JHZR2
Staff member
Those... what good are they? Yeah, I know they’re roughly the same as Mini DisplayPort. But I have no need for that. I would like another standard USB port, but are not finding adapters.
Is this port just useless at this point?
Worthless Thunderbolt 1 Ports?
- Thread starter JHZR2
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Those... what good are they? Yeah, I know they’re roughly the same as Mini DisplayPort. But I have no need for that. I would like another standard USB port, but are not finding adapters.
Is this port just useless at this point?
What was its original intended use?
(Been posting a lot today. Nothing to do today. Soaking up the info.)
One quick thing-since you have two I'm assuming these are on a Retina MBP. That makes them Thunderbolt 2.
Second-they still have a lot of potential. Among other things, not too long ago I used TB to clone one Mac over to another with one in target disk mode. That's a handy one.
External storage over TB can be crazy fast.
One of the big ones that I've never done, but interests me, is eGPUs. They're not officially supported over TB1/2, but they're easy to make supported.
With appropriate adapters/cables, TB3 peripherals can be connected to these ports.
Second-they still have a lot of potential. Among other things, not too long ago I used TB to clone one Mac over to another with one in target disk mode. That's a handy one.
External storage over TB can be crazy fast.
One of the big ones that I've never done, but interests me, is eGPUs. They're not officially supported over TB1/2, but they're easy to make supported.
With appropriate adapters/cables, TB3 peripherals can be connected to these ports.
OVERKILL
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Yes, it works as a mini displayport port, I've used them for that purpose with a MDP to HDMI adapter.
As bunnspecial noted, they can be useful for connecting external storage devices, that's a big plus.
As bunnspecial noted, they can be useful for connecting external storage devices, that's a big plus.
TB3 is backwards compatible with a TB2 port. You’ll just lose out on USB 3.x with USB-PD. Thunderbolt is essentially PCIe multiplexed into the alt mode pins of USB-C or the unused pins of a Mini-DP connector.
Well, to correct myself, Thunderbolt 2 has 20Gbps of theoretical speed, and TB3 can hit 40Gbps. Again, fancy multiplexing of the PCIe lanes at work. You need a TB3 to TB2 adapter Apple sells to get the backwards compatibility but like I said, no USB 3/USB-PD.
I bought a docking bay for my Thinkpad 25 that uses Thunderbolt 3. That puts a lot of different signals across that one interface, as compared to the legacy method of a 80 or so pin connector on the bottom of the laptop.
Drawback is it's an Intel chip thing, from what I read, so what is Apple going to use on the M1 chip laptops? USB-C?
Drawback is it's an Intel chip thing, from what I read, so what is Apple going to use on the M1 chip laptops? USB-C?
JHZR2
Staff member
Yes, I realized after that they are thunderbolt 2.
I recognize that speed wise there is potential. But I am unable to find so much as a Thunderbolt to USB adapter that would let me use these. The gender always seems to be wrong. There are one or two $99 adapters that give a usb 3 and HDMI port. Id take the USB 3 even without speed advantage, but not for $99.
So how does one actually put these into use? Where do you find a male thunderbolt 2 to usb a or usb c or something else useful?
Apple included a Thunderbolt controller in their M1 chips, as well as support for USB4. Thunderbolt 3 and 4 as well as USB4 require USB-C connectors. Intel also is allowing pretty much anyone who wants to use Thunderbolt to do so, there are even a few AMD motherboards out there with thunderbolt.
Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG and Samsung make USB-C monitors, and Thunderbolt 3(or USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode) can drive a 4K-5K display with little issue, as long as you have the GPU to do so. The nice part about the USB-C monitors is they are almost like a docking station. One cable for power(at least 45W, Dell promises 65W on their monitors), data(USB 3) and display(usually DisplayPort, there is also an HDMI Alt Mode supported by some USB-C Alt Mode setups). Not all USB-C ports support the DP/HDMI Alt Mode, USB-Power Delivery or USB 3.x speeds.
Thunderbolt 3 and 2 can allow you to attach NVMe PCI Express based external SSDs and enjoy full speed with no bottlenecks like that with external hard drives where a USB to Serial ATA converter is used. That is especially true with “pro” grade storage media for production level cameras or external RAID arrays. NVMe SSDs and “pro” grade storage media for video cameras or dSLRs are also PCI Express based.
It's ancient now, and I wish it had been updated, but one of my favorite Apple peripherals of all time was the Thunderbolt display.
Back when Apple was really the only one using TB(in 2011) they rolled out a 27" display with the same panel as the 27" iMac and the 27" Cinema display. Aside from power, the display cable split out into two connectors, one Thunderbolt and one a Magsafe(1) charger. The back of the display had 4x USB 2.0, Firewire 800, Gigabit ethernet, and another TB port to allow daisy chaining. I would have loved to see Apple update it with USB 3.0(esp. since the first TB Macs didn't have USB 3.0) and maybe the 27" Retina panel.
There were a few other attempts at a TB1 dock-I think Belkin made one. They did similar things, but lacked the display.
TB is now really coming into its own, and again has a ton of potential.
Back when Apple was really the only one using TB(in 2011) they rolled out a 27" display with the same panel as the 27" iMac and the 27" Cinema display. Aside from power, the display cable split out into two connectors, one Thunderbolt and one a Magsafe(1) charger. The back of the display had 4x USB 2.0, Firewire 800, Gigabit ethernet, and another TB port to allow daisy chaining. I would have loved to see Apple update it with USB 3.0(esp. since the first TB Macs didn't have USB 3.0) and maybe the 27" Retina panel.
There were a few other attempts at a TB1 dock-I think Belkin made one. They did similar things, but lacked the display.
TB is now really coming into its own, and again has a ton of potential.
OVERKILL
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JHZR2
Staff member
Sorry, I guess I should have been more clear. Not interested at all in displays. Im interested in expansion of usb 3.0/3.1/3.2 type interfaces for the purpose of expanding storage and connections.
For example, my MBP has two USB 3.0 ports. When I backup my iPhone I have it set up to backup to an external drive. I have a separate drive to offload and backup photos. Thus to be simplest, I’d have three USB ports so that I could have my iPhone backup SSD, my photo backup HDD, and my iPhone.
I recognize that I could get a hub, but I don’t think I could plug the two drives, or the phone and a drive (maybe the phone and the SSD) into a hub unless I got a powered hub. More claptrap.
But it doesn’t look like I can get the TB2 ports to be useful without again more claptrap or a $99-type adapter that only yields one more USB port...
For example, my MBP has two USB 3.0 ports. When I backup my iPhone I have it set up to backup to an external drive. I have a separate drive to offload and backup photos. Thus to be simplest, I’d have three USB ports so that I could have my iPhone backup SSD, my photo backup HDD, and my iPhone.
I recognize that I could get a hub, but I don’t think I could plug the two drives, or the phone and a drive (maybe the phone and the SSD) into a hub unless I got a powered hub. More claptrap.
But it doesn’t look like I can get the TB2 ports to be useful without again more claptrap or a $99-type adapter that only yields one more USB port...
Is this your only Mac?
JHZR2
Staff member
No, I have a good number of them Between my wife and I, and older and newer ones. I don’t recall that any others have two thunderbolt 2 ports. I think my MBA has one thst might be thunderbolt 1 or Mini DisplayPort only. I don’t think my wife’s newer MBA has two either.
All Mac models introduced/updated since 2011 have had at least one TB port, with the exception of the ill-fated(and terrible) 12" Macbook. The early 2011 rev. of the MacBook Pro got them, as did the revised MBA, iMac, and Mini that year. The only hold-out was the Mac Pro, which didn't get them until the "trashcan" in 2013, but arguably a lot of the benefit/use of them is lost on towers with PCIe slots, so it's not a big deal.
A lot of the early TB installations were "sneaky" since those computers were designed with Mini-DP connectors, and TB just piggy backed onto that port using the same connector.
In any case, like I said, one of my biggest uses has always been target disk mode with another Mac. As an example, not too long ago, I did a bit of a "leapfrog" drive upgrade where I put a 1TB NVMe drive in my 2015 MBP, and then put the 512gb drive out of that computer in her 2015 Air. I didn't have an enclosure for the Apple PCIe drives, so I first put the NVMe drive in an external enclosure and cloned to it. There's some weirdness with APFS and cloning, so I then booted my computer off the external NVMe, put hers in Target Disk Mode, and cloned the drive in her computer to the one in mine before making the physical switch. That's super easy(and fast) to do over Thunderbolt.
And, there again, TB externals are stupid fast.
A lot of the early TB installations were "sneaky" since those computers were designed with Mini-DP connectors, and TB just piggy backed onto that port using the same connector.
In any case, like I said, one of my biggest uses has always been target disk mode with another Mac. As an example, not too long ago, I did a bit of a "leapfrog" drive upgrade where I put a 1TB NVMe drive in my 2015 MBP, and then put the 512gb drive out of that computer in her 2015 Air. I didn't have an enclosure for the Apple PCIe drives, so I first put the NVMe drive in an external enclosure and cloned to it. There's some weirdness with APFS and cloning, so I then booted my computer off the external NVMe, put hers in Target Disk Mode, and cloned the drive in her computer to the one in mine before making the physical switch. That's super easy(and fast) to do over Thunderbolt.
And, there again, TB externals are stupid fast.
JHZR2
Staff member
Can you provide a link for a TB drive enclosure?
Everything I look at has a female TB 2 connection, nothing with a USB hub/drive enclosure/etc with a male TB2 cable. Maybe thats on purpose and TB 2 is always male-male cables?
Most everything I look at is TB 3.
Sorry for being dense regarding this...
Everything I look at has a female TB 2 connection, nothing with a USB hub/drive enclosure/etc with a male TB2 cable. Maybe thats on purpose and TB 2 is always male-male cables?
Most everything I look at is TB 3.
Sorry for being dense regarding this...
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Yes, normally you'd use male-male connectors. There are several ways that it has a passing similarity to Firewire.
In any case, this adapter https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter will let you connect to TB-3 peripherals.
JHZR2
Staff member
Apparently it doesn’t. It seems like this thing is one way only.
It won’t mount my SSD at least...
The configuration you show SHOULD work provided that your drive is actually TB3 and not just plain USB-C. They share the same connector, but they are not necessarily one in the same.
Are you sure that's a TB3 drive?
Are you sure that's a TB3 drive?
