TB opened up the possibility of low level system attacks which Apple is attempting to prevent. Intel has a least 3 versions of TB3 chipsets/controllers and Apple even includes some unique firmware codes to prevent malware attacks via TB and PCIe lanes.
Intel licenses the technology and different manufactures have to include Mac support. If all this isn't bad enough, not all USB-C devices are supported on Macs including TB3 chipsets. There are others as well, but as you can see, just looking at the port will in no way tell you what it supports. So far the best writing on this I have found are these articles…ī/9/b-c-thunderbolt-3/ī/2016/-macboo.bolt-survival-guide/ Add to this that the entire chain of connections, cables and devices must all be capable of the desired end game in order to work. OK, so we are in a world of a physical port being many things but maybe not all things(protocols) capable. Should we call the same USB-C port Display Port HDMI USB 3.1 gen 1 or 2 USB 2 or 1.1 Audio Only or even Power Delivery, if that is the protocol that is being used or supported? Take Apple's own MacBook with USB-C connector that does not support any TB protocols and only supports USB 3.1 gen 1. Intel makes it seem that it is they who created the physical port and are including USB instead of it being a USB implementers specification that allows TB and other protocols.
IMHO Intel and tech writers are wrong to call the port itself ThunderBolt3 port, it isn't, it is a USB-C port that supports the TB3 protocol under Alternative Mode inside the USB-C specifications. This is already a world of vast confusion. What protocols it supports is dependent on the computer side chipset, the target device chipset, the cable and various firmware/software along the entire chain. Personally, I use the designation as USB-C with support for various protocols. The physical USB-C port is defined as a connector that supports many different protocols. Confused yet? The chipsets and active cable actually supported DP via multiplexing DP over TB, on a MDP connector. And to add to the level of confusion, some of the early Macs only had Display Port protocols and not TB, while later models supported both DP and TB some TB1 and some TB2. Other things, Apple actually uses the Mini Display Port (MDP) not the standard Display Port for ThunderBolt 1 & 2. (Weirdly this hub only supports USB 3 gen 1 (5GB/s not gen 2 10GB/s) but has FW800 port. At least so long as you use Apple's adapters.Īnd yes there are hubs that are Mac compatible that have Firewire connectors like the soon to be released OWC USB-C 13 port hub. As to your original question, can you piggyback the 2 adapters together (Thunderbolt3 to Thunderbolt 2) and (Thunderbolt 2 to Firewire 800) for FW connectivity, the answer is YES.