As technology improves, it means that new concepts and devices come out. This forces users to understand certain terms so as not to get confused when purchasing or using a product, as is the case with USB ports.
Right now the market has a long list of port types, although the USB-C It is the best known and the one implemented by most cell phones or tablets and included in televisions and computers to make the connection.
But in the midst of that, concepts such as Thunderboltwhich confuse people because of their similarity, although in the background they have a great difference that we are going to explain.
USB-C and Thunderbolt are not the same
Before going on to see the differences between these two terms, you have to see a theoretical part that will help a lot to understand the definitions that we will give later.
In this sector, that of USB connections, there are standards and connectors. The first is the one that marks the speed, power and functionalities of a port.
While the connector is the physical product, the metallic element that we see and through which we connect the cable to the port.
This type of connection has a well-known standard called Thunderbolt.
With this clear, the difference between the two concepts we are talking about is already traced, because USB-C is a connector, it is the metal tip that goes on the cable, while Thunderbolt It is a standard designed by Intel and Apple, which uses the USB-C connector to connect to devices.
Each is divided into several types. For example, him USB-C It has standards such as 3.0 and 3.1, each one representing a different type of speed and for this reason it is not enough to buy any cable with this type of connector if you do not first verify which model it is according to your particular needs.
The same is true of Thunderbolt, which is a data transmission and information transmission standard, this gives it the ability to send video and audio signals, but it has a wide variety of versions.
How to distinguish a Thunderbolt from a USB-C
It is clear that all Thunderbolt are USB-C connectors, but not all USB-C is Thunderbolt. But now how do you know when you are purchasing a connector with that standard.
First of all, the price of this type of cable is usually the highest and to distinguish it, the brands use a lightning bolt as a symbol both on the port of the device and on the tip of the cable.
This type of connection has a well-known standard called Thunderbolt.
How to differentiate the types of USB-C standard
The organization in charge of USB released a new label so that users can distinguish the types of ports and cables according to their charging speed and of data transmission.
Now the cable boxes will have a label, which will allow differentiating the data transmission speed, which can be 80Gbps, 40Gbps, 20Gbps and 5 Gbps. As well as the load ones that are two: 240 W or 60 W.
There will be five types of cables, each one with its distinctive logo, according to the technical characteristics they reach for the user to differentiate them.
Within the decisions made by those in charge of the organization USB, I know suggests that these logos appear on the cables, so that after purchase people will distinguish them if they no longer have the box.
Also, on host products and devices like laptops and portable hard drives, the ‘Certified USB’ logo appears with speed designations like ’40 Gbps’ to make things easier for users.
In addition, these changes will only apply to USB-C and not to USB-A, which are the traditional ones and many devices are still using them.
