What’s the difference between Thunderbolt 3 & USB-C port? Do they look exactly the same, exchangeable?

Answer

Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter

View all Questions

Back To Product

Follow this Question

1 Answer from the Community

  • Answer

    They look exactly the same. Thunderbolt 3 has all the features of USB-C and more.

    Thunderbolt 3 allows PCIe signals. The 2016 15" MacBook Pro has 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports, which is like having four PCIe 3.0 x4 slots. In comparison, the 2012 Mac Pro had four PCIe 2.0 slots: x16, x16, x4, x4.

    Thunderbolt 3 also allows Thunderbolt displays, which is different than DisplayPort displays.

    The Thunderbolt 3 ports also allow USB (10 Gbps), DisplayPort 1.2, and HDMI 1.4 signals, like the USB-C ports do.

    Some USB-C ports that are not Thunderbolt 3 might have slower USB (5 Gbps) and/or no DisplayPort/HDMI.

    Was this useful? Answer 1

    2 of 2 people found this useful

Related Questions