Questions & Answers for Apple Thunderbolt Cable (2m) - White

Thunderbolt is a more versatile interface than USB, it can transfer both data and video signal. That means you only need one port to accomplish data transfer and video output, there is no need for two separate ports (ex. USB and DisplayPort). Thunderbolt uses the old Mini DisplayPort so you can still use your VGA/DVI adapters. Thunderbolt also have Daisy Chain capability, you can connect up to 6 devices on one Thunderbolt port (ex. You don't need 6 ports to connect 6 devices).

Like another commenter said, the theoretical speed of Thunderbolt is up to 10GB/s, or 20GB/s for TB2. Whereas USB 3.0 is only 5GB/s. Although the practical speed won't be much different as the hard drives are nowhere close to that speed. A 5400rpm HDD will be >100MB/s, 7200rpm will be ~150MB/s (my numbers might be a little off), SSDs will range from 300MB/s to 700MB/s (depends on the NAND used). With that said, USB 3.0 is good enough for simple storage use (TB might be better for RAID and other storage systems), especially if you count in the cost factor. Your practical transfer speed depend more on the hard drive you use, so I suggest you to spend the money on a good hard drive/SSD.

Because Thunderbolt combines Mini DisplayPort and PCIe. Theoretically, you can get an external PCIe adapter and plug in something like a GPU (assuming the "drivers" and power supports). I'm particularly interesting in this because Apple doesn't like to give you a strong GPUs to drive a 2880x1880 Retina display on a 15" rMBP. Anyway, PCIe is a strong interface and it can add endless possibilities to a Mac. There is more to Thunderbolt than people think.
Good luck!

• Answered by Cong W from San Francisco
• 13-Jan-2014
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (What is wrong with USB that I have to use Thunderbolt?)

No, a thunderbolt cable will not work on a Mac Pro (2009). Should the graphics card have a socket that seems to fit a thunderbolt cable, the correct product to get is a Mini DisplayPort cable, not a thunderbolt cable.

• Answered by Peter S
• 28-Mar-2015
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Will a Thunderbolt 2 chord work on a MAC Pro from 2009)

Yes. Both of them have at least one Thunderbolt port.

• Answered by Birincsik J
• 06-Feb-2013
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (will a thunderbolt cable connect a macbookpro 2012 to a Retina MacbookPro ?)

If you are using transferring all of your data to the other Mac, the easiest and fastest way is to use 'Migration Assistant' with an ethernet cable as it can reach speeds of up to 2gb/s.

• Answered by Joseph C from Brighton
• 11-Sep-2011
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (How do I transfer data from my iMac without thunderbolt (only firewire) to my new Macbook Air with thunderbolt?)

Yes you can. Set up depends on which camera. For an older Sony Digital 8 Handycam, I plugged in a 4-pin to 9-pin Gigawire (from Radio Shack) to the DV in/out on the camera. Then I attached an Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter to that cable, and plugged into the Thunderbolt in back of the iMac. iMovie recognized the camera. The Mac could not control the camera, but that was no big deal.

• Answered by William T from Las Vegas
• 03-May-2014
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (can i connect my video cam to my iMac using thunderbolt?)

Yes, you use the thunderbolt port to connect a Mini Displayport cable or adapter.

• Answered by Ryan G from Abbotsford
• 23-Jul-2011
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (can thunderbolt and mini display port be used interchangeably? to watch hdtv using 15 in mac pro, do i use the thunderbolt slot to connect mini cable)

No, according to this support page, you can only use Mini DisplayPort cables, not Thunderbolt with the older iMacs.

I can't post links, it's support (dot) apple (dot) com/kb/HT4614#7

• Answered by Alex H from Cedar Rapids
• 16-Jul-2011
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Can this be used as a mini display port cable?)

Thunderbolt is a point-to-point interface, that also allows daisy-chaining to up to seven devices. The new iMacs have other ports besides just Thunderbolt out their back, so in effect it already is a hub for these different port types. IF you want to chain via the Thunderbolt port, you need to make sure each device connected to your iMac has two Thunderbolt ports, one for its "upstream" Thunderbolt partner and one for its "downstream" device chain. Be careful, though, for not all Thunderbolt devices have this second port, so they have to be wired into your string as the last/end-point

• Answered by Tom R from Cupertino
• 03-Jan-2012
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (How many devices can be connected - simultaneously - to one thunderbolt port?)