This is one of two drives I am considering for backup and, because my USB 3 ports are all occupied, I’d like to use one of the vacant Thunderbolt ports. I also want to derive the power for the drive from the iMac port.
I assume I can use my Thunderbolt ports because they are designated Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) and Apple support describes them as: “Thunderbolt 3 also supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 connectivity at up to 10 Gbps, and can supply 15 W of power per port to external devices.â€
However, the LaCie drive output is only described as USB 3.
My Thunderbolt port information is:
Port:
Status: No device connected
Link Status: 0x101
Speed: Up to 40 Gb/s x1
Current Link Width: 0x1
Receptacle: 2
Link Controller Firmware Version: 0.37.0
I’ve been unable to locate a cable that would go from the USB 3 output to my Thunderbolt ports, which makes me wonder if I’ve reached the right conclusion in terms of connecting the drive to the Mac.
Thoughts? Cautions?