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.”

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?

ryck

"What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits" The Doobie Brothers

iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020), 3.8 GHz 8 Core Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 2667 MHz DDR4
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Canon Pixma TR 8520 Printer
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TM on 1TB LaCie USB-C