I just bought MacBook Air 15" with thunderbolt 4. Will I be able to connect my usb-c external drive?

Also, just to make it clear, while one area doesn't state the Thunderbolt version ("Thunderbolt / USB 4" as you pictured) and the other area showing Thunderbolt 3. My understanding is that the Air still has Thunderbolt 3, to get Thunderbolt 4 you need to get a Pro model, again... if I'm understanding what I've read on the pages right. I just point this out because in the title for the post it reads like you expect TB4 on the Air. It should not be a big deal as TB4 devices should be able to fallback to TB3 mode. I know my current MSI laptop has TB3 and I use my CalDigit Element Hub (TB4) on it just fine. I'm looking forward to getting my Air 15" tomorrow so I can start seeing how much of my hardware from my PC laptop works with it.

Yes with a simple passthrough adapter.

Yes, you can connect USB devices to the USB-C ports. Both USB-C ports can provide Thunderbolt and USB-4.

Yes. Apple's specifications say that 13" and 15" MacBook Airs with the M2 chip have

Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports with support for:

Charging

DisplayPort

Thunderbolt 3 (up to 40Gb/s)

USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s)

USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s)

USB-C is a "Swiss Army Knife" connector that can carry many protocols. Plug in a device and if the computer and device support a common protocol, they will figure out which one to use.

All of the Apple Silicon Macs that use the 'base' M1 or M2 SoCs have Thunderbolt 3. Except for the M2 Mac Mini, which has Thunderbolt 4.

I'm pretty sure that this is due to the maximum number of USB-C / Thunderbolt displays that they support. All of the Macs using the 'base' M1 or M2 SoCs have a limitation of two displays, total, where the built-in iMac or laptop screen counts as one. But only the M2 Mini can drive two USB-C / Thunderbolt displays.

Being able to drive two USB-C / Thunderbolt displays is one of the requirements for Thunderbolt 4 certification.

Here's an article from Other World Computing's "Rocket Yard Blog" that may be interesting:

https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/67796-thunderbolt-usb4-vs-thunderbolt-4/

From the article: "You see, Thunderbolt 4 finally promises PC/Windows users all the features Thunderbolt 3 has long offered Apple users … So-called “Thunderbolt 4” is really a marketing term for those looking at PCs. For the first time, they can know that a PC with Thunderbolt 4 isn’t missing anything."

In his eagerness to explain how Apple's Thunderbolt 3 ports have implemented optional features which are now only becoming reliably available on PCs with the Thunderbolt 4 branding, the author seems to have overlooked the issue that M1 and M2 Macs with Thunderbolt 3 ports don't implement the optional dual-display feature.

You don't need a pass through adapter to connect a USB-C (USB) drive to one of the 15" M2 MacBook Air's USB-C (USB, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt) ports. You can just plug the cable in.

I think ku4hx was thinking of inline plug adapters that go from a USB-A socket to a USB-C plug. They're one option for plugging devices with USB-A cables into computers with USB-C ports.

If the issue is that you need to connect more USB devices, total, then you need a hub or dock. At the very low end, you can find USB-A hubs that offer four or more USB-A ports, and that plug into one USB-C port on your computer.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=USB-C+to+USB+hub

USB-C and Thunderbolt docks can get very elaborate, but to the extent that they provide more USB-C ports, those ports are usually special-purpose. E.g., a USB-C port just for plugging a power adapter into the dock; a USB-C port only for attaching USB peripherals (not DisplayPort or Thunderbolt ones).

You can get some idea of the range of docks and hubs out there by browsing the Other World Computing site. (There are other vendors you might want to look at, too, if you are interested in this level of dock or hub.)

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/docks

I don't know what that means .. a pass through adapter .. I just want to know what to buy to connect several usb devices simultaneously .. macbook air m2 15" Thank you Sue