The good news is,Thunderbolt 4is easy.
The bad news is that USB4 doesn’t get any less confusing.
Either way, all your old USB and Thunderbolt devices will still work when plugged into the new ports.
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But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Thunderbolt is still better, but less better.
And USB4 is faster but still fragmented and still far too dependent on identical-looking cables.
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“Thunderbolt 4 cables are just about the most universal cable you’re able to get right now.
Rollin, in My 4.0
The first point of confusion is with the names.
USB-C is the name of the port and the plug.
Thunderbolt also uses this same port and plug.
The problem, though, is never the ports, but the cables.
Pro tip: look for Thunderbolt devices that include a cable in the box.
It’s guaranteed to be compatible and can save up to around $50.
It’s not worth cheating out on a Thunderbolt cable.
Also important is length.
Whereas a USB-C power cable only needs to provide power, so it can be much longer.
In short, USB-C and Thunderbolt are great, as long as you have the correct cable.
If not, itquickly turns into a nightmare.
One solution would be to mark the chargers clearly as supporting a certain power standard.”
4 vs 4
Lets take a look at the difference between Thunderbolt and USB.
They share the exact same port but offer different capabilities.
Thunderbolt is a superset of USB.
Historically, the main difference between TB and USB has been speed and bandwidth.
But Thunderbolt still has a few advantages.
So, What Can You Do With Them?
The short answer is anything, only faster.
USB-connected SSDs can now run as fast as Thunderbolt ones.
