iPad Pro What is the actual port type on the M1 iPad Pro 12.9" 2021?

[hajime]

Hi, what is the actual port type on the M1 iPad Pro 12.9" 2021? From Apple's product page, it lists:

• Thunderbolt/USB 4 port with support for:
• Charging
• DisplayPort
• Thunderbolt 3 (up to 40Gb/s)
• USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s)
• USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)

By 'Thunderbolt/USB 4 port', I thought Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 port but then it lists Thunderbolt 3 under 'support for'. So it is fully compatible with Thunderbolt 4 or just Thunderbolt 3? When buying accessories for maximum transfer speed, shall I look for Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 3 products?

 

[DeltaMac]

The port on the M1 is called Thunderbolt/USB 4. Only the USB is v4. The same connector supports Thunderbolt 3 (not 4)
So far, the only Macs that support Thunderbolt 4 are the 2021 14 and 16-inch MBPro
And, for your iPad Pro, you would use Thunderbolt 3 devices.

 

[cupcakes2000]

The port on the M1 is called Thunderbolt/USB 4. Only the USB is v4. The same connector supports Thunderbolt 3 (not 4)
So far, the only Macs that support Thunderbolt 4 are the 2021 14 and 16-inch MBPro
And, for your iPad Pro, you would use Thunderbolt 3 devices.

Are you sure that’s accurate?

Thunderbolt 4 is essentially tb3 - it’s just I thought that the differences between tb 3 and tb 4 are more about standardising. It’s just that a lot of the relevent tb4 improvements are not relevent to an iPad (multi monitor etc)

More than happy to be proven wrong it’s just that as far as I understood it, it’s tb 4 compatible in so far as to say that tb 4 is that same as tb 3 for the most part when talking peripherals.

 

[DeltaMac]

Well, yes, unless you are talking about more than one display.
TB 3 might support more than one 4K display, but is not required to do that, at least according to the specs for that support.
TB4 will support two 4K displays - it's part of the specs for 4.
Some more (a little confusing) info here

​

 

[hajime]

If I buy TB4 accessories for future proof, will they work fine on the M1 iPad Pro 12.9" 2021 which has TB3?

 

[hajime]

Connecting my M1 iPad Pro directly to a PC via a Thunderbolt 3 port works and the iPad Pro is detected by the PC and iTunes. However, when connecting via Caldigit Thunderbolt 4 hub, the iPad Pro is not detected. What could be the reason?

 

[ondioline]

Are you using the cable that came with the Caldigit hub?

 

[hajime]

Are you using the cable that came with the Caldigit hub?

I have tried that cable and a longer version but both cables did not work if connecting via the hub.

Contacted Caldigit and they blamed that my PC is using Thunderbolt 3 rather than Thunderbolt 4. As a result, it does not work. They said that my PC has to have Thunderbolt 4. Is this really true? I thought there were backward compatibility.

They told me to connect the M1 iPad Pro to one of the four front ports on the hub via a USB-C to USB-A/B cable. This defeats the purpose of buying their expensive Thunderbolt 4 hub.

 

[DeltaMac]

Caldigit info page about PCs and Thunderbolt 4 seems to say that unless the PC actually has Thunderbolt 4, then it depends on the actual chip support for Thunderbolt 3 -- so, which chipset on the PC motherboard can affect how peripherals are supported, and how many ports on the hub actually support Thunderbolt - https://www.caldigit.com/caldigit-t...hub-compatibility-and-limitations-on-windows/

 

[iF34R]

Any way to get better transfer speeds via USB-C/Thunderbolt 3?

I'm using a iPad Pro 11" 2021 1TB. I have it connected to my Alienware R13, rear usbc port, 20Gb/s capable. I want to transfer movies with that connection, using a Thunderbolt 3 cable. Any way to utilize those speeds? It's supposed to be capable, I thought. Am I wrong? Latest iTunes, latest iPad OS, Windows 11 updated, etc.

 

[hajime]

Is the port on M1 iPad Pro 12.9" 2021 polarized? I thought at the same end, plugging the cable into the iPad's port in any way would charge it but it does not work that way. Only one orientation works. Very strange.

 

[jdb8167]

Is the port on M1 iPad Pro 12.9" 2021 polarized? I thought at the same end, plugging the cable into the iPad's port in any way would charge it but it does not work that way. Only one orientation works. Very strange.

You have either a bad cable or a bad port. Try a different cable and if that doesn’t work, call Apple.

 

[sparksd]

Is the port on M1 iPad Pro 12.9" 2021 polarized? I thought at the same end, plugging the cable into the iPad's port in any way would charge it but it does not work that way. Only one orientation works. Very strange.

I've seen that before and the fault was with the cable.