Seagate Thunderbolt Adapter Speed Comparison with USB 2.0

Gear Diary is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Click here to learn More.

Seagate Thunderbolt Adapter Speed Comparison with USB 2.0 Listen to this article

Seagate Thunderbolt Adapter Speed Comparison with USB 2.0

We told you about Seagate’s new Thunderbolt adapters last week. Yes, we are finally seeing products come to market that take advantage of the speed increases offered by Thunderbolt. But how fast IS Thunderbolt? Sure you can see lab testing but that doesn’t necessarily tell you about using it at home or work. We shot a video of moving 2.5GB of data from a MacBook air to an external drive using both USB 2.0 and Thunderbolt. This is a normal use-scenario for something like this so the speeds you see here are what you might expect if you get one of the adapters.

See for yourself…

Want to know more? This is what Seagate’s release has to say:

GoFlex® Thunderbolt™ Adapter and the GoFlex Desk Thunderbolt Adapter. Seagate first unveiled working prototypes of these two advanced interface products during the Intel Developers Forum in November of 2011. These two products are the first to use the new Thunderbolt technology for widespread use by consumers for single drive enclosures. The GoFlex Thunderbolt Adapter will be available during the first quarter of this year and the GoFlex Desk Thunderbolt Adapter is expected to be available before the second half of this calendar year.

GoFlex Thunderbolt Adapter has an MSRP of $99. You will also need a GoFlex external hard drive and a Thunderbolt cable. You can find out more here on Seagate’s company site.

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks for your support!


About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.