Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3.1 (gen1)

Question

Level 1

8 points

Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3.1 (gen1)

Hi y'all,

I've got a 2013 27" iMac with Thunderbolt 2.

I'm looking at some external RAID enclosures that use USB 3.1 (gen1), and hardware-wise use the normal USB 3.x B-type connector.

I know my Mac has USB 3.0 connectors, and will work fine with the 3.1 protocol, however it would be nice to get 3.1's 10Gbit/s speed.

I was considering getting Apple's Thunderbolt 2 > USB 3.1 Type C adapter to get from Thunderbolt 2 in my iMac, to USB type C, and then get a type C > 3.1 type B adapter.

So to sum up:

[iMac Thunderbolt port] > [Thunderbolt 2 cable] > [Thunderbolt 2 to USB 3.1 Type C Adapter] > [USB 3.1 Type C to USB 3.1 Type B Adapter] > [USB 3.1 RAID harddrive]

Has anyone done this?

Do you think this would work?

Posted on Feb 22, 2017 2:48 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 8, 2017 8:27 AM in response to JakeDK

With all the new USB-C (USB 3.1) devices, It would be nice to take my iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) with Thunderbolt 2, and connect it to the higher speed devices. I see many Thunderbolt 3 to USB-C as thunderbolt 3 has the USB embedded into it, and FWIKT it does not need electronics to create the USB 3.1 it is just there, like Display Port signal is there on all Thunderbolts.

Thunderbolt 2 HOST and an ability to connect USB-C at higher data rates than USB 3.0

Anyone know of such a device?

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Answer 2

Feb 22, 2017 3:40 AM in response to JakeDK

USB3 Gen1 is just a renaming of USB3. No matter what you do,

USB3 Gen1 is still only going to have the "theoretical" maximum

throughput of 5 Gbps.

USB3 Gen2 has the "theoretical" maximum throughput of 10 Gbps.

It was the USB specification committee that decided on the renaming

and creating subsequent confusion.

So, bottomline, you are no better off using any adapter string

to convert Thunderbolt to interface with USB3 Gen1 than just plugging

into the USB3 port.

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Answer 3

JakeDK Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 22, 2017 3:46 AM in response to woodmeister50

Thanks man.

I know about the connections and I guess I expressed myself incorrectly ;)

The enclosure I'm looking at has USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbit), but it uses the older blue Gen 1 type B connector.

I want to go from Thunderbolt 2 to that :)

So what I need is:

iMac TB2 > TB2 to TB3 USB Type C > USB Type C > USB 3.x Type B

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Answer 4

JakeDK Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 22, 2017 11:42 AM in response to BDAqua

Thanks buddy.

That dock will only supply USB 3.0 ports, not 3.1 Gen 2.

After googling all day, this kind of adapter doesn't seem to exist. It's technically doable, but no one has apparently made any yet.

It's easy to go from TB2 to TB3 with a simple cable, because TB3 is protocol backwards compatible with TB1+2, and uses the new type C connector, and because USB 3.1 Gen2 is a part of the TB3 protocol.

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Feb 22, 2017 11:27 AM in response to JakeDK

I wonder if this would work?

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB2DOCK12P/

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