Hi.
I've recently gotten into the use of Thunderbolt 3, mainly for the use of eGPUs. Recently I've been using a TB3 to TB2 adapter so I've been unable to take full advantage of all the uses Thunderbolt 3 has, such as the full data transfer speed, a charging source, and some others. Is it possible to install a Thunderbolt 3 card in, say a 2014 mac mini and 2011 macbook pro, via PCIe or similar?
Thanks.
There are no ThunderBolt expansion cards, and as long as intel controls the specs and the chips, there never will be one.
To run ThunderBolt devices, a computer must have left the factory "thunderBolt capable". in all cases except one ASUS system, that means the thunderbolt chips are already on-board. In that one exception case, the ThunderBolt card has a reserved slot, but is de-populated to reduce the initial purchase price.
No. no expansion slots on a Mac Mini like that, and to my knowledge no TB3 discreet cards exist either.
On Macs that have Thunderbolt 3 ports they are built into the logic board.
And if possible, is it worth the money?
Is it possible to install a Thunderbolt 3 card on older Macs?
