Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter

I have an expensive portable Western Digital RAID drive (see it at WD 2TB My Passport Pro Portable External Hard Drive - Thunderbolt - WDBRMP0020DBK-NESN ) that uses a Thunderbolt 2 connection. When the new MacBook Pro 13 inch models came out, they had nothing but USB-C ports (running Thunderbolt 3: confused yet?). So, my portable RAID drive instantly became useless, because there was no way to connect that existing drive to the new MacBook Pro. This situation may never be a problem for you, unless you, like me, are attempting to connect a Thunderbolt 2 drive to one of the new Thunderbolt 3/USB 3 ports like those found on the new MacBookPros. But if you are, you'll need this adapter, which facilitates such a connection. It's one of the few of its type on the market, but if you need it, you NEED it. It is well-built, and I've had no trouble with it on multiple Thunderbolt 2 drives I have been using. It's physically larger than most dongle-style connectors, with a large, rounded plastic body on one end, undoubtedly where the circuitry and microchips reside to perform the data stream conversion between Thunderbolt 2 and 3. (It also very likely accounts for the high price of the connector, because of the requirement to use controller chips to make the Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 connection possible). So, I recommend it highly because it works so well, and is built with very high quality. But it is quite expensive. However, if you need it, I would go with this model than some third-party brand that might show up, because Thunderbolt (either 2 or 3) is a modern, high-speed transfer format, and you want to ensure maximum transfer speed with uncorrupted data transfer. Note: This entire subject discussion becomes even more complicated because, with the "old" Thunderbolt 2 standard, the physical plug is exactly the same as the "Mini Display Port" connector type. Who dreamed up that bright idea? One (Thunderbolt) transfers DATA AND VIDEO, and the other (MiniDisplayPort), VIDEO ONLY, but they are physically exactly the same! Now, to confuse us further, throw in Thunderbolt 3, and a simultaneous upgrade to USB in the form of USB 3, followed by the decision to make USB 3 and Thunderbolt 3 intra-compatible, you're sitting there, scratching your head sometimes. Do a web search for C|Net's Article on Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3, and they lay it out in all it's intertwined (no pun intended) glory. But, in spite of all the ways you can get confused, if you have a true Thunderbolt 3 connection with a Thunderbolt 3 drive, wow, is it fast (shockingly, up to 40 Gbps). This is the future of connections, so be ready for it. But the thing to note is that USB 3 is a description of a PHYSICAL CONNECTOR. That USB 3 connector might be running Thunderbolt 2, Thunderbolt 3, DisplayPort, and/or USB 3.1 (!). Thunderbolt, DisplayPort, USB 3.1, etc. are examples of PROTOCOLS, and each can run on the physical connector USB 3, but you have to determine what protocol your device and computer support whenever you are using USB 3. The cable may physically fit, but the devices on both ends (plus the cable itself) must all support the same protocol for them to work. Whew.

Perfect. Worked great

This is a very expensive part, but comprises much more functionality than most ordinary 'adapters', and it works bi-directionally. As far as I can tell, there is *no* functional equivalent on the market. TB/2/3/4 each have unique capabilities. Each generation of Thunderbolt has specific capabilities, but it's the attached equipment that determine which functions are used. There are far too many combinations and permutations of Thunderbolt and attached equipment to described applicable technical details, particularly when in reality, most product offer few hard specifications. TB applications include video, storage, and data transfer, but many applications concentrate on some sub-set of these, leaving the other uses as an afterthought or not mentioned at all. The two common different functions are: attachments for data storage, and for video equipment. Most specs focus on one of these, leaving the other an afterthought. Which get attention is determined by the vendor's primary market. The situation is so complex that the user can rarely determine whether or how well their combination of equipment will work, especially because bandwidth can be allocated to each function in ways that differ among vendors. In the gamer world, focus is on Thunderbolt display refresh rate using DisplayPort video/audio. Among "Professional" users, Thunderbolt is used for transfer and backup of video files produced by the 4K+ video cameras. The files are so large that high speed transfer is essential to get the daily tasks finished. Consequently, most products focus on one or the other of these, the remainder an afterthought, or un-mentioned. This is the nature of an industry that attempts to "standardize" everything, failing to recognize that "letting the marketplace decide" is to have, effectively, no standard. You're on your own. I suggest reading Wikipedia's overview of "USB" and its generations. Vendors have made a complete mess of that marketplace, and they're out to do the same for Thunderbolt. The bottom line for anyone interested in Thunderbolt can be bolded down to 1) look for "Intel Certified Thunderbolt" device, and 2) the lightning symbol, with a number on Thunderbolt cable ends, signifying the generation and supported data rate. Otherwise, they may be USB4, but they aren't Thunderbolt.

Just what I needed! Worked great for connecting my large Apple monitor to a personal computer.

It works. I can connect my 2019 MacBook Pro (the one with the touchbar and usb-c/thunderbolt ports only) to my old thunderbolt apple cinema 27” thunderbolt 2 monitor (the one with the lightning icon on the video plug, not the mini dvi box looking thing). I can control brightness, it plays sound well. Saves the old monitor from the landfill. 4 stars because it overpriced dongle problem apple created by not following standards. Also when using Teams for video conferencing my video signal from the camera in the display gets severely crushed/pixelated by the dongle. It’s like it only has enough throughput to send the image to the monitor, not back to the computer from the camera. I just use the laptop camera. Otherwise works great. EDIT: the dongle also does not have enough throughput to transmit sounds from the microphone clearly. In summary. it does well sending sound and images from the laptop to the display, but poorly at sending video and microphone signal back to the laptop. TLDR; you have to set your video camera and microphone to your laptop sources to get good quality when in a video conference.

I plugged this adapter into the back of the Studio Display, and connected an Apple Thunderbolt 2 cable to it from the Mac Pro 6.1. I have upgraded the Mac Pro 6.1 with Open Core Legacy Patcher and initially during setup with Sonoma it would not detect the Studio Display and I had to use an HDMI display to run through setup steps with the Studio Display disconnected. After the upgrade and installing OCLP root patches, I shut down and plugged the Studio back in and rebooted without the HDMI display and it works perfectly, with sound and camera functionality. The Mac Pro 6.1 won't do 5k resolution but does everything up to 4k without problem and looks great doing it. I can also easily run a second display using the HDMI port. I have found that during Mac OS updates I must plug in an HDMI display since the Mac overwrites the OCLP partition during the upgrade. When OCLP gets re-installed and patched I plug the Studio back in without issue. I am now running Sequoia 15.2 on the Mac Pro with OCLP v2.2 and it runs great. I had also tried a couple of HDMI to USB3/Thunderbolt cables purchased off Amazon to try and connect the Studio Display via HDMI, and neither worked at all.

Compré el Apple Adaptador Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) a Thunderbolt 2 para poder conectar mi dispositivo MacBook Pro con Thunderbolt 3 a un dispositivo de almacenamiento externo con Thunderbolt 2, y ha sido una solución perfecta para mi problema de compatibilidad. Diseño y Calidad de Construcción: El adaptador tiene la calidad premium característica de Apple. Está hecho de materiales duraderos y tiene un diseño compacto y fácil de usar. Es pequeño, ligero y no ocupa mucho espacio, lo cual es perfecto para llevarlo en la mochila junto con otros accesorios de mi equipo. Facilidad de Uso: Conecté el adaptador de forma inmediata entre el puerto Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) de mi MacBook Pro y el cable de Thunderbolt 2 de mi disco duro sin necesidad de instalar controladores adicionales ni hacer configuraciones complicadas. El adaptador se conecta sin esfuerzo y no interfiere con el rendimiento del dispositivo conectado. Rendimiento: El Apple Adaptador Thunderbolt 3 a Thunderbolt 2 funciona a la perfección. Transfiere datos de manera rápida y eficiente, permitiéndome usar mis dispositivos antiguos sin perder velocidad. Las velocidades de transferencia de datos siguen siendo excelentes, lo que me permite trabajar sin interrupciones o cuellos de botella. Conclusión: Si tienes un dispositivo con Thunderbolt 2 y necesitas conectarlo a un equipo más reciente con Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C), este adaptador es una excelente opción. Apple ha hecho un trabajo excepcional con este producto, garantizando una compatibilidad perfecta y un rendimiento sin problemas. Altamente recomendado si necesitas mantener tus dispositivos antiguos funcionando con equipos más nuevos sin perder velocidad o calidad.

When I first hooked this up it didn't work at all, but that was due to my use of the wrong type of SSD. With the right type it works flawlessly. My challenge was to connect an OWC Express 4M2 enclosure with four M.2 SSDs to my MacBook Pro Retina 15-inch, Mid 2015. The OWC stated unequivocally that this combination would work: "The OWC Express 4M2 is fully backward compatible with Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2....Add a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter along with the appropriate Thunderbolt cable, and you're all set." So, despite all the one-star pans by other reviewers I put my faith in OWC. I purchased four Crucial 1TB SSDs, installed them in the 4M2, and plugged the Thunderbolt Adapter into the enclosure. I connected the computer to the adapter with a Thunderbolt 2 cable. I fired it up, and....nothing. The drives did not show up in the Finder, SoftRAID, or Disk Utility. I contacted OWC support and learned that the 4M2 is designed for NVMe and not SATA drives. I exchanged the Crucial drives for Samsung 970 EVO SSDs (about 50% more expensive but many times faster). The moment I fired it up with the proper SSDs it worked immediately. The bottom line is that in the right situations this adapter does work properly. If you find it's not working it might be due to a compatibility issue with other components in your configuration.