Questions & Answers for Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter

I have successfully connected an old (2001) Sony DCR-PC110 Mini-DV camcorder to my MacBook Pro 2016 via a Thunderbolt / Firewire chain. I used the following adapters to connect the Sony's 1394 / Mini-DV connection to MacBook Pro USB-C: Apple Thunderbolt 3 [USB-C] to Thunderbolt 2 [Mini DisplayPort] (MMEL2AM/A) --> Apple Thunderbolt 2 [Mini DisplayPort] to Firewire 800 [9-Pin] (MD464LL/A) --> Tripp Lite Firewire 800 [9-Pin] to Firewire 400 [4-Pin, 1394] (F019-006). All in about $90.
I was able to control the camcorder and capture video from Mini-DV tapes.
This chain may work for other Firewire 400/800 peripherals.

• Answered by Greg F from Bristol
• Sep 8, 2017
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (How is possible to connect a new Thunderbolt 3 port to an old Firewire 400 port?)

The 2008 iMac does not support Target Display Mode (which works over a mini DisplayPort to mini DisplayPort cable, not Firewire) BUT as long as the computer is operable, you can use third party software to use it as an external display for your MacBook Pro. Look into the Air Display app.

• Answered by Kevin W from San Antonio
• Mar 27, 2014
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (can I use 2008 iMac with firewire as display for macbook pro with thunderbolt)

I have tested a cross Thunderbolt to FireWire "Target Disk Mode" connection using an Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter both ways ("master" and "slave" roles done either way). The OS was 10.8.1. The computers were Mid 2012 MacBook Air with Thunderbolt (only) and 2010 MacBook Pro 13" with FireWire (only).

First of all I confirmed that the actual "Target Disk Mode" connection worked both ways when the machines switched roles as "master" or "slave". When the FireWire (only) machine is "slave" the FireWire Symbol shows on the screen. When the Thunderbolt (only) machine is slave you sometimes see both a Thunderbolt symbol and a modified FireWire symbol.

As a test of actual practical use for troubleshooting, I installed the latest version of DiskWarrior (4.4) on both machines and then ran DiskWarrior from the "master" machine" to the "slave machine" both ways having the Thunderbolt and FireWire machines switch roles.

Everything worked beautifully.

Interestingly I asked Apple floor staff at Apple Ginza Tokyo store (non-genius) if this would work, and I was told that "Target Disk Mode" used between Thunderbolt and FireWire machines had not yet been confirmed. The impression I got was that the Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter is mainly promoted for connection of FireWire equipped externals (like hard disks etc) to the new Thunderbolt machines. "Target Disk Mode" use seems to be "something nerdy" that few users would ever attempt :-D

• Answered by Stig B from 世田谷区
• Aug 30, 2012
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Will this allow users to start a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac in "Target Disk Mode" and access it via a FireWire-only Mac? (And vice-versa))

FireWire will definitely outperform a USB 2.0 connection. USB 2.0 had serious bottlenecking issues that made it terrible for large file transfers. Even with the conversion from Thunderbolt to FireWire, Thunderbolt enough speed to provide full FireWire 800 speeds to the port. USB 2.0 had a max speed of 480Mbps (Megabits, meaning real world 60 Megabytes per second), where as early version of FireWire 800 provided 786Mbps (98MBps). Overall you should get better performance through FireWire to transfer large amounts of data. USB 2.0 rarely ever reached it's full output due to cheap parts being used in hard drives and flash drives that maxed out and underperformed.

• Answered by Edward V from Brampton
• Jul 11, 2015
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Speed difference between FireWire 800 converted to thunderbolt and USB2)

Yes, this can successfully be done. I have a Canopus ADVC110 with a FireWire 400 port on the back. I bought a FireWire 400 to FireWire 800 cable and bought the Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter. Using the cable and adapter, the ADVC110 will be recognized by iMovie and will also be powered without the need for a power adapter.

• Answered by Nathan S from Fort Wayne
• Mar 18, 2016
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Can I successfully hook up a Canopus ADVC110 firewire out to Thunderbolt port on new iMac with this cable?)

Evidently the MD464zm/a was an early version, it's not available any more.

• Answered by David L from Redlands
• Aug 11, 2016
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Why are there 2 firewire adapters? MD464zm/a and MD464ll/a)

I seen your post and tried it out because I was curious as well about this. I have a maxed out 2011 iMac with a Digi003 Factory Console. I switched from my native Firewire port and used the adapter to go thunderbolt. I launched a Pro Tools session and received a "hardware buffer underflow" error message every time i tried to playback and no matter how high I set the playback engine buffer sample it still occurred. I switched back to my native port and problem solved, everything was back to normal. I hope this helps.

• Answered by Dominick C from Simpsonville
• Apr 16, 2014
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Could I use this adapter to connect my Digidesign 003 factory to my iMac thunderbolt connect or would it lack sufficient power?)

There are also cables that have FW 400 on one end and FW 800 on the other. I find the cable solution a little more elegant and it's not another adapter to lose.

• Answered by Jef L from Chicago
• Aug 8, 2012
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (thunderbolt to firewire400 adapter?)

No. This device creates a FireWire port for the host Mac when connected to a Thunderbolt port. It needs software drivers to do this, and cannot function as a converter on it's own. Because of this, it cannot be used as a bridge to do the opposite. (That would be a completely different adapter, but as far as I know no one has made one yet.)

• Answered by John S from Notre Dame
• Aug 8, 2012
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Can this adapter be used to connect thunderbolt external hard drive to older mac with firewire 800?)

I tested such a device with this adapter, and it worked well.

I plugged an audio interface, called the PreSonus FireBox, into a MacBook's Thunderbolt port. It's a FireWire 400 device.

I already had a FW 800 to FW 400 adapter cable, and I plugged that into Apple's FireWire-to-Thunderbolt adapter.

• Answered by James P from Decatur
• Aug 10, 2012
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (I have a FW 400 device that I would love to use with my MacBook Air. Does anyone know if a FW 800 to FW 400 adapter will work with this adapter?)