Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adaptor

Reviews for Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adaptor

Customer Reviews and Ratings

3.0 out of 5 stars

Based on 58 reviews

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Having problems with bus powered drives

    • Written by from Lyndhurst

    283 of 313 people found this useful

    I am a video editor. I own many FW800 drives. None of my drives that I use in the field work unless I'm connected to power. This is a major problem for me. When I'm in the field capturing footage and need to offload data to a drive, I have to use my old laptop.

    Was this useful? Having problems with bus powered drives

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Works fine for data, is dicier for bus-powered devices

    • Written by from Chicago

    226 of 246 people found this useful

    The adapter seems to work fine for devices that have their own power supply but i have had mixed results on bus powered interfaces / drives. I've tested the MOTU Ultralite Hybrid mk3 and Iomega eGo. They don't work via bus power. An old FireLite drive works fine via bus power. If you have devices that demand more, you may be SOL. It is a decent solution but isn't a true FireWire gateway.

    Was this useful? Works fine for data, is dicier for bus-powered devices

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Finally!!!!!!!

    • Written by from el cajon

    171 of 219 people found this useful

    After buying the 15inch MBP and not being able to hook up my hard drives via firewire I was desperate for this...

    Better late than never. Thanks Apple

    Was this useful? Finally!!!!!!!

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    no bus power for Focusrite Saffire Pro 24

    • Written by from Zofingen

    114 of 129 people found this useful

    Finally it's here and it's a great product, however my Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 won't power up on bus power - I have to use the external power supply. 7W should be enough to power the device....

    Was this useful? no bus power for Focusrite Saffire Pro 24

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Works great on Retina MacBook PRO

    • Written by from Damascus

    83 of 104 people found this useful

    Works perfectly on the new Retina MacBook Pro, we wait too long till this product release

    thank you Apple

    Was this useful? Works great on Retina MacBook PRO

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Thunderbolt to FW 800 to FW 400 adapter does not support Hasselblad cameras

    • Written by from San Lorenzo

    50 of 51 people found this useful

    Well dang... A brand new Macbook Pro Retina, new Photoshop, new Lightroom and I bought the 2 adapters recommended by Apple- Thunderbolt to Firewire 800, Firewire 800 to Firewire 400- to dump my 132 meg photographs onto my shiny new 16 GB Ram machine... Say What??
    NO GO!!! Oweeee. I called apple tech support, the guy runs a few PRAM reset programs and then proceeds to tell me to bring my new computer into an Apple store, the nearest one being about 7 hours round trip.
    Let me explain- the Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 adapter works great on my Lacie hard drives. The Firewire 800 to Firewire 400 works great on my older MacBook Pro Firewire 800 port to run the same hard drives. So I guess the adapters are fine.
    So WHY Can't the combination work together to run a powered Firewire 400 drive???
    I am irked as the Apple tech/sales guy who helped me put this computer together told me Apple had the solution when clearly it hasn't been sorted out yet.
    As I said back up there- DANG!!

    Was this useful? Thunderbolt to FW 800 to FW 400 adapter does not support Hasselblad cameras

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    MacBook Pro Retina to Firewire 800 Blu Ray Drive

    • Written by from TACOMA

    51 of 55 people found this useful

    Wow... BluRay on MacBook Pro Retina to LaCee BluRay drive w/Toast11...50GB data storage on a DVD sized package. The Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 adapter makes it happen. Now able to back up my 500 GB hard drive to optical media without taking up cases of DVD's. Makes My MacBook Pro even more usefull. Also great for in-house BluRay production on a Mac. Thanks Apple for the Thunderbolt GB Ethernet Adapter and now this Firewire 800 Adapter.

    Was this useful? MacBook Pro Retina to Firewire 800 Blu Ray Drive

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Doesn't bus power everything my FW800 did

    • Written by from Beecher

    44 of 45 people found this useful

    Waited and waited for this to be released... and it doesn't give enough power to power my G-Raid Mini (Gen 3)

    Really disappointed!

    Makes me regret buying a rMBP...

    Was this useful? Doesn't bus power everything my FW800 did

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Worked well for powering my external hard drive.

    • Written by from Colorado Springs

    48 of 54 people found this useful

    I plugged it into my Lacie rugged HD (the one with the orange rubber cover), and it worked great. Powered it up and transferred files as it should.

    Was this useful? Worked well for powering my external hard drive.

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Firewire drives way slower through adapter

    • Written by from Austin

    41 of 42 people found this useful

    It works fine, but if you are currently using a Firewire drive with your non-retina macbook, be aware that using the adapter (required for retina macbook pro) makes the drive much slower, at least for large writes.

    I copied a 32GB file to my WD MyPassport Studio external firewire drive at it took ~30min when copied from a Macbook Retina Pro 15" SSD (via adapter), compared to ~10min when copied from a early-2011 Macbook Pro 15" SSD (which has a much slower internal drive).

    Was this useful? Firewire drives way slower through adapter

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Slow and unreliable connection

    • Written by from Bellevue

    38 of 38 people found this useful

    This has proven to be a poor substitute for my years-long trusted FW800 connection to my external, self-powered, hard drives especially my Drobo drive.

    I've been simplifying my setup for my brand new iMac 27" and have kept only the Drobo drive on FW800, through this adapter. My transfer rates have been cut in half to barely USB 2 speeds, and even more problematic the connection hangs several times a day, likely when the bus goes to sleep. I therefore have to reboot my Drobo several times a day, whereas it has been running flawlessly and without interruptions for three years now.
    Needless to say FW800 is no longer an option for me. And given the very high prices, Thunderbolt is not yet an realistic alternative for mass storage.

    Was this useful? Slow and unreliable connection

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    No Firewire 400 if bus power is needed.

    • Written by from Madison

    33 of 33 people found this useful

    I have an external FireWire 400 drive that does not require a power supply when connected to either a FireWire 400 or 800 port (with 400 to 800 cable). When I try this Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter with a FireWire 800 to 400 cable, it does not work. Apple should either put this in the description, fix the issue or sell a Thunderbolt to FireWire 400 adapter.

    Was this useful? No Firewire 400 if bus power is needed.

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Slower than USB 2.0

    • Written by from Baltimore

    35 of 38 people found this useful

    Data transfer speeds were significantly slower using this adaptor compared to USB 2.0 to interface with an external HDD.

    Was this useful? Slower than USB 2.0

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    works fine so far!

    • Written by from Tempe

    33 of 34 people found this useful

    I used it with my MOTU audio interface. So far so good. I just noticed a little overheat of the adapter, but I don't know if it is normal.

    Was this useful? works fine so far!

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Does what it is designed to do...

    • Written by from Irvine

    32 of 33 people found this useful

    I have 3 Firewire 400 external HDs that still need to be accessed with my new Macbook Air. Two of them are La Cie and one is an Acomdata. Using the Adapter and a FW 800 to FW400 cable I am able to connect a drive to the macbook air and daisy chain another drive to the one connected to the air. So far it meets my expectations. Thanks Apple!

    Was this useful? Does what it is designed to do...

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Not working with (at least) RAID 0 FW800 drives

    • Written by from Washington

    31 of 32 people found this useful

    I'm very disappointed with this cable. For whatever reason, my Late 2012 27" iMac will not recognize the self-powered FW800 externals that I have been working with for years. I'd love to know why.

    Was this useful? Not working with (at least) RAID 0 FW800 drives

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Works with all my FW peripherals, including audio

    • Written by from Craryville

    30 of 31 people found this useful

    Works with OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro (twin 2.5" drives in RAID enclosure), and with an Echo AudioFire2 96 kHz audio interface. In both cases it was able to power the peripherals as well.

    Was this useful? Works with all my FW peripherals, including audio

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Not good enough

    • Written by from NEW YORK

    32 of 36 people found this useful

    When Apple decided to eliminate the mini-DVI, Ethernet and Firewire ports on their new MacBook Pro laptops (three ports in total) and replace them with just two Thunderbolt ports, they created a dilemma for many MacBook Pro owners - myself in particular - trying to upgrade their systems. My MacBook Pro is the hub of a desktop system that includes Firewire drives, Ethernet connectivity and an Apple LED Cinema display. With only Thunderbolt ports on the new laptops and no single adapter that can handle both Ethernet and Firewire, I have to decide what to give up. Apple certainly wasn't thinking about their legacy users when they settled on this design. The old Apple would not have eliminated both the Ethernet port and the Firewire port - these are both current technologies - or it would have made an adapter that could connect both Ethernet and Firewire through a single Thunderbolt port and would include that adapter - free of charge - with every MacBook Pro it sold. Does Apple expect everyone to scrap their DVI, Firewire and Ethernet devices and purchase all new Thunderbolt devices? Really Apple.... !!!

    Was this useful? Not good enough

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  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Simply does not work at all!

    • Written by from Henrico

    28 of 29 people found this useful

    I'm on my second TB/FW adapter. With the first, my G-Drives would randomly unmount themselves constantly, sometimes while I was actively using them. After exchanging the adapter, neither of my external drives will mount at all!

    Both G-Drives worked flawlessly through a FW800/FW400 cable on my late-2006 iMac for years, and continue to work flawlessly through USB on my new 2012 iMac, but they're a couple of unresponsive bricks when connected through this useless adapter.

    I've been working with an Apple Senior Advisor for several days trying to resolve this problem, but I honestly believe Apple just has a junk technology they haven't worked the bugs out of yet. Either it's firmware, something in ML, or the hardware in the adapter itself is faulty, but a lot of people are having the exact same problem.

    Very disappointing!

    Was this useful? Simply does not work at all!

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Nice idea, wished it worked for me

    • Written by from Seal Beach

    28 of 29 people found this useful

    Finally something I can use my thunderbolt port for on my macbook air, BUT, I can only use it on a memory card reader because it doesn't supply enough power for my Lacie rugged hard drives. I have to keep using slowSB (USB). I thought this would make life easier for my macbook air, but unfortunately this supposedly amazing thunderbolt port continues to be quite useless for me.

    Was this useful? Nice idea, wished it worked for me

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