Thunderbolt 3 cables are more uniformly labeled, but even cables from Apple (bottom left) and Monoprice (bottom right) have a slightly different appearance.īut how can you tell whether a cable with two USB-C ends will pass only USB up to 3.2 Gen 2 or up to the 40Gbps capable between two Thunderbolt 3-equipped devices, like a computer and a high-performance disk array?Ĭheck the cable ends. USB has an array of symbols that alert you to a cable’s speed and power rating (top left), but only some manufacturers display an appropriate symbol (top right). (On non-Apple computers, you have to look up the specs.) IDG A few models of iPad include a USB-C connector that only supports the USB data protocols as well. It can be relatively easy to figure out if the port you have supports only what’s now called USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps maximum)-also known as “SuperSpeed+” or “SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps”-or, in addition to the high-speed USB flavor, it also handles Thunderbolt 3.Īll USB-C equipped Macs support Thunderbolt 3 except the now-discontinued 12-inch MacBook introduced in 2015.
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It can support high-wattage charging and power (see “ How to tell whether a USB-C cable can carry high-wattage power and Thunderbolt 3 data.”) It’s used universally for USB 3, DisplayPort, and Thunderbolt 3, and other data standards. USB-C introduced simplicity: a simple flat connector with rounded sides that has two correct orientations: the long side can be inserted into a compatible port without checking.