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What is Thunderbolt 3 interface? Now, some laptops have an interface called Thunderbolt 3 interface. Attentive friends may find that it is actually same as USB Type-C, so why is it called Thunderbolt 3 interface? See introduction below.

Let's look at USB Type C first.

USB Type C is one of types (forms) of USB interface. There are several other types that everyone should be aware of. It can reach transmission speeds of 10Gbps, and can also transmit 100W of power. Of course, video transmission is also possible. Anyway, it is very powerful. In future, USB interfaces will also be a Type C world, but popularity is not high now.

Second, let's learn about USB 3.1.

USB Type C is an interface type and USB 3.1 is an interface protocol. Everyone must clearly distinguish this. Although Type C and USB 3.1 protocols were launched together, they do not necessarily include each other. Simply put, this Type C interface does not necessarily support USB 3.1 protocol, and an interface using USB 3.1 standard does not have to be a USB Type C interface, but can also be a Type A interface.

Let's talk about Thunderbolt 3 next.

The Thunderbolt interface was developed by Intel with input from Apple, and interface is mini DP. Previously, Thunderbolt was only used on Apple devices, and price of peripherals using Thunderbolt mini DP interface was very high, so it was very difficult until Intel saw gradual popularity of USB Type C and announced that it would change original mini DP Thunderbolt interface 3 to USB Type C.

Therefore, USB Type C is just a connected type of Thunderbolt 3 interface. It looks same, but Thunderbolt 3 can realize most of functions of Type C, and transmission efficiency is higher. To distinguish Thunderbolt 3 interface, interface will use a lightning bolt icon next to it.

Therefore, current Thunderbolt 3 interface can be regarded as a product after original Thunderbolt 3 abandoned mini DP interface and replaced it with USB Type C interface, and then cooperated with USB 3.1 standard, and performance of this interface is extremely powerful.Speed transmission is up to 40 Gbps in both directions, which means that there is enough bandwidth to connect various expansion docks, such as high-performance discrete graphics cards. You can imagine feeling of buying a thin and light laptop without a separate display, and only a Thunderbolt 3 interface can be connected to an external GTX1080Ti.

However, there are currently only a small number of laptops that use Thunderbolt 3 interface, and it is actually quite difficult to popularize, and it is rare to see adapters and peripherals with Thunderbolt 3 interfaces in market, but Thunderbolt 3 is suitable for thin and light . Initially speaking, this could be a very important development direction, because if Thunderbolt 3 is adopted, many ports could be dropped for thin and light books, and docking station could be directly used to achieve or even superior performance. and features of traditional laptops.