A report from 9to5Mac has suggested new 2016 MacBook Pros may not be compatible with all Thunderbolt 3 devices, adding to the list of complaints and issues regarding Apple’s new laptop.
Accessory and peripherals manufacturer Plugable first reported the issue on its blog (H/T AppleInsider) where it claimed that “Apple has made design decisions which prevent all currently available Thunderbolt 3 peripherals from being compatible with the 2016 MacBook Pros.”
To be more specific, the company stated that its compatibility testing revealed that certain Thunderbolt 3 devices featuring older Texas Instruments chips were unable to function or communicate with Apple’s newest laptops, due to support issues with macOS Sierra.
While Apple has yet to comment on the issue, the company told AppleInsider in a statement “While we have no comment on Plugable’s specific complaint, products using the newest Thunderbolt chipsets, with up-to-date drivers, will have no difficulty connecting to any 2016 MacBook Pro.”
In other words, the problem seems to be non-compliant hardware in some of Plugable’s products, rather than a concerted effort on Apple’s part to tick off consumers.
Still, it’s worth being aware of before making any Thunderbolt 3-related purchases. But if you have accessories from companies using the latest Thunderbolt chips it won’t be a problem.
