USB-C upgrade

mfrankkk wrote:

....

What I am trying to do is take advantage of the increased speed of the USB-C ports. ....

Your iMac will only access the devices at the speeds it supports.

There is no "upgrade" that you can do other than by a new

computer.

With the late 2013 iMac, that means your speed is limited to

USB 3 speed. To my knowledge (and a quick Google search)

there is no "backward" adapter for the Thunderbolt 1 port

to USB-C. Even if there was, it would still be limited to

the Thunderbolt 1 speed.

romad wrote:

😊 Oops!

However, here are adapters/cables that allow you to plug USB-C peripherals into USB-A 3.0 ports on computers: https://tinyurl.com/ycq78zxk

That is true, but you will still only get the speed that the

computer is capable of, i.e. in the case of the OP, USB 3 Gen 1

or what was just called USB3.

You don't have USB-C ports on that iMac.

You need to have one of these models: Thunderbolt - Apple

By that I mean the iMac Pro, MacBook Pro, new MacBook Air, or new Mac Mini.

Alternately, you can wait until the new Mac Pro is released in 2019 or 2020 as it will have Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports.

As I stated your computer has no support for using USB-C ports. You are stuck with USB 2.0 speed. You have a mini-DisplayPort but not a Thunderbolt port, I believe. If you had Thunderbolt 2 port then you could get higher data speed.

If you have an iMac then you can't use anything USB-C. If you could provide more specific and more complete information I may be able to help more.

Please read Writing an effective Apple Support Communities question.

We are here to help. We are all users. We are not mind-readers nor clairvoyants. We only know what you write down and tell us. Be specific and thorough. Include your hardware information and installed version of macOS.

Are you talking about an USB-C Memory Card READER? If so, then you need to find an adapter that will let you plug the USB-C plug on the reader into the old USB-A ports on the iMac. Of course you won't get the higher USB-C speed, just the speed of the USB-A port.

Actually Apple has one: Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter - Apple but as you say they'll be limited the T-bolt 1 or 2 speeds.

I believe that is for connecting a Thunderbolt 3 equipped computer

to a Thunderbolt 2 device, not the other way around as the OP

intends to do.

😊 Oops!

However, here are adapters/cables that allow you to plug USB-C peripherals into USB-A 3.0 ports on computers: https://tinyurl.com/ycq78zxk

Yep, I mentioned that in my post on Memory Card Readers below.