Connecting USB Type C Lacie hard drive to Macbook Pro 15 Thunderbolt 2 port?

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Yuriy999 Author

Level 1

4 points

Connecting USB Type C Lacie hard drive to Macbook Pro 15 Thunderbolt 2 port?

Hi apple community,

I have recently purchased Lacie hard drive (STHG5000400).

I have 13 inch Macbook Pro Early 2015, which only has USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt 2 ports.

I want to get the maximum speed of my Lacie drive by connecting it to Thunderbolt 2 port of my mac.

The problem, however, that I cannot find the right adapter.

As I understand, I need an adapter from a Thunderbolt2 to a Type C Female. So I can connect it and use better speed of up to 20 mbps (TB2), comparing with the current speed I have with USB 3.0 (5mbps).

Is there a solution? An adapter? I need help!

MacBook Pro

Posted on Feb 20, 2020 11:13 AM

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Answer 1

y_p_w

Level 6

17,762 points

Feb 21, 2020 6:13 AM in response to Yuriy999

The use of that adapter requires an additional Thunderbolt 2 cable. I think some might be tempted to use a Mini-DisplayPort cable or a USB-C to Mini-DisplayPort cable without and additional adapter, but that won’t work for Thunderbolt.

Apple Thunderbolt Cable (0.5 m) - White - Apple

I’m not sure if it can connect to a USB-C device.

But in the end it’s a hard drive. Current hard drives aren’t capable of sustaining any transfer speed greater than USB 3.0 speeds anyways. The USB-C to USB-A cable that comes with it should be fine.

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Answer 2

y_p_w

Level 6

17,762 points

Feb 20, 2020 12:20 PM in response to Yuriy999

The usual answer would be the following, but I'm not sure if it can power a bus-powered device like that LaCie drive.

Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter - Apple

The specs for the drive show that it only has a USB-C port and no other inputs. So there's no way to get it to power on if you can't get power out of Thunderbolt 2 through the adapter.

https://www.lacie.com/products/mobile-drive/

In the end you're still dealing with a hard drive. Maybe some of the initial bursts might be going through the cache, but for sustained writes/reads the limiting factor is going to have is the speed of the drive itself. The data sheet says it comes with a USB-C to USB-A cable, so I'd say that's probably all you need to get the maximum speed out of it.

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Answer 3

Yuriy999 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 20, 2020 10:20 PM in response to y_p_w

Thanks for you answer.

The adapter you mentioned is not going to work since I would not be able to insert the "mother" of Thunderbolt 2 to "mother" of Thunderbolt 2 in my Macbook Pro.

In terms of power, I agree. It seems like that some source of power should be coming to an adapter from my macbook pro and than to Type C of hard drive. For now, I don't understand how to do it.

Maybe someone can still help...

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Answer 4

Yuriy999 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 25, 2020 12:55 AM in response to Yuriy999

Hi guys!

Still need help.

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Answer 5

Yuriy999 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 21, 2020 6:28 AM in response to y_p_w

But in the end it’s a hard drive. Current hard drives aren’t capable of sustaining any transfer speed greater than USB 3.0 speeds anyways. The USB-C to USB-A cable that comes with it should be fine.

That is not true. I have tested the speed of this hard drive using USB-C to USB-A cable, connecting it to my Macbook Pro. It gives me approximately 30 mb/s writing speed.

As per the test on internet, I found that USB-C to USB-C gives 130 mb/s , which is 5 times faster than USB-A.

Check this source for reference: https://www.storagereview.com/node/7361

Even though I will not be able to get such speed since I don't havep USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 port, my goal is to get the maximum speed of Thunderbolt 2, which should be much faster than USB-A.

The use of that adapter requires an additional Thunderbolt 2 cable.

The problem here is that with adapter + cable, hard drive is not going to be powered since Thunderbolt 2 does not give the power out. So, it won't work.

Still looking for the solution!

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Answer 6

y_p_w

Level 6

17,762 points

Feb 21, 2020 6:49 AM in response to Yuriy999

Yuriy999 wrote:

But in the end it’s a hard drive. Current hard drives aren’t capable of sustaining any transfer speed greater than USB 3.0 speeds anyways. The USB-C to USB-A cable that comes with it should be fine.

That is not true. I have tested the speed of this hard drive using USB-C to USB-A cable, connecting it to my Macbook Pro. It gives me approximately 30 mb/s writing speed.

Then the likely reason is because the included USB-C to USB-A cable is 2.0. Quite a few are and they’re OK for providing power or basic transfers.

You might want to try a USB-C to USB-A Gen 2 cable. They’re easy to spot because the plastic insert in the USB-A connector will be blue. Many will have the “SS” (super speed) label on the connectors. Here are some examples:

https://www.anker.com/products/variant/usb-type-c-cable,-anker-powerline--usb-c-to-usb-30-cable-3ft/A81680A2

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=24287

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Answer 7

Yuriy999 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 22, 2020 1:43 AM in response to y_p_w

It seems like that USB 3.0 cable is already included in the package, and this is the one I am using now.

https://www.lacie.com/products/mobile-drive/#features

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Answer 8

y_p_w

Level 6

17,762 points

Feb 25, 2020 9:21 AM in response to Yuriy999

When you plug it in with the USB-C to USB-A connector, what does it say in System Report under USB? It should list the speed of the link. I suspect what you have may not be a USB 3.0 cable.

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Connecting USB Type C Lacie hard drive to Macbook Pro 15 Thunderbolt 2 port?

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