Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
Does anyone know if and when Apple will offer a thunderbolt to USB 3.0 adapter?
Mac OS X (10.7.3)
There are no TB to anything adapters at the moment and it is not clear there ever will be. At any rate we're all just users here like you and don't know any more than you do.
Actually there are two thunderbolt to usb 3.0 devices currently available, belkin thunderbolt express dock ($400) and matrox ds1 ($250). These offer not just usb 3.0 but also several other ports like ethernet, etc.
So yes but they're expensive now, presumably cheaper ones (such as only thunderbolt-usb 3.0 and nothing else) will come out
Thanks for this info, Jack. Unfortunately Belkin's Thunderbolt Express Dock has only (3) USB-2 ports. 😮 And the Matrox has 1 USB3, but no daisy chain Thunderbolt port. 😕 I've been loving the heck out of my 2011 Air for a year now, but it sure would be nice to get some faster peripheral storage up in here!
Actually Belkin have revised their solution and the one that will eventually hit production appears to have multiple USB 3 ports!
Robin
Ah, yes. Here's the link.
$399 still strikes me as absurdly overpriced. I mean, it's virtually half the cost of a whole new MacBook Air!
I have been searching for a TB to USB 3.0 for the past few days because I purchased an external hard drive that is compatable with both USB 2 and 3. My 2011 macbook pro is among the last models before apple incorporated USB 3 so an adapter would dramatically accelerate my back ups. However, I doubt apple will release a TB to USB3 adapter to the public.
Since their new line of macs come with USB 3.0 ports. I'd imagine apple hasn't provided it's customers with the adapter because the release of such an adapter would just minimalize the new macs and give buyers less incentive to buy their new products.
That's just my opinion and maybe I am just ignorantly upset with apple but I cannot imagine that a TB to USB3 adapter would be that difficult to create. I have a TB to HDMI cable that transfers crystal clear HD videos to my TV. This low cost, $7, cable seems simpler than a TB to USB3 adapter. I hope I am not over-simplifying the adapter and hating on apple's business for no reason, but I feel like the company is ignoring their customers.
I agree, Dean. My 2011 Air is the last one without USB 3. Why did it take Apple so long to embrace USB 3? Maybe they through that 2011-12 would bring a firestorm of TB development and USB 3 would be forgotten by apple users. If so, it was a bad gamble and users like you and I take the loss. Barring the release of an affordable TB to FW800 adapter, we're stuck with USB 2 for now. This Air has a 128GB SSD, so you can imagine I rely on external storage quite a bit.
I guess if you're willing to pay $550 (including TB cable) for 4TB, you can get the WD TB version of MyBook:
I cannot imagine that a TB to USB3 adapter would be that difficult to create. I have a TB to HDMI cable that transfers crystal clear HD videos to my TV. This low cost, $7, cable seems simpler than a TB to USB3 adapter.
For Thunderbolt to HDMI the adapter merely connects pins on the two connectors. The computer graphics chip detect the adapter and send DVI video (electrically the same as HDMI) to certain pins on the Thunderbolt port. The adapter sends these signals to the correct HDMI pins.
A Thunderbolt to USB 3 adapter needs a PCI controller to use the PCI bus included in Thunderbolt.
Why did it take Apple so long to embrace USB 3?
The Ivy Bridge chip used in the latest Macs includes USB 3 support. The chips in older Macs didn't, so they would have needed to add a PCI to USB 3 interface just to support the very few USB 3 devices available at the time.
Thanks for both of these informative posts, Malcolm! 🙂
Its $299
Finally just about released!
http://9to5mac.com/2013/02/14/belkin-thunderbolt-express-dock-pre-orders-go-live /
Thunderbolt to USB 3.0 adapter
