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Need an easy way to add USB3.0 to Mid-2011 MacMini

Looking for an easy and inexpensive way to add USB3.0 to my Mid-2011 MacMini.


It has Firewire800, USB2 and Thunderbolt.


I have several new USB3.0 hard drives that work great with my 2012 Macbook Air, but would like the same speed on my MacMini, which is my main "desktop" computer.


thanks.

Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Nov 30, 2012 7:13 AM

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20 replies

Nov 30, 2012 7:25 AM in response to RRFS

"Go ThunderBolt or FireWire if your drives have the ports." - If they had Thunderbolt or Firewire I would.... but I didn't say that did I? I have USB3.0 Drives. One has ESATA, which also isn't very helpful with a Mid-2011 MacMini.


"The USB 3.0 ports are part of the Logic Board." - Which logic board? On a Mid-2011 MacMini, no, they are USB2.0

Nov 30, 2012 7:47 AM in response to lbproductions

OK. Sorry I thought youwanted to install USB ports in your 2011. In order to have a MacMini with USB 3.0 installed you need a 2012, the USB ports are part of the Logic Board of ALL minis. There may be a hub that provides USB 3.0 from a FireWire feed but it wouldn't be as fast. There is a Belkin hub in the works for ThunderBolt to USB 3.o, e-sata, FireWire 800, but no market release date yet.

Nov 30, 2012 8:38 AM in response to lbproductions

The simple answer:

"There is no way that is both easy and inexpensive to add USB 3 to your Mac Mini that did not come with USB 3 built-in."


There are ways to do it using a Thunderbolt to PCIe adapter, and then get a USB 3 PCI3 card. But that would be a very expensive solution.


There are some hubs, some available now and others in the pipeline, that will do the job. But while not as expensive as a Thunderbolt to PCI3 adapter, they're not cheap.


I haven't seen a single relatively inexpensive Thunderbolt to USB 3 adapter on the market, but it's possible they exist and I missed them.


There are FireWire 800 to USB 3 adapters, and they're not terribly expensive. But you will be limited to FireWire 800 speeds (plenty good enough if you ask me, and much better than USB 2).


I'm still partial to FireWire 800 over USB 3, because USB still requires more attention from the CPU. For now, I'm buying storage devices that have both interfaces.

Nov 30, 2012 8:55 AM in response to lbproductions

Google can be your friend here, but if you insist that I do it...


Thunderbolt to PCIe

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/HELIOSTB1/


PCIe USB Card

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/CalDigit/FASTA6GU3/


"Some Hubs" – well, only one below but there are a lot more

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ministack


FireWire 800 to USB 3 Adapter

OK, you caught me here. I couldn't find anything that I was confident would work and cost under $30 and didn't belong to the "some hubs" category. Pretty sure I've seen these, though of course my memory could be faulty or what I might have seen were cables designed to allow powering of external devices only without carrying data.

Nov 30, 2012 9:04 AM in response to Allan Eckert

Plug and pray! Plug in the Thunderbolt to PCIe bus, plug the PCI3 USB card into the PCIe bus. Then pray it works!


I'm just spit-balling here, Allan. I haven't tried any of these things myself. My original point stands: There is currently no easy and inexpensive way to do what the OP wants to do. I suppose that if I were desperate and needed to do this myself, I'd get the MiniStack.

Nov 30, 2012 9:06 AM in response to John Hammer1

"Google can be your friend here, but if you insist that I do it..." - Not so much Insist, but more, put your words to a thing. Sometimes verbage on Google is very important, my words vs yours could return two completely different things. I've spent a while on Google looking and haven't found much, which is why I'm here asking other mac users.


"Some Hubs" - Is not a Hub, it's a hard drive.


Your PCIe solution is very expensive, thanks for giving me pictures and prices to the idea.


Allan... you have to use the combo of the 2 PCIe components. The Thunderbolt to PCIe enclose, then put the PCIe to USB3 card inside the enclosure.

Need an easy way to add USB3.0 to Mid-2011 MacMini

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