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Thunderbolt to usb 3.0

2 ports to rule them all

I'm sure this has been said, and maybe the topic has transitioned since the first page, but I think USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt will both be used (sorry, no 1 port to rule them all...yet). USB is too set in stone and Thunderbolt is too awesome to ignore. USB for smaller peripherals and cheaper devices and Thunderbolt for the devices that require it (RAID drives, A/V devices, etc). Now, I wish Micro USB would take over for the standard connection as long as it can transfer the same data and power.

Side note: Apple is only the first company to use Thunderbolt, there will be others. Now, will the others choose the USB connection to utilize Thunderbolt? Or will they follow Apple and use the mini Displayport that (as far as I know) nobody has?

Finally, HP has officially decided to ONLY include USB 3.0 and not Thunderbolt (but will look into it further). I hate companies that stagnate innovation. Maybe it's just their consumer line, but if it's the professional line too, that's a big mistake. Why try to kill new technology? Maybe it's the licensing costs?
 
Intel Will Support USB3 on Chipset in 2012

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/ivy-bridge-usb-superspeed-thunderbolt,12579.html

<< Intel may seem to be a bit behind the game when it comes to integrating USB 3.0 into it chipsets, but that will finally be a solved problem next year with Ivy Bridge.

Kirk Skaugen, a vice president at the Intel Architecture Group, told attendees of a developer conference in Beijing that the Ivy Bridge platform will have both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt (formerly known as Light Peak).

"Intel is going to support USB 3.0 in the 2012 client platform. We're going to support Thunderbolt capability. We believe they're complementary," he said, according to Cnet.

For a while, some thought that Intel was favoring its Thunderbolt over USB 3.0. Given that much of the industry isn't ready to drop that familiar USB connector just yet, Intel will be supporting both in its next platform.

"We encourage all of you working on peripherals around the PC to engage on both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt," Skaugen said.

AMD will actually beat Intel to the punch in offering built-in USB 3.0 support. AMD yesterday said that it will be including Superspeed support in its Fusion A75 and A70M chipsets. >>
 
Look, for those with Thunderbolt and no USB3, monoprice.com will sell little adapter for USD2.00 - problem solved. Fine by me - don't have a cow guys. :)
 
tonytiger13 said:
I'm sure this has been said, and maybe the topic has transitioned since the first page, but I think USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt will both be used (sorry, no 1 port to rule them all...yet). USB is too set in stone and Thunderbolt is too awesome to ignore. USB for smaller peripherals and cheaper devices and Thunderbolt for the devices that require it (RAID drives, A/V devices, etc). Now, I wish Micro USB would take over for the standard connection as long as it can transfer the same data and power.

Side note: Apple is only the first company to use Thunderbolt, there will be others. Now, will the others choose the USB connection to utilize Thunderbolt? Or will they follow Apple and use the mini Displayport that (as far as I know) nobody has?

Finally, HP has officially decided to ONLY include USB 3.0 and not Thunderbolt (but will look into it further). I hate companies that stagnate innovation. Maybe it's just their consumer line, but if it's the professional line too, that's a big mistake. Why try to kill new technology? Maybe it's the licensing costs?
Click to expand...

Apple is the first but not the only, HP will probably introduce it after awhile and call it innovating and i believe everyone has the use mini Displayport pretty much so I am looking forward to that to!
Finally there are no licensing costs on Thunderbolt which is excellent.
 
Cable

Guys, I'm based in Malaysia. Any of you have any ideas on where to get a 3.0 to thunderbolt? I have a buffalo ministation 1TB with USB3.0 and I want to use it on my MBP 15". I'd appreciate any feedback. Thanks.
 
Debate all you want, but both techs are being stupidly implemented! There are no computers that have USB3 but plenty of portable drives, and there are no portable drives that use thunderbolt, but plenty of macbooks.....so either way we, the consumer, get screwed and have to stick with USB2!! It really annoys me!

I want a portable TB drive right now, or a TB to USB3 adapter!
 
I would also be very interested in the adapter, politics and debate aside.. I haven't found anything online to suffice in the meantime. I just bought a 1tb WD My passport with usb 3.0 and I'm currently screwed because theres no way to take advantage of that speed unless you want to spend at least 150$ on a thunderbolt ExpressCard/34 then an additional USB 3.0 hub.
 
Dhelsdon said:
I would also be very interested in the adapter, politics and debate aside.. I haven't found anything online to suffice in the meantime. I just bought a 1tb WD My passport with usb 3.0 and I'm currently screwed because theres no way to take advantage of that speed unless you want to spend at least 150$ on a thunderbolt ExpressCard/34 then an additional USB 3.0 hub.
Click to expand...

return it and get one with firewire 800. Firewire 800 has enough bandwidth to run the drive at its max speed.
 
Availability

I'm pretty agnostic when it comes to this whole USB 3.0 vs Thunderbolt debate. My situation is this: I have a Firewire 800 RAID box attached to my MacBook Pro that's been doing a serviceable job for a while now, but the bus is saturated, so I'm not getting the full benefit of the RAID. When I upgraded to a new MBP this past spring, I was excited about Thunderbolt.

But my only Thunderbolt alternative is a 6-bay unit from Promise for $2000. There is no option to BYO drives, and I'd end up with less space than I have now. Alternatively, I can pick up an 8-bay USB 3.0 RAID box for about $400 that would meet my needs and allow me to continue using my existing (and spendy) enterprise-grade 2TB hard drives.

Now, I don't mind paying for value where it counts. That's why I buy Apple products and love them. But come on... a Thunderbolt to USB 3.0 adapter would be pretty darned useful in my situation, even though it's neither as fast nor as elegant as the native Thunderbolt solution.

So I think it's just going to be a race to see what comes along first -- more affordable and abundant Thunderbolt devices or Thunderbolt to USB 3.0 adapters. I'm hoping for the former, but I'd settle for the latter. (I'm looking at you, Monoprice...)
 
If there is, it will be quite expensive. You might as well get the actual Thunderbolt device and you will be like wow, that was quick :D
 
Thunderbolt will be like Firewire, better but not common. It will be available only on premium notebooks (Apple) and premium motherboards.

The world is already used to USB

Having said that, no point whatsoever not to exist a thunderbolt hub, wich would also acomodate USB 3.0, USB 2.0, Fireweire and esata, it is that powerful!
 
LeandrodaFL said:
Having said that, no point whatsoever not to exist a thunderbolt hub, wich would also acomodate USB 3.0, USB 2.0, Fireweire and esata, it is that powerful!
Click to expand...

I like how you think! Not only would I buy a dock like that in a heartbeat, but I'd be willing to pay quite a bit for it, especially if it had both USB 3.0 and eSATA.
 
I think a TB hub is one of the best things you can do with the port at the moment, it would turn a Macbook Air into a serious digital hub

Another nice use will be external videocards, that will bring some gaming power to notebooks.
 
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