Even most USB-C connector devices are only USB 3.0. The Retina MacBook's USB-C ports are USB 3.0 / Rev 1 / 5Gbps.

USB 3.1 Rev 2 is the latest, 10 Gbps (about 1200 megabytes per second.) Thunderbolt 3 ports are also USB 3.1 Rev 2, but not all USB C are Rev 2 / 10 Gbps.

Unless you're certain that the device you are trying to use is "USB 3.1 Rev 2 10 Gbps," a simple plug adapter is sufficient.

But, as others have mentioned, the 2011 iMacs only have USB 2.0, though, so if you need full performance, a USB-A to USB-C adapter wouldn't get you the full speed. The only Thunderbolt-to-USB-3 adapters I know of are the Kanex adapters: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LOLBBQQ They make them with an eSATA port or a Gigabit Ethernet port in addition to the USB 3 port. They don't have any cheaper ones that are just USB, unfortunately.

Once you have the Thunderbolt USB 3 adapter, just use a USB 3.0-A to USB-C cable.

 

[Ohples]

I was surprised to find out that Apple's TB3 to TB2 adapter is bidirectonal (atleast for TB, maybe not USB-C but it might be worth a shot.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...-adapter?fnode=8b&fs=f=adapter&fh=4595%2B45b0

According to the description

As a bidirectional adapter, it can also connect new Thunderbolt 3 devices to a Mac with a Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt 2 port and macOS Sierra.

My guess is you plug in the adapter to a TB2 to TB2 cable into the iMac and you get TB3 on a 2011 iMac

 

[theluggage]

I was surprised to find out that Apple's TB3 to TB2 adapter is bidirectonal (atleast for TB, maybe not USB-C but it might be worth a shot.

No, it won't do USB (or legacy DisplayPort) - its clearly just an electrical/physical standard adapter, and you can't convert a TB signal to a USB signal without a full-blown TB device with a TB controller.

Nor will it support bus-powered TB3 devices (because the TB1 port on your computer can't supply TB3/USB-C power levels - I'd have thought there'd be some suck-it-and see potential there for lower power devices that could run off TB1/2 power, but the Apple support page says a flat "no").

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

...also note that you have to read carefully when buying TB3 peripherals to make sure they really are TB3 and not just USB-C devices advertised as "compatible with Thunderbolt 3" - e.g. this Caldigit Tuff drive is 'just' a USB-C drive, not a dual USB-C/TB3 device. Unfortunately, the nomenclature of TB3/USB-C encourages this sort of ambiguity.

What this adapter does mean is that the thread starter can go out and buy TB1/2 hard drives/SSDs and know that they will still be usable on a new TB3 Mac.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

I was surprised to find out that Apple's TB3 to TB2 adapter is bidirectonal (atleast for TB, maybe not USB-C but it might be worth a shot.

My guess is you plug in the adapter to a TB2 to TB2 cable into the iMac and you get TB3 on a 2011 iMac

Indeed it will work. But you'll be limited to TB2 speeds and capabilities, of course. But you can then connect a TB3 dock to a TB2 Mac. You could even connect the LG 5K TB3 display, although because TB2's implementation of DisplayPort doesn't have the bandwidth for full 5K, it would only run at 4K.