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USB 3.0 Support?
- Thread starter MistaBungle
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The current Macs support it. Apple simply refuses to include it in lieu of Thunderbolt. I have no idea why as USB 3.0 is completely backwards compatible. You can plug any USB 2.0 device to the 3.0 and it'll work all the same. Makes no sense for them not to use it since everyone could still use their devices.
That's incorrect. The current Macs do not have USB 3 support because Sandy Bridge does not have native USB 3 support. Ivy Bridge will have USB 3.
They fit the massive Thunderbolt controller on the PCB and yet not a much smaller USB 3.0 one.
You'd need to add a card or an external adapter since there's no chip built-in in Sandy Bridge.
You can add an expansion card in the Express slot and drivers provided by LaCie if you want USB 3.0. Apple has been fully capable of making 3.0 available, they have just chosen not to do so.
That is not what I meant. Apple could very well include USB 3.0 if they wanted to.
There are 2 parts to this.
The first is hardware support. And that is probably coming with Ivy Bridge based Macs and hopefully the next Mac Pro whatever processor it uses.
The other part of this is the device drivers. Does the current preview of Mountain Lion have USB 3.0 device drivers in it?
The first is hardware support. And that is probably coming with Ivy Bridge based Macs and hopefully the next Mac Pro whatever processor it uses.
The other part of this is the device drivers. Does the current preview of Mountain Lion have USB 3.0 device drivers in it?
I stuck a Caldigit 4-port USB 3.0 & eSATA in my Mac, and it works perfectly as it should in Snow Leopard, so life is good as far as I'm concerned. It even powers bus-powered hard drives like the Western Digital My Passport USB 3.0 drives, and hot-pluggable.
What is your opinion on that expansion? Is it working well for you? The LaCie one kinda blows, much like all their products.
I love it. I mean, it really works perfectly. I had the $50 Newer Tech one that was only 2 eSATA ports, and you had to reboot to see a drive. With this one, both eSATA and USB 3.0 works hot plug and speedy as a cuss.
USB 3.0 support is available in OS X 10.8 and Mac OS X 10.7.4 for certain IB-Macs, but not in the DPs.