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Four Bay Thunderbolt 2 enclosure with USB 3?

InuNacho

InuNacho

macrumors 68010
Original poster
Apr 24, 2008
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1,262
In that one place
I know I'm late to the party, but my old NewerTech dual bay USB 3 enclosure isn't really cutting it anymore. What good four bay Thunderbolt 2 / USB 3 enclosures are out there? Capacity isn't that big a deal since I'd most likely add my own drives to it.
Enclosure must have both interfaces as I'm connecting both my MacBook Pro and Mac Pro to it.
 
monokakata said:
Well, if you'd be OK with backwards compatibility TB3 TB2 and willing to get some USB-A--> USB-C cables, there's this one:

https://www.akitio.com/desktop-storage/akitio-thunder3-quad

I have an earlier model, and it's been solid for nearly two years now.
Click to expand...
I'm confused by your method. My MBP is a 2012 model which means its only Thunderbolt 1/2 compatible. What your saying is that I can use an adapter to adapt 1/2 to 3? I would still need to connect my Mac Pro over USB 3 as well.
 
You need a TB 2/3 adapter, which you can get from Apple.

I used it to connect a TB3 iMac Pro to an earlier OWC Thunderbay that was TB2.

However, I'm pretty sure you can use it to connect TB2 computer to a TB3 device. TB3 devices are backwards-compatible.

To be sure, I'd have to dig out the dongle -- put it away when I got the Akitio -- but I'm pretty sure it's bi-directional. I do have a TB2 Macbook and so if you'd like me to experiment, I will (provided I can find the dongle).

The USB3 connection shouldn't be a problem It's easy to find USB cables that are Type A on one end, type C on the other.

Let me know if you'd like me to experiment.
 
Ahh ok, I wasn't aware Thunderbolt could be "forwards compatible" like that. Yes if you could try it, that would be very much appreciated. I've been looking at weird Chinese no-name brands because I've been running out of ideas.
 
Amazingly, the dongle was where I thought it was.

This setup:

MBP 2015 TB2 port --> TB2/TB2 cable --> Apple TB3/TB2 dongle --> Akitio bay

works perfectly.

You need this dongle:

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter

and then any ordinary TB2/TB2 cable.

EDIT: Damn. I thought the Akitio ports were dual USB/TB, so I plugged in the MBP via its USB port and got an error message "Thunderbolt only." Those ports aren't USB3. So that's a problem for you. There doesn't seem to be any USB connectivity with that box.

If I got your hopes up, I'm sorry.

G-Technology has some units with TB2/3 and USB, though. I have an old one and it works fine.
OWC has a dual drive unit with TB/USB
 
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