USB3 to Thunderbolt 4 Adapter?

[Mark F]

I am about to buy a Mac Studio and would like to use some of its Thunderbolt 4 ports for some older peripherals that need a USB A port. Are there adapters that allow this? I'm having trouble finding any.
Thanks.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

Which model Mac Studio (Max or Ultra)?
What are the brands/models of the peripherals?

There are 2 USB-A ports on the back of the Studio, and two USB-C ports on the front (unless you buy the M1 Ultra - then they are Thunderbolt 4 ports on the front).

The Thunderbolt 4 ports are backwards compatible, so you can simply plug in a USB-C to USB-A adapter/cable and run the older peripherals.

C

 

[Nurgle2024]

Hi, I got caught up in this when I got my new iMac M1. last month...

I bought a couple of the USB 3 to USB C adaptors from my local well known Electrical equipment & supplier store... and open a half hour pairing my hair out... plugged them into the end of my old Cables and and my hard disk icons DID NOT SHOW UP... blood pressure at stroke level. (these weren't cheap knock off, but supposedly top quality..) swapped cables, and even turned them over as usbC supposedly can be used either side (turned over) and power adaptors still no show hard drives...

then I bought a usb to usb 3 hub, and plugged the old cables into them. Hard disks showed up.

It was the adaptors... luckily the firm only a few miles away refunded me. and I then bought proper US C to hard drive (that flat long plug) braided and the drives worked at full usb speed...

lesson learnt. (well not quite.. just before I bought the adaptors from this company, I ordered some on ebay.. cheapie ones >well my grandfather was Scottish. and they arrived the day later.. and they worked perfectly...)

Moral.. put you money on som good cables cables rather than adaptors.

(also. some usb 3 and usb 2 cables MAY NOT work at full usbC speeds... when I bought th proper new cables I watch my transfer for speed for Hughs file transfers drop from many many hours to under the hour)

regards, Sandy

 

[TonyAguila]

I am about to buy a Mac Studio and would like to use some of its Thunderbolt 4 ports for some older peripherals that need a USB A port. Are there adapters that allow this? I'm having trouble finding any.
Thanks.

I did quite a bit of research on the matter since I’m planning more expansion on my Mac Studio. You need to decide if you need a dock or a hub. Docks have less capability and usually cost less; hubs are for connecting more demanding peripherals like additional displays, multiple-drive enclosures, and they usually include ethernet ports, SD card slots, etc.

Top on my wish list is the Plugable Thunderbolt 4 Hub, which by itself looks more like a hub. Amazon has it here:

https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Thunderbolt-Adapter-Charging-Compatible/dp/B09DTFQMXC/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=JLMIU099QLWQ&keywords=thunderbolt+4+dock&qid=1649724993&sprefix=thunder%2Caps%2C190&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExSVNYWlpKN1BSNjZDJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTc0NDUxM1JJOEZUNlk4NVY4NiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjEyMTI1MUU2TlZXR1MyNjczRyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

The product page is very detailed. I’m sure most or all of your questions will be answered there.

There a good number of brands out there… Anker, CalDigit, OWC, but after looking at numerous reviews on YouTube, I find Plugable best suited to my needs. The advantage to getting things from Amazon is their very liberal return policy. I know that if I’m unhappy with an item I purchased from them, they will take it back, no hassles.

 

[Nurgle2024]

I raised the issue not long ago, that there are a plethora of USBC to USB3.1 hubs/docks out there, but so far no Pure USBC to USBC hubs only yet, and asked why.. still no replies to that one.

I am amazed at the that Dock/hub you cite at amazon... and would seriously consider buying it now...

regards

 

[TonyAguila]

I raised the issue not long ago, that there are a plethora of USBC to USB3.1 hubs/docks out there, but so far no Pure USBC to USBC hubs only yet, and asked why.. still no replies to that one.

I am amazed at the that Dock/hub you cite at amazon... and would seriously consider buying it now...

regards

Before you decide, although I’m tending in favor of the Plugable hub. Still deciding if I want to go with a docking station, though.

 

[Nurgle2024]

the thunderbolt dock sounds a good idea, and Thunderbolt is supposedly faster that usbC... in theory..

so pluming in Sevela usbC devices to it, I wonder if that would give slightly higher transfer speed than a usbC to usb3.2 hub plugged toto th thunderbolt port.?

we live in interesting times...

regards
Sandy.

 

[Mark F]

I'm ordering the M1 Max, with 32g of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. On my current 27" iMac one of the four USB A slots is used for a 10 slot USB 3.1 dock that is mostly filled. The other three slots are used for the keyboard, one of my two printers and an Apple DVD drive. I need to transfer all of this over to the new Studio. Since the Studio has four Thunderbolt 4 slots I'd like to use one or more of these slots and need an adapter for the USB A cables.
When my wife bought a new MacBook last year with USB C ports I had no trouble finding adapters at the local MicroCenter but I do not see USB A to Thunderbolt 4 adapters on their website.
Thanks to everyone for your replies.