Thunderbolt 3 vs. USB-C - What Is The Difference? [Simple Guide]

There are a lot of people who are confused about USB-C and Thunderbolt 3, and how they relate to each other.

What is USB-C? What is Thunderbolt 3? Is Thunderbolt the same as USB-C or are they different and which is best in that case?

Those are all valid questions and we'll answer them all in this video.

Keep watching!

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:55 What Is USB-C?
2:40 What Is Thunderbolt 3?
4:20 USB vs. Thunderbolt 3
5:51 Conclusion

[HarpreetExplores]

Type-C: physical, shape of the connector.

Thunderbolt 3: the software implementation and data transfer protocol.

[mysjb]

Thunderbolt 3 ports look exactly the same as USB-C ports, and indeed, the connector is physically the same from a plug-in perspective. In many cases, they can do everything that a USB-C port can, except much faster
I explain it in 10 sec.

[bobochacha]

I rarely comment on videos but this video is so confusing that I wish I didn’t see it in the first place..

[jaycee]

Skip to 5:56 - Watch until 6:20 - Move on with your day

[RefugeetheDJ]

This is the most complicated video to explain something not so complicated

[tilmanuk]

That tells me nothing other than Thunderbolt being faster. The most important piece of information would have been to tell us what happens when you put a USB C peripheral in a Thunderbolt port and vice versa. So I’m none the wiser

[zelike]

Before Type-c we had 10 different USB connectors... Now we have 11 ! And the new one adds even more confusion since it can be found on both USB and Thunderbolt devices... GREAT ENGINEERING !

[alanhillberg]

Ok. Simply put, USB-C and Thunderbolt use the same connector, the USB-C. It's what's the circuitry inside the computer that the cable is plugged in to that's different. Think of it like buying a new car. You can get the same car with a standard engine, let's say a 4 cylinder, with the high performance option being a V-8. It gives you more speed and power. Same car, different engine. USB-C is the car. Thunderbolt is the high performance engine, USB (using the USB-C connector) is the standard engine. Not sure if that's a good analogy, but I tried. :). It took me until the last 30 seconds to understand what she was talking about. It sounded informative, but ultimately confusing. :)

[stargasior]

Let's show stock footage of an iPhone lightning cable for extra confusion. 👏

[hdhwkq]

The world in 2077 : we use usb type c
*Cyberpunk theme music starts

[techhawk]

Using a iPhone 6 to demonstrate, USB-C ain't
wise enough, LOL *at :* 0:28

[DarioDarrow]

The generic people clips are distracting 😑

[kfl]

sounds to me you said a whole lot of words, but didn't really explain anything.

[peterreber]

When one has to read the comment section to understand what the video claims to explain. And every good comment takes less time to read than watch the video.

[budiawan]

Anda menjelaskannya dgn baik, bahkan saya bisa mengerti.
Ya Teknologi memang bergerak cepat.
Saya hanya punya 2 pilihan : mencoba mengerti atau tidak mencoba untuk mengerti😁.
Terimakasih untuk penjelasannya

[neophytealpha]

Still didn't say what the difference was. Just that they use the same interface but are different several times.

[HellFire]

Intel 11th Gen CPU's have Thunderbolt controllers built into the CPU. This leads to a HUGE difference in EGPU performance as the EGPU doesn't need to go through a thunderbolt controller to reach the CPU resulting in less latency.

[FriendsforFriendsUK]

This could all have been said in one minute, more clearly. Serious practical questions are not answered: eg what happens if you plug usb 3.x technology into a thunderbolt tech port and vice versa?

[greenman]

We need a follow up video. I still have a thunderbolt 3 expansion card for an older PC, that I never use, but would like to know about the 'ins and outs', of Thunderbolt 3 vs Thunderbolt 4, and how backwards compatibility plays a role.

[markjob]

*The more confused the customer is, then the greater the advantage the manufacturer has.*