THUNDERBOLT 3: LAYERING MORE SPEED ON USB-C
Perhaps the most useful protocol that a USB-C port can support is Thunderbolt
- This feature adds support for up to 40Gbps of throughput, alongside reduced
power consumption and the ability to move as much as 100 watts of power over
the interface.
A USB-C port with support for Thunderbolt 3 means that a single cable is all
you need to push power and transfer a large amount of information (up to and
including video data for two 60Hz 4K displays) to and from even a complex
device like a computer, something many laptop manufacturers have been quick
to take advantage of. Some models of the Apple MacBook Pro have four of these
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potential than you ever had with earlier versions of USB.
As with DisplayPort over USB-C, not every USB-C port you see necessarily has
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Thunderbolt 3 label to be sure. Some devices may have more than one USB-C
port, with only some supporting the Thunderbolt 3 spec.
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