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USB-C SSD external drive extremely slow when connectet USB-C to Thunderbolt 3 via Apple original USB-C to USB-C charging cable

Well, that was exhausting but essentially on point.

I have an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017), 4,2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, 16 GB 2400 MHz DDR4, Radeon Pro 580 8 GB

My external SSD drive is a 1TB Adata SE800 SSD with USB-C connector.

This is what reads out when I connect it to one of USB-A slots in my iMac. And the workflow speed (premiere, photoshop, after effects) checks out.

However!

If I connect it via the Thunderbolt 3 / usb-c it's a whole different story.

Dreadfully slow. Is this not weird? Anyone has any idea what to do about this?

Thank you kindly for any insight.

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 12.1

Posted on Feb 3, 2022 11:46 AM

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46,020 points

Posted on Feb 3, 2022 11:49 AM

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities.

The Apple Charge Cable is for charging only and not data transfer, as it is slow at only USB 2.0.

You need a proper USB-C cable, such as this one.

Jack

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