USB 3.0 is now officially a part of the Mac. It offers great speed, simple connectivity, and backward compatibility. In effect, it’s a faster version of the standard that we’ve had since the original iMac.
The big departure for USB 3.0 is that its plugs are a little different than the ones prior. The main thing you’ll notice is that there are a lot more pins on the plug. That can cause a bit of confusion. Fortunately, USB is designed to scale nicely, and the plugs are no exception.
Type A – On the Computer Side
On the computer side, there’s not a whole lot of physical difference between the the traditional USB Type A connector and the USB 3.0 version. They’re both a flattened rectangle with four front pins that correspond to the four pins in the appropriate receptacle on your computer. The USB 3.0 model, though, has a second row of pins near the inside edge of the plug. The design is such that if you plug a USB 3.0 cable into a USB 2.0/1.1 slot or vice versa, only the front four pins will make contact, making it a USB 2.0/1.1 connection. If both the cable and the plug is USB 3.0, then that whole connection is, too.
Type B – On the Device Side
This is where it gets tricky. On the device end, the most common connectors to USB are “Type B”, which is the large, roughly square connector found on most large external drives, a “Mini-B” connector often found with portable devices, and the “Micro-B”connector which is also gaining popularity in the portable market – especially in the cellular phone market. There are other connectors, as well, but several have been eliminated over time.
USB 3.0 has corresponding connectors for “Type B” and “Micro-B.” Each of these adds a second “section” to the standard connector to accommodate the extra connections of USB 3.0; the “Type B” connector stacks it on top, while the “Micro-B” version sets them side by side. While there is, technically, a specification for the Mini-B type (it has 10 pins in the same shape connector), they are very rare, with the Micro-B version being preferred for portable devices.
The practical upshot of all this is that the connector on the end of a USB 3.0 that attaches to the device is larger/has more pins than its USB 2.0/1.1 counterpart. However, there is still some interoperability available.
You can plug a USB 2.0/1.1 cable into the corresponding half of the USB 3.0 connection based off of it. For example, a USB 2.0/1.1 with a “Micro-B” connection can be used with a USB 3.0 Device with a “Micro-B” receptacle, such as the OWC Mercury Aura Envoy enclosure; you just won’t get USB 3.0 speeds. A “Mini-B” plug won’t fit, though.
Unfortunately, this isn’t reversible. You can’t plug a USB 3.0 plug into a USB 2.0/1.1 device due to that extra bundle. The odds are, though, that if you’re stuck for something it’ll be that USB 3.0 cable, as they’re just not quite as common yet. Now you know you can use a USB 2.0/1.1 cable with the same type connector (Type B, Mini-B, or Micro-B) and you’ll be able to use that drive in a pinch.
Chris, Merry Christmas!
I was hoping you could clarify something. I have a lot of “legacy” (real hardware) MIDI gear including a pair of Emagic AMT8 MIDI interfaces, which I believe at best are USB 1.1 spec. I was planning on buying a new Mac Mini to be my new dedicated music sequencing/recording computer, but with the new Minis having only USB 3.0 ports, I want to make sure I can plug the AMT8 MIDI interfaces into the Mac Mini’s 3.0 USB ports via a “regular” USB cable (is there any difference between 1.0/1.1/2.0 cables?) Will the 3.0 connection still support 1.0/1.1 devices? Your info seems to suggest that it will, but I wanted to be sure.
I’ve read that Apple still supports the Emagic MIDI interfaces with a driver in Lion and Mountain Lion, but that was prior to the new USB 3.0 iMacs and Minis coming out. I’d like to make sure “it’s all going to be OK” before I buy a Mac Mini.
Any additional info would be much appreciated.
Happy holidays!
While I haven’t personally tested said devices with the new machines,nthe USB 3.0 specifications do include backward-compatibility. The plugs still fit and make the appropriate connections (the USB 3.0 port has a couple of other connections that just won’t make contact) and the device should then work as it would with previous USB ports.
If Apple is supporting those items in Lion & Mountain Lion, it would be a safe guess that they should work as expected.
Thanks very much Chris, I appreciate the reply.
please leave a firewire 800 port on there as all apples virtually all since the imac and powermac g3 have the faster firewire port which is faster in use than usb 1 and 2 and depending on the hard drive not much slower (SATA 2.5 drive) than usb 3. Only a few macs sold in the last 2 months have usb 3, but virtually all except macbook/air have firewire. this is why apple makes a firwire dongle for macbook air and retina models they now most mac users who have had macs have a few firewire drives to, and they are great for booting even old macs and for target disk mode to transfer files from a new mac retina or mac air to an old one. on your combo drive and enclosures.
thanks on thunderbolt mac to a thunderbolt mac, (thunderbolt has only been on macs for about a year.
Dont forget firewire!
I anxiously await the arrival of thunderbolt to your product lines. Is it a cost or an engineering difficulty?
In the meantime LaCie offer a thunderbolt to esata gadget that works well. I have two of your big quad raid boxes attached that way! Mercury Qx2?
This is a good solution for thunderbolt equipped macs without USB 3.
We do carry several Thunderbolt products including the LaCie Thunderbolt to eSATA Hub you speak of.
Our own brand Thunderbolt products are forthcoming – the first to be released by end of Summer with several more following before the end of the year.
I am impatiently waiting for OWC to update its Mercury Elite Pro Mini Quad-Interface to have a USB 3.0 port.
The Combo-Port model won’t work well with older Macs since you need an ExpressCard USB 3.0 or eSata to connect at the fastest speeds, otherwise, it connects at the slower USB 2.0 speeds.
At the very least, the Combo-Port model should have had USB 3.0 PLUS Fireware 800, not eSata. This way, older Macs AND newer Macs can connect at a fast speed.
Very nice overview.
You guys should put a version of this USB overview on your site linked from the External Drives page as a reference.
Great article. Now, bring it to all your external hard disks effectively replacing all the USB 2 ports. Only USB 3 (and Thunderbolt) as Apple as done! Do not forget two Thunderbolt ports to daisy-chain devices. Thanks!