What is the Thunderbolt 3 interface?
“Thunderbolt” is the name of Intel’s new computer port that was released that same year (2011).
Intel’s Thunderbolt technology, originally codenamed “Light Peak,” was developed in 2009. (the Thunderbolt development code). The original goal of creating Thunderbolt was to replace and standardize the computer’s many expansion interfaces. SCSI, SATA, USB, FireWire, and PCI Express.
Thunderbolt 3 History
To begin with, Thunderbolt 3 is not an interface. We are all familiar with the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface and its various forms (Type A, Type B, etc.) as well as the increasingly popular USB Type C interface. Despite this, USB2.0, USB3.0, and USB3.1 all belong to the same family of interconnect standards. The Thunderbolt protocol is also a means of communication.
The names Mini USB, USB Micro B, USB Type A, Type B, and USB Type C refer to different sizes and shapes of USB data cables and different versions of the USB data transfer protocol.
Thunderbolt is Thunderbolt 2’s predecessor, and Thunderbolt is the successor to the minidisplay port. The appearance of the three ports is identical, and they can even be “inter-plugged.” Any display that has a minidisplay port can receive video feeds from a Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt t2 port. Mini DisplayPorts on Macs released prior to 2010 only allowed for video output, not audio or data.
Thunderbolt in Mac
The Thunderbolt port on a Macbook from 2011–2013 can transmit audio, video, and data. One can purchase a Thunderbolt portable hard drive that is just as quick as the one already installed in the computer.
Thunderbolt 2, which is twice as fast as Thunderbolt, started appearing on MacBooks starting in 2014, while the other ports remained unchanged. Furthermore, all Thunderbot support “series,” which means that if a Thunderbolt interface display or mobile hard disk has two Thunderbolt interfaces, you can use two cables to connect three devices (a Thunderbol interface mobile hard disk, a Thunderbol interface display, a macbook) in series, allowing the display to function normally and the mobile hard disk to be read and written to normally as well.
ThunderboltTM 3 has ditched Mini DisplayPort in favor of the more space-efficient USB Type C interface.
ThunderBolt3 not only represents a significant technological advance over its predecessors, but also offers vastly improved compatibility and adaptability. ThunderBolt3’s bandwidth can go as high as 40Gb/s, making it eight times as fast as USB3.0 and four times as fast as USB3.1 for the fastest possible data transfer.
ThunderBolt3’s improved bandwidth allows it to power not one but two 4K displays (or a single 5K display) and transfer a 4K video in under 30 seconds.
Thunderbolt 3 also supports 100W of power and can charge devices up to 15W, providing more juice for your gadget.
When used in conjunction with the USB Type C interface, it is arguably the best of its kind. Not only is it the fastest interface standard available, but it also provides 100W of power and can transmit both video and data. In other words, use a single cable for everything, including video output, data transfer, external graphics, and power delivery to your laptop.
Lightning bolt icon on USB Type C surface denotes ThunderboltTM 3 protocol support; this is a key distinction between the Thunderbolt 3 and TYPE C interfaces.