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I want an extra USB terminal on my macbook and thought this would be a good opportunity to use my my never touched thunderbolt port.

So i searched on ebay for a Thunderbolt 3 to USB 3.0 female. However all i kept getting was USB-C hubs. Some of which don't even have thunderbolt in them at all!

I am so confused. Considering how long thunderbolt has been around (we're on thunderbolt 3.0) i thought there would be at least one cheapo thunderbolt 3 to USB 3.0 hub!

When i dug deeper there were a couple although i'm not sure becasuse it said "esata" on them rather than USB. But i can tell one of them is a USB. However it's extremely expensive at least ten times what i imagined the price would be.

https://www.amazon.com.au/Kanex-Thunderbolt-eSATA-Plus-Adapte/dp/B00LOLBBQQ

kingportable
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    The USB-C connector is used for Thunderbolt 3. In fact, thunderbolt 3 protocol allows the same cable to transport USB, PCI Express, and HDMI/DisplayPort. The device you have linked to has a Thunderbolt 2/Thunderbolt port on it. – Los Frijoles Jul 21 '18 at 16:09

1 Answers1

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All Thunderbolt 3.0 ports are backwards compatible to operate as USB-C ports. This is explained in a snippet from this CNET article shown below.

In fact, device manufacturers are so confident in the new USB-C standard that Intel announced last year that Thunderbolt 3, once thought to be a USB replacement, will use the same port type as USB-C. This means every Thunderbolt 3 port will also work as a USB-C port and every Thunderbolt 3 cable will work as a USB-C cable.

So, what you really need to look for is a USB-C to USB 3.x hub. There are lots of those.

crj11
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  • Ahh is see so i'm on thunderbolt 2. OK but how come i can't find a thunderbolt 2 to USB 3.0 converter? I really want one. I'd have to lug around a powered USB hub otherwise. – kingportable Jul 21 '18 at 23:08