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Plugable USB 3.0 Passive Type-A to Type-C Cable (6in/15cm)
$9.95 USD
SKU: USBC-AF3Amazon Rating : (440 Reviews)
Features
- Universal Compatibility— Connect any USB C, USB4, Thunderbolt 3, or Thunderbolt 4 enabled laptop, phone, or tablet to a legacy USB 3.0 device or peripheral (flash drives, keyboards, mice)
- User Friendly— Plug-and-play USB to USB C adapter for home or office use, 20cm cable designed to fit side-by-side on laptops with two neighboring USB C ports. This also works well as a USB connection to phone adapter.
- Performance— This Plugable USB to USBC adapter cable allows for transfer speeds up to 5Gbps, backwards compatibility, syncing, and charging.
- Compatible With— MacBooks, most Windows systems with Windows 10 or newer, and most Chromebooks running ChromeOS 100 or newer that has a USB C port. Macbook Pro 13" / 14" / 15", 16", MacBook Air, MacBook Retina, MacBook M1 / M2 / M3/ M4/ M5/ Neo, HP Spectre x360 / Pavilion / Envy, Dell XPS / Precision / Latitude, Lenovo ThinkPad / IdeaPad / Yoga / Flex, Surface Pro 7 / 7+ / 8 / 9, Surface Laptop 3 / 4 / 5 / Studio / SE, Surface Go / Go 2 / Go 3, LG Gram, Acer Aspire / Swift / Spin, ASUS Zenbook / Vivobook
- 2-Year Coverage, Lifetime Support— Every Plugable product, including this USB C to USB adapter cable, is covered against defects for 2 years and comes with lifetime support. If you ever have questions, contact our North American-based team - even before purchase
For volume orders or business inquiries contact sales@plugable.com
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Plugable USB-C to USB 3.0 Adapter Cable
Connect Legacy USB 3.0 Devices to a New USB-C (USB Type-C) and Thunderbolt 3 Enabled Systems
Through our Male USB-C to Female USB 3.0 Cable (USBC-AF3), you can plug almost any legacy USB 1.1, 2.0, or 3.0 device you own into your new USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 equipped laptop, tablet, or phone.
Since this cable is a passive adapter and is short in length, its functionality prevents signal interference and timing issues associated with active cables. Adapter cable features clean shielding and is completely plug and play. (Though please note devices connected to the adapter will require drivers as normal.)
As a USB 3.0 cable, our USB-C to female Type-A cable supports up to 5Gbps SuperSpeed transfers for USB 3.0 devices, with backwards compatibility for USB 1.1 and 2.0 devices. USB 3.0 adapters like this one are also known as USB 3.1 Gen 1 or USB 3.2 Gen 1. In terms of functionality, it offers the same throughput as USB 3.0 with transfer speeds up to 5Gbps, and does not support USB PD (Power Delivery).
Note 1: Phones and non-Windows tablets with USB-C may not have the necessary drivers or power for attached legacy USB devices.
Note 2: Not a USB PD (Power Delivery) cable. Please note that smartphones and tablets may not deliver power through this cable.
FAQ
Can I use this cable to connect my old USB 3.0 Hub to my new PC with USB Type-C ports?
Yes, this USBC-AF3 cable supports USB 3.0. You should be able to connect your legacy USB 3.0 HUB as same as before by using this adapter cable.
Can I use this cable to charge my new smart phone with an USB-C port?
This cable does not support any special functionality for charging. It is not recommended to use this adapter cable for charging.I connected my USB Ethernet adapter to my smartphone by using this USBC-AF3 adapter cable, but it cannot connect to the network. Why is that?
It is possible that your phone does not support the USB Ethernet adapter. This means that the device driver for the USB Ethernet adapter has not been installed into your phone, or not activated, or has some other problem. In order to make any USB devices work by using this USBC-AF3 adapter, the proper device driver for the USB device must be running in the system.
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USB Port Types
USB-A
pietz, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
This is the standard USB connection that most computers offered prior to the introduction of USB Type-C (USB-C). Even after the introduction of USB Type-C, this is still quite common.
It can provide data transfer rates up to the USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 gbps) specification depending on the host and device, but does not directly support video in the way that USB-C Alternate Mode does. This limitation makes DisplayLink USB graphics adapters and docking stations ideal on systems that do not have USB-C, or in instances where more displays are needed beyond available video outputs of a PC.
USB-B
Fred the Oyster, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
IngenieroLoco, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
This type of connection comes in a couple different styles depending on whether USB 3.0 and higher transfer rates are supported (bottom graphic). Usually this type of connection is used to plug into USB devices that do not have a fixed cable connected, such as USB docking stations, USB hubs, printers, and others.
USB Mini-B
Fred the Oyster, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
One of the first connectors for charging a smartphone, wireless game controller (such as the Sixaxis and DualShock 3), and other small devices such as external hard drives. Not commonly used today, but is still used in some cases. Most devices using USB Mini B are using USB 2.0, though a USB 3.0 variant does exist. This specification also added USB On-The-Go (OTG) functionality, though it is more commonly implemented with Micro USB.
USB Micro-B
Fred the Oyster, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
IngenieroLoco, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
A smaller connector that serves many of the same uses as the Mini B connector, with added optional features such as Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) to allow devices like smartphones to output video to larger displays without requiring a dedicated port for video output.
The larger variant of USB-B is most commonly used for external hard drives for higher 5Gbps transfer rates.
USB-C, Thunderbolt™ 3, and Thunderbolt™ 4
Niridya , CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
The most recent USB connection, USB Type-C (USB-C), represents a major change in what USB can do. The connector is smaller, can be connected in two orientations, is able to carry substantially more power and data, and can directly carry video signals of multiple types (HDMI, DisplayPort, etc.) Intel has also adapted the USB-C connector for use with Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4.
It is important to note that while all Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 connections are USB-C, not all USB-C connections can be used with Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 devices.
More details regarding physical USB connections can be found on Wikipedia . The graphics depicted here are adapted from Wikimedia Commons by various artists under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Do Plugable products support the Apple SuperDrive?
No, Plugable products do not support the Apple SuperDrive.
Why do Plugable products not support the Apple SuperDrive?
The Apple SuperDrive has stringent power requirements that can only be met by directly connecting the SuperDrive directly to the host computer. As a result at this time Apple recommends only using their USB-C adapter cables. Apple provides more information on this topic here → How to connect the Apple USB SuperDrive
Applicable To
- All Plugable brand products
USB-C vs. Thunderbolt: Understanding the Differences
While USB-C and Thunderbolt share the same physical rounded rectangle connector they operate in fundamentally different ways.
The Main Differences Aren't Physical
USB 3 at 5Gbps and 10Gbps with Type-C - often simplified to USB-C - is both the hardware connector standard, and the included data types: USB 5Gbps or 10Gbps data rates, as well as optionally DisplayPort Alternate Mode video and USB Power Delivery for powering and charging both host computers, and downstream devices.
Thunderbolt, specifically Thunderbolt 3 and newer and USB4 use the same physical USB Type-C port, and support a backwards compatibility with USB-C devices, however the signaling and data structure is completely different. Both Thunderbolt and USB4 operate at between four to sixteen times the speed of USB 3. While USB offers optional display and charging, these are mandatory for Thunderbolt hosts. The way display data is transmitted is also different.
DisplayPort Alternate Mode for USB 3 occupies two or four of the physical data lanes in the USB Type-C connector and cable. Tunneled DisplayPort video in Thunderbolt (and USB4) packetizes the DisplayPort video data and transmits it within Thunderbolt/USB4 data packets. Tunneled DisplayPort allows for more native DisplayPort streams enabling multiple external displays at higher resolutions and refresh rates.
Power Delivery is the USB Type-C (as in the port) charging and power standard - this allows a power source and device to negotiate a voltage and maximum amperage both devices can support. For example a phone might negotiate a 9V 3A charge rate which is close to optimal for a phone size battery, while a notebook computer is more likely to negotiate 20V 5A both for improved battery charging and to power the system under moderate to heavy workloads.
Why USB-C and Thunderbolt Capabilities Differ
USB Type-C is a connector standard where features such as video output (DisplayPort Alt Mode) and USB Power Delivery (PD) are optional and depend on the host device manufacturer. In contrast, Thunderbolt sets mandatory performance and hardware requirements across data, video, and power protocols.
- USB 3.0 / 3.1 Gen 1: Up to 5Gbps data transfer speed.
- USB 3.2 Gen 2: Up to 10Gbps data transfer speed.
- USB 3.2 Gen 2x2: Up to 20Gbps data transfer speed. This is very rarely implemented and most computers do not support it.
- Thunderbolt 3: Up to 40Gbps data transfer speed, supports dual DisplayPort 1.2 enabling two 4K or a single 5K displays, USB, DisplayPort, PCIe over a single cable, and up to 100W Power Delivery.
- USB4: Up to 40Gbps data transfer speed, supports DisplayPort 1.4 either one or two external displays, PCIe, and optional Thunderbolt 3 compatibility, USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps, and Power Delivery.
- Thunderbolt 4: Up to 40Gbps data transfer speed, supports dual 4K or single 8K displays, USB4 compatibility, USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps, and Power Delivery.
- Thunderbolt 5: Up to 80Gbps bi-directional bandwidth (DisplayPort up to 120Gbps using Bandwidth Boost), supports dual 6K or single high-refresh-rate 8K displays, PCIe, and backward compatibility with Thunderbolt 4 and USB4, USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps.
Effectively each tier from this list supports all of the features of the tier above as well as some new features. Thunderbolt 4 is Intel's implementation of USB4 with all optional features enabled.
How to Identify Ports and Ensure Compatibility
- Port Identification: Thunderbolt ports are usually marked with a lightning bolt symbol with a downward pointing triangle at the bottom point, this should be next to the port, while USB-C ports may be unmarked or feature symbols indicating power delivery (a simple lightning bolt is common) or DisplayPort capabilities ("DP" logo is often used). Always refer to device technical specifications for confirmation.
- Connecting Thunderbolt Devices to USB-C Ports: Thunderbolt 3, 4, or 5 devices connected to standard USB-C ports typically operate at reduced capabilities, such as lower speeds or fewer display outputs.
- Connecting USB-C Devices to Thunderbolt Ports: USB-C devices connected to Thunderbolt ports function normally, but cannot take advantage of full Thunderbolt features.
Applicable To
- Plugable docking stations, hubs, and video adapters
- USB-C standards (USB 3.0, 3.1 Gen 1, 3.2 Gen 2, 3.2 Gen 2x2, USB4)
- Thunderbolt standards (Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 5)
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us at support@plugable.com and we'll be happy to help!
Can I connect this product to a computer's Thunderbolt/Thunderbolt 2 port?
Many users assume that USB-C devices can work with older Thunderbolt 2 Macs if they use a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter, such as the one made by Apple. However, this is not the case. These adapters are specifically designed to support Thunderbolt devices only - not standard USB-C peripherals.
While Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C share the same connector type, they use different underlying data protocols. Non-Thunderbolt USB-C devices, rely on USB standards for data and power. The Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter does not carry USB signals; it only passes Thunderbolt data. Because of this, plugging a USB-C device into a Thunderbolt 2 Mac using this adapter will not work - the computer will not detect or communicate with the device.
If you need to connect peripherals to a Thunderbolt 2 system, we recommend using a USB-A dock or hub (if available on your system). This ensures compatibility without relying on unsupported adapter chains.
In short, even though the connectors may fit, USB-C devices are not compatible with Thunderbolt 2 Macs via Thunderbolt adapters - only Thunderbolt devices will work in that setup.
