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Thunderbolt 3/USB-C Adapters, Cables, and Hubs for New MacBook Pro

MacRumors said:



2016-macbook-pro-adapters.jpg
In line with the 12-inch MacBook, Apple has removed all ports on the new MacBook Pro beyond two or four Thunderbolt 3 ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Thunderbolt 3 carries power, USB, DisplayPort, HDMI, and VGA over a single USB-C port, creating one standard for connecting most accessories and peripherals.

The issue for now, however, is not all devices are equipped with USB-C ports. Apple's very own iOS devices, for example, use a proprietary Lightning port instead.

More USB-C accessories will inevitably be released over the coming months and years, but in the meantime, many new MacBook Pro users will need to purchase at least one dongle or hub to use the notebook with their current setup. Own an iPhone? You need a new cable. Own a Thunderbolt Display? You need an adapter.

Below, we have rounded up some of the USB-C adapters and cables available from Apple and third-party accessory makers.

Apple

apple-thunderbolt-2-to-thunderbolt-3.jpg
Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 1/2 Adapter -- $49

This adapter can be used to connect the new MacBook Pro to Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt 2 peripherals. Examples include Apple's discontinued Thunderbolt Display and older Thunderbolt external storage drives.

The adapter can also be used to connect the new MacBook Pro to Apple's Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter and Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter. Tip: Belkin sells a direct USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet adapter for $34.95.

The adapter is bidirectional, so it can be used reversely to connect new Thunderbolt 3 devices to an older Mac with a Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt 2 port.


usb-type-c-to-lightning.jpg
USB-C Charge Cable -- $25

Have you ordered a new MacBook Pro and also own an iPhone? You can't connect the two devices out of the box without purchasing an additional adapter or cable. One of those options is Apple's own USB-C to Lightning cable.

The cable can be used to charge and sync any Lightning-equipped iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with USB-C devices like the new MacBook Pro. A 1-meter cable is available for $25, while a 2-meter version costs $35.

Few if any third-party Lightning to USB-C cables authorized under Apple's MFi Program are currently available.

Tip: An alternative option is to purchase a USB-C adapter or hub with at least one USB-A port and then use a traditional Lightning to USB cable -- see below.

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Article Link: Thunderbolt 3/USB-C Adapters, Cables, and Hubs for New MacBook Pro
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[doublepost=1478098031][/doublepost]I am not worried about all the new adaptors. With its lac-luster speed, no touch screen, non up-gradable memory and disk, I will not be purchasing a MacBook "Lite".
 
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Every release now I become increasingly happier that when the Retina MBPs arrived I chose the last update of the previous gen - the mid-2012 9,1.

4 years later and weighing only 1lb more, I have MBP with a comparable 2.6 i7. Even the 1680-by-1050 resolution is still more than enough. Better than that it can be easily repaired, upgraded with any drive, the battery swapped out and all these connecters onboard.
  • MagSafe power port
  • Gigabit Ethernet port
  • FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps)
  • Two USB 3 ports (up to 5 Gbps)
  • Thunderbolt port (up to 10 Gbps)
  • Audio line in
  • Audio line out
  • SDXC card slot
  • Superdrive
Every year the MBP loses more than it gains. Well, except the number of dongles and adapters you have to carry around just in case.
 
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doelcm82 said:
Nope. The iPhone comes with a cable and a charger that you plug into the wall. Most people don't need to connect the iPhone to their computer.

If YOU want to connect the iPhone to your new MBP, you can get the cable. But Apple doesn't seriously want you to do that.
Click to expand...

I agree with part of your post, that it's charger is plugged into the wall and if that was the case, then WHY Would APPLE make the WALL CHARGER and CABLE SEPERATE. That's right, so you can SYNC with iTunes, if you want to. Oh, plug in at work to a POWERS USB so you can charge your phone (so I don't have to go buy another WALL CHARGER). I don't agree that in one breath APPLE had courage to remove something because it APPLE thought it was old and then in the same breath, state, that we will keep it on their flag ship laptop and then forget (wrong word, choose) to give users a way to plug their #1 product into that same laptop with the cable they gave the #1 selling product they have. I agree with a lot of people here, APPLE is just about grabbing money any way they can.
 
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KPOM said:
You asked about a charger. There are USB-C to Lightning cables and they work with the MacBook Pro's charger.
Click to expand...

The point is Apple has strayed away from the standard... Ok so now you have a USB-C to Lightning cable (which you have to purchase btw). You're leaving for the day and want to bring your charger. Now what? You need a wall adapter. Ok just bring the one you got with your iPhone...jk you can't because it is standard USB 2/3.0. Now you need to remember yet another cable, the original iPhone 7 USB cable to plug into your wall adapter.

PS Apple doesn't sell a USB-C power adapter (yet).
 
Anything that allows you to connect 3 HDMI/displayport displays?

​
 
would the usb c to lightning cable sync your music and photos faster then say using the usb c to usb a adapter?
 
iSayuSay said:
The newly iPhone 7 should carry USB C instead to eliminate all the remorse. There is nothing Lightning can do which USB C cannot. Apple wasn't courageous enough though.
Click to expand...

Then all you guys would be whining because Apple switched away from Lightning just 5 years after introduction. And Lightning is smaller and more robust than USB-C.
 
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Suckfest 9001 said:
He's kind of right. "real pros" would probably be put off by the fact that you need dongles to plug in even the most basic of devices in a 4000 dollar laptop.
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"Real Pros" might include myself; I have worked in the television industry for more than 20 years and this is not the first time I have had to change cables to move forward. Not even close to the first time, and I am not just talking about computers. So I had no difficulty replacing my Early 2011 MBP (bought it because it was the first to have Thunderbolt and I know that would be important to my work) with the 2016 MBP (bought it for the Thunderbolt 3 because I know that will be important for what I do).

Real pros have seen dongles before and know they will see them again and get on with the job.
 
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I use all ports every day and then some.
 

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imola.zhp said:
What I don't understand is why they didn't add a female lighting port so that iPhone 7/7+ users don't have to carry two sets of earphones.
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What's more telling is the fact that the iPhone still has Lightning and not USB-C. If USB-C is the future connector, why did they not put it in their iPhone? They will eventually, of course, just not now, didn't want to anger the iPhone users too much with all new adapters. But the MBP crowd? Sure, we can piss them off. They're only a small segment of our customers these days.
 
citysnaps said:
Nope. No way would I want an old USB A connector on a modern laptop, either as an addition, or at the expense of getting rid of a TB 3 port that's FAR more versatile and much faster.

That would also be fugly, something Dell or Sanyo would do.

Just get one of these for $9.99. They're tiny...
View attachment 669782
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"Old" as in still a broadly accepted and being used on new devices? We are not talking about a serial port here.
 
Ok... I was thinking about upgrading my 2012 15 rMBP : 16GB RAM, 512 SSD - 2.6 Quadcore i7. Payed 3200,00 euros 4 years ago with the this 2016 top end....

Some considerations:

1. 2016 top end is almost is the same (2012 specifics) at almost the same price (3299,00 euros), but for the same price it doesen't offer me 32gb ram option.... Ok CPU ram and video card are bumped since mine, nothing to say.

2. If I think about storage, Apple has removed the integrated SD card reader which for 100 euros, thanks to a simple Nifty Mini drive and a micro SD (200gb), could offer me more storage (upgradable in the future) at an affordable price. Now, if I want more storage (that is necessary for this super machine at that super price) i must pay 480 euros more for 1 tb SSD. And we go to 3799,00 euros....

3. Dongles. I own many usb dongles and external USB3 hard drives. I must buy almost 3 USB to USB-c Adapters ( 3x 25,00 euros = 75,00 euros). I've got a Thunderbolt 1 Motu Audio interface and I want to conntect it to my brand new SUPER THIN mac!! No problem... There il an economic 59,00 euros Thunderbolt 3 to thuinderbolt 2 adapter. Then... I connect my mac always to an external monitor and sometimes on my Tv vi HDMI thanks to HDMI port in order to watch films or photos etc.... Apple has thinked of all! 2 shiny adapters that also affer me to charge my PRO machine, the USB-C to AV and USB -C to HDMI: 2x 79,00 euros = 148,00 euros. And also an ethernet adapter if I go to some friends or old relatives that doesent have wifi: Belkin offers me this dognle at anly 39,95 euros.

Dongles Total I have to pay:

75,00 (3 USB-C to USB) +
59,00 (Th3 to Th2 adpt) +
148,00 (2 video adapters - vga/hdmi) +
39,95 ( usb c to ethernet) =

321,95 EURO!!!!


Ah! A longer power chord is also needed!!!! Not included inside the package because they go in ruin: so charge me additional 25,00 euros!

Maybe I have forgot SD card reader and Firefire adapter (I have an old Canon Camcorder adn a Nikon camera) .... but not at this time... they are not essential...

Global total:

3799,00 (Mac)
321,95 (essential Dongles)
25 (Power chord)

4125,00 Euro.

No Comment. But it's thinner......

Bye,

Andrea
 
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Moorepheus said:
I agree with part of your post, that it's charger is plugged into the wall and if that was the case, then WHY Would APPLE make the WALL CHARGER and CABLE SEPERATE. That's right, so you can SYNC with iTunes, if you want to. Oh, plug in at work to a POWERS USB so you can charge your phone (so I don't have to go buy another WALL CHARGER). I don't agree that in one breath APPLE had courage to remove something because it APPLE thought it was old and then in the same breath, state, that we will keep it on their flag ship laptop and then forget (wrong word, choose) to give users a way to plug their #1 product into that same laptop with the cable they gave the #1 selling product they have. I agree with a lot of people here, APPLE is just about grabbing money any way they can.
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I don't understand the money grab argument. I was in the market for a new laptop because my current MBP is two years old. But before the presentation my employment situation changed and I decided I can make my current laptop work for a while longer. It was always a voluntary transaction. Apple's power to "grab" my money depends on my willingness to hold it out. I don't feel powerless.

Apple could have made Lightning to USB-C the default cable for the iPhone, requiring owners of older macs an PCs to purchase a separate cable (or use an old one they already owned). I can't say why they didn't. I suspect it would upset at least as many people as their current decision, even if it made you happy.
 
jwestveer said:
[doublepost=1478098031][/doublepost]I am not worried about all the new adaptors. With its lac-luster speed, no touch screen, non up-gradable memory and disk, I will not be purchasing a MacBook "Lite".
Click to expand...
Lackluster speed? Can you locate a faster laptop CPU that is actually being sold?

And non-upgradable RAM has been the status quo on every rMBP. The SSD appears to be removable based on teardowns.
 
Val-kyrie said:
I see potential. Workstations with upgradeable GPUs. Engineering is a demographic that Apple could target, but has not. The new MBPros include the graphics horsepower of a $100 desktop GPU and have been rightly panned for the weakness of the GPU given their price point. I also think Razor's popularity shows there is potential for tapping the gaming market, which loves to have mobility and the GPU prowess in order to game. Ultraportables with eGPUs would provide the mobility and offer all day or better battery longevity in the ultraportable form factor and the power desired by professionals and gamers for accomplishing graphics intensive tasks when docked. An eGPU also provides the option to choose the GPU that best suits the user's needs. Lastly, eGPUs provide the possibility of designing the form factor primarily around the CPU without worrying about the dGPU. This would allow for a cleaner distinction in Apple's lines: larger workstations for engineers who are the future of our country (Xeons [for CAD]), larger but thinner professional/prosumer notebooks (i7 quad-cores), smaller consumer notebooks (i5 quad- and dual-cores), and ultra books (m-series/Y-cores). Apple would really only need three or at most four form factors: (1) workstations (17" and 15"), (2a) professional/prosumer (15") and (2b) consumer (13"), (3) ultra books (13"/12"). I would love Apple to shift to 12" - 14" - 16", but that might take too much courage.

The only problem with this vision is that Apple hates allowing users to upgrade anything, but that is a decision based on fear (how do we entice consumers to purchase our new products?) and greed (premium prices on BTO upgrades and planned/forced obsolescence).

Perhaps most significantly, notebooks with dGPUs are more prone to failure than notebooks with iGPUs. This would help solve that problem.
Click to expand...

You don't seem to understand how engineers work, what they require (GPU isn't it), and don't have a personal need for any of this. Stop crying about it. It has no impact on you that Apple isn't pushing eGPU.
 
Botts85 said:
Lackluster speed? Can you locate a faster laptop CPU that is actually being sold?

And non-upgradable RAM has been the status quo on every rMBP. The SSD appears to be removable based on teardowns.
Click to expand...

Sure its technically removable, but did you actually read the iFixit report?

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Function+Keys+Late+2016+Teardown/72415

Its a serious chore to do so and once its out, what are you going to replace it with? Eventually we might see upgrade kits from OWC, but this isn't gonna be a "buy a relatively standard form factor from newegg and plop it in there" kind of situation.
 
Apple would be wise to transition the iPhone and iPad to USB-C on the next major revisions. It's time for the ecosystem to be unified if they are banking this heavily on USB-C for the Mac.
 
OldSchoolMacGuy said:
Lots of crying about increasing dongles. This is what most here seem to be missing.



If Apple makes this move, in a year or two, all of your devices can have the same cable. Wouldn't it be awesome to have a single cable work for your phone, your watch, your hard drive, your monitor, your network, and all your devices?

Or would you really like to continue needing a different cable for everything you use?
Click to expand...

The problem with that thinking is believing that Apple has any clout in trying to push a standard in a market where they only have a 7% share of.
 
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