Seagate's GoFlex Thunderbolt Adapters
by Anand Lal Shimpi on January 10, 2012 7:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
- Storage
- Mac
- Seagate
- GoFlex Desk
- GoFlex
- CES
- Thunderbolt
- CES 2012
Finally, we're getting somewhere. After seeing nothing but Thunderbolt storage devices with built in, overpriced drives, Seagate is going to be delivering the first GoFlex docks with Thunderbolt support. Granted you'll still have to use a compatible GoFlex drive, but this is at least a step in the right direction.
There are two models: the GoFlex Desk Thunderbolt adapter and the GoFlex Thunderbolt adapter, priced at $190 and $100 respectively. The GoFlex Desk Thunderbolt adapter will support 3.5" GoFlex Desk drives, while the standard GoFlex adapter will support 2.5" drives. The 2.5" GoFlex is bus powered and only has a single Thunderbolt port, while the GoFlex Desk adapter requires external power and has two Thunderbolt ports.
The pricing is still a bit high, but Seagate blames the cost of the Thunderbolt controller for that. If true, I hope Intel will deliver a cheaper alternative later this year like we've heard.
The GoFlex Desk Thunderbolt adapter will be available in February, while the GoFlex adapter will be available in two weeks.
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JCheng - Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - link
MacBook Air and Mac Mini don't have FireWire. So for those computers you really do need Thunderbolt drives, or you're stuck with USB 2.0.It really is a shame that Apple doesn't (won't?) support USB 3.0; for magnetic drives r3loaded is right, there's no tangible difference between USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt except for the big price jump (both controller and cable).
Focher - Friday, January 13, 2012 - link
Some clarification of what you said helps. Yes, the Air and Mini neither have built-in Firewire but the combination of Thunderbolt and the Apple 27 inch monitor provide Firewire to both platforms. That's the key point when people start comparing USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt ... it's not a like-to-like comparison. There's nothing preventing the implementation of USB 3.0 over Thunderbolt. There is no possible way to implement Thunderbolt over USB.In regards to Apple supporting USB 3.0, I suspect this has only been due to the lack of support in Intel's chipset. With USB 3.0 in Ivy Bridge, I'd be willing to bet that USB 3.0 will very likely appear on Apple machines.
newrigel - Sunday, May 20, 2012 - link
Yeah, we will! a 6G go. really would fly pretty nicely here... better than your USB3 he he. Oh well...yvizel - Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - link
I've been waiting for such an external case for a long time.BUT (!!), why is it limited to certain drives? I wanna buy whatever SSD I choose and put it in this enclosure. Why the hell would they prevent me from doing it?!
ddarko - Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - link
There seems to be some confusion about the Goflex docking system. It's not an enclosure that you stick a bare drive into. The Goflex system separate the interface port from the drive chassis. The drive itself has a universal SATA slot. You pick a Goflex dock with the port that you want - USB 2.0/3.0, Firewire, eSATA, Thunderbolt. - and plug your Goflex drive into it. Any drive that has a universal SATA slot is supposed to be compatible with the docks but I believe Seagate is still the only company that makes drives with the universal SATA slot. This announcement is the introduction of a docking station with Thunderbolt ports.Solandri - Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - link
I don't even bother using the case that came with my GoFlex USB 3.0 drive. I just use the connector part. Plug it into a bare SATA drive sitting on my desk, plug the other end into the computer. You can use the case if you want, but it's not necessary.Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - link
Ha ha HAAA you so funny