I don't understand all the people saying a usb3.0 hub would be just as good. The data throughputs on hubs are reliant on their computer input speed, so the obvious benefit of a TB based usb3.0 hub over a standard Usb3.0 to usb3.0 hub would be the much higher available bandwidth for simultaneous read/writes. It would be nice to have a hub that I could plug in my RAID and my external SSD and have them both function at full speed. The SSD gets about 350-400mb/s and the RAID gets around 250mb/s so I've already got the data rate maxed out of a single usb3.0 output, in only 2 inputs of a hub. Plus, I completely agree with the OP that I'd rather not have an unused TB port on he back, when I've got 4 USB inputs all tied up. Ultimately, I'll probably opt for the $200 Caldigit unit, since it has good reviews and the best price of any TB "dock". But it's uses are more beneficial to laptops, and I went the expensive route and bought an iMac to alleviate my constant docking and undocking of my rMBP.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Thunderbolt to USB adapter
- Thread starter Big Ron
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
$200 ? It's even more expensive than the drive I want to hook it to the Mac.
When I hear adapter, I expect a $20-$50 converter.
But I won't lie, I can't wait for the Sonnet Thunderbolt docking station :
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echo15prothunderboltdock.html
Slightly off topic here, but it's regarding the Caldigit vs Belkin Thunderbolt docks issue.
The Belkin dock has USB 3.0 ports that are limited to 2.5Gb/s each.
The Caldigit dock has USB 3.0 ports that utilize the full 5Gb/s bandwidth each.
The Belkin dock has USB 3.0 ports that are limited to 2.5Gb/s each.
The Caldigit dock has USB 3.0 ports that utilize the full 5Gb/s bandwidth each.
I got a Thunderbolt to FW800 for $28.
Why would a TB to E-Sata be that expensive ? I bet it's the Aluminum case...
Just guessing here
, but I suspect that the Apple Thunderbolt-to-FW800 and the Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapters are being sold at a loss by Apple to compensate users for deleting those interfaces from the current thin laptop computers. Not all users needed these interfaces on the laptop, but for those who do, Apple made the cost as reasonable as possible. If they really were cheap to make, they might have simply included them in the box with the computers.Creating Thunderbolt-to-eSATA or Thunderbolt-to-USB-3 would be nice to have for users, but not necessary to sell at a loss since the user didn't really lose that capability with the updated machines. Selling these at normal profit levels might not have the sales quantity to justify the development costs at current chip price levels.
it's nice to have TB to USB3 adapter with really cheap one but keep it in mind both Belkin and Caldigit are not just USB3 adapter, it's more than that. They both have Three USB3 ports, Ethernet port and more. Caldigit's one has an HDMI and it has TWO Thunderbolt ports that can let you daisy chain to the next thunerbolt device. The TB to USB3 adapter is a dead-end device....
I have a couple caldigit thunderbolt stations, they have been working really nice.
I have a couple caldigit thunderbolt stations, they have been working really nice.
I always thought that the whole 2011/Sandy Bridge Mac generation was "crippled" by not having USB3. This generation was a huge jump in CPU performance from 2010 and allowed up to 32GB of RAM in iMacs.
At that time it was pretty normal to have at least one USB3 port on any PC. It's shame really because the price on used 27" 2011 iMac is great now and I would definitely get one... but with no native USB3 it's not so good (and I'm refusing to get any kind of TB dock).
At that time it was pretty normal to have at least one USB3 port on any PC. It's shame really because the price on used 27" 2011 iMac is great now and I would definitely get one... but with no native USB3 it's not so good (and I'm refusing to get any kind of TB dock).
except when the usb ports on my macbook are not working and badly designed to be on the logic board requiring
a. a very expensive logic board replacement
b. a thunderbolt hub - also expensive
you'd have thought by charging more for their product they's design and make it properly rather than rip-off customers with excessively expensive repairs
There are laptop computers with USB ports that are not designed as part of the logic board?
apparently yes, on a supplementary board ?
... and the entire logic board, necessarily of = 2011 spec, costs more than a complete new pc based laptop
the main point for me is that I cannot back up to or from my external hard drive, connect to my printer, charge my i-phone etc etc
so I need a USB connection
as BOTH usb ports are not functioning
I was hoping to get a
thunderbolt to usb adaptor
or
firewire to usb adaptor
or
any other cost effective solution to have an operational usb
Ultimately, this really isn't the intended purpose of Thunderbolt, I think. If you look at how the interface operates, it's really intended to be a raw, high speed data link, where additional electronics interface with your laptop or desktop.
The Thunderbolt/SATA adapter is so huge because an entire SATA controller is being integrated there. Why? Because Thunderbolt itself doesn't have a SATA controller. It's just a really fat data pipe.
For this reason, I don't think you'll see many small, little adapters for thunderbolt, aside from the handful Apple offers for sale. You'll mainly see hubs and multi-purpose docks and interface instead, as that seems to be the point behind thunderbolt.
For the "little" things, that's what USB 3.0 is there for.
----------
No, it's because eSATA is a different interface requiring more expensive electronics. Firewire on the other hand isn't that different from Thunderbolt: it was intended to be a big (for its time, anyway) multi-purpose data pipe. And like thunderbolt today, the stuff you connected to Firewire was supposed to contain all the "smarts" to communicate through that pipe.
This is why you can get a $28 TB to FW adapter, but if you had a Mac with Firewire and wanted to get a Firewire to eSATA adapter, it'll cost you about as much as the Thunderbolt to eSATA adapter.
It says 80 from their site... If I hear a report of this device working well, I'm jumping on board and buying one too.
Fortunately, the aftermarket isn't as presumptuous as to decide what Thunderbolt is there for, and gives the actual buyers something that Apple didn't: choices. Or in the case of the connection-hobbled 2011 Mac owners: the option to use USB 3.0. Apple included Thunderbolt on all their computers, not all of which would be video-professionals or whoever else needs the massive TB bandwidth.
Unlike so many of the contributors to MR, I don't have the inside skinny at Apple, nor do I have the reams of Mac buyer data which would allow me to discuss what "most buyers need," "what 99% of macs are used for," and other grand proclamations. I do know that I wish I could take advantage of the speed of my USB 3.0 hard drives, and that I have never made use of the two TB ports on my iMac. Based on comments here, other forums, and response to Kanex's proposal to build the adapter, there seem to be others with similar wants/needs.
Dewey Defeats Truman
Last edited:
Interesting spin, but I'm not sure what you're getting at here. If the point wasn't to permit the aftermarket to make a lot of high-bandwidth products that could interconnect with Thunderbolt equipped Macs (those "choices" you speak of that you seem to imply Apple was attempting to withhold), then what do you feel IS the point, then?
Got it in the mail today, will try it out tomorrow after work.
Hello all concerned. I have installed my adapter and done some testing. First let me say that I am happy with the purchase. I also purchased a USB3 hub to pair up with this adapter. I have seen decent speed increases even though with my hardware it's nothing outrageous. Really the top speeds I am getting are the limits of testing with spinning platter hard drives.
I did my testing on an 2011 27" Imac 2.7Ghz I5 with 256 SSD, 1tb Internal HD, and 24gb RAM. I used Blackmagic Speed Test program to get the speed results with a 5gb test file setting.
I have 4 different external Lacie Hard Drives with varying interface connections on them as listed.
Drive 1 - 3Tb Lacie d2 Quadra v3 Media - Firewire 800, USB3, Esata - (Time Machine Drive)
Drive 2 - 3Tb Lacie d2 Quadra v2b Media - Firewire 800, USB2, Esata - (My Archive Drive)
Drive 3 - 4Tb Lacie d2 Quadra ???????? - USB3, Thunderbolt (Partitioned as - My Clone of internal Drives)
Drive 4 - 500Gb - Lacie Porsche Design/bus powered portable drive - USB3/USB2 backwards compatible (My portable transport drive)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Here is my Original Configuration that I ran speed tests on before changing anything.
Drive 1 - Originally connected and tested as a FW800. Write: 41.0 Read: 41.5
Drive 2 - Originally connected and tested as a FW800. Write: 40.0 Read: 47.0
Drive 3 - Originally connected and tested as a Thunderbolt. Write: 130.1 Read: 129.9
Drive 4 - Originally connected and tested as a USB2.0 Drive. Write: 19.1 Read: 24.1
----------------------------------------------------------------
After looking at the various connection methods available and determining what each drive was used for, I came to the following final re-configuration and testing results.
Drive 1 - Connected as USB3 plugged into the USB3 hub. Write: 119.7 Read: 119.9
Drive 2 - Connected as Esata. Write: 108.5 Read: 109.9 (And YES you can use the USB3 and Esata connections on the adapter at the same time.)
Drive 3 - Remained as Thunderbolt
Drive 4 - Connected as USB3 plugged into the USB3 hub. Write: 48.6 Read 73.8
----------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some additional test results that I found in my experiments, but did not use as my final configuration.
Drive 1 - Connected as Esata. Write: 119.3 Read: 120.9
Drive 3 - Connected as USB3 plugged into the USB3 hub. Write: 127.4 Read: 129.1
----------------------------------------------------------------
Again my speeds were basically limited to the hard drives I use, but I basically increased all of my through-put speeds on all of the drives with the use of the adapter and a USB3 hub. I have removed all use of the Firewire 800 interface at this point. Plus I have additional USB3 expansion available.
A Possible issue for me: With the new adapter and my one thunderbolt drive, I have filled both thunderbolt ports on the iMac. However if I ever need it for additional expansion, I can always move my thunderbolt drive to USB3 as well, with only a very small performance hit on it’s transfer speeds.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask.
Thanks for all the info and the review! A couple questions:
Is the USB 3.0 hub you used powered?
Why the difference in speed between Drive 1 and Drive 4 on your final configuration?
Is the USB 3.0 hub you used powered?
Why the difference in speed between Drive 1 and Drive 4 on your final configuration?
Last edited:
Yes the USB3 hub is powered, Here is a link on Amazon to it:
http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DMEJPOS/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
As for the speed of Drive 1 and 4. Drive 4 is a portable bus powered 500Gb drive. Which most likely has a slow platter speed of 5400RPM or even slower. PLUS I have Apple's Disk Encryption turned on for that drive in case it gets lost. So I am sure that will affect it as well.
The usb3 port on the Kanex adapter IS self powered from the thunderbolt port. So yes with my ONE wire portable USB3 drive all power comes thru the adapter to the drive, and works fine.
I got my adapter the other day and tried it out. Only quickly tested it with a WD Passport drive and a generic USB key. R/W speeds on the Passport drive were in the low 70s where I regularly got in the high 80s on a generic USB3 card in an underpowered desktop PC with the same drive. Also, the adapter runs quite warm and a pen drive I inserted into it got far too hot for my liking just being attached without any speed test run on it. Compromises.
I noted the adapter only shows up in System Profiler under PCI cards. No entry under Thunderbolt or USB nor any devices attached to it. I also have a Seagate TB to SATA adapter and that shows up where expected. This is on a 2011 iMac. Odd.
Kanex also sent this to me from the US marked as a 'gift' with a value of $5. Unusual for a US outfit to do something like this. I assumed the high postage charges were partly due to import VAT, which was not levied. I got it within three days of its leaving the L.A. depot so shipping is fairly swift.
I noted the adapter only shows up in System Profiler under PCI cards. No entry under Thunderbolt or USB nor any devices attached to it. I also have a Seagate TB to SATA adapter and that shows up where expected. This is on a 2011 iMac. Odd.
Kanex also sent this to me from the US marked as a 'gift' with a value of $5. Unusual for a US outfit to do something like this. I assumed the high postage charges were partly due to import VAT, which was not levied. I got it within three days of its leaving the L.A. depot so shipping is fairly swift.