The adapter needed:
USB 3.1 Gen 2 type C to USB 3.0
USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type A to USB C adaptors and cables are hard to find but if you are using the Type A port on your Mac it is USB 3.0 so any USB A to USB C converter or cable will do. Personally I am trying to get rid of any cables with type A connections so my new cables are type C on both ends and I use a Type Adaptor like
this or
this. By the way, in case you have any lying around unused, an old Thunderbolt 3 cable will work as well or better than a USB C to C cable using these adaptors.
I'm slightly confused on what is going where.
joemikeb, could you please clarify what the port is on the hardware to which you are connecting. Type C? If so, how do the adapters in the links you provided accomplish the connection? They both show a female Type C, and wouldn't the hardware be a female port and require a male Type C at the end?
I ask because I just set up my wife's 24" iMac M1 and the Time Machine backup hard drive needed a female USB Type A (probably USB 3.0) and a male Type C adapter like
this one.
