Would you not be better connecting another device directly to the 6,1 using a second TB2-TB3 adaptor on a different TB bus, rather that further spreading the lower bandwidth of a single TB2 port?
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MP 6,1 Great way to add USB-C to 2013 Mac Pro
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You are probably right. However, I am right now using all the TB2 ports on my Mac Pro (2xATD, 2xLacie TB SSDs, Lexar Workflow and a direct connection to my NAS). The only TB3 device is my NAS, and it is not setup to be able to work as a TB hub. And, I have a TB3 (male) -> TB2 (female) adapter. I do not have a TB3 (female) -> TB2 (male) adapter.
The adapter is bidirectional but it does not offer (enough) power for many TB3 devices. I have lot's of stuff attached to my TB3 docks and I do not run into bottlenecks. But this of course depends on your use case.
Caldigit TB3 Lite dock: 10Gbit Ethernet (TB3), SSD (UBS 3.0), 4k Display (Displayport)
Caldigit TB3 dock: SSD (eSATA), SSD (eSATA), NVMe (TB3), SSD (USB 3.0)
Sonnect TB3 PCIe box with NVMe inside: NVMe (TB3)
The NVMe run with 1.2 GByte/s which is fine for me. It's the same speed as the internal NVMe. I run two of the TB3 NVMe enclosures as macOS RAID0 and get 2.4 GByte/s. So in my opinion: Using TB3 makes sense because you can use the modern and powered stuff. E.g. the TB2 10Gbe Ethernet version costs more and runs not with 10 Gbit/s because this would use too much power.
So my suggestion: Get a TB3 dock and plug TB3 stuff into it.
Caldigit TB3 Lite dock: 10Gbit Ethernet (TB3), SSD (UBS 3.0), 4k Display (Displayport)
Caldigit TB3 dock: SSD (eSATA), SSD (eSATA), NVMe (TB3), SSD (USB 3.0)
Sonnect TB3 PCIe box with NVMe inside: NVMe (TB3)
The NVMe run with 1.2 GByte/s which is fine for me. It's the same speed as the internal NVMe. I run two of the TB3 NVMe enclosures as macOS RAID0 and get 2.4 GByte/s. So in my opinion: Using TB3 makes sense because you can use the modern and powered stuff. E.g. the TB2 10Gbe Ethernet version costs more and runs not with 10 Gbit/s because this would use too much power.
So my suggestion: Get a TB3 dock and plug TB3 stuff into it.
I use it (in its TB3 edition) with an NVMe inside and a TB3 NVMe plugged into it. So you should be fine.
Hi, this is my 1st post here, i actually made a profile to share i found another TB dock to add to the 'save list':
The StarTech thunderbolt 3 dual 4K Docking station.
www.startech.com
With the TB3>TB2 adapter it works on both my 2015 MBP and (the reason i bought it) 2013 iMac 27"
My story:
It's been a few tough months with my 2013 iMac and it feels like i'm squeezing it for the last round, but it could be a great round still i think. I now boot from an external Samsung T5 SSD as opposed to the (non SSD) internal, this makes a HUGE difference. With CCC, this was quite easy to do do.
Before this one of my (also 2013) OWC Mercury Elite Pro drives died. the 3T backup drive.
Last week, another OWC Mercury Elite Pro started to die on me. or better said; looking back i now understandnd a few strange things that were happening for a while.
My biggest challenge in all this has been replacing the TB1>firewire HD's i was using.
I mean, the 4 USB slots have always been full (sound card & midi card for LPX already need 2 dedicated ones).
So i first got a 2nd hand Belkin Express Dock v1 which now connects to one TB port. great!
(i remember wanting one in 2013/14 but boy were/are they expensive! i now payed €65 for this one: great deal).
So when i noticed another drive going bad i went to buy another new drive.
ideally i just wanted a good 7200 rpm drive with a firewire port, so i could keep using 1 of the 2 TB>FW adapters i've always used.
As i was expecting, a drive with a FW port (i know it's obsolete) is kind of unifiable until after lot's of searching i did find one at Amazon.
I'm in The Netherlands but wanted to be done with this and not loose usb ports etc so accepted shipping costs on top and wanted to get on with it.
Few days later i already had my drive. Happy days!
read some text on the box and saw 'copyright 2013'. WHAT!
Amazon (or the company selling through Amazon) had sold me a 'new' drive that actually is 8 years old!
Checked inside the box too and saw more proof of the thing being made in 2013.
Sent it back straight away.
NOW i was looking into other options of which some already crossed my eyes also the day i bought the Amazon disk,
and this thread was one of the 'light bulb' sources of info!
I started to look for the TB3 docks mentioned in this tread but not much luck in N.L. and damn these things are expensive too etc etc.
Then, i saw this StarTech TB3 dock for sale on the facebook market for €50! Close to my home.
'no TB3 cable' was mentioned, which of course doesn't matter because 'we' use the adapter + TB2/1 anyway!!
I guess i'm very lucky with this buy and i now gained some USB, USB C, TB3 etc ports in my system and got a USB C drive to replace the other disk.
So this thread gave me new hope and made me confident to test it with the Star tech dock, knowing some TB3 docks don't play ball, but i thought i must have been able to sell it too if it wouldn't have worked..
And now back to copying the data from the old disk... Which is a pain as it's faulty and on top of that it appears i'm stupid: i have a CCC clone and a Time Machine backup, basically the way one should do it, ONLY... apparently i did not have external disks included in my Time Machine backups :-( I feel really dumb not being aware..
The StarTech thunderbolt 3 dual 4K Docking station.
Thunderbolt 3 Dual-4K Dock - Windows Mac - Thunderbolt Docking Stations | Universal Laptop Docking Stations | StarTech.com Europe
StarTech.com Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station - No Drivers to Install - Compatible with Windows / macOS - Supports Dual 4K HD Displays - TB3DKDPMAWUE | Europe
With the TB3>TB2 adapter it works on both my 2015 MBP and (the reason i bought it) 2013 iMac 27"
My story:
It's been a few tough months with my 2013 iMac and it feels like i'm squeezing it for the last round, but it could be a great round still i think. I now boot from an external Samsung T5 SSD as opposed to the (non SSD) internal, this makes a HUGE difference. With CCC, this was quite easy to do do.
Before this one of my (also 2013) OWC Mercury Elite Pro drives died. the 3T backup drive.
Last week, another OWC Mercury Elite Pro started to die on me. or better said; looking back i now understandnd a few strange things that were happening for a while.
My biggest challenge in all this has been replacing the TB1>firewire HD's i was using.
I mean, the 4 USB slots have always been full (sound card & midi card for LPX already need 2 dedicated ones).
So i first got a 2nd hand Belkin Express Dock v1 which now connects to one TB port. great!
(i remember wanting one in 2013/14 but boy were/are they expensive! i now payed €65 for this one: great deal).
So when i noticed another drive going bad i went to buy another new drive.
ideally i just wanted a good 7200 rpm drive with a firewire port, so i could keep using 1 of the 2 TB>FW adapters i've always used.
As i was expecting, a drive with a FW port (i know it's obsolete) is kind of unifiable until after lot's of searching i did find one at Amazon.
I'm in The Netherlands but wanted to be done with this and not loose usb ports etc so accepted shipping costs on top and wanted to get on with it.
Few days later i already had my drive. Happy days!
read some text on the box and saw 'copyright 2013'. WHAT!
Amazon (or the company selling through Amazon) had sold me a 'new' drive that actually is 8 years old!
Checked inside the box too and saw more proof of the thing being made in 2013.
Sent it back straight away.
NOW i was looking into other options of which some already crossed my eyes also the day i bought the Amazon disk,
and this thread was one of the 'light bulb' sources of info!
I started to look for the TB3 docks mentioned in this tread but not much luck in N.L. and damn these things are expensive too etc etc.
Then, i saw this StarTech TB3 dock for sale on the facebook market for €50! Close to my home.
'no TB3 cable' was mentioned, which of course doesn't matter because 'we' use the adapter + TB2/1 anyway!!
I guess i'm very lucky with this buy and i now gained some USB, USB C, TB3 etc ports in my system and got a USB C drive to replace the other disk.
So this thread gave me new hope and made me confident to test it with the Star tech dock, knowing some TB3 docks don't play ball, but i thought i must have been able to sell it too if it wouldn't have worked..
And now back to copying the data from the old disk... Which is a pain as it's faulty and on top of that it appears i'm stupid: i have a CCC clone and a Time Machine backup, basically the way one should do it, ONLY... apparently i did not have external disks included in my Time Machine backups :-( I feel really dumb not being aware..
OWC Express 4M2
Used the apple USB-C to thunderbolt 2 adapter and gives you an extra USB-C port to plug USB-C only externals also on the unit. Does not reduce speeds like I have seen on the thunderbay models.
Also….very disappointing if you want a quiet operation: fan is whiney so replace it with a quieter fan. OWC did not go with the ultra quiet fans like they did with the thunderbay mini on the express mini. I think they now use a different manufacturer that cuts corners for profit, so take note before purchase. Other than that, good little unit that can used on both your Mac Pro 2013 with adapter and your newer USB-C rigs.
FYI - an update on this thread. I have since switched from the CalDigit to the Toshiba dock (Part number PA5281U-1PRP) due the high cost/price of the CalDigit which I returned to Amazon for a refund. I can report that the Toshiba Thunderbolt 3 docking station works exactly the same and just as good as the CalDigit does at a fraction of the price. I've been using my Toshiba Dock with the Trashcan Mac Pro for over a year now with no issues. Here is a link to one on eBay and an example of the typical used eBay pricing (around $50-$80).
Will this dock work on MP 2013 if it's running Big Sur like the dock requires?
With the TB3>2 adapter and at TB2 speeds. Just wondering if it will recognize bus-powered ssds and such.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-thunderbolt-dock
With the TB3>2 adapter and at TB2 speeds. Just wondering if it will recognize bus-powered ssds and such.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-thunderbolt-dock
I would just buy it on Amazon prime and test it out. Easy return if it doesn’t work out as hoped.
Thanks - back-ordered until July. I'll probably bite then if I can't find any reasons why it won't work ahead of then.
Bump ...
Bit confused about all this.
Am I right in saying that by using a TB3 dock with the Apple adaptor I'll be able to get better performance from my connected SSD drives?
That there is a benefit even with older 3.0 enclosures as the 4 ports on the 2013 are single lane / shared?
That I'd be able to also benefit from newer USB technologies like USB 3,1 Gen2 by buying new enclosures/drives?
?
Thanks..
Bit confused about all this.
Am I right in saying that by using a TB3 dock with the Apple adaptor I'll be able to get better performance from my connected SSD drives?
That there is a benefit even with older 3.0 enclosures as the 4 ports on the 2013 are single lane / shared?
That I'd be able to also benefit from newer USB technologies like USB 3,1 Gen2 by buying new enclosures/drives?
?
Thanks..
Yes
Caldigit TB3 dock adapted with Apple TB3>>TB2 adapter will give you the USB 3,1 Gen2 speeds.
I recently had to stop using the Caldigit dock since it was starting to disconnect my attached USB-C ssd all the time when doing heavy file transfers. It worked fine for about 1.5 years and I haven't done any recent software updates so not sure what is going on. Which is a shame since it gets around 800 MB/s vs around 300 MB/s over regular USB.
Struggled to find what I want locally.
Stumbled into this gamer orientated Thunderbolt 3 dock with NVMe storage at a good price used through a major retail outlet warehouse, so I've ordered one.
It seems like a way to add USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, 4K 60hz, with internal memory close to trashcan speeds so boot off it with little performance difference vs internal drive?
I'm keen to find out!
![613kLy9SiJL._AC_SL1280_.jpg]()
Stumbled into this gamer orientated Thunderbolt 3 dock with NVMe storage at a good price used through a major retail outlet warehouse, so I've ordered one.
It seems like a way to add USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, 4K 60hz, with internal memory close to trashcan speeds so boot off it with little performance difference vs internal drive?
I'm keen to find out!
I was just looking at reviews of the WD dock whilst I have a window to cancel.
I noticed this review and it's something I've wondered.
Is it safe to use a power-delivering dock with a Mac Pro 2013 ?? Are the TB2 port prevented from being hit with any inadvertent wattage? I know the Thunderbolt 3>2 adaptor used backward for 2>3 won't deliver power to external devices, what about the other direction?
Edit : Akito say this for the apple adaptor can anyone confirm?
www.akitio.com
My understanding is power-delivery draw is controlled by hardware these docks are connected to, just want to be on the safe side..
![Screenshot-2022-02-09-at-13-18-16.png]()
Oh and this D50 runs very hot.
It might be the case that a bit of TB2 throttling wouldn't hurt -- I might look to mod it somehow if it becomes repurposed in the future for a computer with TB3 or higher.
Here by the way is the review that gives me confidence it should work with the trashcan, with sufficient performance as a second OS drive : https://www.macworld.com/article/34...thunderbolt-3-dock-with-internal-storage.html
I noticed this review and it's something I've wondered.
Is it safe to use a power-delivering dock with a Mac Pro 2013 ?? Are the TB2 port prevented from being hit with any inadvertent wattage? I know the Thunderbolt 3>2 adaptor used backward for 2>3 won't deliver power to external devices, what about the other direction?
Edit : Akito say this for the apple adaptor can anyone confirm?
- Power delivery is not supported. If your Thunderbolt 3 device provides power to your laptop over Thunderbolt, this function will not be available anymore."
Can I connect a Thunderbolt 3 device to a Thunderbolt 2 Mac? | AKiTiO
AKiTiO specializes in external computer storage devices. Our hard drive enclosures feature Thunderbolt, USB 3.1 and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.
My understanding is power-delivery draw is controlled by hardware these docks are connected to, just want to be on the safe side..
Oh and this D50 runs very hot.
It might be the case that a bit of TB2 throttling wouldn't hurt -- I might look to mod it somehow if it becomes repurposed in the future for a computer with TB3 or higher.
Here by the way is the review that gives me confidence it should work with the trashcan, with sufficient performance as a second OS drive : https://www.macworld.com/article/34...thunderbolt-3-dock-with-internal-storage.html
Last edited:
It does work. I'm a little worried about the fan inside but so far it didn't start moving.I was just looking at reviews of the WD dock whilst I have a window to cancel.
I noticed this review and it's something I've wondered.
Is it safe to use a power-delivering dock with a Mac Pro 2013 ?? Are the TB2 port prevented from being hit with any inadvertent wattage? I know the Thunderbolt 3>2 adaptor used backward for 2>3 won't deliver power to external devices, what about the other direction?
Edit : Akito say this for the apple adaptor can anyone confirm?
- Power delivery is not supported. If your Thunderbolt 3 device provides power to your laptop over Thunderbolt, this function will not be available anymore."
Can I connect a Thunderbolt 3 device to a Thunderbolt 2 Mac? | AKiTiO
AKiTiO specializes in external computer storage devices. Our hard drive enclosures feature Thunderbolt, USB 3.1 and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity.
My understanding is power-delivery draw is controlled by hardware these docks are connected to, just want to be on the safe side..
![Screenshot-2022-02-09-at-13-18-16.png]()
Oh and this D50 runs very hot.
It might be the case that a bit of TB2 throttling wouldn't hurt -- I might look to mod it somehow if it becomes repurposed in the future for a computer with TB3 or higher.
Here by the way is the review that gives me confidence it should work with the trashcan, with sufficient performance as a second OS drive : https://www.macworld.com/article/34...thunderbolt-3-dock-with-internal-storage.html
Haven't been able to use the DisplayPort tho, but I just have HDMI monitors and only passive adapters.
I' ordered an active one and see if that'll do the trick.
The internal SSD gives about 1200/1300 MB/s read and write, which is to be expected because of the TB 2 limitations.
I've been using the dock for a little while now and all working great here.
Like you my passive DisplayPort to HDMI cable didn't work properly, I bought this :
Cable Matters Active DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter (Active DP to HDMI Adapter) Supporting Eyefinity Technology and 4K Resolution
Cable Matters Active DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter (Active DP to HDMI Adapter) Supporting Eyefinity Technology and 4K Resolution
www.amazon.co.uk
..and using with a decent quality HDMI cable it's working fine with a projector as a third screen (I have two on the MP.. one using HDMI.. another using TB2>HDMI convertor). I don't have a 4K screen to test with :
The internal SSD speeds are great all things considered, and of course will perform even better with a TB3 computer. I expect I'll be looking at a new Mac Mini if my MP6,1 ever dies on me. Just look at how much a TB2/TB3 NVMe enclosures cost - with the price I paid for the dock, it looks a bargain against the likes of Caldigit TB3 etc.
The fan is notorious for not coming on, and the dock does run hot, but I've not found it disturbingly hot as yet, and 5 years warranty with WD should come in handy if it self destructs?
It's brought a new lease of life to my MP 6,1, including getting rid of a horrible USB hub, and unravelling the nest of cables on the Mac which is now manageable and easier to access.
I ordered the same display port adapter and like you said, after one failed attempt with an older hdmi cable, a newer and better cable did the trick.
Really nice way to add USB-C and the additional storage comes in handy.
I really like that all the USB ports support 10 Gb/s!
Really nice way to add USB-C and the additional storage comes in handy.
I really like that all the USB ports support 10 Gb/s!
Nice solutions. I was going to get CalDigit TS3 and use it on a Mac Pro 2013. But is there any other good options these days? I would need an adapter to convert thunderbolt 3 to thunderbolt 2 and this is the only thing I dont really like in this idea. Thanks in advance!
What do you want to do with a USB-C port? Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 is the only way to get 10 Gbps or DisplayPort Alt Mode.
The Apple Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter is the least expensive Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter and is the only one that lets you connect a Thunderbolt 3 device to a Thunderbolt 2 Mac.
I know Thunderbolt 4 doesn't work with a Thunderbolt 1 Mac, but I think I've seen one person say they got a Thunderbolt 4 device working with a Thunderbolt 2 Mac. Thunderbolt 4 devices have more USB-C ports. And Thunderbolt 4 hubs are less expensive than Thunderbolt docks since a hub doesn't include USB controllers or Ethernet or Audio adapters.
@DRDR said Thunderbolt 4 devices don't work with the MacPro6,1. I'll need to find the post that said it does work... I know you have to be running macOS Big Sur to get Thunderbolt 4 to work with Thunderbolt 3 Macs.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/great-way-to-add-usb-c-to-2013-mac-pro.2213162/post-29623830
Actually, CalDigit says Thunderbolt 1 and Thunderbolt 2 Macs can use Thunderbolt 4 devices with Big Sur 11.2 but not later versions.
https://www.caldigit.com/does-the-e...-thunderbolt-1-or-thunderbolt-2-mac-computer/
In that case, maybe later versions of macOS can use a patch to make it work (like https://github.com/rgov/Thunderbolt3Unblocker which is for using very old Thunderbolt 3 devices with Macs)
I should test Big Sur with my Thunderbolt 1 iMac...