Firewire vs. USB 3

[Tannerhead]

Hi all,

I'm on a 2011 27inch iMac. This machine connects to other devices via Firewire 800 and USB 2.

Firewire appears to be a dead technology, so only a quite limited selection of USED Firewire disks are still available for sale, as best I can tell. So I'm giving some thought to updating my Mac to a more recent version, maybe five years old, something like that.

My question is about the connection tech I should be looking for. Is USB 3 a reliable standard that should be around for years to come? USB 3 appears to be about six times faster than Firewire 800, and that's good enough for me.

USB 1.1 = 1.5 MB/s.
Firefire 400 = 50 MB/s.
USB 2.0 = 60 MB/s.
FireWire 800 = 100 MB/s.
USB 3.0 = 625 MB/s.
USB 3.1 = 1.21 GB/s.
eSATA = 750 MB/s.
Thunderbolt = 1.25 GB/s × 2 (2 channels)

What connection tech should I be looking for on five year old Macs?

Thanks!

 

[MacsBug]

Any newer Mac that that you get will have USB 3 on it. I would recommend a 2017 or newer Mac. These all will have both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt 3. The advantage of Thunderbolt 3 is that you can buy docks to expand the number and kind of ports that you have.

Also make sure that the Mac has an internal SSD in it.

 

[Tannerhead]

Thanks for the info and advice, appreciated. Ok, 2017 or newer, that's helpful, thanks.