Hi there.
I just spent a lot of money on a Samsung T5 ext SSD HD, an Apple Thunderbolt 3 to 2 converter and a Thunderbolt 2 cable only to find out it doesn't work. I don't know why. It works via USB3 but that defeats the object of trying to go via TB in the first place.
Does anyone else know of hardware setups that will work? Lacie SSD maybe but the maybe the same issue.
Thanks.
Al.
MacBook Pro 15", macOS 10.14
Here is the device I was thinking about: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/external-drives/owc-drive-dock
I have one of these and it works very well. The nice part is that you can swap out other drives for backups, etc. as needed.
I think the problem with any other type of Thunderbolt interface is the power. Either the bus itself or the adapter doesn’t pass power.
You do get a little bit more than speed. An external thunderbolt drive is treated like an internal drive. The thunderbolt interface passes richer data like SMART status and other information about the hardware that USB doesn’t. External USB drives can be flaky due to the USB bus. I have setup a DIY Fusion drive using my Thunderbolt dock. That was important for my testing because I wanted to make sure it was treated internally exactly like an internal drive.
I think one of the only options is the OWC Thunderbolt dock. You can put a bare SSD into it.
That Apple dongle is only used to connect thunderbolt 1 or 2 devices. One end goes to the thunderbolt 3 Mac and the other to some thunderbolt 1 or 2 device. That Samsung does not qualify.
Hi there.
So actually I'm trying to go the wrong way around? If as you say the dongle only upscales legacy TB and doesn't downgrade TB 3.
That would pretty much mean there is no solution unless there are legacy external SSD products out there that are TB equipped.
Thanks.
Al.
Hi there.
Thanks for that. Ouch that's quite price to pay for a bit of extra speed. Hmm by that thought maybe an empty thunderbolt 2 caddy for ssd? Not sure if such exists. Will take a peak.
Ta.
Al.
SSD Compatible With Thunderbolt 2
