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Now that USB 3.0 is found on (almost) every new Mac, the Macworld Lab decided to put its real-world speed to the test, especially compared with FireWire 800 and Thunderbolt. USB C Hub, TOTU 12-in-1 Type C Hub with Ethernet,4K USB C to 2 HDMI,VGA,2 USB3.0, 2 USB2.0,79W PD 3.0,SD/TF Cards Reader,Mic/Audio for Mac Pro/Type C Laptops (Windows Laptops Support Triple Display) 4.3 out of 5 stars 961. The quickest way to learn what ports your computer features is by physically examining your computer. For Mac users, Apple provides this handy webpage to help you identify the ports on your Mac. If you have a PC, check these articles, PC Ports explained here and USB-C explained. USB-A ports are either speeds of 2.0 or 3.0 and speeds over 3.0 such as 3.1 or 3.2 is called USB-C.
A USB-C to USB-C charging cable connects directly to your Mac without the need of a clunky dongle. MX Master 3 for Mac stays powered for up to 70 days on a full charge – and gets three hours of use from a one-minute quick charge.Battery life may vary based on user and computing conditions.
Media dumps to a Seagate external GoFlex drive via USB2/3 from a MacBook Pro did seem faster than for other devices.
Newer products which support USB 3 are probably using faster disks or faster flash memory to reap the benefits of USB 3's faster bus, whereas older products that were always going to be constrained by USB 2 anyway wouldn't have gotten enough extra performance to justify the higher-priced components.
It's all academic to me, though, because my main 'Mac' does have USB 3. ;)
This is probably accurate, yeah. When dealing with anything, you always have multiple bottlenecks.
I was going to agree with you here, but then I started to wonder... the OP says his USB3 card reader is almost twice as fast as his USB2, and I would assume that test was done with the same flash memory in each one... I know the hardware in the drive also affects the speed of accessing the card, but I would not expect this much of a difference.
I also remembered that I was looking at the System Information window on my iMac the other day and it did show that the drive I was looking at was a USB 3 device, so I wonder if that might mean the computer is using some improved driver or something even though it doesn't have all the hardware that it needs.
I admit I don't know much about hardware, and your explanation sounds the most logical, but I still have to wonder...
I cannot verify the claim that USB 3 devices are faster than USB 2 devices when both are connected to a Mac via USB 2. I have two portable 1TB hard drives. One is USB 2, the other USB 3. If anything, my USB 2 hard drive is slightly faster than the USB 3 hard drive when I copy the same 1GB folder to and from both devices.
OP here...
OK... sorry about leaving off some examples.
First, however, yes, it is true that -drives- do not seem to benefit much.
That said:
write 2.29 GB to Patriot XT extreme USB 2.0 200x stick thru usb 2.0 port: 3 : 01 (3 minutes, one second)
same file to ADAT 102 USB 3 stick: 1:56
(yes, I know sticks are extremely variable, but the XT is pretty fast.)
Actually more important to me personally, as I'm a shooter:
READ SDHC (435 MB) thru USB 2 port
IOGear GFR281 card reader: 23 seconds
Transcend TS-RDF8K USB 3 reader: 11 seconds
Yes, this is a TINY sample, but 1) it's not all I've experienced... all I wanted to do was post the news here so others could enjoy the benefits; and 2) I've passed this along to dozens of others on mailing lists, and virtually all of them have experienced similar results.
If you have expansion slots in your Apple computer or hackintosh it is quite easy to add proper USB3 capability to it.
Yep. Did that with a HighPoint Card. Works at about the same speed as eSATA (a little slower, but not too bad). Does not work with USB 3 hubs, nor with USB 3 card readers. I've talked to their engineers about it, urging them to update the driver so that their card works with more than just drives.
I can’t verify this due to lack of USB 3 devices, but please: The plural of Mac is Macs, not Mac’s! English is not my native language, but it hurts the eye seeing useless apostrophes.
I don't notice the speed being that much faster on my Western Digital MyBook Essential external disk drives that are USB2/3 compatible. I'm about to buy a USB3 4-port card for my Mac Pro, though, to see how fast the real thing is!
Both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 will be a history.
Why did you want USB 3.0 an Mac, if you have amazing Thunderbold (designed till 10Gb/s in two channels!!).
Think deep!
Enjoy Mac! ;)
To everyone posting that their >drives< are not any faster: yes. I know that. I posted that above. It's sort of important to read what I actually wrote: that card readers and USB sticks are faster. I didn't say anything in the OP about drives because I didn't see any improvement with drives. Drives do not gain any speed by virtue of having a USB3 port.
The fact that drive speed does not improve, does not negate the fact that card readers and USB 3 sticks _are_ faster, at least in my own anecdotal experience.
OK... I'm done. Enjoy the holidays!
The Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) Cable (0.8m) connects a Mac that has a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) port to a device that has a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) or USB-C port.
Video
Use this cable to connect your Mac to a display that uses Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) or USB-C for video, such as the LG UltraFine 5K Display or LG UltraFine 4K Display. It supports DisplayPort High Bit Rate 3 (HBR3) video output.
Data transfer
Use this cable to connect your Mac to a device that uses Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) or USB-C for data transfer, such as an external hard drive or dock. It supports Thunderbolt 3 data-transfer speeds up to 40Gbps, and USB 3.1 Gen 2 data-transfer speeds up to 10Gbps. It also supports Target Disk Mode. Check the specifications of your device to determine which data-transfer standard it supports.
Charging
This cable also connects to Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) or USB-C devices for charging your Mac notebook computer or other device. It delivers a maximum of 100W power to any connected device.
Compared with Apple USB-C Charge Cable
The Apple USB-C Charge Cable is longer (2m) and also supports charging, but data-transfer speed is limited to 480Mbps (USB 2.0) and it doesn't support video. The Apple Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) cable has Thunderbolt logo on the sleeve of each connector. Either cable can be used with the Apple USB-C Power Adapter.
Learn more
Enable Usb Devices Mac
- Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) allows six devices in a chain, so you can use this cable between your Mac and each device in the chain.