Beating Dead Horse? Thunderbolt 3 backward compatibility.

Hello all,

Quick question.

So and So manufacture says their devices are backward compatible with Thunderbolt 2 (new TB 3 RAIDs and external drives) but users report No.

Which is it?

My current mac is a 2017 iMac with TB 2 and I have two TB2 Lacie 2big RAIDS (3 tb(2x3TB) and 4 tb(2x4TB))and would like to get the Dock. They say it will work with Apples TB3toTB2 adapter but there are so many posts saying it did not work. I'd have the 'backup' of using USB 3 which is 'ok' I guess. I think both TB2 and USB3 are actually faster than the drives SATA speeds? So TB3 to TB2 adapter not that critical.

Mike

This is one of those instances where it may be best to use an Apple approved adapter. Unfortunately the "real" thing is pricey, like $50.

Some of the confusion may be becuase of compatibility with some later models (maybe yours?)...see https://support.apple.​com/en-us/HT207266 and note in particular the paragraph near the top that reads

Go to the link I provided and check the compatibility with your specific machine.

So as I have read, I inferred that that adapter was only to let a New TB3 computer connect to an Old TB 2 device and not to allow an old computer with TB2 to work with a TB3 device.

I appreciate the input.

So with such devices that do have USB3 support, I'd be ok with my mac since it has USB 3 ports.

Mike