20 MACWORLD AUGUST 2021
MACUSER BOUGHT A 24-INCH i MAC? DO THESE FIVE THINGS FIRSTthese tasks are the type you need to do
only once. When you’ve set things up, you
will rarely need to address these issues
again, and you can focus on working or
creating on your Mac.
FIGURE OUT WHICH
ADAPTERS YOU NEED
While you set up the iMac, you may have
noticed the ports on the back. The iMac
has only one type of connector, which is
shaped like a USB-C plug. The 24-inch
iMac comes with a pair of these ports, and
the technology behind those ports is
Thunderbolt/USB 4, meaning that you can
use those ports with Thunderbolt and USB
devices. (The $1,499 and $1,699 come
with two additional ports that are USB-C
only. Most Thunderbolt devices won’t work
with those ports even though the cable
looks the same. It’s confusing [fave.
co/3AoMmNs], we know.)
The catch is that the devices you want
to connect to your new iMac—hard drive,
printer, camera, and so on—probably use a
cable that has a different connector. So to
connect your old devices to your new
iMac, you need to buy adapters.
Chances are, the device you want to
connect uses a USB-A connector, the most
widely used version of USB. So the
adapter you will need is a USB-C to USB
adapter. Apple has one for $19 (fave.
co/3he5Awc), but you can find third-party
You’ll probably need
Apple’s USB-C to
USB adapter (left)
and Thunderbolt
(USB-C) to
Thunderbolt 2
Adapter (right).versions for a little cheaper. If you have a
device that uses a different version of
Thunderbolt, you need an adapter like
Apple’s $49 Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to
Thunderbolt 2 Adapter (fave.co/3qB2I0Q).
We have a complete guide to help you
find precisely the adapter you need at
fave.co/3jB5Kk2.
If you have a lot of devices you want to
connect, consider investing in a
Thunderbolt dock. This is a box that
provides a set of different connectors you
can plug into. There are a variety of docks
available with different port offerings. We
recently reviewed the $149 OWC
Thunderbolt Hub (fave.co/3dtHfSc) and
liked it. We also
reviewed the
WD_Black D
(fave.co/3x72VeN),
a dock with a
built-in 1TB hard
drive for $449. That
hard drive would be
handy for the next
step listed below.