I have a new MacBook Air (Tahoe 26.6) and I need to transfer current items from my MacBook Pro (Intel/Sonoma 14.8.5). I have an adapter for Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 but no cable. I see that there are many on Amazon but I am not sure how many pins the TB 2 need. Can someone suggest the pin count or does it not matter? Thanks
MacBook Air (M5, 2026)
Not entirely sure why you need to be counting pins. Thunderbolt 2 is a single type of cable.
I can't find any Thunderbolt 2 cable that specifies pins, because it's not really a thing.
As long as it says Thunderbolt 2 cable it will work.
Are you sure you are looking at an actual Thunderbolt 2 cables?
See this cable for example:
click here ➜ 20Gbps Thunderbolt2 Cable Thunder-Bolt 2 Port to Thunderbolt 2 Male to Male - Amazon.com
Not entirely sure why you need to be counting pins. Thunderbolt 2 is a single type of cable.
I can't find any Thunderbolt 2 cable that specifies pins, because it's not really a thing.
As long as it says Thunderbolt 2 cable it will work.
Are you sure you are looking at an actual Thunderbolt 2 cables?
See this cable for example:
click here ➜ 20Gbps Thunderbolt2 Cable Thunder-Bolt 2 Port to Thunderbolt 2 Male to Male - Amazon.com
If you have a MBP running Sonoma …
… are you sure that you have TB2 ports ??? (Actually Mini-DisplayPort connectors)
TB2 ports are slightly “squarish” vice the more modern USB-C Thunderbolt connectors.
It looks to me that the last MBP w/ TB2 ports can only run up to Monterrey. (MacOS 12)
<< I see that there are many on Amazon. >>
Then you are likely NOT looking at the right cables.
it needs to have the powerBolt with arrow symbol on each and, it needs to have this connector at each end:
In contrast, the MANY cables on Amazon have USB-3 and later connectors and support ThunderBolt-3, 4, and 5, or are simple Mini DisplayPort cables that will NOT work for Thunderbolt-2 purposes.
If you have an external Time Machine backup to SSD or HDD, you can transfer and use that.
The oldest MacBook Pro that can run Sonoma was a 2018 model.
The most recent MacBook Pro with a ThunderBolt-2 port was the 2015 model, which can only run Monterey.
Thank you everyone. You solved my question and obviously, I was looking at the wrong cables - so asking about pin numbers. Thunderbolt image on the cable solves all my issues. Thanks again.
Thunderbolt 2 cable pin count for MacBook data transfer
