External GPU Forum

US$49 Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter

There are many more questions than answers on this Apple TB3 <–> TB2 adapter. Our hope is to have a collective of results on whether this Apple adapter works for your non-Apple computer and eGPU. We will keep this list up-to-date.

YES – Intel NUC Skull Canyon (Windows 10, Thunderbolt NVM firmware 18) with AKiTiO Thunder2

Confirmed working with Intel NUC Skull Canyon and AKiTiO Thunder2 enclosure. The key I believe is Thunderbolt NVM firmware version 18 and newer.

Merged content posted talking about the Apple TB3 -> Tb2 adapter in a different thread.

Posted by: mdr1a

Akitio website says Node are not capable with Macbook Pro both bootcamp and MacOS, but seems it works on bootcamp ?(This article : https://egpu.io/akitio-node-review-the-state-of-thunderbolt-3-egpu/) I have a 2015 MacBook Pro 15′ with AMD R9 m370x and thunderbolt 2, is it possible to use apple thunderbolt 3-thunderbolt 2 adapter to connect eGPU? Akitio Node ➡️ apple TB3 to TB2 adapter ➡️MacBook Pro 2015 If this set up works well on bootcamp win10 I’ll consider to buy one.

Posted by: nando4

 

The Apple TB3->TB2 adapter allows NVM 18 firmware+ TB3 PC notebooks and Apple notebooks to attach to TB2 peripherals.

Attaching TB3 peripherals to TB2 notebooks has only so far worked on Apple systems.

Posted by: Yukikaze

For the record, I tested the Apple adapter on two Windows laptops trying to connect a TB3 device to a TB2 laptop without using OS X Sierra. It does not work.

Posted by: mdr1a

 

Thanks for answering ! I almost go to local Apple store buy one of this,save 30 bucks…

 

How about akitito T3T? ( https://www.akitio.com/adapters/t3t) Can this adapter connect Akitio Node and MacBook pro with TB2 ? or other way to connect Node to TB2 devices?

Akitio Node is a nice product ,but still have lots of problems in capability.

Hope akitio Node can work with my 2015 Macbook pro.

akitio-t3t-connectivity.jpg oh ,too bad :(…..

Posted by: Yukikaze

“This adapter is not compatible with Thunderbolt 2 or Thunderbolt computers.”

So it sounds like if you use the Apple TB3->TB2 adapter with OSX Sierra, you should be dandy? 

Looking to get the node and a rx480 or a r9 390x for my mid 2014 rMBP to bump up my FCPX and resolve performance 

Posted by: Anchoricex

 

So it sounds like if you use the Apple TB3->TB2 adapter with OSX Sierra, you should be dandy?

Looking to get the node and a rx480 or a r9 390x for my mid 2014 rMBP to bump up my FCPX and resolve performance 

   

I’ve connected this adapter using a Late 2011 17″ MacBook Pro and a 2015 11″ MacBook Air to a Thunder3 enclosure and they work. My intention for this topic is for non-Apple computers.

Posted by: Yukikaze

 

I am picking up this adapter today. I am going to test if the TB2 -> TB3 direction works on non-Macs. Then I’ll test the same direction on a borrowed 2013 MBAir, too.

   

So did you find out whether it works on non Macs?

I talked to Yukikaze on Discord this morning. He received the adapter but the only TB3 enclosure he has is not working properly, so TB2 non-Mac -> TB3 enclosure is still unknown.

Current state:

At least for Thunderbolt 1, Apple put some firmware code that is supposed to be implemented in BIOS, in the OS X. Although I believe the adapter will work just fine under TB2 non-Mac, we still need to test it out.

After reading this, I start to believe that we will never have a usable adapter for TB2 Host to use TB3 Device. The code to support this adapter is indeed belong to firmware on non-Mac laptop, which is the reason TB3 Host need NVM 18 to support this adapter: that’s a firmware update. Also from the fact that Boot Camp reroutes the controller for Windows I think it is safe to say Windows totally relies on the firmware to initialize the PCIe link.

We can either wait for an updated firmware for TB2 controller, which is very unlikely, or implement it in uefi driver, which we basically know nothing about the technical detail.

In the end, TB2 Host users should just get TB2 enclosures. At least you can still use it with your future TB3 laptop, if TB4 is not already in the market.

Its been a few months idle on this thread…   I was curious if there was anything new to report?

my Mac Mini (Mid 2011) is TB2.   I was looking at the Thunder3 enclosure (TB3)….however I do not see anyone using TB2 to TB3 in the Mac World.    As far as future proofing, I was hoping for the Thunder3, but without any news on this topic, it sounds like I will be going with a Thunder2.??

Did you take a look at the implementation table? There’s quite a few implementations running TB2 (host) to TB3 (device), including a 2011 Mac Mini like you plan to use.

thanks for the link!   I see them now.

Think I just needed a couple days to pry my eyes from the computer and regroup.   I’ve literally been all over this forum reading a lot, then I started forgetting what post/thread I read.

So with this information wenn can say that the adapter doesn’t even work with Boot Camp?  Well, I’ll try it out…