USB-C and Thunderbolt are two most common types of ports for computers, smartphones, and tablets. Both ports offer high speed I / O and support various devices. While two ports visually cannot be distinguished, there are significant differences between them.

The latest version of the USB interface, USB-C, is quickly adopted by many device manufacturers. Computers – either PC and Mac – all use USB-C, like smartphones and tablets, thank you no small parts to port flexibility.

USB-C provides power up to 100W for devices installed (through technology advisors), making it possible for Daisy chain devices, which means a single port can support some peripherals. As a result, producers can design computers with fewer ports, without limiting the number of peripherals that customers can use simultaneously.

Apart from all USB-C advantages, Thunderbolt is better.

The interface was made by Intel and Apple and had seen his physical port changed for years. The initial version of Thunderbolt uses Mini DisplayPort as a physical connector. With the appearance of USB-C, however, Intel turned to the connector style as a hardware interface for Thunderbolt. As a result, the Thunderbolt cable can be used alternately with a USB-C port, although it does not mean all USB-C ports are Thunderbolt ports.

The main difference between the two standards is speed. While USB-C supports transfer speeds of up to 20 Gbps, Thunderbolt 3 doubles it, giving up to 40 Gbps (through the Thunderbolt community).

Thanks to the increase in speed, Thunderbolt is ideal for professional media and anyone who has to transfer a large amount of data. Again, it is important to note that Thunderbolt only gives speed faster when the two devices support it. Plug the Thunderbolt peripheral to the USB-C port and the connection will be limited by slower than the two.

Although it must be comfortable that the two standards use a single physical interface, buyers who want Thunderbolt that must be faster to ensure the computer they buy support – not only a slower USB-C.