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LaCie's eSATA Thunderbolt Hub pushes data transfer to the max
The move from traditional I/O options toward Thunderbolt across the Mac line (with the notable exception of the Mac Pro) has meant some headscratching moments for users of high-end storage. Buying all-new Thunderbolt-ready RAIDs isn't an option for those on a budget, especially when there may be big investments already in eSATA-connected equipment. As more Thunderbolt peripherals and accessories have made it to market, this conundrum is beginning to clear. LaCie's eSATA hub Thunderbolt Series, at $199, delivers eSATA performance and convenience for high-end video and graphics users at a price that's not out of balance. Design The eSATA hub is clearly a product of LaCie's industrial design DNA, strongly resembling the company's Little Big Disk SSD unit. The aluminum ridged case provides maximum surface area for heat dissipation, and the removable base is heavy enough to help keep the hub upright when it's plugged into multiple cables. The hub can also be deployed without the base and laid flat. The hub has two Thunderbolt ports for passthrough support, plus two eSATA ports. Power and a Kensington-style security port round out the back panel. The unit gets warm in normal operation, but not painfully so -- just don't use it on your lap. It ships without a Thunderbolt cable, so you'll need one of Apple's or the Elgato short jumper cable. Performance Expectations for eSATA always come down to speed, and with the bandwidth of Thunderbolt behind it the LaCie hub delivers. I tested the hub on a MacBook Pro with a G-RAID dual drive external RAID 0 unit, first using Firewire 800 as a baseline; I measured about 40-60 MB/s transfer speeds with Blackmagic's Disk Speed Test utility. Reconnecting the drive to the eSATA hub transformed it from a middling performer to a speed demon. I saw transfer rates in excess of 200 MB/s both for writes and reads. Obviously the speed of your storage device will be a limiting factor in the performance you get from the eSATA hub, but I didn't see anything to belie LaCie's assertion that the hub is delivering full eSATA speed. In fact, compared to the ExpressCard solutions of the past, you're gaining back some of the missing eSATA bandwidth (3 Gbps) that overshot the card slot's specification (2.5 Gbps). The passthrough Thunderbolt port also worked as advertised, allowing me to drive a Cinema Display or connect an Ethernet adapter off the back of the unit. Display performance seemed unaffected as I copied multi-gigabyte files to and fro via the hub. Wrap-up At $199, the eSATA Thunderbolt hub might be a little expensive for the casual user. For anyone who has a stack of eSATA drives in constant use, however, it's a bargain. Adding this unit to your interface arsenal will upgrade your connectivity choices and enable you to consider modern Mac models without sacrificing your legacy drives. [As commenters have noted, the LaCie hub does not support port multiplexing, which would allow attaching multiple drives on each of the eSATA ports; the Sonnet product combo of the Thunderbolt-ExpressCard adapter & a Tempo eSATA card would do that, but would not allow Thunderbolt pass-through.] Pros Fast and trouble-free Solidly designed Passthrough Thunderbolt port Cons Priced for prosumers Who is it for? eSATA storage users with a Thunderbolt Mac in mind.
Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter now definitely available
It appeared and disappeared a few times over the first day of supposed availability, but now it seems to have arrived for good: the Thunderbolt to FireWire 800 adapter originally announced with the most recent laptop refresh is now on sale. The adapter works with all Thunderbolt-equipped Macs and supplies 7W of power for bus-powered devices. Given the theoretical bandwidth of Thunderbolt far outstrips the FireWire spec, the adapter should have no problem keeping up with the fastest drives. Thanks to Eric J
Daily Update for August 1, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Thunderbolt to Firewire cable appears, disappears on Apple Store
The long-awaited Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter made its debut on Apple's online store this morning, but the product page appears to be appearing and disappearing at will. I wasn't able to see the cable listing, but Erica Sadun and Dave Caolo did; as of 11am ET, it appears to be down again. Assuming it does go on sale today, the cable will cost $29.99 and apparently will ship in one to three business days. A Thunderbolt update was pushed out in June to provide compatibility with another new Thunderbolt goodie: the Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter. [hat tip 9to5Mac & The Verge] #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Thunderbolt-equipped Drobo 5D and Drobo Mini storage devices now up for pre-order
Hankering for a Drobo with Thunderbolt? They're here... almost. Starting today, consumers far and wide can place their pre-orders for the Drobo 5D and the Drobo Mini. As a refresher, the former is a BYOD desktop solution with a pair of T-bolt ports and a lone USB 3.0 connector; just bring up to five 3.5-inch HDDs, and your RAID adventures are cleared to begin. The latter is a bantam option that promises the "power and flexibility" of the 5D, but in a miniaturized package that works with the 2.5-inch drives that typically find themselves within laptops. The 5D is listed at $849, while the Mini comes in at $649, and you can find the entire list of authorized partners in Drobo's blog post below.
Netstor rolls out Thunderbolt-powered PCIe and storage expansion options for Macs
We can sympathize -- your task-master Mac is hurting for PCIe expansion and more storage. Fortunately, Netstor has just announced several new products to boost your computer's ego and add either item via those newly christened Thunderbolt ports. The TurboBox NA211TB will lend three extra PCIe slots to any Mac that has the 10Gb/s port, while the NS780TB Desktop Storage will use it to bolt on 16 bays of disk storage. The company's rackmounted NA333TB Mac Mini Server, meanwhile, gives you 16 removable storage bays along with most RAID array options, and the aforementioned PCIe upgrade integrated to boot. Shipping dates and pricing weren't announced, but if you're looking to transform that Macbook Air into a video-editing behemoth, you may want to check all three options at the source.
Drobo announces Thunderbolt-enabled storage devices
Drobo has been manufacturing easy-to-use BeyondRAID arrays for quite a few years, but one common complaint of users has been that the devices have been relatively slow in comparison with traditional arrays. Today the company is introducing the US$799 (empty) Drobo 5D with Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 ports to provide performance-hungry users with fast, reliable and expandable storage. The new Drobo isn't available for purchase yet, but the company is letting potential buyers add their names to a notification list. The 5D has five drive bays and some new features that should keep users excited. First, the drive has dual Thunderbolt ports so that it can be daisy-chained with up to five other Drobo 5D arrays -- that's up to 96 TB of storage. The new device also has a Drobo Accelerator Bay that allows the user to add an optional mSATA SSD to accelerate the performance of the storage array. Of course, each drive bay in the device can also be filled with SSDs for maximum performance. Drobo has also built in a new battery that protects data on the way to the drive. In case of a power failure, the battery allows the data to be written to non-volatile storage where it's safe until the power is back on. The company has also added a tuned variable-speed cooling fan to make the Drobo 5D quieter than previous models. The company also announced the new $599 (empty) Drobo Mini, which takes up to four 2.5" drives. This new device makes carrying up to 3 TB of protected storage a snap, perfect for road warriors with a need for storage. The Drobo Mini also uses Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 ports, and includes the other new features of the Drobo 5D. Both drives are scheduled to ship in mid-summer.
Drobo debuts a duo of Thunderbolt drives: the 5D for desktops and the Mini for road warriors
Drobo's been delivering quality desktop storage for businesses and prosumers for awhile now, but previously, the company hadn't dipped its toe into Thunderbolt waters. But that's about to change with its two new units. The 5D is a BYOD desktop offering with two Thunderbolt ports and one USB 3.0 socket for connecting up to five hot-swappable, 3.5-inch drives to your Mac or PC. It also has an mSATA SSD for data-caching quickness and a variable-speed fan to keep things cool and quiet. We don't know exactly when the 5D will go on sale -- Drobo's not telling until July -- but it'll cost under $850 when it does, and that price includes a Thunderbolt cable.%Gallery-158786% Meanwhile, the Mini is the first Drobo meant to be taken on the road. It packs up to four 2.5-inch drives in its front bays, plus, like the 5D, there's an mSATA SSD nestled in its underside that serves as a caching tier to speed up your main storage -- all in a 7.3 x 1.8 x 7.1-inch package weighing three pounds when fully loaded. All the drives are hot-swappable, a process made simple and easy with a trick, spring-loaded mechanism (patent pending) that lets users swap drives as they would SD cards. As for connecting the thing to your computer, dual Thunderbolt ports (for daisy chaining) and one USB 3.0 port reside round back along with the power plug and two vents for the Mini's variable-speed fans. Ringing the front face of the Mini are five LED strips that serve as drive indicators and capacity meter to let you know when a drive has failed or you're running out of space. Intrigued? Well, we got a sneak peek at the Mini and a little history lesson about its origins at Drobo HQ, so join us past the break for more.
Thunderbolt 1.2.1 update reportedly fixes boot issues, adds Ethernet adapter support
Last week TUAW reported that the Thunderbolt 1.2 update, which was released to provide support for the new US$29 Apple Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter, was causing some Macs to experience boot failures that often required a complete reinstall of Lion to resolve. Well, Apple apparently jumped on the problem as soon as it was reported, as a new Thunderbolt 1.2.1 update that fixes the problem is now available. If you're using a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac with OS X Lion 10.7.4, then the update will appear in Software Update for easy installation. As usual, Apple has made a direct download link available.
Thunderbolt 1.2.1 update adds Ethernet adapter support, reportedly squashes boot issues
Got your fancy new Retina MacBook Pro? Eying up one of those Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapters? Well, Apple's just released a software update that adds support for the nifty peripheral. That's the main purpose of this latest version -- 1.2.1 -- according to the company's website. However, there are reports suggesting it also resolves a boot-related issue that was affecting certain users, caused by a previous update. If this was affecting you, or you're running OS X 10.7.4, then make a dash for that source link.
Comparing Thunderbolt to HDMI, USB and PCIe Cable
Monday's announcement that the new 9 and MacBook Pros come equipped with USB 3.0 ports was welcome news to Mac users, but an indication of a broader question in the minds of those same users -- which input/output port technology is the best? CNET's Steven Shankland took a look at four I/O technologies -- Thunderbolt, HDMI, USB 3.0 and the new PCIe Cable -- to compare the pros and cons of each. Thunderbolt is Intel's design for a high-speed port technology, with Apple and Acer both adding Thunderbolt ports to most new personal computers. It hasn't been widely adopted, however, and peripherals that take advantage of the technology are slow in coming. PCIe Cable (PCI Express Cable) is being adopted by HP. The two technologies showing the greatest level of adoption are USB 3.0 and HDMI. Shankland's post notes that USB 3.0 is likely to really take off, with USB 2.0 all but disappearing by 2016. USB 3.0 has the advantage of being both backward-compatible and fairly ubiquitous. The technology could also get a boost from proposed designs that would offer power distribution in the same USB cable. HDMI is already the standard on HDTVs and set-top boxes, and Apple added HDMI output to the latest crop of MacBook Pros. Thunderbolt is expected to zoom from 10 to 100 Gbps per channel in the near future, and PCIe Cable will have data transfer rates up to 64 Gbps. But it all boils down to cost for inclusion by manufacturers and availability of peripherals for consumers. Be sure to visit the CNET post for a fascinating read on the bus wars.
Apple Thunderbolt Software Update causing sporadic errors, frozen boot screens
Software updates can be a bit of a mixed bag -- just ask anyone who's ever been on the other side of a botched firmware install. While many users react with itchy trigger fingers to download the goods, the more prudent (read: hardened) prefer to hold off in the event potentially crippling bugs creep on out. So, it comes as no great surprise that Apple's recently issued Thunderbolt update version 1.2 -- intended to add support for a Gigabit Ethernet Adapter -- is subjecting a portion of frustrated users to unexpected errors and frozen boot screens. Currently, the only officially sanctioned remedy seems to be a fresh install of OS X Lion. So, if you haven't already taken the plunge on this minor feature add-on, you'd be well advised to wait it out.
Thunderbolt Software Update 1.2 reportedly causing boot failures
Whoa. Thunderbolt must be extremely upset about having to share the spotlight with USB 3.0 on the new Mac models introduced yesterday, as Thunderbolt Software Update 1.2 (also released yesterday) is now causing boot failures. The issue was reported by TidBITS publisher Adam Engst this morning, who said that people are reporting "strange boot-related problems" such as kernel panics, lockups at the gray boot screen, "unexpected error" messages and other issues. It's a pretty serious problem -- the Macs are unusable after the update. Adam reports that the best fix at this point is to reinstall Lion. That's quite easy with Lion, although time consuming. Users need to boot into Recovery Mode during restart by holding down Command-R. Once booted, they can select "Reinstall Mac OS X". If you don't have a Recovery HD volume, then Lion Internet Recovery will take over and allow you to download a new Recovery HD image to boot from. Once Lion is reinstalled, do not reinstall Thunderbolt Software Update 1.2 unless you're a masochist and like to reinstall operating systems. If you have a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac and have not run the update yet, avoid it like the plague. It's only required for the new Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter anyway.
Apple rolls out Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter for $29
When it rains, it pours -- and today is a downright thunderstorm in Cupertino. If you need some wired internet access for your Air or Next Generation MacBook Pro, Apple's got you covered. The company added a Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter to its store. You can pick one of the "small and compact" add-ons up in the source link below.
Apple axes 17-inch MacBook Pro, giant laptop owners weep
As we suspected when Apple updated traditional MacBook Pros, Apple has quietly dropped the 17-inch MacBook Pro. From here on out, it's either the 13- or 15-inch models if you want Apple's conventional form factor. The next-generation MacBook Pro is now your best option if you want more than a 1680 x 1050 resolution in a portable Mac, and there's no internal recourse for an ExpressCard slot if you lived on it. That said, we imagine Apple is counting on two pairs each of USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt on the new system to take care of ExpressCard's former duties. We'd add that it's also the end of an era: Apple was one of the first with a 17-inch widescreen laptop, and it's now one of the first to bow out.
Sonnet shipping xMac mini server, Echo Express PCIe adapters to follow suit shortly (update)
Sonnet's no stranger to the Thunderbolt peripheral game and it now has three new Thor-approved expansions to ship. The Echo Express adapter packs one X4 mode PCIe 2.0 slot of the x16 flavor, an extra opening for a connector plate or a double-width card and clocks in at a sizeable $599. At a heftier $899 $799, the Pro model sports two of the same slots and support configurations with larger cards. The AC-powered aluminum housings each feature an extra Thunderbolt port to continue the daisy chain and ship out for duty on June 8th. Bent on turning your Mac mini into a server and have $1,295 squirreled away behind a rack? The xMac mini server 1U rackmount enclosure is replacing its older sibling and adds more PCIe 2.0 slot connectivity. Hit the source links for full tech specs on all three. Update: The Echo Express Pro rings up at $799 instead of $899. Sonnet Tech let us know that the RackMac mini Xserver never shipped, but is being revamped as the xMac mini.
ASUS offers Thunderbolt upgrade card for some 7-series motherboards
Want to have your mobo cake now and eat the Thunderbolt later? ASUS is there for you with its new Thunderbolt EX Upgrade card -- as long as you buy, or have bought, certain of its 7-series motherboards. The supported models have a "unique system link connector" to cable to the upgrade card, which will gobble up one of your PCIe x4 slots and use a DisplayPort to serve up the 'bolt. So if you don't feel like laying the cash down now and don't mind giving up ports later, pass-through the break to see which models will work.
Apple hits HTC with third ITC dispute, One series goes under the gun
Apple chief Tim Cook might have said that he doesn't like lawsuits, but he must have left a loophole open for International Trade Commission disputes. His company quietly filed a third challenge against HTC on June 4th (just now coming to light) that -- surprise -- claims HTC is still violating patents that it supposedly worked hard to avoid. If successful, Apple would slap down 29 devices that include a much more modern set of hardware than the first two disputes, including the One X (and EVO 4G LTE), One S and One V. Apple had success in December with the final results of its first ITC complaint and may simply be rolling the dice to try for more. Whatever throw Apple lands, there's no doubt that HTC and its fans are exasperated at the thought of more launch delays, or worse.
Belkin promises spec upgrade for Thunderbolt Express Dock with USB 3.0, eSATA
Belkin has added some upgrades to its soon-to-be-shipped Thunderbolt Express Dock, and a new Thunderbolt cable for Mac and PC users. The Thunderbolt Express Dock is a first-of-its-kind docking solution for both PC and Mac users that enables instant access to up to nine desktop peripherals with one cable, and provides an easy transition from a desktop workstation to a mobile device. Upgrades to the latest version of the dock include the addition of three USB 3.0 ports, instead of USB 2.0 ports, as well as an eSata port. Thunderbolt hasn't really caught fire yet in the market place, if you'll pardon the pun, but it holds great promise as file sizes get larger, especially media files. Apple includes Thunderbolt ports on the MacBook Air, The MacBook Pro, the iMac and the Mac mini. The Express Dock will retail for US $399.00 and the Thunderbolt cable will list at $44.99. There are already Thunderbolt storage products from Pegasus, LaCie and Sonnet. The newest Apple displays can also connect via Thunderbolt.
Possibly fake MacBook Pro spec sheet: USB 3.0, Ivy Bridge and no Retina Display
It's hard not to drown in Apple rumors right now, but here comes another one to help things along. As a counterweight to recent reports of MacBook Airs getting Retina Displays, the label above hints that the 13.3-inch MacBook Pro could be stuck with plain-Jane 1280 x 800. There's nothing to say that this bit of paper didn't derive from an inkjet hooked up to someone's imagination, but some of the other new specs have been rumored already from separate sources: notably the HD 4000 graphics reflecting the presence of Ivy Bridge, plus Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 co-starring on the I/O front. Those hypothetical additions would be great for productivity, but if there's nothing resolutionary about the new Pros then Apple had better find something else to console us with at WWDC. [Thanks, Josh]
