Apollo Solo Thunderbolt 3 Power & Connection Info

About Apollo Solo Thunderbolt 3 Power

  • Apollo Solo is bus powered by its Thunderbolt 3 connection to the computer. A power cable, external power supply, or Thunderbolt 2 cable cannot be used to power Apollo Solo.
  • When using Apollo Solo with notebook computers, connecting the computer to AC power is suggested to conserve the computer's battery resources.
  • When notebook computers are sleeping, power events such as connecting/ disconnecting Thunderbolt devices, USB-C devices, and/or power adapters may cause peripheral devices (including Apollo Solo) to briefly power on.

About Thunderbolt 3 Ports and Cables

Important: Although Thunderbolt 3 always uses USB-C connectors, not all USB-C ports are Thunderbolt 3 ports. Similarly, not all USB-C cables are Thunderbolt 3 cables. Always connect Apollo Solo to a Thunderbolt 3 port with a Thunderbolt 3 cable.

USB-C is not Thunderbolt 3

Thunderbolt 3 uses USB-C connections to transfer data and power. However, USB-C is simply a connector type; it doesn't determine the type of data used by the connector. For example, USB-C connections can be used for Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1, and other data protocols, so USB-C connections are not always interchangeable.

Does your USB-C connector support Thunderbolt 3?

To determine if a USB-C port or cable connector supports Thunderbolt 3, first look for the Thunderbolt icon. The Thunderbolt icon on a USB-C port or cable means the connector supports Thunderbolt 3. For additional ways to check if your computer's USB-C port supports Thunderbolt 3, see this article.

 

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Thunderbolt icon on USB-C cable (left) and USB-C port (right)

 

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