How to connect FireWire devices to new computers Mac or Windows PC

Need to connect a firewire device to Mac or PC?
Most new computers have a USB-C connection. But there is no such adapter that can convert firewire 800 or USB-C. The same is true for the firewire 400.

So to make this connection, you actually need two adapters. You also need a firewire 800 cable. If you are going from Firewire 400, you need a firewire 400 to 800 cable.

Then, you need a firewire to Thunderbolt adapter. Apple sells this cable.

Then you need a thunderbolt 2 to thunderbolt 3 adapter, which works for any computer with USB-C input.

Resources:

You need one of these depending on what your device has. (My Amazon affiliate links)

Firewire 800 to Firewire 800:

Firewire 400 to Firewire 800:

Firewire DV to Firewire 800

Then this dongle
Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt 2

And finally this dongle
Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3

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[ZakWolf]

For the record, this will not work with "regular" USB-C. It has to be the Thunderbolt variet, (i.e. Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt/USB4 or Thunderbolt 4. Of course, all Macs currently on the market have at least a couple such Thunderbolt ports, but not many Windows PCs do, so check the specs before you buy. Of course, if you have a PC tower with PCI expansion slots of some kind, you can get a PCI FireWire card for one of those slots. I have an M1 MacBook Air, and daisy-chaining the FireWire and Thunderbolt adapters works pretty well for me if I need to archive something from one of my older MiniDV or Digital8 camcorders.

[jaymo]

This video was what I was looking for, simple easy to follow instructions, explanation and images. I have antique Firewire 400 devices, Mini DV camera, DVD player-recorders that hold data I need to archive and convert analog video [Hi8, VHS and Mini DV]to digital files. Some of these tapes-files are 20 years old! Thanks for posting this.

[federicogonzalezramirez]

I have seen tons of videos of 10, 20, 30 minutes explaining same you did. Its incredible you did it in just 3 minutes. Thanks for been respectfull with our time

[YIASEMIDE]

Thank you for doing this! Slowly and clearly explained, and your close-ups helped immensely in identifying the different plugs and inputs. Now I can move forward to connect Panasonic DVX100-B digital camera from 2009 (with Firewire DV input aka Ieee 1394 input) to 2022 MacBook pro USB-C input.

[sdbanotts]

Just stopping by to say thanks as this does work on my Lenovo P51 running windows. I have a very old M-Audio Profire 2626 firewire audio interface. Sounds ace, but only connects via firewire. Until now! And as we all know most new laptops don't have firewire. I love my Profire, so thanks for hopefully giving me many more happy years with it! Only thing to be careful. Don't restart your laptop whilst the power to Profire is on as it will crash/get stuck booting up. Shut down laptop and then power up and it works fine. Cheers.

[BryanMiraflor]

yikes, since apple discontinued the thunderbolt to firewire adapter, people are selling them for like close to $50 to $100

[pillhilldeans]

absolutely perfect for my use case, thank you! luckily i have all the pieces except the last one. So funny to have 3 separate cables to get from Firewire 400 to USB-C!

[MyManyMemories]

8 year old me chckled at time 2:19 when he said "this is your big dongle"

Great video, I appreciate it. I need to get some pieces and work out some connection issues

[averageguy]

I found this old HD. I thought I'd save money by using it. I just looked at the prices of the adapters. I think I'll buy a new one. Thanks for informing me.

[BasicInsideOut]

Brilliant, utterly brilliant! I had an old scanner and was trying to figure out the magical formula to connect it to my current 2022 Mac and this is what I needed! As with all other commenters, THANK YOU! (Especially for the Amazon links!)

[vijaykaras]

Thanks a lot. Your patient research and perseverance will help thousands as there are lots of people with old memories captured in camcorders and there is no easy way to get these to the computers or the display devices/TVs. The outcome of your research (I am yet to try) opens up that possibility. Thank you

[kasruesao]

Are there any alternatives for the firewire to thunderbolt adapter now that the product is discontinued? :(

[EEBO-iu]

Where to buy apple firewire adapter all sold out on apple

[Dyl_Cam]

I never knew, I researched this to no end and had no clue you could do it on windows too. Thanks

[kubhlaikhan]

Yeah if I buy any more bloody cables I'll need a divorce.

[franklozano]

*** UPDATE 10 MINUTES LATER *** I had just posted that this cable combo did not work, I was WRONG. I had the adapters plugged in as demonstrated and nothing. My Macbook Pro has 3 USB-C ports, 2 with monitors and the 3rd was free and the one I used. I don't know WHY I thought to do this before I gave up, but I unplugged the USB-C monitors and JUST plugged in the dongle combo and BAM! IT WORKED. So for whatever reason you do not get life out of the drive, make sure it's the ONLY thing plugged into the computer. The monitors were taking up too much power I suppose. I AM SO HAPPY. Thank you for this video. I am leaving the original post below for reference.

Great video but it did not work for me. I have both Apple adapters and the correct Firewire 400 cable, tried different cables. Nothing. The drive did not even show up on the Mac Disk Utility. I did plug the Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter into my wife's PC, but it's not capable of Thunderbolt. So, I'm still stuck.

[Galfromdownunder]

Perfect! A bummer how we have to spend $60 on cables for a one-time move of all our old crap from our beloved bulky LaCies onto an SSD. There should be a dongle loaner circle for them 😂

[thefluomusicduo]

Thank you! Such an informative video.. I was wondering: will this reduce the performance when used to connect a FireWire audio interface to a recent Mac with usb c?

[Oakydokes]

Great solution. Unfortunately the FW to TB adapter is no longer available unless one doesn't mind spending big bucks on the Bay.

[mikeb]

help they don't make Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt 2
anymore!!! where can i get one