Using MBA TB2/MiniDisplayport for data

[Ben J.]

I have a 2017 MBA with USB 3.0 ports and a Thunderbolt 2 port.
I'm going around in circles trying to find a way to utilize some of the speed this TB2 port supposedly has (10Mbs) over the slower (5Gbs) USB 3.0 ports. I'd like to be able to plug in my USB-C portable drives. Or maybe my TB3 enclosure w/NVMe SSD.

Seems like there were never any storage devices made for TB2, and I'm not sure there are adapters that will do this USBC-to-Thunderbolt2 conversion for me.

Any advice (except for "dump the old thing") appreciated.

 

[chrfr]

I have a 2017 MBA with USB 3.0 ports and a Thunderbolt 2 port.
I'm going around in circles trying to find a way to utilize some of the speed this TB2 port supposedly has (10Mbs) over the slower (5Gbs) USB 3.0 ports. I'd like to be able to plug in my USB-C portable drives. Or maybe my TB3 enclosure w/NVMe SSD.

Seems like there were never any storage devices made for TB2, and I'm not sure there are adapters that will do this USBC-to-Thunderbolt2 conversion for me.

Any advice (except for "dump the old thing") appreciated.

Apple has a Thunderbolt 2 to 3 adapter, which is bidirectional, but it won’t pass power through to Thunderbolt 3 devices so it’s unlikely to be useful for you. You could buy a Thunderbolt 3 dock that’s powered, and connect devices to that, and then use the adapter to connect the dock to your Mac, but that starts to get quite expensive.

 

[Ben J.]

Apple has a Thunderbolt 2 to 3 adapter, which is bidirectional, but it won’t pass power through to Thunderbolt 3 devices so it’s unlikely to be useful for you. You could buy a Thunderbolt 3 dock that’s powered, and connect devices to that, and then use the adapter to connect the dock to your Mac, but that starts to get quite expensive.

Thanks. That's good info.
I guess I'd be happy if there was a way to connect USB-C drives to the TB2 input, and they could use the bandwidth, but I've not been able to find an adapter.

Edit: Oh, wait. Could the Apple TB2-3 adapter do that for me?

Edit 2: Also, the adapters I find are mostly male/female the wrong way around.

 

[joevt]

Thanks. That's good info.
I guess I'd be happy if there was a way to connect USB-C drives to the TB2 input, and they could use the bandwidth, but I've not been able to find an adapter.

Edit: Oh, wait. Could the Apple TB2-3 adapter do that for me?

Edit 2: Also, the adapters I find are mostly male/female the wrong way around.

Connect the Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter between your MBA and a Thunderbolt 3 device (such as a Thunderbolt 3 dock) that has two Thunderbolt 3 ports. The second Thunderbolt 3 port of the Thunderbolt 3 device can be used to connect USB-C or Thunderbolt devices including bus-powered devices.

Other Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapters only support connecting Thunderbolt 1/2 devices to Thunderbolt 3 hosts. Only the Apple adapter allows connecting Thunderbolt 3 devices to Thunderbolt 1/2 hosts.

 

[arw]

Also, the adapters I find are mostly male/female the wrong way around.

The only confirmed working bi-directional Thunderbolt-3-to-2 adapter is from Apple.
The only way to connect it to your MBA is via an additional Thunderbolt 2 cable in between.
I can confirm Apple's 0,5 and 2 m cables to be working perfectly with said adapter.

Charging Essentials - Mac Accessories

Find cables, charging docks and battery cases for Mac. Charge and sync up your Mac. Buy online with fast, free shipping

www.apple.com

(I use this combo to connect an eGPU or newer USB-C Macs in Target-Disk-Mode to my older TB2 Macs)

 

[Ben J.]

The only confirmed working bi-directional Thunderbolt-3-to-2 adapter is from Apple.
The only way to connect it to your MBA is via an additional Thunderbolt 2 cable in between.
I can confirm Apple's 0,5 and 2 m cables to be working perfectly with said adapter.

Charging Essentials - Mac Accessories

Find cables, charging docks and battery cases for Mac. Charge and sync up your Mac. Buy online with fast, free shipping

www.apple.com

(I use this combo to connect an eGPU or newer USB-C Macs in Target-Disk-Mode to my older TB2 Macs)

Many, many thanks for this very clear and enlightening anwer. This sounds like a plan. Lastly; if I get this TB2 cable and the TB2-to-3 adapter, will it provide power to any USB-c drive that I connect? Do you know?

 

[Ben J.]

Lastly; if I get this TB2 cable and the TB2-to-3 adapter, will it provide power to any USB-c drive that I connect? Do you know?

Nevermind. I think I found the answer:
Apple support TB adapter
It says the adapter will not provide power.

It looks like I'll just drop the whole idea, and settle for the old usb3 technology for external storage on my Macbook Air. I did learn a few things though. Thanks to everyone.

 

[chrfr]

Nevermind. I think I found the answer:
Apple support TB adapter
It says the adapter will not provide power.

It looks like I'll just drop the whole idea, and settle for the old usb3 technology for external storage on my Macbook Air. I did learn a few things though. Thanks to everyone.

Correct, this is why you'd need to buy a powered Thunderbolt 3 dock.

 

[Ben J.]

Correct, this is why you'd need to buy a powered Thunderbolt 3 dock.

And then the cost would not be worth it for me, but thanks.